4 minutes, 40 minutes (a rule to get started and a rule to keep going)
I love running.
Not for the racing (which is fun and hard), not for the camaraderie (which is great), but for the simple joy and relaxation that comes from metronomic pace after metronomic pace. It is time to think about what I want to think about, to process the day, even just to get outside in the fresh air and get my legs turning over.
It’s rarely a chore, it’s rarely hard to get going. I don’t need a podcast, or music, or EDM set to my step cadence.
For all that, I do, sometimes, struggle to get out the door. When there is sleet outside, or when my kids have greatly reduced my sleep, or when the demands of the day have been high. Sometimes I need help to get going.
Two running rules: one gets you going and one keeps you going
Enter my two running rules: The 4 minute rule and the 40 minute rule.
The 4 Minute Rule gets you going.
The 4 minute rule was lore passed down from my Father (an actually talented runner, rather than simple enthusiast). He grew up in the golden age of middle distance running in New Zealand, imitating the Olympic heroes trained by Arthur Lydiard.
The 4 minute rule says: “If you don’t want to go then get your gear on, and set out for your workout.”
If after four minutes you still don’t want to be out there, then stop and walk home. No worries.
The 40 Minute Rule keeps you going.
The 40 minute rule comes from the writer Malcolm Gladwell. A famous running fan and talented runner.
The 40 minute rule says: “Nothing good happens before 40 minutes.”
40 minutes is the time that it takes for the endorphins to kick in, the reward to start, the happy chemicals to surge through the body. After the 4 minute rule has got you out the door, the 40 minute rule keeps you going. I know that the reward is coming if I just keep going.
Most of the time the joy kicks in well before 40 minutes.
Not just helpful for exercise
I have applied this dynamic to tasks of lots of areas of life. The practice of concentration, and particularly to times of quiet, times of prayer and times of solitude.
When I sit down to pray, the first four minutes are a barrage of thoughts, ideas spin, there is lots of [internal] noise. I have to get through the first four minutes, setting aside the urge to pick up my phone, or to do the tiny task I just thought of.
After four minutes I find myself settling into the quiet. I begin to breathe a little more deeply, sit a little more easily. After I get settled I aim to continue for 40 minutes. In the same way I may feel somewhat uneasy or distracted and want to stop, I know that if I carry on that the concentration or contemplation I am seeking will come - often, like running, long before 40 minutes.
Post Script (potential rebuttals)
Now 40 minutes of running may seem incomprehensible, a herculean task. The good news is that running is most rewarding when you are getting fit. In the initial hard stage of getting fit the body has rewards at the ready much earlier - endorphins aplenty.
Very occasionally the chemicals don’t kick in at all and the whole run is a struggle. This is admittedly a minor betrayal, but even so I have still done the thing I wanted to do and the thing I knew was good for me. So the rule has worked regardless.
If this has brought to mind anything that you would like to talk through or have help with please get in touch. Either choose a time or send an email via the contact form.
Sources of ideas and stories are acknowledged when used significantly unchanged. Underlying mental health concepts are from the Living Wisdom approach to Pastoral Counselling.