Where does your mind wonder to while running?

ErickM5500
ErickM5500 Posts: 20 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
What do you think about during a run or cardio session?
«13

Replies

  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    Gardening.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    janicemlove wrote: »
    I am a total klutz so I have to pay attention to what I'm doing. If I daydream I always trip over something. :(

    Yes, me too! Plus it depends on the run: if I try to run longer I'm very much concentrating on staying slow (lockdown seems to make me a bit restless), and if running faster I think: just 1 more km, just 800m, yes, just 712m, etc... :D
  • KNoceros
    KNoceros Posts: 326 Member
    My goes all screwy on me and tries to tell me that I should stop / give up if I leave it to its own devices. So I give it an interesting podcast / audiobook to play with and keep it busy to let me get on with my run.

    (I don’t always actually pay attention to said podcast, but it draws me back from the negative mindset).
  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,138 Member
    I've recently started listening to podcasts so I'm usually listening to that and what they are saying, but I'll have the TV on in front of me too with closed captioning on so sometimes I tune out the podcast and read what they are talking about on TV, then realize I haven't been listening to the podcast and try to figure out what I missed. Lather, rinse, repeat.

    Oh and try not to die from exhaustion. (I'm not a runner but I'm trying to...)
  • swirlybee
    swirlybee Posts: 497 Member
    I don't run much, but when I do, it's usually "ooh, I only have 29 minutes left. great, now I have 28 minutes left. Yay, I've done 2 miles already. I hope the neighbor's dog doesn't bark at me today. breathe in through the noise, breathe out through the mouth. yay 27 more minutes"....ad nauseam. Same thing when I go cycling.
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    All kinds of crap runs through my head. I think about past situations & how it could have been different. I think about what I need to do that day.
    I listen to music so most of the time I focus on that & try to clear my head. But I’m ADD so I get sidetracked really easily.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    Ok, I ran again today, just because. Today I thought: hmm.. not going as well as yesterday (not surprising). Meh, I want to stop. I can't stop because I'm too slow to run short. Then: it's too warm, I wish I'd left my jacket at home. I wish it would rain. Then: Meh, I wish the rain would stop. :D
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 702 Member
    Audio books or podcasts, what's that bird / creature? Is that a nest? Where does that path go, have I got time to see?
    Count breathing in and out, listen to the birdsong, meh I want to stop and walk - can I get to that tree first, then the next one....
    I'm to hot, shouldn't have worn the warm top - or Its freezing why did I just wear a t-shirt bloody wind etc....

    Recently - Where's this idiot going, can't they give me a bit more space.. Grumble grumble repeat....
    Fascinating really 😆
  • Tausi
    Tausi Posts: 35 Member
    Talan79 wrote: »
    All kinds of crap runs through my head. I think about past situations & how it could have been different. I think about what I need to do that day.
    I listen to music so most of the time I focus on that & try to clear my head. But I’m ADD so I get sidetracked really easily.

    I have often wondered what “clear my head” means. I hear this from many runners. Is it thinking something through in detail or trying not to think at all?
  • Tausi
    Tausi Posts: 35 Member
    edited April 2020
    *double post
  • Talan79
    Talan79 Posts: 782 Member
    @Tausi When I say clear my head I try not to think about anything. Sometimes I can by just focusing on the road ahead. But again, my ADD brain will think of something.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,662 Member
    I WISH I could let my mind wander when I run.

    I count steps. I am driving myself nuts. If I count to eight 100 times that’s half a mile. So I do it six times. Sometimes I break it into different sets. Sometimes I intentionally miscount, but always to the tune of four or eight.

    I’ve had two bad falls since I’ve been running. If I could ever manage to let my mind wander, I’d probably break something. Like the sidewalk. With my face.
  • moonangel12
    moonangel12 Posts: 971 Member
    springlering62 wrote: »
    I WISH I could let my mind wander when I run.

    I count steps. I am driving myself nuts. If I count to eight 100 times that’s half a mile. So I do it six times. Sometimes I break it into different sets. Sometimes I intentionally miscount, but always to the tune of four or eight.

