Remember The Good Times

Fast finisher or quick starter? How to make fond memories, no matter what your pace...

- Ross Tucker

Lacking motivation? How you manage your effort during runs could be the culprit. Daniel Kahneman won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2002, for his work on human judgment and decision-making. He’s neither a sports scientist nor a coach; but his research might just change the way you think.

In one of his studies, participants had to immerse their hands in unpleasantly cold water for 60 seconds on one visit, and for 90 seconds on another. But for the longer immersion, the temperature was increased a little after 60 seconds to make the final 30 seconds slightly more pleasant.

Then Kahneman asked participants to choose which trial they’d prefer to repeat, and the majority chose the longer one. Note that this isn’t ‘rational’, because the 90-second cold-water immersion involved all the same pain as the 60-second immersion – plus it lasted 30 seconds longer, albeit at a slightly more comfortable temperature.