Silence is golden

[Gingeral57]

So went out a few days ago and forgot to charge phone so no music or app but actually just kept an eye on my watch for times and felt good. Today run without music and it felt really good. I think possibly the upbeat music made me run too fast and tired me out easily. Will be running in silence with my own thoughts and pace and hopefully will improve faster. Also feet holding up retirement is doing me good.

[TopCat22]

Hi,

My husband is an experienced runner and he swears by silence. Helps him get into his own rhythm, he says, and also helps him have a sort of mindfulness when he runs, very therapeutic, so he says.

I find it’s helping me to have silence too, though I am just starting out with running. (On w3r3 atm) I get into a rhythm listening to my footfalls. The coach I’m listening to (Laura?) said to breathe every fourth footfall. I’m not sure I do that exactly but I do find I get into a rhythm with my breathing and my footfalls and the rhythm of it kind of helps me along. I also say stuff in my head every fourth footfall which changes each time and goes like this “head up”, “shoulders back”, “core strong”, “gentle jog”! The last one is to remind me to go slow as I have a inclination to go too fast and then get into trouble later. Saying these things help me focus my mind on other parts of my body rather than my legs, and stops me thinking about how achey and tired they are. I find it really helps. The additional benefit is it helps me to remember to keep my head up and have good posture when running, which I think will also help. I think a lot of people listen to music to be distracted from focusing on their tired legs, but there are other ways of doing it and I find silence is great, helps me focus on my rhythm and pace.

[HeavyFoot Graduate in reply to TopCat22]

With you there, TC22. I love hearing the sounds of the countryside and need to be aware of traffic. Occasionally I wear Aftershocx to run to a metronome beat but they do allow good outside hearing.