Time on Feet

Mission: Connect an obscure distance running concept to our wellness journey

Tighten your seatbelts, ladies and gentleman.

The term is one I learned as I started to get into ultra-running, which is running distances longer than a marathon.

Time on feet.

“Say what?” I asked when first introduced to the concept.

Time on feet is a divergence from the way running performance is usually measured, where the time on the clock and the distance covered are the two things that matter.

You might run mountain run where you only cover ½ of the expected distance over a 4-hour run. Maybe the terrain is so tough and the run is so long that you spend most of the time walking. (Runners hate to admit when this happens.) The run simply gets logged as “Beautiful terrain. Time on Feet = 4 hours”.

Time on feet is a reminder for the ultra athlete that simply persevering, simply pushing on, simply not giving up has replaced the things your smartwatch tracks and the numbers usually uploaded to Strava.

Time on feet is an exercise in letting go of the idea that “how far” and “how fast” define success.

Time on feet recognizes one’s effort as a new measure of success.

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Time on feet applied to your wellness:

Today, try practicing a simple re-focusing of what you feel is needed for success.

Work/school: Give yourself grace as you consider time on feet translated to your “to-do” list.

“Accomplish X, Y, and Z” becomes “Give my all toward X, Y and Z getting done.”

Wellness: Apply the time on feet principle to your wellness goals for today and this week.

“Eat X number of calories, walk for Y minutes, and get Z amount of sleep” becomes “Eat, walk and sleep for health today”.

Play with this today.

            Play today.

                        Play.

Time on feet allows us to relax a bit, smile, and become a child again. Things that were chores, tasks, “to-do’s” now become play. A sacred dance where gentleness and forgiveness toward self are two of the primary goals.

May time on feet enhance your efforts and self-care today.

You don't even need to spend hours out on the trails.

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Epilogue

Why do ultra-runners use time on feet in the first place? They do so because it is actually more consistent with success than relying on traditional parameters such as distance traveled and minute/mile pace. A workout defined by “Time on feet = 4 hours” in preparation for a race that is expected to be 8-hours in duration is more important than exact mileage. It is a measure of mental and physical aspects that being on one’s feet for 4 hours does to strengthen. Time on feet is not done in defeat, but rather as a way to ensure victory where the new set of rules are about enduring and not giving up as opposed to being about speed.

So, as you apply time on feet to your day, you are honoring this same aspect of your journey. Taking the arbitrary parameters our jobs and neighbors (and even our doctors) give for success, remixing them to be more consistent with your values and the things that ultimately matter. That, my friends, is the real path to success.