This season of Thanksgiving, I hope you take some time to think about your gratitude for running. Even when it’s hard, frustrating, windy, and cold, practicing intentional gratitude in running (and in all aspects of your life) can have many physical, psychological, and social benefits and even has the potential to improve performance.
So how do you intentionally include gratitude in your running routine? The overall principles of practicing gratitude are to acknowledge good things and explore where those good things come from. Here are three research-based gratitude exercises specifically for runners!
Incorporate gratitude into your running by using “gratitude intervals”: You might have heard of the gratitude mile in long distance running, where a runner intentionally moves their focus to things they are grateful for a mile of their long run or race. This strategy can distract from physical or psychological discomfort during a run, increase positive self-talk, and ultimately promote positive emotions.
But you don’t have to do it for a mile – this strategy can be used in any duration of interval. Focus on the things you are grateful for about running and/or things you are grateful for in your life for a specific period of time. This may make the time pass quicker and improve your mood and performance on the rest of your run!
Incorporate gratitude into your training log by trying a gratitude journal: A gratitude journal involves regular journaling about things you are thankful for. Runners can incorporate this into their regular training log by taking time at the end of each run to note things that they were grateful for about this run. This could include gratitude for a training partner or time alone, running performance, the weather, people in our life that make it possible for you to run, or even gratitude for pieces of running equipment that you love.
Incorporate gratitude into your weekly routine by doing a “three good things” exercise: Very similar to gratitude journaling, this exercise involves identifying and describing three good things that happened in a given period of time. For runners, identify three good things that happened on runs this week, describe the good thing, and provide an explanation of why these things went well.
Gratitude is about recognizing good things, not ignoring or dismissing bad things! If you begin practicing one (or more) of these gratitude exercises, you might notice improvements in stress levels, relationships, sleep, or even running performance. I hope you take time to think about all the good things about running this Thanksgiving and throughout the year—even when it’s hard and frustrating and cold!
This article originally appeared in 2022 in The Connection, TCM's weekly e-newsletter. Subscribe here.
Hayley Russell, PhD, is a Certified Mental Performance Consultant, runner, and professor of health and exercise psychology at Gustavus Adolphus College. She is one of the team of Motion Experts TCM has gathered to help its subscribers and participants get the most out of their running. Have a question for Hayley: [email protected] or visit psychologyofrunning.com.