Relaxing during a run is a really common technique.  Even as much as you hype yourself up for your run, relaxing can do just as much good!  Whether you need to mix it up or use it to refocus, you relaxing and meditating during a run is beneficial.  Not everything needs to be at 110% effort or the heavy metal music blaring through your ear phones.  Try a tempo song every 20 mins in your running mix to let your brain and your body know that it’s time to switch gears and relax for a minute.

Try it out – you might be surprised what happens.

Photo credit via lorypc

Up until a few months ago, I never ran with a watch. After getting my spiffy $12 one Target though, my running changed.  Sounds a bit odd, but the sheer fact of putting on the watch shifted my brain into a different mode.

It’s peculiar how this happens. On the weekends, sometimes I won’t run until later in the afternoon or even the evening. But if I put my watch on in the morning, I’m a) more apt to actually do my run instead of blowing it off and b) get mentally prepared throughout the day. My watch has a button missing and isn’t the top of the line. The power it possesses on my mind is incredible and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Except maybe for this one.

Do you run with a watch?  Is anyone as nutty as me about it?  Is it just a watch or is it more?

Photo via lokner

There’s this guy. He’s super fast and I pass him on the West Side Highway. Usually he wears a red shirt. Frequently he’s very sweaty. And he always has a smile on his face. All. The. Time.

At first I thought, what is this guy happy about? I’ve got a cramp in my side, a blister on my left foot, and my legs feel like lead. Sure, it’s nice to be out here, but my running face usually says “Hey! I’m hardcore! This hurts and I’m gonna kick your butt!”. My game face, if you will. No smiling allowed.

Or so I thought…

I digress. Mr. Smiley runs past me again. Surprise surprise, his eyes sparkle and he smells like roses. Still confused, I decided to start smiling for the rest of my run too. I had to find out what he was so crazy about. What proceeded to happen was nothing less than a little brain chemistry, neuroscience, and stuff that Jonah Lehrer is more apt to explain. In my terms though:

a) Running immediately got easier, if not even more fun. I started going faster.

b) Became happier and more optimistic about my run. Felt as though I could go farther, longer, and faster.

c) My “game face” quickly went out the window. Smiling made me feel like a badass. It felt good running past people essentially saying “hey, I love this!”

d) Another way to motivate myself. Ever heard of the term “grin and bear it”? This is that phrase at it’s finest. Pain is pleasure and you might as well put a smile on for it.

What do you think about this? Do you smile while you run?

Try it next time as a little experiment: 10 minutes regular, then 10 minutes smiling. Repeat for your whole run. What happens?

Well, I have a lot of ideas.  I like running.  I love meeting people.  I want to get better at running.  I want to meet more people.  What if I were to combine to two?  My idea for Social Media Runner is to develop a community for whose who participate in the online space and also love running.  Wouldn’t it be fun to create a “Craigslist” of runners?  My fantasy would be that you are traveling somewhere for work, or a conference, or to see family.  You want to go on a run.  Log onto SocialMediaRunners.com, find someone in that city, link up, run, talk, huff and puff, and develop yet another contact.  I think there is little difference between business and athletics (on a mental basis), and it would be awesome to combine the two.

Here’s where you come in

This is an open source project.  If it interests you, great!  Feel free to voice your ideas and see if we can create something together.  There are many communities out there – let’s create another one.

Some Things To Run With (No Pun Intended)

• Expand to different cities – have “city captains”.
• Local sponsors – are there local mom and pop shops that sell athletic gear?  We’d love to promote them
• National sponsors – that’d be cool
• Link to Twitter/Facebook (ie. when you sign up for SocialMediaRunners.com, find other Twitter friends who are also signed up).
• “Current location” function to let other runners see where you are.  In the same city?  Link up and take a run!

What next?

If you’d like to be involved in this project, drop me a note.  We can start forming something together.

Got a good running story where you met someone interesting?  Would love to hear about it!

Want to design a new logo for the site?  Go for it.

Feel the urge to tell your friends about Social Media Runners?  Rock on.

Hope to talk to you soon!

-Sarah