Purposeful Running

While talking to my coach yesterday, I was describing how I ran uphill during my run two days ago.  The term I used was purposeful running.  We talked about the concept of achieving a flow state during my run, essentially being in the zone.  The one thing he said was that you really can't try to be in the zone.  That is correct.  The one time in my life I was in the zone while golfing is something I've never been able to reproduce.  If I really think about it, I haven't had too many situations in my running or triathlon life where I felt that way.  In fact, one of those I've blogged about.  It was the Tri4Me in Denver over a decade ago.  Still, while I may not be able to readily recreate a flow state while running, I can endeavor to run purposefully.

Today, as I start my third week of 8 mile runs, that will be my focus.  It's particularly important while running uphill.  It's easy to just plod while going up a hill, especially if you're not trying to run hard.  What I realized yesterday was that if I focused on my running form while running uphill, I didn't have to run hard.  Granted, it wasn't easy, but it was different.  In a sense it's also a form of meditative running, which I realized I did two days ago.  Rarely during that run did my mind stray.  Pure meditation isn't easy either.  Getting into a meditative flow state can take years of practice.  It's typical to have your mind stray while meditating.

The key to responding to a straying mind during meditation is not to fight it but to gently go back to meditation.  I expect that purposeful running is the same way.  If I find myself forgetting, or plodding, I will gently remind myself to go back to a focus on my run form.  Once more, running, like Ironman, is a metaphor for life.  Purpose matters, as does purposeful running.