How running is a practice in mindfulness

Posted on May 30, 2024 by Bhanu Misra Marya

As we close out May and Mental Health awareness month, it offered me an opportunity to reflect on recently completing my 1st half marathon road race.

The race is the celebration of your training
Running is a practice in mindfulness

Most people think running is about the body, speed and long distances. And although it can be about those things – running also teaches us how to be present, spend more time outdoors and build mental toughness. All vital ways we can add more mindfulness to our everyday.

Enjoy the journey Runners know it’s not only about the getting that medal at the finish line. We appreciate the run, lean into the run, the pain, the good & the bad weather because that means we get to run! Every finish line is just another starting line – so learning to enjoy the journey is important.
Reconnect with Nature Running outdoors means seeing the flowers bloom in the Spring, leaves changing colour in the Autumn or experiencing the freshness of a Winter morning. Getting some extra Vitamin D and break from screens allows us to reconnect with nature which is widely known to improve mood and reduce stress.
Running is more about mental strength then a physical fitness During training, there will be days you’ll want to sleep in, need to work through an injury or push through a long a run. Being able to tune out the negative self talk and visualize what you want to accomplish requires determination and grit. Resiliency is a skill everyone is working on, but runners get more opportunities to practice it.

5 side effects of running (that no one tells you)

Posted on February 28, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

As much as I love running and want to do more of it, use it to challenge myself through stretch goals and discipline – there are some things about running I haven’t shared.

Just a quick fun/sarcastic take on the others side of running!

You are usually wanting to sleep by 10am
You probably feel guilty on rest days
You are always recovering from running (baths, foam rolling & theragunning)
You are always hungry
You are always doing laundry!

5 things I learned from my running streak

Posted on February 19, 2023 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I did a thing! I committed to a running streak!

So ….what is a running streak anyway? Essentially it’s a certain amount of time where a runner commits to running with no days off. Running more than anything is a mind game. It’s not about how fast or how far you can run…it’s always about taking the first stride, then the next and the next. It it’s about constantly reminding yourself about you why and finding the discipline to keep going.

Before I get into some of what I learned, I wanted to share a little about my steak.

I ran everyday, no days off
I ran a minimum of 2km, most days 3.33km and at least 1 5km run
I ran outside and on my treadmill
I live by my Nike Run Club app – I love that I can track everything there, I love that it captures my run details, cheers and guides me through different runs ++ I can see all the cool accomplishments I make happen!

Okay so here are the top 5 things I learned:

New habits should be approachable on a daily basis
This means, your daily “to-do” run should be something you can do without thinking. Granted running requires different kinds of training (long runs, sprints/farlek, hills, cross training & recovery) but for a running streak you need be ready to go without having to think too much about it.
Learn to list to your body
I am intuitive by nature, but my body gave me stronger messages when I ran consistently. I think thats a very important skill (tool?) to develop. It also made me become more aware of functional fitness and exercises that weren’t heavy but helped to developed the way my body moved.
Do the hard thing first
When I got my run done in the morning, the rest of the day seemed to go much smoother and my mind was able to focus. The same happens when you have a personal morning routine (wake up early, meditate, journal, sunlight etc). Getting up (late) to only check email and hustle just doesn’t make sense.
You always do things twice, once in your head and then in real life
Same goes for running. You literally see yourself doing it in your minds eye before you actually do it. For me it was seeing the trails or sideways I knew I’d run before getting out there.
Somethings can be multi tasked (but not everything)
For me it was running an errand. LITERALLY! Being able to run to the store to pick up something and then running back home with that something was such a delight!

Birthday Run Goal

Posted on May 8, 2022 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I just logged into my blog and saw that I have a dozen or so posts sitting in drafts! I know we are in the age of 150 characters and dizzy transition videos…but I love long form media just like I love my spring bound planner and books from the library. So I’ll keep blogging until the internet is taken off line LOL

Today was mothers day and I for some reason was feeling exhausted. So a little story time. I’m still recovering from this crazy thing that’s taken over the globe. Two areas I’m trying to get back to base level are my workouts and my mental concentration. I’m giving myself grace but lets just say that 2km is the most I can do and skipping journalling for scrolling mindlessly are what I’m trying to work through.

With that said, I’ve decided to set my run goal for the year. (Read last years goal here)

My goal is to run 5km in less than 30 minutes.

And to keep me disciplined and remind myself what i’m capable of…here is a little inspiration!

39 for 39

Posted on May 24, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I have seen recently on Instagram that runners will run a certain distance on their birthdays. For example, when someone turned 36, then run 36km on their birthday. Whoa! Pretty inspiring right!

I figured I wanted to do something similar. Although I’m not going to start running over 20km, I found a birthday running goal that was meaningful to me.

So for my 39th birthday my goal is to run 39 laps around a high school race track.

Now let me explain: A race track is 400m, running 39 laps of that will mean I’ll run 15.6km for my birthday (400mx39) 🎉

right now I’m running about 10km on my weekly run, so I have 4.5 months to add 5km – and I really think I can do it.

I also feel this will mean I’ll need to improve recovery and cross training. Be more disciplined with foam rolling, stretching, cold showers/baths, fartlek (speed training) and weights.

This feels right and makes me feel joyful!

Go me! 🏆

I am officially a winter runner!

Posted on February 22, 2021 by Bhanu Misra Marya

I read this quote recently and couldn’t agree more…

Running is the hardest thing to start. But when you are running regularly, it’s the hardest thing to stop.

I started running when I was in middle school. I have memories of being dropped off early at school to run cross country. I remember running on grassy trails, in forests and along rivers. As I got older I moved indoors on to tracks and treadmills. I’ve been running indoors for a majority of my adult life. I only became a winter runner at the end of 2020.

I am slowly getting more used to it. I still have to psych myself up for weekend runs (aka long runs in cold weather). But what I’ve learned is that winter running is very refreshing, it’s a challenge I didn’t know I needed and with a little planning can be a great experience.

On cold days I like to double up on the pants, starting with a thermal layer and then adding a brushed or fleece lined legging on top. Same goes for tops, I like to wear 2 long sleeves, tucked into my pants (to prevent cold drafts!). I wear merino wool socks, mitts, windbreaker and even a balaclava. I’ve also considered wearing ski goggles on days with blowing snow!

Some other tips to keep in mind with winter running:

If you don’t have access to clear side walks, run on fresh snow!
Walk over icy patches
Hydrate
Wear sunglasses, the sun’s reflection off the snow can be intense
Add a pre-run routine (I’ve been following this one)
Be sure to swap out into warm clothes when you get home