Here but not there?

October 14, 2006 4:10 PM

Unconscious Process Filter: What's happening when I'm in the running "zone"?

I've been a regular runner for over 30 years. For about the last ten years or so I've had this experience where from time to time while running I'll get lost in my thoughts to such a degree that I lose conscious awareness of my surroundings and will come out of it a mile or so down the trail with no recollection of the territory I've covered.

This occurs both while road and trail running but is more likely to occur while running on trails. During this time I am "unconscious" I must watch my footing, run uphill, and occasionally negotiate difficult terrain.

In order to access this state I usually focus on some problem or life situation and get into an extensive fantasy on the subject. Today's thoughts focused on a problem with a relationship with a friend. Again, during the this time I'm in this thought/fantasy, I keep running but am not conscious of my surroundings.

My wife says she has had similar experiences while driving. I'm not sure it's the same thing.

What's going on here? Is this similar to the state that some get into while listening to trance music? Has anyone been able adapt this state to other situations or contexts?

posted by Xurando to Grab Bag (8 answers total)

Everything you ever wanted to know about this state is explored in a fascinating book called "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.
posted by ROTFL at 4:15 PM on October 14, 2006 [1 favorite]

It's your brain putting your body on auto-pilot, and doing a damn fine job of it. Your wife is right, this also happens to people while driving or doing other kinds of repetitive, mindless labor.
posted by chrisamiller at 4:46 PM on October 14, 2006

This happens to me in any number of situations -- reading a book, watching TV, etc. I can get to the end of a page and think, "WTF am I doing? I just missed the last four paragraphs, but I'm certain I had to 'read' them to get where am I now..."
posted by frogan at 5:03 PM on October 14, 2006

Daniel C. Dennett offered a theory about this in his book Conciousness Explained. I can't do justice to his ideas here, but basically he argues that consciousness is assembled after the fact from perceptions that become fixed in our minds; when you're on "autopilot," your mind doesn't need to assemble its perceptions and decisions into conscious experience, so it doesn't bother. In the book, Dennett offers some psychological studies that support this model.
posted by mbrubeck at 5:26 PM on October 14, 2006

There is a theory that extended exercise like running stimulates the production of the neurotransmitter anandamide, which helps with pain relief. Cannabis binds to the same neurotransmitter receptor sites.
posted by alexei at 12:08 AM on October 15, 2006

I suspect that it's similar to what your wife experiences during driving, the same thing happens to me. However, you probably also get the benefit of the "runner's high" which is sorely lacking from my driving experience.

Similar, but not quite the same; at least until I get a NO2 system and hook it up to my AC system instead of the engine.
posted by revgeorge at 7:43 AM on October 15, 2006

If you're going to be breathing it, it'd better be N₂0, and not NO₂. People who don't know the difference qualify for Darwin Awards.
posted by Mr. Gunn at 3:23 PM on October 15, 2006

I've had the same thing during driving... I'll sort of snap out of it and think "jesus, was that light green that I just went through??" - it's scary.
posted by antifuse at 3:39 AM on October 16, 2006