Meditation in Motion: Zone Mind, Zone Body

On my run yesterday I got to thinking about results versus process. Posting the picture from the Brooklyn Half the other day had me thinking back to my rant about how much I hated worrying about my times. Yet, at the same time I really like obsessing about form. It comes down my suspicion that if your main goal is winning or at least setting your personal best time you will cut any corner you have to and miss out on the pleasure of getting there. This means pushing through tension, pain, and feeling generally miserable. It also means losing a sense of flow, gracefulness and efficient breathing that comes with proper running technique.

Now, I am not saying running is supposed to be easy and that you should always run at a pace that is comfortable. I just think that the most important skill to acquire is the ability to be aware; to constantly check in with what your body is doing and where everything is in the moment. It is important to keep challenging yourself and pushing your limits is going to be uncomfortable at first. So, in those moments of discomfort rather than thinking, "I've just got to push through this toward the finish," you are thinking: "How can I adjust my breathing? Are my feet hitting the road too hard? Is my head still up? Can I relax my shoulders more?" As you work on these tiny adjustments you learn a lot more about what you can do. Then, when you find yourself on top of the challenges you get a real sense of freedom. Speed becomes the by-product.

Actually, when I was thinking about this yesterday it seemed like a semi original thought. Now that I have written it down I realize that it's essentially the main point of a book I read earlier this summer called, "Zone Mind, Zone Body: How to break through to new levels of fitness and performance - by doing less!" by Roy Palmer. Palmer is a runner, martial artist and teacher of the Alexander Technique. As some one interested in running and the zone, it definitely piqued my interest. It was a pretty easy read and I found it enjoyable. He gives a few Alexander-type exercises to help you recognize some of your bad movement habits. For example, putting tension in your neck in order to stand up, think about it, the neck muscles are not going to do much for you in this situation. The main thing that the book drives at is that if you can really focus, be in the moment and not put in unnecessary effort you can reach your optimum ability level and be in the zone. He breaks it down to make it easier for people to reach the zone more often.

This is why I love running and how it crosses over into a way to live and understand life. The same goes for music. So much of it is about listening. When things get muddy and difficult it means you must listen more deeply and start working on the things you can fix. It means practicing, tweaking the techniques and waiting until it come out right. There is a lot of patience involved. This all applies to running, music and life. Experiencing the improvements in running and music make the struggles of life feel more bearable. That is why I choose to love the process and the journey of trying to do things the right way rather than focusing only on the quantifiable results. I will work as long as it takes to get something right because the pursuit is the reward.

Running Rock Resource

I recently came across the article, "The Nike Experiment: How the Shoe Giant Unleashed the Power of Personal Metrics" in Wired Magazine. The article describes the phenomenon of "Living by the Numbers--the ability to gather and analyze data about yourself setting up a feedback loop that we can use to upgrade our lives, from better health to better habits to better performance." The concept that feedback can elevate your performance is one of the core principles of the "Flow," a theory by happiness psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Basically, the theory is that people who are happy tend to get that way because they do things they enjoy and feel in control of. A key way to get there is by earning positive feedback. This is similar to "being in the zone" in sports because that happens when you are performing at the peak of your ability. In this case it is the the numbers (pace, distance, running frequency) that are telling you when you are improving.

The article explains that as people upload data into the Nike+ network they become hooked. There are many effective elements, watching the data, the online community, the challenges and the goals. The Nike+ Apple union is a great gateway drug for running. They are tapping into something that goes deep. There is a whole other element to its success that the article barely even touches on. In order to use Nike+ you have to also be using an iPod. Those 1.2 million runners had to spend 130 million miles listening to something. There is also a hunger for a good soundtrack. So, I take over where Wired left off and present some useful resources I have found for running music, including a tried and tested playlist.

The Nike+ store has started including a section for the "SportMusic" blog. Conversely on iTunes you can now make "Sport iMixes." Runner's World uses Sport iMixes for a series called Music is Motivation with playlists of elite athletes such as Deena Kastor, Andrew Wheating, and Kara Goucher.

When you are in sync with a song while running it is a very similar feeling to the ecstasy of nailing a song as a musician because you are synchronizing movement to something bigger and you can feel it. It's the same reason why Guitar Hero can be gratifying. If you become one with the beat the fact that you can stay on top of it is the positive internal feedback.

The problem with so many of the songs being pushed forward in "running mixes" is that they are all over the map in terms of pace. Even when you are not trying to run directly to the beat, a powerful rhythm can still have an effect so it is important to be conscious of it. Popular songs are frequently around 120 or 130 b.p.m., which is terrible for running.

If you are running strictly to the rhythm of a song it is your steps and relative arm swing that are syncing. Since your legs tend to match what your arms are doing I suggest that you use your arms to find the beat. This will keep them engaged and hopefully avoid your feet stomping it out. Light quick steps are best. If you count the steps of one foot for one minute you will get a number that could range from 70 to 100. If you double that you can get a good idea of what b.p.m. (beat per minute) will naturally match your stride.

