Running Flow

During my ongoing literature review I often discover interesting facts about things I’ve never thought about. Sometimes I can connect these facts with my own observations: The result is mostly a completely new idea why things are as they are. Maybe these ideas are new to you, too. Therefore I’ll share my new science based knowledge with you!

This week: This time, I think about how the state of flow is beneficial to achieve great things.

On Thursday evening, I managed to set a new time record for my current running route. In general, this is nothing special as I constantly try to improve my time. This time, however, I was able to observe how I was motivated by a state of flow.

According to Csikszentmihalyi [1], a state of flow can occur when a person is challenged by clear goals and rules, and is provided with enough feedback about the own progress. Morever, flow can also occur when a person fully exhausts the own skills and abilities in order to overcome a challenge. The process of working towards these clear goals or working at the very limits of the own skill level can lead to a very satisfying experience which is described as the state flow.

Therefore, running can be an ideal flow activity as setting own goals and working at the very limits of the own skill level can easily be achieved. Amongst other things, runners can try to reach new distances, to run for a certain distance without stopping or to keep up a certain pace. After having defined the own goals, runners constantly get feedback during their runs as they can compare their current progress with their goal in mind. The runner’s feedback depends on the goal and can be the arrival at a certain point of the route or a very good time for a certain distance.

In my very own case, I was frequently comparing the distance I have covered with the time I needed and constantly felt rewarded by my good pace. After having completed more than two thirds, I realized that I could achieve a very good time for this route and I felt even more energized. However, I have not expected the unexpected: two walkers got lost in this forest and needed help. Dang it! Although this was a setback, I remained in a state of flow and was very satisfied as I realized that my time was still very good. In the end, I achieved a new time record for this running route, but it could have been even better!

[1] Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (2010): Flow : Das Geheimnis des Glücks, 15. edit., Stuttgart.