Running Naked
I Ran Naked at the Weekend!
No, I haven’t joined a “small but enthusiastic group that take a more unconventional approach to running” - no one needs to see that.
Running naked is a term often used to describe running without your watch! I hadn’t intended to, I just misplaced my watch on the morning of my run and thought to myself, instead of wasting time looking for it, why don’t I leave it at home. I haven’t run without a smart watch for several years, I’m a big advocator of not looking at your watch when racing and running on feel but personally, I’ve never been able to leave my house without it since I discovered what a useful device a smart watch can be.
Ping, Ping, Ping
It felt strange at first, even before the race started, all around me on the start line I could hear the familiar alerts of GPS being enabled, it felt alien not to be part of this ritual, even more so as I ran over the timing mat, it’s usually head down, top right button pressed and we’re off!
And I was off, amid the hordes of runners whizzing past me, heavy breathing, darting, and dodging finding their path and their pace. I became attuned to my surroundings, the mediative footfall of others, privy to innocuous conversations; here’s how one played out behind me, 2 “friends” running together within the first mile.
Runner 1 - “Oh I hate it when my watch tells me I’m running shit!”
Runner 2 - “Please don’t feel you have to run with me, you go on”.
Runner 1 - “Ok, I will, see you later” -
40 MPH Winds
I pushed on, we hit the winds, a reportedly 40mph side wind that literally took your breath away and at times the feet from underneath you, and I just ran having absolutely no idea what pace or what heart rate zone I was in, it was so liberating. There was no sneaky peak at my watch, just to check where I was, no negative external markers to latch onto that could take me mentally downhill, comparing a snapshot pace on a watch to a past run which so often creates an influencing fear, a negative mental “reel” of all the worst runs/mistakes I’ve ever had, I just ran the mile I was in.
Finding Flow
And this freedom reminded me so much of when I first used to race and how much I loved it; pushing myself, my first 10km, first half marathon and even first marathon, all these experiences were a blank canvas of expectations. There was an abandonment of apprehension knowing I wouldn’t be able to scrutinise my splits, that whatever I did in the race was the best I could.
And as each mile past my body knew the best pace to run at, I listened to my internal cues and focused on the flow of the run. And magically I realised that I wasn’t thinking about running at all, it felt natural, even though I was pushing myself, I became aware of a state of “mindlessness”.
““Flow is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energised focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity.”
”
How do you measure progress?
This was a question I asked this week, most replies were about finishing a race feeling strong physically and mentally, not comparing yourselves to others, enjoying a race and building resilience. For others they said it’s about improving performance and achieving pb’s; for me it’s all of the above, I love seeing my finish times when I’ve enjoyed a race, it’s the icing on the cake and to be honest all of my pbs have been when I didn’t look at my watch!
I Don’t Want to Break up with my Watch
I do love it, I love numbers and I love analysing numbers, I’m a coach. But ask yourself what it would be like or how would it feel if your past experiences didn’t haunt you and weren’t part of your mental “reel” that was on loop in your head. Could you run free from these distractions? What is the worst that can happen?