There are podcasts that are especially geared to running with music. Jog Tunes Indie usually goes through a set of songs that range of tempos with Dr. Bob Marcus explaining them as you go. Podrunner DJ Steve Boyett takes one tempo and goes with it electronica style. Then the Indie Soup Runner's Edition with Cecil Smith tackles all things Indie. There are also sites with extended mixes that do a good job of helping you choose a tempo like Hellasound and run2rhythm.

It turns out that most elite and experienced runners have the same average stride rate: 180 steps per minute. If you do any reading on this subject you will see this number come up a lot. One renowned coach and exercise physiologist who did a comprehensive study is Jack T. Daniels, PhD, who said, "I try to save runners a lot of grief by encouraging them to convert to a stride rate associated with less landing shock and more efficient use of energy."

I have been doing a lot of experimenting with this idea and have found that you can still run really slowly at 180 b.p.m. It becomes more about nailing down your form with a short quick stride, then when you want to speed up you put on the gas. It is the force you are pushing off with that will speed you up (and lengthen your stride.) However, your cadence and basic form should stay smooth and consistent. I have found the quick stride makes it easier to go faster when you want to. I explain this more here.

Music has the potential to be effective tool in your training. If you can tap into the tempo and maintain it you can develop a more efficient stride. That efficient use of energy will help you feel on top of your running for longer periods. It a form of internal positive feedback to help you achieve your running high. Let music can be your guide in that. It certainly beats running with a metronome as suggested by ChiRunner, Danny Dreyer.

I put together a Sport iMix incorporating some Lady Southpaw songs. I was so disappointed not to be able to include some of my favorite artists because they didn't have the right tempo, but it furthers my point that there is a need for more music with the running experience in mind! There are several programs out there for analyzing tempos but I used the very unscientific method of tapping it out on my amp. Therefore this is not a perfect 180 bpm mix, but all of these songs are in the neighborhood and when I tested it they all worked pretty well. Enjoy!

Feel the Flow

Have you ever had a moment when music just clicked? You are out with friends at a club or maybe alone in your bedroom and dancing to a great song when everything comes together and suddenly you own the beat. The song consumes you so that you can hit it just right with a thrash of your arm and a swing of your hips.

Or maybe dance is not your thing, maybe you felt it as an athlete. At a pivotal point a team mate passes you the ball and your focus sharpens with pinpoint precision. You weave through your opponents and target that sweet spot the goalie can't reach. There is nothing like the euphoria of the perfect goal right?

These scenarios can be explained by a theory in psychology called flow. Athletes refer to it as being in the zone. The term flow was coined by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to describe a state of optimal experience and creativity. It is a state that can be cultivated routinely to create contentment in life. The game winning goal is a rare experience but it is possible to find pieces of this feeling in activities that are accessible everyday. Essentially, you are engaged in something that is challenging enough that your skills are balanced and you are neither overwhelmed nor bored. Then time seems to melt away, you feel empowered and work becomes pleasure. Click here for a video of Csikszentmihalyi explaining flow with a post from the people at Lateral Action that breaks it down.

This is a feeling I have been chasing since the first time I was ever in a play. It was Shakespeare's The Tempest.

The drama teacher at my school generously cast some of us younger kids to come out in the beginning and be the tempest. On opening night I experienced something that was bigger than me. I was the storm! I owned every step of the choreography and it was as if the music was coming out of me. My mother said she could see how much I was enjoying it and knew I had been bitten by the theatre bug.

I have gone through many phases looking for that click and hoping to find it in something I would not have to give up at the end of a play production or soccer season. Since college, there are two main avenues that I go down if I want to drown out the stresses of being an adult and making ends meet in the city. I pick up my guitar and sing or I go to the gym. It was relatively recently that I discovered how compatible those two things could be.

I used to hate running with headphones because I would get tangled in the wires or deciding on what to listen to seemed like too much of a hassle. Also, I liked to have the opportunity to focus on my body and listen to my steps to make sure they were not too loud. For that reason I still think it is important to run without the extra devices particularly in a race situation. However, running with the right music is a revelation.

Running to music combines the inner aesthetic of dance with the outer technique of an athlete. You do not have to be coordinated or graceful to feel what a dancer feels, there are only two steps you need to know left and right, that is it. Then on the running side you are building endurance and consistent turnover in your stride. If your mind is inspired it will translate to your body. The right music is good at any level of training whether to maintain energy over a long distance or for a quick burst speed.

"The right music" on the other hand is tough to find. You make playlists of songs that seem like they would be good for running and of those one or two might synch perfectly to your running stride. Most pop and rock is written to a tempo that is not quite right for running. Hip hop and rap are often closer, but not every time. For this reason many coaches will discourage running to music, particularly if you are inclined to letting the beat affect your stride.

That is why as a musician I have made it my personal challenge to write music with the idea of an optimal running experience in mind. I have spent the last year or two intently listening and running to songs to see what works best. I have written 6 new songs (so far) that I will be releasing over the coming weeks. I have also been researching running approaches and the surprising power of music on the brain. In upcoming posts I will share some of my findings.

In this blog:

- Announcements for each of my new songs

- Announcements of upcoming Lady Southpaw performances

- Reasons for running with music

- Resources I have found helpful for running

- Interesting research about the flow/zone, music and the brain, and the mind-body connection

Stay tuned!