Knowing how you think on the run can improve your workouts—and your mood.
Running is the ultimate power vacation—no BlackBerrys, no kids, no bosses. But all’s not quiet in the brain while you’re pounding the pavement. In fact, you’re performing mind acrobatics: problem-solving, making your to-do list, even drifting to a calm state. “Running gives you the freedom to access those inner processes that the busy outer world often robs you of,” says James P. Brennan, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of human behavior at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
