Above The Neck or Below?

I read somewhere, a while back, that runners have two distinct techniques for settling into long runs or races. Apparently there are "neck up" and "neck down" people.

The "neck up" people live only in their heads during the race. They trust their breathing, pacing, heart-rate, and overall physicality will function on auto-pilot while they think about other things. They think about positive things, grocery shopping, what they'll do after they finish the race, a funny story or joke a friend told them, etc. Generally speaking, they don't spend much time thinking about their bodies at all.

The "neck down" people continuously monitor, gauge, and adjust things like heart-rate, pacing, breathing etc. They may spend two full miles worth of running just thinking about the air going in their nose and out their mouth. The next two miles might be spent thinking about how far they lift their feet off the ground between steps. Another two miles might be spent thinking about how much they swing their arms, and focus on holding them at a 90 degree angle. These runners hardly spend any time thinking outside of their body and how it is performing in the moment. There aren't pep-talks when approaching a hill. Instead, the runner focuses in picking up the feet, maybe slowing down the pace a little, and taking larger, fuller breaths.

I bring this up because I wonder if one or the other is more successful. I wonder how many people combine these two strategies. I have to say, I don't think you choose one or the other - I think you just *are* one or the other. I am a 'neck-up" runner. I think about everything except running. I listen to my music and sing along, do  few little dance moves. The only thing that relates to the running is how long the songs should be so I feel like the run isn't too long. I prefer four or five minute songs when running, rather than two and a half or three minute songs. I, however, am not a very successful runner... so maybe my "neck-up" approach isn't the right one.

Maybe I'll conduct a poll of my runner friends to see what they think about. I also wonder if it goes across all athletic activities. I'd be interested to learn if people in team sports have a similar strategy for coping with endurance.

What Have You Done For Me Lately?

Honestly, I've been struggling with diet and exercise lately. I started a new job, and the first several weeks were such a transition period that, while I was doing my best in the situation, I took a few missteps. However, this week I am feeling very powerful and focused.

I hadn't run in a while... I managed to run a tiny bit while I was away, but after that, ehhhh not so much. I had a conversation with my body and said "let's do two miles today." It was a tall order considering I hadn't had a heart rate over 80 bpm in quite a while.

My body came through. It was hard, but I did it. This got me thinking about inner-strength. What have you asked your body to do lately? Your body wants to work for you... just like it morphs into a squishy blob to accommodate your unhealthy ways, it will work for you to make you healthy if you ask it to.

I imagine that asking your body for the seemingly impossible is the key to running a marathon... for some people, it may be the key to walking a quarter mile... it's all relative. Is there something that seems impossible that you could ask your body to do for you? I know that my two mile run didn't seem impossible, it just seemed tough; it was. So... what impossible thing should I ask my body to do. I don't mean actually impossible... like running a marathon with no training or something like that... but something attainable that just seems a little out of reach.

Here are a few things I think fall into this category:

1. Spend an hour on the arc trainer at the highest level (10)
2. Hike a 4000 footer in the time the guide book estimates
3. Bike to/from work three days a week (16.5 miles round trip)

I am planning to work on all three of these in the next few months... I just need to have a talk with my body first.