    I’ve had two bad falls since I’ve been running. If I could ever manage to let my mind wander, I’d probably break something. Like the sidewalk. With my face.
    I catch myself counting in threes, because at a local running clinic he counted off in rhythm “one two three, one two three” as we ran down the sidewalk... it can definitely get old!
  • Duck_Puddle
    Duck_Puddle Posts: 3,237 Member
    Tausi wrote: »
    Talan79 wrote: »
    All kinds of crap runs through my head. I think about past situations & how it could have been different. I think about what I need to do that day.
    I listen to music so most of the time I focus on that & try to clear my head. But I’m ADD so I get sidetracked really easily.

    I have often wondered what “clear my head” means. I hear this from many runners. Is it thinking something through in detail or trying not to think at all?

    For me it’s letting all the bajillion random thoughts in my head just work their way out. Sometimes it’s specific things, but mostly I don’t have an agenda and it’s just all the stuff that swirls in my head all day.

    After a couple of hours things settle down and I think I run out of stuff to overthink about.
  • Ikeeptrying2
    Ikeeptrying2 Posts: 156 Member
    Most times I try to think of nothing. I try to use it as a time to clear my head.

    I don't listen to anything other than traffic to ensure I don't get hit. My phone and all other entertainment sources remain home. My Garmin tells me what I want to know when I am done.

  • pondee629
    pondee629 Posts: 2,469 Member
    Sometimes nothing, sometimes breathing (making sure I'm still doing it, sometimes keeping or trying to find a rhythm...) world problems and their solutions, what to make for dinner, where to go on vacation, am I supposed to turn here?, should I do the full run or cut it off here?, that song is out of order (or did I completely miss one?), my Granddaughter is awfully cute... In short everything and anything in no particular order or reason.
  • LoveyChar
    LoveyChar Posts: 4,336 Member
    A million different thoughts go through my head - what Marathons I want to run, my daughter who wants to run one with me one day, how I'll look in dresses in my closet that I've never worn before, my parents, food I want to cook, things I want to do, a lengthy exam I must take, how I can better parent my oldest daughter, what I would do if I hit the lottery...I have several interesting thoughts that come and go through my mind while I'm running.

    If I am upset, frustrated, angry and I leave the house for a run usually I come back lighter and happier than I was before leaving. Running is therapeutic for me.
  • lizziebtothec
    lizziebtothec Posts: 402 Member
    i do a lot of running math. if i continue this pace i will finish my run at this time, converting between miles and km and back, what pace i need keep to finish at a specific time, breaking the run into segments (ok 25% done, now 32.8% done). :)
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    lizziebtothec wrote: »
    i do a lot of running math. if i continue this pace i will finish my run at this time, converting between miles and km and back, what pace i need keep to finish at a specific time, breaking the run into segments (ok 25% done, now 32.8% done). :)

    I think I love you! Well, everyone who adds unnecessary calculations to things <3 Perfect <3<3
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    It's completely random depending on what's going on at work or with the family. Most of the time I just enjoy the scenery (I live a few hundred metre away from a recreation path along a river) and listen to the river & the birds. It's almost like meditating at times.
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
    Since discovering running with music, I mostly just listen to the music and enjoy. I will also assess how I feel--does my heel hurt, is it time to stop and stretch or can I go a little longer? I also look around and appreciate the scenery, even though I pretty much run the same greenway trail every time.
  • KimiAR
    KimiAR Posts: 117 Member
    I liked this thread...

    And running. I don’t think about anything but running... and it’s amazing. Totally relaxes my brain from all the fussing I do with 5 kids and homeschooling and quarantine and keeping the house and then the dog and extra people in the house... the everything that is this wonderful blessed life... but sometimes my brain needs an off switch. And running does that for me🥰
  • Kupla71
    Kupla71 Posts: 1,565 Member
    I’m just starting out so I’m focused on not tripping over debris on the sidewalk and my breathing and how much further I can go before I have to take a walking break.

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