Silence Fell

It takes a lot to shut my brain up.   Usually only sleep and even then not so much.   I can never do just one thing at a time.  I usually like to have multiple things happening at once because focusing on one thing just seems silly.  My mother would tell you that’s how I avoid things.

Even running, my brain is never silent.  I run thinking all the while how hard it feels.  Or on good days, how easy it feels.  I think about my shoes or how my shorts fit.  Do I look funny in this outfit?  What am I going to eat for dinner?  Do I want to cheat or be good?  How can I talk about this run in a blog post?  Is it even worthy of that? Oh look, there’s that person who glares at me every time we pass each other.  What did I do?  How was work?  What more do I have to get done tomorrow, have things been going ok or do I need to make adjustments?  When’s that system upgrade happening again? I need to make sure we are ready.  How’s my pace? Am I running too slow or too fast?  And so on and so forth.  For all the miles, all the time.    I just can’t shut up.   🙂IMG_0106Thursday was kind of a funny day.  I had finally listened to my soreness from Firehouse and rested on Tuesday and Wednesday so I was looking forward to getting in a few miles after work.   I was feeling better but still sore- I think the trail re-aggravated my hamstring issue- so I was just aiming for an easy run as opposed to the speed work on the plan.   Previously mentioned system upgrade started that day and I was supposed to attend a business mixer after work but I just didn’t feel I had the capacity to mingle.  I was feeling very off, not cranky but not exactly sociable.   I decided to pass on the mixer and just run.   But I could not decide where to run.  I wasn’t feeling work town so I headed to the lake path.  However when I got there I just kept driving.  Ok, guess I wasn’t feeling that either.  I ended up at the river path and really wasn’t expecting much.  5 miles later, I was done.  IMG_0105I stretched out some and went home.  It wasn’t until later that it hit me, I hadn’t thought of a single thing during that run.   No work thoughts, no blog thoughts, no body thoughts, no life worries, not even any running thoughts, nothing.    I just ran.   And my brain was quiet and calm.  So quiet.

That’s not to say that I was unresponsive to my surroundings.    I remember nodding to everyone I passed.  I looked both ways before crossing each intersection and there were 10.  I dodged a praying mantis and then a stink bug about 20 yards later.   I recall wrinkling my nose and trying not to breathe deeply when the smell from the brewery hit me in the face.*  I saw that the guy driving the lifted Chevy was likely to blow through the cross walk but I wasn’t even mad when he did.    My earphones fell out of my ears but I just put them back in and kept running.  Normally these last few things would piss me off and linger for awhile.   I even changed my route and ran more on the trail than normal just because.  It wasn’t really a conscious decision, I just did it. IMG_0140It was nice to not think.   It really was.  How do I make that happen more often?  I don’t even know what prompted it this time.  🙂       I checked my splits the next day and was pretty pleased with what I saw.  Don’t give mile 4 too much credit, gravity was very helpful.  🙂

Now those annoyances- my headphones.  I recently purchased wireless ear buds because I was tired of getting tangled in my other ones.   The new ones are worse.  I cannot get them to stay in my ears at all.  I know I have odd ears but come on!   I have switched the little rubber pieces 3x.  Ugh.   *The smell- a local brewery is having a little problem so as a result there has been a yeasty stench wafting around town for the last month or so.   Sometimes it hits when you least expect it.   😦

How was your weekend?

Any headphone suggestions?

Ever run yourself silent?

30 thoughts on “Silence Fell”

  1. Sounds amazing. I almost never had runs where I don’t think. I’m constantly buzzing with random thoughts!

    I wear Yurbuds Sport headphones. They have a little hook that goes over your ear and keeps them in place. They are the only headphones I can wear (I have to have that hook!) all other earbuds fall right out of my weird-shaped ears.

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    1. It so nice, I wonder how long I will have to go until I am lucky enough to get another silent run. 🙂

      I have a pair of yurbuds I bought a few years ago but they rarely stayed in my ears. Plus the cord was freaky long. I may have to dig them out for race weekend though. That is if I can find them. 🙂

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  3. I use the cheap $10 ear candy ear buds and they work as good as anything else that I’ve tried. It’s funny, but I think of nothing at all when I run. sometimes I try to think about things because I hear all these stories about people solving their life problems on the run. But I can’t do it! My mind just wants to turn off for that one part of my day.

