Steve Magness defines unproductive time, or “the in-between moments” as he calls them, as “the idle chit-chat where connection begins. The moments of boredom where ideas develop. The coffee conversation that runs long. The long bus trips killing time after the meet. Where bonds are formed and ideas percolate.”
We live in a world where we are constantly preparing for what’s next and when we’ve gotten to what’s next, we are already preparing our minds for what comes after that.
Are high school distance runners not the biggest culprits of this? We anticipate the run we have later today. Then we have a warm-up in order for that run to accomplish what it’s supposed to. Near the end of that run, we’re anticipating the post-run work we have after the run. On the way home from practice, we’ll contemplate the homework we have to do, but not until we eat the right dinner and shower. Then, after the homework is completed, we get all our stuff ready for the next day and wish we would’ve done that earlier so that we get the 8 hours of sleep that everyone says you need to get.
But wait, we haven’t had enough socialization yet, so we scroll on our phones for a few hours and then get those 5 hours of sleep that everyone says will be our ruin.
Tomorrow, we wake up and then do it all over again. Minute by minute we are actually doing the productivity, or we’re thinking about it. And as we get closer to the post-season, our productivity time only increases because now extra stress has entered our daily routine as if the American high schooler doesn’t already have enough of that.
So where’s the downtime? Where are the thoughts and ideas supposed to start to percolate, not become applicable, but just be thoughts and ideas that we have? Why do we insist that every waking moment has to have a purpose? Or in distance running context, why is everything we do measured? We measure each interval and make sure we do it in the exact time we want to. And if we’re not actually running at the time, we stop our watches. And once we begin again, they come back on. This insures us that every single step we take is measured and accounted.
Yes, us distance runners lead a measured life for sure.
But is this bad? Is this NOT the right way to live the life of a distance runner? I’ll never admit to that, but what if we didn’t follow this path for a moment or two? What if we just went on a run with no distance or pace or agenda in mind? We if we just Forrest Gumped it?
While very productive still, yes, it may not seem like the means to an end, but just a run. Your mind wanders a bit; ideas percolate; your chit-chat with your teammates becomes a connection with them; and maybe, just maybe, for a brief moment, you don’t have a worry in the world. What if that happened? To quote Magness, “We don’t need to measure everything. We don’t need to score or judge every moment of our life. Sometimes we just need to be. To live it. To sit in the silence or let the conversation linger or go on that run without any distractions….and simply be there.”
In essence, allow yourself to feel the fun rather than have fun. Science journalist and author Catherine Price said that “Fun is a feeling, not an activity.” Most of us try to have fun, but few of us feel the fun. Do that for yourself in the next couple of weeks as the end of the season looms.
You’ve worked hard to get to this point in your running and you’ve also worked hard to get to this point in being a kid. So make those two equitable to each other. Make both have importance in marginally defining you.
As we descend upon the post-season here in Kansas, don’t forget to have some unproductive moments runners. Those may not be able to be accomplished in your runs as those are a means to an end and, probably, most measured right now. But sit outside for a little while. Just watch and listen to the world. Allow your mind to not have an agenda. Set your phone aside. Take off your watch. Just be natural for a moment and not distracted by the need to optimize something. Be thankful that it’s unproductive and you get no benefit nor detriment from it. You just exist in the moment. I bet you’ll be satisfied with that moment.
Don’t forget to have fun, and be a little unproductive in the process, Kansas. See you on the course.
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