{"id":33619,"date":"2018-05-15T11:35:38","date_gmt":"2018-05-15T18:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=33619"},"modified":"2020-05-22T13:05:47","modified_gmt":"2020-05-22T20:05:47","slug":"can-being-mindful-make-you-faster-runner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/can-being-mindful-make-you-faster-runner","title":{"rendered":"Can Being Mindful Make You a Faster Runner?"},"content":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s note: This story is part one of a two-part series on the scientific study of mindfulness and\u00a0meditation for runners, looking into the bigger picture of how your mindset can actually help improve your athletic performance. Be sure to check out\u00a0part two of the series here<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

At the Doudy Draw trailhead, below the sandstone cliffs of Colorado\u2019s Eldorado Canyon, Clare Gallagher starts her run on loose gravel. As the trail climbs and narrows, the 26-year-old sheds any thought of sponsor obligations or training schedules. She cuts around switchbacks, notices only wildflower meadows and pine forests. \u201cI hit the trail and I zone out,\u201d says Gallagher, a Boulder, Colorado-based runner who’s sponsored by Patagonia. \u201cIt\u2019s a meditative run.\u201d Nine miles later, her mind feels clear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Present. Aware. In the moment. That describes mindfulness, a modern expression for an ancient practice. Gallagher first started meditating in college; now she\u2019s an ultrarunner who prefers her mindful practice on the run.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Clare Gallagher came out of nowhere to win the 2016 Leadville 100.<\/p><\/div>\n

Mindfulness is having a moment, thanks to bestselling books, apps, wellness programs and spiritual retreats. Research suggests the results are real\u2014a 2016 British study<\/a> conducted at the University of Oxford found that mindfulness-based cognitive therapy was as effective at preventing depression as pharmaceuticals. And as technology becomes more immersive, mindfulness techniques can help people unplug from the virtual realm and reconnect with the physical world. But can being more mindful<\/span>\u00a0make runners faster?<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, the relationship between Eastern philosophy and Western culture goes back centuries. Our modern fascination dates back to the rise of Buddhist communities in American cities and moments such as the year 1968, when the Beatles traveled to India to study transcendental meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, were photographed with their guru, and came home with songs that became the White Album.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, a molecular biologist named Jon Kabat-Zinn studied Buddhism on the side. In 1979, he gathered chronic pain patients for a study that managed their symptoms with meditation and yoga. They got results\u2014reduced pain, depression, anxiety and tension. He called the program mindfulness-based stress reduction and founded the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where eight-week courses are still offered.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Kabat-Zinn\u2019s broader legacy includes the science-based vocabulary. \u201cHe came out of a Buddhist tradition and secularized it,\u201d says Dr. Rick Hecht, who studies mindfulness at the University of California San Francisco. \u201cSo there could be a broader benefit to people who might not take a Buddhist meditation course.\u201d Since Kabat-Zinn published his study results 1982, more than 3,000 scientific articles have followed\u2014with 1,200 in just the last couple of years.<\/span><\/p>\n

More recent authors include Tracey Shors, a neuroscientist at Rutgers University. She knew two things: Aerobic exercise (read: yoga, dance, running) makes the brain produce neurons. And, in order to keep those freshly-minted nerve cells, the brain must learn\u2014and the learning requires effort. But how do you create that in a lab setting? A friend sent Shors to a Zen meditation class.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI found meditation is not only wide but deep,\u201d says Shors. \u201cThe more you know, the more you know what you don\u2019t know.\u201d If unpacking that sentence gives you a headache, you now understand effortful learning. Shors designed an eight-week Mental and Physical (MAP) Training that combined sitting and walking meditations with treadmill sessions. Her studies showed MAP Training reduced depression in college students. She says the idea of mindful running makes sense: \u201cYou\u2019re following the feet rather than following the breath.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Runners on a Run Wild Retreat in Iceland. (Photo Credit: RunWildRetreats.com)<\/p><\/div>\n

That\u2019s old news to runners, especially Elinor Fish<\/a>, who founded Run Wild Retreats in 2010. She leads small groups of women trail runners to Iceland, Spain, Moab and the Swiss Alps. In the six weeks before a trip, Fish coaches attendees with her mindful running training system, which focuses on intention, posture, breath and simple goals to manage the stress and emotions that disrupt run routines. Then she lets nature supply the final touch.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of habits that keep us stuck in patterns that don\u2019t serve us\u2014phones are our latest addiction,\u201d says Fish. \u201cGoing on a retreat snaps you out of it. A new environment awakens a different part of the brain. You feel grateful, alive and vital.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Which brings us back to Gallagher. At the 2016 Leadville 100, miles into the race, she ate a Snickers, tucked her water flask back into her race vest and matched her pacer\u2019s strides along a lake edge in the Colorado high country. After the finish, all those miles felt simply blank to her. \u201cI zoned out again,\u201d she says. \u201cI was so present in the moment, there was no energy for my brain to put what was happening in the memory pocket.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

But the clock\u2019s numbers went straight to the record book<\/a>: Gallagher won the Leadville 100 that year in 19:00.27, setting the second-fastest women\u2019s time ever. Ready to run faster? Run mindful first.<\/span><\/p>\nPart Two: Meditation for Runners<\/path><\/svg><\/a><\/span>\n<\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[Editor’s note: This story is part one of a two-part series on the scientific study of mindfulness and\u00a0meditation for runners, looking into the bigger picture of how your mindset can actually help improve your athletic performance. Be sure to check out\u00a0part two of the series here.] At the Doudy Draw trailhead, below the sandstone cliffs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":33688,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[727,740,359,1376],"internal-tag":[1676,1682],"class_list":["post-33619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-run","tag-latest-posts","tag-mindfulness","tag-run","tag-running","internal-tag-pre-redirect-run","internal-tag-pre-redirect-running"],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/rei.com\/blog\/run\/can-being-mindful-make-you-faster-runner","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Can Being Mindful Make You a Faster Runner?","url":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/can-being-mindful-make-you-faster-runner","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/run\/can-being-mindful-make-you-faster-runner"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/05\/chaning-course4.jpg?resize=150%2C150","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2018\/05\/chaning-course4.jpg?fit=1280%2C720"},"articleSection":"Run","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Michelle Flandreau"}],"creator":["Michelle Flandreau"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Uncommon Path \u2013 An REI Co-op Publication","logo":""},"keywords":["latest posts","mindfulness","run","running"],"dateCreated":"2018-05-15T18:35:38Z","datePublished":"2018-05-15T18:35:38Z","dateModified":"2020-05-22T20:05:47Z"},"rendered":"