RUNNERS--what do you think of when you're running?

Curious to know...what do you guys think of when you're running?  I usually run and try to keep myself motivated with phrases like "just keep running" "only 30 minutes" etc. etc.  

Anyone else do something similar?  Any daydreamers out there?

Running in the park I go music free so I can be aware of my surroundings, being a chick and all. Here's what my thoughts are basically: "hit the gravel and grass, duck poop duck poop duck poop, dog poop (stupid owner), dodge hole/bump/hill, my head is light as helium, suck core in to stablize back, close mouth, control breath, close mouth, guy in hoodie, weird guy in hoddie, switch pepper spray to other hand, eye contact to guy in hoddie, run run, light as helium, cute doggie, cute couple, close mouth, don't stop 'til you reach that light pole..."   a loop something like that.  8  )

I find treadmill running extremely difficult specifically because I can't zone out! When I am running outside my mind will wander so much I more or less forget I am running. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned playing out conversations so they always end with you getting that great zinger in there... yeah I do that too! I also make a lot of mental lists.

I don't normally run with music and I find it much easier to drift away. Makes the time pass much more quickly on long runs.

I always listen to music while running.  In general I choose albums that are at the same pace of my footfalls, so I can run to the beat.  Depending on how intense of a run I want, I will choose faster music, as I tend to fall in with the beat no matter what (weird but true!)

When I start to get tired but want to keep pushing, I tell myself, "I will run hard to the end of this song, then fast walk a song".  Often I will space out, then be halfway through the next song and decide, "ok, I will run till the end of this song, then fast walk the next song."  And keep doing that.  It works really well for motivation!

Monalisamonkey... you made me laugh!  Thanks.  

I always listen to music and have a running chant in my head... why am I doing this?  why am I doing this?  :-)  Sometimes, if I get discouraged, tired, or have a negative feeling, I try to create a mental image of what the negative thing is ... for instance a pain looks alot like the Weight Watchers hungry fuzzy monster on the tv commerials... and I tell him to sit down and shut up, I am finishing this run.... LOL. 

If your side hurts, it usually means you're not getting enough oxygen. I've been told that you should either be sure you're getting enough air, or slow down a little. (They're also called 'side stitches' or 'stitches in the side' or just 'stitches')

Thanks Jen, sounds like you put some humor into your run as well! If I want to sprint I pretend one of those creepy guys are following me, maybe I should picture your fuzzy monster instead.

Original Post by alyssa2012:

I'm a huuuge daydreamer! Especially on my long runs (10-15 miles...gets boring) Some days I NEED my ipod and some days I literally play fairytale in my head lol. Or I'll think about things I wish I could say to people. Have you ever played out an argument in your head? Or even just a conversation? It always ends the way you want it to haha! yeah, sometimes I find I've done that and run farther than I intended to just because I was totally zoned out.

OMG alyssa, you and I are freakishly similar!!

yesterday in mile three this thread popped through my mind =)

i let my mind drift, i can think many different things in one run.  i also think about what i need to do that day like yesterday i was thinking what i needed at the store.

i also think where will this run bring me towards weekly mileage.

I find the best thing to do is break your time up in your head. 

If you have music it's a huge help - I dont like the sound of my breathing when I run so I always have my ipod. Also, if you are not on a treadmill, I find if you know your route - you can push yourself and say its only another 1 song til home. Or just around the block. If you get bored - change your route up a bit. Keep yourself guessing about how long you have to go til you get home. If you keep your run interesting - mixing up speed and distance if is much easier to do. 

Also, I read up on website and magazines about form. If you are thinking about the position of your head and correctly swinging your arms back and forth and not side to side you can make your run more effective!!!!

But best thing... imagine how good you're gonna look after a month of running! Clothes feel grrrrreat!

Ha - Excellent! 

I think that too even if I have music... 

Running is such an amazing way to shut the stress and strain of the day off and just sweat sweat sweat! 

That's creepy...I daydream too XD

I almost ran into a fence once, because I wasn't paying enough attention.

Short goals :) ...Exactly what I do!! ...AND when I feel like slowing down/quiting in the first 10min (not cuz I'm tired but cuz my emotional state of mind decides to throw rocks at what needs to be done) I pick up a few of the what I call "power songs" on my ipod and it keeps me going for an hour, sometimes I don't really wanna stop ehehe; I keep telling myself "ok, just 10 more minutes" then when those run out "there's ONLY 20 more minutes, u've already ran 40, 20 more is a piece of cake GO GO GO!!!"

Hey, I read this and wanted to post it up...

On a scorching August day, running along the Hudson I passed a sign: "Runners: Free T-shirt for Interview."

I stopped and agreed to be interviewed. A sports apparel company was interviewing runners for a commercial. They had constructed a small plywood hut with the cameras inside that was air-conditioned. They had me wear a shirt over the one I had been running in to cover their competitor's logo.

