Running Mantra Anyone?

pic3a

I tend not to wear or use my ipod to listen to music while I'm out running since we're running in wild-ish areas. So I listen to some great music ahead of time for me to dream on while I'm out on my run. One good one (which is kinda funny since I didn't initially like the song when it came out) is Bon Iver's "Woods".

I can just picture it now... step step step I'm up in the Woooooods... step step step I'm down on my miiiiind step step step.

What do you have running through your mind when you're out on your run? Music, words?

Eric_DeCastro

if i'm alone. just nonsense. I feel like a kid with nothing really on my mind. just going in cruise control. sometimes i think about some of the races I have coming up and thinking about how cool the bling is going to be hanging with my others. sometimes I wonder if wild animals exercise. because we walk our dogs for exercise, would coyotes go out for a stroll just to go?

brandiuntz

I have all kinds of thoughts. I listen to music (in one ear only, low enough to hear my surroundings), but I also rotate many mental musings.

I think about my day, I mentally check on my running form (how the body is feeling), I count down miles left, I think about upcoming races, I observe others I see out running and wonder how far they're running, whatnot. All kinds of randomness.

JeffTCole

When I run, I enjoy my surroundings as I move through them. The birds, the wind, and the waves carry me along.

Madame_Goldbricker

I've just started out with running recently. So for me currently the mantra is "I'm not dying! I'm not dying!". Works for me.

afcavegirl2002

I always liked the mantra" I CAN do hard things"

hermann341

I'm a bit of a data junkie when it comes to my weight loss and exercise, so I listen to my body during my runs, and keep an eye on my GPS watch. I've set my watch to notify me every half mile, so my routine while I run is to check my pulse, listen for the beep to check my split, multiply by 2 to calculate my pace, check my heart rate again, check my total distance, estimate my remaining miles, check my pulse again. lather, rinse, repeat.

And if that doesn't work, try this: Oooooommmmm! There's some pie at hooooooommmmmme!

segovm

When I used to run all the time I normally just ended up getting into "the zone" after about 2.5 - 3 miles. It was actually sort of spiritual as dumb as that sounds. My normal brain would just turn off and there wasn't really any higher level thinking going on. None of my day to day problems could make it in, all my worries were waylaid, even the pain of getting the body started sort of melted away. I would feel the wind. Smell the world. Bask in the sun or rejoice in the shade.

Biking on the other hand I use to do pretty aggressively and living in Utah at the time I would often ride 19 miles uphill with only a single thought going through my head the ENTIRE time:

Just one more time....

Over and over every time I cranked up the hill. I guess the running equivalent would be just one more step.

DianeinCA

If I'm running with my usual running partner, he often talks out a problem he's having on a project. I do my part by tuning him out.

If I'm running alone, I work on story ideas. Sometimes I get caught up in doing math (how many miles have I gone? how many kilometers is that? what do I weigh in kilos?).

kar328

I've just started out with running recently. So for me currently the mantra is "I'm not dying! I'm not dying!". Works for me.

I'm with you. I'm a beginner, I usually start off with a mile run, then alternate walking and running intervals for the next few. I've found my breathing rhythm is "in, in, out, out) so "don't die, don't die" fits mine. Or "please move, please move" when I see people strolling across the middle of the path up ahead. When I'm focused, "in, in, out, out" does work for me. I find it easier to let my thoughts go when I'm walking, and just focus on keeping going when I'm running. It's great therapy either way