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    1. I get funny looks when people find out that I still use the ear buds that came with my iPhone a few years ago. I just hate them less than the others I guess. I hear those stories too and wonder how they do that. I may be thinking all through out my run but rarely retain much of it. Maybe I should run with a notepad? Ha!

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    1. Not thinking was so nice but maybe it is only so nice because it is rare? Thanks, I think I may have to go with pair that has one of those hook/loops over the ear. It might be the only way they stay in!

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  5. I’m glad you were able to switch off your inner noise. I have a major problem with that too. I’ve been meaning to purchase some wireless earbuds, so if you find some good ones, let us know! And also, I run by a brewery on most of my runs, but I love the malty smell that usually emanates from it–no yeast problems that I know of!

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    1. I could handle a malty smell, this reeks! They have admitted they have a problem and are working on correcting it and for the most part I can ignore it. It’s just been super windy here lately so every now and again, it hits you. I actually find it kind of funny but a bunch of people are ticked. As for ear buds, I am scoping out the options online, fingers crossed!

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  6. I do think about stuff when I run, but it’s just random thoughts bouncing around up there and once the run is over they’re gone. I would liken it to a dream: at the time of the dream you know you’re dreaming, but once you wake up you can’t remember 90% of it because it doesn’t stick in your memory. That’s how my run thoughts are. I always wished I could be like those people who talk about having their best ideas and greatest epiphanies on runs, but oh well. It is what it is.

    I have a regular old pair of ear buds. I’ve just learned to tolerate the dangling cord. I don’t run with music that often.

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    1. Great description! There are times I come up with what I think are great ideas or blog posts on my run but can barely remember any of it when I sit down to write.
      For the most part I can deal with the cord but it goes wrong, it goes really wrong, I tend to almost throw my phone. Unintentionally. Plus now that I upgraded my phone, it is harder to get in my belt with the headphones. But these are not major problems at all.

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  7. I love the “silent” running days. I don’t have them as often as I would like. I have similar thoughts as well. Lately they’ve been around, “how am I ever going to be able to run any further?!”

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    1. Oh, I still have that thought every run. I always start by telling myself I only have to run 3. If I am miserable after 3, I will let myself quit. Sometimes I forget to take into account how far I am from start though.

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  8. I constantly have thoughts running through my mind when I run too. It’s really hard to turn them off. I’ve only had a few runs where my brain just turns off but it’s so random when it happens, I have no idea how to make it happen more :/
    I could never find good earphones for my ears either… so I just started running without music. It was hard at first but now I’m used to it!

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    1. Yeah, I don’t recall doing anything differently that day so I am not sure what prompted such a peaceful run. I’ll just have to live on the memories for a while. 🙂
      Sometimes I feel like I hardly listen to the music but I still like it there. Plus now that I have finally learned how to use Siri from the headphones, they can be pretty useful when I have to text while running. 🙂

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  9. If you want to invest in a good pair I 100% recommend the Bose sport headphones. If you don’t want to spend that much the Yurbuds are a great alternative. Glad to hear you had a great run!!

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    1. I had a pair of Yurbuds with a cord that I didn’t like but I have been hearing good things about the wireless so I may check those out. I would love a pair of Bose but I am so abusive with my headphones, I just can’t rationalize the expense. That said, my current pair that came with my iPhone have lasted 2 years. 🙂
      Thank you!

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  10. Your brain while running sounds just like mine!! I’m impressed that you managed a run with a clear mind… that sounds incredible. If you can figure out how you managed to make it happen, let me know! 🙂

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  11. Love your blog! I run track and cross country at my college and long blank minded runs are what reminds me why I run! I use normal iphone headphones but wrap the wire around my sports bra so they don’t bounce around and that works for me!
    I have a newish blog about some of my workouts and I make playlists with all different music that link how I feel. I’d love it if you could check it out and let me know what you think! https://running2thebeat.wordpress.com/

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    1. Thank you! That run was a very nice change, the ones since have returned to being noisy but that’s ok too. I will probably end up going back to my iPhone ear buds just because they annoy me the least. 🙂 Maybe it wouldn’t be as bad if I wore both but I usually only wear the left one and tuck the right one under my sports bra strap. I love new playlists and will check it out, thanks!

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  13. I absolutely LOVE that feeling. It doesn’t happen often, but it’s such a peaceful place to get to. Strangely enough the place I most often run myself silent is on the treadmill. (I think I just completely zone out!)

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