Mindfulness Running and the Cure for Anxiety
A great life lesson
“If I only had a car or at least my bicycle… this would take much less time” I thought every time I have had to go somewhere on foot
I used to be one of those people who over-managed time, setting speediness as my criteria for making choices. This criteria was so merged into my everyday life that I didn’t consider running as an enjoyable activity but as an impractical means of commuting. Thus, as I mentioned on my post last week, running has never been my favorite exercise because it made me very impatient. Omitting the fact that it didn’t make sense to compare my legs with a machine, the trigger that pushed me to to start running was sharing a common goal with a friend.
“I really want accomplish something before I graduate, and since I have never ran a race before, I was thinking about joining one for the first time. It would mean a lot for me if we can do it together, the goal would be to finish within the time limit” said Ai.
“Yeah sure, why not” I accepted immediately.
When she said “a race” it didn’t crossed into my mind that it would be more than 5 or 10 kilometers (3 or 6 miles), which already presented a challenge for me. However, when I read the confirmation e-mail that we received after registering, I found our names next to the label “half marathon participant” and asked her
“Ai, do you know that for a half marathon we will have to run 21 kilometers (13 miles), right?”
She nodded. Her facial expression let me understand that we were both clear on something: we were not ready at all, therefore we would had to start training right away. We were committed this promise.
Racing day
It was 8:00am when we were outside of the station waiting for the bus that would take us to the starting line. Two hours before, my friends and I headed to Kaomeoka, a city in the outskirts of Kyoto, where the event was going to be held. In total, 4,500 people were participating in the race on that day. Buses and trains all around Kyoto were filled with people wearing sneakers as well as sports clothing. As soon as we arrived, we felt the electric atmosphere, that resulted from a mixture of excitement and nervousness. A flurry of snow started blowing, announcing that the cosy autumn temperature was over. Consequently, people were jumping around, actively stretching to keep the warmth — or to release nerves — while waiting anxiously for the race to start.
The four of us stuck together at the very beginning. The stampede of rapid footstep was the only sound that resonated on the asphalt. Then, the sound of my heart beats joined to it in unison, as my body began to warm up and I was moving forward, marking my pace. Soon after, when my breath stabilized my mind stopped thinking about anything but the present moment. As the playlist that I created for the occasion sounded, I ran comfortably for the first 13 kilometers (8 miles), occasionally imagining that I was competing against the person next to me. Competition has always been the best encouragement for me. Yet, it wasn’t until the 18 kilometer (11th mile) that I started running alone, as I ended up in a space in between two groups of people, where the first one was running around 45 seconds ahead of the latter. The moment I notice there was no people around me, the nice warm sensation that I was feeling in my legs suddenly transformed into throbbing pain. In the same way the mind tends to panic when one realizes that the empty gas light turns on, my state of mind switched from being calm to be nervously tense.
Purpose
Have you ever heard the term mindful running? According to Dr Natalie Walker, adopting mindfulness while running is when the runner feels a sense of relaxed control over their body which enables them to run earnestly but effortless. This feeling of tune with their body results in an increased confident that allows the runner to trust their ability to meet the challenge.
I wasn’t aware of what mindful running was when I trained nor while I was racing. Nevertheless, now that I’m familiar with the term I came to realize that until the 18 km (11 mi) I was able to run mindfully. Losing the focus shortened my breathing as well as it heightened muscle pain expanding it all over my body. To make things worst, it let my negative thoughts to overflow without stopping. I felt both, vulnerable and a sense that despite I kept running, I wasn’t making any progress. Although that moment ago I was running smoothly, feeling the distance between each gradually shortening, now it seemed interminable. I didn’t wanted to give up, thus I tried to regain control by focusing in my breath once again, but it was impossible. My heart beats was increasing rapidly and because my pulse was already too agitated I started to feel nauseous. I was about to reduce my speed drastically — if not to stop — when I finally started fighting back in my head.
Run today for your family and your loved ones who are currently inVenezuela feeling like this, but for other reasons they don’t have the option to choose
Run today for Ai, Kevin and Jun, with who you committed to accomplish a common goal
Run today for yourself, be confident, you know you can do it, you trained for today to happen, you prepared already, is now that you have to give your everything.
As I repeated this mantra, I wasn’t only able to regain control but also I it take root deep in my emotions. The next thing I knew was that when I crossed the finish line, the clock marked 1:54:12. Tears wouldn’t completely run down my face as the cold dried them up, nonetheless my heart was burning in fulfilment as I waited for the team to gather.
Running is 30% body and 70% mind
I ignored how Kevin came up with these percentages, but they sounded accurate to me. Not merely the day of the event but from the beginning, this entire experience resulted in both an unforgettable memory with my friends and a big step into more self discovery. By finding comfort in an uncomfortable, I was able to keep myself concentrated on other aspects of my life as well. One doesn’t have to know exactly what to do with one’s life in order to cure the anxiety generated by uncertainty. If you’re feeling lost right now, it will be even harder to find a solution on dreams that are too big or distant to reach in the current situation. The solution is somewhere around you, and you have two options: to take the opportunity without hesitating when is presented to you or to create it by yourself. Moreover, remember that even though one might be faster alone, with a friend you can reach further.
Especial thanks to my friend Ai, who’s initiative marked our life forever.
We made it folks and nothing else matters
Until the next post,
Elisa
