I Listened to the Same Song on Repeat for 22 Miles of the NYC Marathon and 675 Times During Training

As the goings got tougher and terrain, elevation, temperature, humidity, precipitation, you name it, changed, having this song on repeat was the one constant I could always fall to in the background to regain my flow and control. Below is my story and 6 ways to find your flow when running or training.

Shout out to Spotify Year in Review for reassuring me that listening to “Rise!” by Tyler, The Creator 675 times last year was reasonable. 🙃

I embarked on my marathon journey during the spring of 2021, and I was ready to take on the oft talked about, and oft dreaded, long run. I spent time the night before my first long run setting up a crafted playlist of all my favorite songs and the bangers that would get me through the finish line.

At that point, I wasn’t quite approaching the long run for its intended purpose. I was going out there to run those miles as fast as I possibly could, collect my “Kudos” on Strava like I was on the podium at the Olympics, and meet-up at a poppin’ brunch spot for some avocado toast and a stack of pancakes as I demolish them with some swagger. I did it.

That lasted for two weeks until I realized that my legs were destroyed for days afterwards. The kicker is that those long runs were only 7 and 8 miles (womp womp).

Left to Right: 6/10/21 7 mile long and 6/19/21 8 mile run heart rate data.

Something had to give before my body did. So I did my research and learned the true purpose of the long run: time on feet and building a base of aerobic fitness and endurance with the right heart rate zone or perceived effort. Running didn’t always need to be hard.

I changed my approach by slowing down and monitoring my heart rate around 65–75 HR max and a perceived effort around a 4–5 out of 10 (or at a conversational pace).

I slowed down my pace, and I still ate and enjoyed the heck out of my brunch pancakes and avocado toast but now my sense of reward was the long game. Slowing down will build the endurance I needed to run 26.2 in October and the strength in my legs to stay free from injury all training long.

But on my second run with this new approach I noticed I was getting distracted. The slower tempo running opened a window of opportunity for my mind to wander. As songs shuffled through my playlist, my mind wandered, and my focus drifted, my heart rate and effort quickly creeped up. No matter how much I slowed down or even if I stopped entirely, my heart rate would just climb back up again.

I continued that run and accepted that “it just be like that.” The rest of my run was out of my control.

Interestly enough, that changed on one of my next long runs as Tyler, The Creator’s new track “Rise!” shuffled on my playlist. Something about the rhythmic tune, the frequent lines of inspiration, Tyler talking his sh*t, and Daisy World’s bridge reassuring me that if I fail, there’s always tomorrow circled through my head as my steps got lighter and lighter.

My heart rate dropped back to range without affecting my pace. For the first time on a long run, I found flow and a sense of control. I asked Siri to play the song on repeat and I finished the run on my terms.

From left to right: 7/2/21 vs 7/17/21 heart rate data, both 10 miles, but the right is when I found my flow. Starting to get a hang of it!

Flow is the mental state of being fully immersed while performing an activity and something I’ve always been interested in since wanting to pursue sports psychology in high school and ultimately majoring in Psychology at The University of Pennsylvania.

The inconsistent shuffling and skipping of songs through my playlist changed my rhythm, pacing, tempo, and scattered my cognitive processes— taking me out of my run. From that point on, I listened to that song on repeat for every long run.

And as the goings got tougher and terrain, elevation, temperature, humidity, precipitation, you name it, grew harsh, having that song on repeat was the one constant I could always fall on in the background to regain my flow and control. Long runs got easier and for the first time I found enjoyment ticking off the miles week by week.

Moving ahead to the 2021 NYC Marathon, my second marathon ever in the first year of my marathon journey, I crafted two playlists. One titled “RUN YOUR RACE/FIND YOUR FLOW” with songs to find inspiration from. The other titled “RACE TIME” for when I was ready for my final push.

But it took 22 miles for me to realize I was still listening to “Rise!” and I asked Siri to change playlists. I crossed the line with a personal best of 3:01:08 listening to “Alter Ego” by Duke Dumont on repeat for those final 2.4 miles.

Now, you don’t need to listen to the same song on repeat (especially since listening to a song 675 times in 6 months doesn’t get you a one-on-one dinner with Tyler, The Creator at Nobu unless the invite went to spam) but there are other ways that you can find your flow while running:

1. Count your breaths or count your steps. This can help you find a rhythm with your running. I slightly prefer counting breaths over steps because counting your steps could make you think about the heaviness or fatigue in your legs. Also, controlled breathing is a practice that can help deliver nutrient-rich oxygen to your body and help reduce effort. More often than not, runners will hold their breath, raise their shoulders, and take short and heavy breaths — thus increasing your stress response and heart rate.
2. Fixate your gaze on something 50 to 100 meters ahead of you like a cross walk, stop sign, parked car, fence post, or tree. Once you run past that marker, fixate your gaze on the next marker ahead of you (preferably the same kind of object), and repeat. What we do here is move your mental focus on an immovable object to avoid head and eye wander. Use this as an opportunity to clear your thoughts and just run. You can fixate on a marker further out as you get better at this technique.
3. Break up the total mileage into shorter intervals to mentally message the long run. Instead of a 10 mile run, you are running five two mile runs, or two five mile runs. A 15 mile run turns into three five mile runs!
4. Before you run, write down any tasks you have to complete when you get back to reduce the cognitive processing you have to do to remember those things. This practice before bed has been shown to improve quality of sleep, too.
5. Find a consistent weekly route. I’m a big fan of routine and simplification of things that I don’t feel it necessary to expend energy on. Similar to listening to the same song on repeat, running the same route each week gives you something to fall back on to find your flow. At the very least, map out your run the night before to ease the mental stress of navigating.
6. Find or craft a playlist with similar beats per minute (BPM) and adjust the crossfade to the highest setting.

Hope this article was helpful! As always don’t be afraid to hit me up with questions on Instagram, Twitter, or email (darren@thesessionnyc.com).