How endurance athletes are using the power of the now | Ned Phillips | 20 min Ted talk

[Decker]

Sometimes running inspiration is ridiculously simple - I've tried this method and am still trying to get past 100

youtu.be/_tc4K5Zujqw(Not working as expected?)

[roseabi Ultramarathon]

Gonna take a look at this tomorrow xx

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

This reminded me of the Brighton Marathon last year. I felt as though I missed a big chunk of it - it just seemed that I was suddenly at the halfway point! I wonder if it was because I was so focused on my injury?

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

That is interesting! In last week’s marathon I paid attention to the distance markers but once or twice over 30km+ someone calling my name actually pulled me out of a slow slump as my thoughts churned over and over. The last ten k are so mentally draining

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

If you are nursing an injury through a long run it must take a big mental toll to keep landing well and compensating if needed etc. Plus that was a massive distance so the mind must go all over the place. How did you reign it in?

[Sadie-runs Half Marathon]

Right. I am definitely going to try this but suspect it is way harder than we think! Thanks for sharing, Decker!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Sadie-runs]

Its kind of fun if you treat it like a game and it eats the time up

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon]

Wow! He seems so unassuming as well. I'll give it a go but am sure my crazy head will struggle to keep focussed to that extent 😂. I'm usually firing off at all sorts of tangents 🤷‍♀️🙄

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to linda9389]

You and me both! 😳🙃

[Decker Ultramarathon]

It is ridiculous how much energy goes into my thoughts on long runs and sometimes even slows me down physically. I don’t really notice it until I try something like this exercise. 🙂

[roseabi Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

I sometimes find I've slowed down noticeably if I start to daydream on a run!

[linda9389 Administrator Marathon in reply to roseabi]

I'm even worse on my bike! I've been overtaken before now and realised I've almost fallen asleep! Automatically push on to catch whoever has overtaken and find I could go much faster 🤣

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to roseabi]

Yes me too! That is when my pace drops off. But if I am chatting to someone I find my pace often surprises me in how quick we go. Solo runs are almost always slower as a result

[Sandraj39 Half Marathon]

Thanks for this link Decker. I have used Mindfulness to manage my anxiety and it does work but take practise, practise, practise! Real food for thought here though as I do spend too much time thinking about what's behind and what's ahead! Am going to give this a go on my next run - don't think I'll get anywhere near 100! 🙂

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Sandraj39]

I am trying mindfulness too and have just as much of a challenge with it 20 min is my max so far

[skysue16 Half Marathon]

Interesting.....I sometimes count my steps when running up short, steep hills and find it does help me focus on keeping going rather than thinking 'Phew, this is hard'! I will try counting for longer but suspect that my mind will wander very quickly! It is also hard to focus on just running /counting when checking up on Squiggy and other runners/walkers/bikes on the trail!

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to skysue16]

I did a run as an experiment like Jojos 100 loops and it went pretty quick. Not tried it on hills yet though. Will give this a go.

[GoGo_JoJo Ultramarathon]

I do this when it gets tough and I used to do it cycling, especially on hills. I frequently got past 300 cycling and with running I tend to do it in hundreds; I'll reach 100 and start again as it gets harder to count in my head with the x hundred prefix.

I often pace myself with numbers in a kind of gear ratio; 1 to 8 is high gear...ie I can comfortably do 8 really easy comfy steps making really good progress, 6 is standard gear, 4 it's getting really tough. It sounds odd but somewhere in it is the logic (to me) that even when it's really, really hard, if I can do 4 steps, I can do 4 more, and if I can do those, I can do 4 more, and so on...

With cycling the toughest, hardest stuff was as low as 2; 2 revolutions of the pedals 🙈 there's a horrible hill near me and I kid you not, it is pretty much 340 revolutions up that bloody hill 🤣🤣

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to GoGo_JoJo]

Ok this is fascinating. I’ve never played around with number sets like you do. I did do a 21k run on 100 loop step counts though and that felt quick. 340 hard revolutions sound really tough, but maybe knowing the number gives you some power over the hill. Like knowing you only have 10k more at the 32 mark makes it feel possible. Counting down beyond the halfway mark seems to sometimes make the grind a bit more manageable for me.

[Elfe5]

100k & enjoyed it??!!😳

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Elfe5]

Haha no, just 21km, counted in 100 step sets 😁

[Colinsmith Half Marathon]

Bookmarking for later. Thanks Decker!

[SaskAlliecat Half Marathon]

Sounds so simple but knowing how my mind wanders and all the tangents I go on, it will be hard! Can’t wait to try it! Thanks Decker.

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to SaskAlliecat]

Sometimes the simple things are the most effective ones. Good luck Sask!

[aliboo70 Half Marathon]

I'm going to give it a try on the hilly bits of this morning's run,thanks Decker! x

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to aliboo70]

I will be trying this out on hills too in the coming weeks

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon]

On longer runs, I like to let my mind wander but I've found that my pace can drop if I do that. For me, checking lap pace on my watch helps me maintain a faster pace without any significant increase in effort. I guess that's an example of being focused. I'm currently rebuilding by doing really slow 3k jogs so it's going to be a while until I try that again.

I've done a bit of orienteering and step counting is used in that to estimate distance. Mentally, that's very different to running because your head's full of things like "where's the next landmark", "how far down this path am I", "what compass bearing am I on", "what's the best route after the next checkpoint" and so on...

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to SkiMonday]

That is interesting too. At the front end of a long run I am glued to my watch paces, but at the tail end my mind does tend to wander in between watch checks. Orienteering is a skill I’d like to learn as I’ve gotten lost on more than one occasion

[SkiMonday Ultramarathon in reply to Decker]

It's later on in the run that I really need to keep checking my pace.

Orienteering is a good way of learning how to navigate. If I do loose track of my location, figuring out where I am can be tricky!

[Irishprincess Administrator Half Marathon]

For someone who has a vivid imagination and thinks about all sorts on my runs, this would be a huge challenge! But I did try it this morning and got to the grand number of 3 🙄before my head went awry. I think it would need a lot of practising. But I did try experimenting and focused on just my breathing, in,out, in, out and that worked quite well.

I do count when things get hard but only a rhythm of 1,2,3,4 and that seems to help numb the pain 😩

I will keep trying but I think I’d miss my gladiator/GoT fighting/warrior role plays in my head 😂😂

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to Irishprincess]

Haha! if nothing else it indicates how much we have going on in our heads during a run. As for the fighting GoT warrior role, whatever works right? 🤣. I also still have tunes or a podcast going on most of my long runs, so often I am just lost in a song or conversation.

[mrrun Ultramarathon]

Thanks for sharing, this is good stuff and l sometimes used counting to 'get through' some not very easy moments. Musicians would say they are 'in the zone' when nothing but 'now' would matter, moments when many things stop and brain takes over. Powerful stuff when hit right. 👍

[Decker Ultramarathon in reply to mrrun]

If I were to wax philosophy, I would say I think it’s all somehow related - the musician’s zone and the athlete’s zone. The counting is just a tool to get our minds into the now moment instead of the past or future. I would guess a mantra might work in a similar way. I need to interview my ultra friends as I’m sure they’ve crossed this divide more than once!