Run a nice easy pace for any period of time above and beyond 40 minutes and the chances something changes in the way you feel. Your breathing settles and becomes easy and controlled, you find a rhythm and everything seems to be working in harmony. You may even experience a sense of detachment where your body continues on its merry way whilst your mind wanders to other things: maybe what’s for dinner, a reminder to do something when you get back, and quite possibly you find a solution for a problem that has caused concern for ages.
Many runners – me included – find that long slow run a very creative time. I can count on one hand the number of times I return after a long run in a worse mood than when I set off (normally because I was ill-prepared for the weather!) and more often than not I have a flood of ideas that I must jot down as soon as I get back. Some elite runners try and avoid this drifting of the mind and use techniques to focus on their running rather than pondering if they left the oven on when they left the house. This is where we have an advantage of them. I say embrace this creative time, and enjoy the positive psychological benefits this provides.
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