Brings together scientific research, expert analysis and elite athlete contributions to reveal how relating to your mind, body and surroundgins in a new way can help you run longer and faster, as well as offer a boost to your overall mental, emotional and physical health.
What if the key to improving your running, shaping your body, and boosting your happiness was all in your mind? In Mindful Running, lifelong runner, coach, and fitness journalist Mackenzie L. Havey recounts her personal practice of meditative running and the influence it has had on her life. She taps a wide range of sources--from weekend warriors to Olympic runners, from coaches and sports psychologists to neuroscientists and meditation experts--to examine how training mental fitness through mindfulness can enhance your running practice and lead to a more contented existence. The research is clear: Mindfulness changes the very structure of the brain. Paired with physical training, mindful running has the potential to give you an edge when you're out logging miles, as well as help you hone the ability to exist in the present, endure challenges and hardship with ease and find greater happiness in all things big and small. Mindful running is a total body and mind fitness regimen with serious benefits that continue even when the race is over. Regardless of your fitness level, the Mindful Running process is the same: We focus in on the body, mind and surroundings and begin to notice what thoughts, feelings and sensations exist in that moment; we fathom that information, consider how it all fits together from a holistic standpoint, and decide if we need to make adjustments; and by following these steps we enter flow, a state that embodies present moment awareness, concentration, confidence, optimal performance and joy.
A must-read for anyone looking to improve performance and add richer meaning to the sport, activity and art of running. -- Dean Karnazes, ultra-marathoner and New York Times bestselling author
In this age of distraction, we would all benefit from being more present more often. Mackenzie L. Havey shows how and why to achieve this goal in your running, and how that practice can benefit you in your non-running hours. -- Scott Douglas, Runner's World contributing editor
Mindful Running is the bridge to using your body, mind and surroundings to get the most out of your running... -- Deena Kastor, Olympic medallist and US marathon and half-marathon record holder
From the very first page I was hooked. I loved this book. -- Terry Pearson, leading mindfulness instructor
Author
About Mackenzie L. Havey
Mackenzie L. Havey writes about endurance sports, mind/body health and wellness and adventure travel. Her work has appeared in Runner's World, SELF, Triathlete, TheAtlantic.com, ESPN.com, OutsideOnline.com and elsewhere. In addition to completing 14 marathons and an Ironman triathlon, she is a USA Track & Field-certified coach, an instructor in the Physical Activity Program in the School of Kinesiology at the University of Minnesota and has completed training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. She studied English at the College of St. Benedict and has a master's in kinesiology with an emphasis in sport and exercise psychology from the University of Minnesota. She lives with her husband, daughter and vizsla pup in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