The interviewer sat facing me just to the side of the camera, clipboard in hand. He perfunctorily asked questions, which I answered, not sure if I should look at him or the camera. The questions were good, along the lines of why I ran, what about it I enjoyed, how running made me feel, how I prepared for a big run, etc. He was doing his job and hardly looked up to look at me.

Until my answer to one question. He almost dropped the clipboard and did drop the unemotional tenor. He looked at me and said, "I've been asking the same questions for two days straight, hearing the same answers over and over. But your answer I haven't heard, and frankly it's the best one I've heard."

His question:

"Distance runners hit a wall, maybe it's at twenty miles, maybe going up a big hill. What do you do to get past the wall?"

My answer:

"My life is good. It's not always easy, though. The things that are hard I don't always have control over. But getting through the challenges is what makes me who I am.

The reason I run is for the wall."

He asked me to continue so I did:

"The first fifteen miles are to push myself so that at miles eighteen, nineteen, and twenty, I find out who I am. If I run ten miles I get exercise, which is nice. After fifteen miles, my legs say stop. Then my lungs. Then my mind. By mile twenty, every part of me except an inner voice says to stop. That voice is me. Everything else is secondary -- legs, lungs, other thoughts. I run to challenge myself to find that voice so I can learn who I am and be myself under whatever conditions.

I've learned to enjoy something more challenging than most of what life throws at me. Everything else is fun in comparison."

I thought that was why people ran. It's not fun like a team sport.

In any case, they were out of free shirts in my size.

When I run on my treadmill, I don't really think of anything because I'm usually too enthralled by the anime series I play on the DVD player. Inuyasha is awesome.

When I'm outside running, my though patterns vary. I can daydream for a good half of the run; admiring nature and all its glory. Sometimes, especially when I do my early-morning runs, I notice that I'm often planning out what I'm going to be doing for the rest of the day (i.e. shopping, finishing up an essay, baking, going out) and then I just kind of repeat that to myself over and over again.

I run outside - I know you're talking about on the treadmill - but what I think about is my feet, i.e where they are going and what I am stepping on, as on the track that I run on there are numerous lizards, snakes, bugs and things that sleep in the middle of the track. I also need to think about where the blazes my dogs are, as they go off chasing kangaroos and rabbits and often get lost and left behind!

Also I need to think about the magpies and wattle birds that nest low down in the trees, as they will swoop your head and peck your hair if you dont pay attention.

I also need to think about the flying bugs and flies that follow me and sometimes get inhaled as I puff away.

Hmmmm

Maybe I should just go the hell inside!

I try not to think of anything. I focus on the cadence of my stride and/or my breathing and/or the beat of the music I listen to. It's my meditation.

at first i think nothing and i just run. then about halfway through I think about challenging myself.  When i'm almost to the end and I start to think "omigod i'm gonna die when is this gonna end" I crank up the speed so the hell will be over soon.  I just keep thinking to myself "you can do this. the more you do this the easier it will get. you can do this. most people can't do this. you can do it." 

I have certain songs I listen to because they ALWAYS give me a boost of energy. Nothing pisses me off more when my ipod is out to get me and picks all slower tempo songs.  That happened to me last week and i growled at my ipod and swore at it. luckily everyone else around me had earplugs in LOL cuz it wasn't pretty what I said but I was frustrated!!!! 

I also think about the contestants on the biggest loser and how this is nothing compared to what they are doing. I think about shay slugging away on the treadmill and I think "damn. suck it up!" 

I also like it on friday nights when I go to the gym and between 7:00 and 8:00 law and order is on and I know i'll be occupied. 

I trained for a marathon last year and I swear I wouldn't have made it through without my little "mantras" or "catch phrases".  I basically chanted them in my head to the tempo of my run... my favorites were "mentally strong and physically strong" and "light on my feet" because they were positive and made the running seem easier. 

I also find that music is very helpful to a certain point... sometimes it gets to be too much though so I found the balance of having one ear bud in and one ear free to be hear what is going on around me.

Another trick that I had was that I would use my imagination in ways that made me feel powerful... for example (don't think I'm crazy but I swear this totally energized me) around the 1 mile mark where things still feel really painful and hard, I singled out a crack in the sidewalk of my regular route and I would always stomp on that crack as I ran over it and imagined energy shooting out of it and into me.  It totally made me feel like I could keep running with so much less strain.

Overall I just try to fill my head with positive thoughts and pictures... it is just like that quote "whether you think you can or you can't, you are right".

Original Post by racheljud:

 

I would always stomp on that crack as I ran over it and imagined energy shooting out of it and into me.  It totally made me feel like I could keep running with so much less strain.

lol that is hilarious! but I bet it works! the mind is such a strange thing you can trick it so easily :) 

Oh man I think of so many things - especially philosophically that friend have told me to take a journal so I can write down all of my epiphanies! I think of the President, California being in debt, college, why things are as they are, medical schools, ect.