“If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.” -Abraham Maslow

I’ve never enjoyed running in a hat.

Nothing against hats. In fact, i own many of them and wear them frequently – just not for running. And again, I have nothing against those who do run in hats (I’m quite certain that “Big Daddy” runs in a hat most times, and I’ve also witnessed “Trail Guy” in a hat once or twice out on the trail), it’s just not for me. With that said, I thought I’d throw on a hat to enhance my visibility the other morning.

I could not have anticipated the impact such an innocuous decision would have on my running.

I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately with my running. Over the past couple of weeks, running has been laborious and (mostly) unenjoyable. The many parts of my body never seemed to be in sync with each other; the right side of my body and the left side of my body have not been getting along, and the bottom half of my body has been sick and tired of carrying the top half of my body around all the time. Head, shoulders, knees, and toes (knees and toes) have all been achy before, during, and after runs. Breathing has been forced, and pace has been sluggish. In other words, running had not been going well. Until I donned the magic hat.

I do not believe the hat itself possesses any magical powers (though it’d be cool if it did, right?), but something happened when I ran with that hat upon my head. I felt like a different runner. I made one accessory change that, though small, completely changed what I felt like while running. Just having the pressure of a hat around my head gave me a whole new sensation. Because I felt differently, I ran differently. Technically, I don’t know if my body was moving in a different way, but psychologically I felt different. I felt like a new runner; like one with no memory of how dreadful the last couple weeks have been.

Although this transformation happened entirely by accident, I hope to remember this trick for the future. There will be more funks, after all.