Adam B

ischoff

Atten

tion &

Aw

aren

ess

11/3

0/10

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Runnin

g M

ental T

oughness

I decided to focus on running as my experience for this project. I got to this decision because I promised a co-worker at my summer internship that if I come back that I would run with her during a 5K. Therefore with this project I thought it would be a perfect way to get back into the “running” of things.

I decided to set up an experiment that involved running four times without listening to music. Doing so would force me to concentrate on my form as well as my surroundings. The goal I placed before me was to limit my thoughts and focus on running and my enviroment. This made me refocus anytime my mind decided to focus on family, money, school, or anything that does not pertain to running.

My running routine was running in intervals for 1.25 miles. I selected a limited distance since I have not run for several months. Additionally due to my time constraints this would fit well into my busy scfhedule. Over the course of the experiment my schedule would conflict due to being in Bloomington, Huntington, and near St. Louis in less than a week. I look forward to recording my daily runs and being attuned to my mental toughness.

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Runnin

g Jo

urnal

4 Running Logs 11/21/10 - Btown 1st day running without music. It was harder than I thought because pain was masked by my music or thoughts, normally. 11/22/10 - Btown 2nd day running without music. Was a bit easier. Started noticing I didn’t have to think about my form as much. Mind continued to wander a lot but easier to come back to my form and enviroment.

11/23/10 - Btown 3rd day running without music. Very easy to get motivated to go run. Today’s run was very easy and simple. Noticed outside the window on an upper branch was a squirrel going in and out and weird formations of clouds. 11/26/10 - St. Louis 4th day running without music. Form and thoughts controlled with ease. Occasionally my thoughts would wonder, but very simple to refoucs. Although no windows I was able to look at the brush strokes of a painting as well as the black and white photos of the 70s.

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What I H

ave Learned

C onclusion This experiment was more challenging than I had expected however I learned a lot. By not having any music and limiting external thoughts I thought it would be harder to run. This assumption was made because in the past I have used external issues as reinforment to push me harder and further. After this experiment I learned that external thoughts would have pushed me further but my mental focus has bettered my form.

Yet what I found was the ability to keep my mind off pain and on form and on the enviroment. They weren’t as influential as external thoughts in pushing me further and harder. Additionally by focusing on my form I found myself running more consistant and being less off-balance.

Overall this experiement allowed me to see that mentally I am tough enough to run a mile which can translate into doing anything as long as I set my mind to it. Lastly by training myself on how to refocus I have found myself doing so during classes and group meetings which enables me to retain information and remember it better.