My hubby (he is such a funny guy) asked me over the weekend
about what I think about on a long run. This is actually a pretty valid
question. What do I think about on my long runs??? I think about a lot of
stuff, most of it being pretty random. For the most part I honestly don’t
remember what I am thinking about. Sort of like a dream. You wake up and forget
all about it.
What I usually think about on a long run is running related.
I think about my next race, new goals, my latest workouts, and what has been
working in my training and what hasn’t. Sometimes I think about my long list of
“to do” stuff for around the house and any fun plans that I have coming up.
If I am struggling to get through the miles, I
tend to look at my garmin more to see how much further I have left. When I do
this, I always break the distance up into races which help the miles go by
faster….
15 miles HM
+ warm up & cool down
13.1 miles HM
10 miles Sunday
Sundae 10 mile race (held in Spokane every September)
7.46 miles Bloomsday
(held in Spokane the first Sunday in May)
6 miles Less
than a 10K!!!!
4 miles Cherry
Picker Trot (held in Spokane every July)
3 miles Less
than a 5K!!!!
1.8 miles Less
than a 3K!!!!
The last couple of miles on a long run I always find myself
thinking about food and what I want to eat when I am finished. Usually I think
about junk food- candy, cupcakes or ice cream.
I have none of those items in my house, so it is mostly wishful
thinking. My hubby found this to be funny- “you think about food?” Well,
wouldn’t you be thinking about food after 22 miles????!!!!! It has to be normal
to think about food, right?
My home made red velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting. So delish--wished I had one for Sunday!
Sunday when I was closing in on my 22 miler, I thought about the Raspberry Truffle cake pop I had eaten at SBUX the day before. I had intentionally bought it for my Sunday long run “treat”, but couldn’t stand it and ate it early. OOOPS.
SBUX Raspberry Truffle Cakepop- DELISH!
That night for dinner I tried a new recipe (I will share soon) for dinner. My hubby was less than thrilled with this new healthy recipe (GASP- it had cabbage in it!!!). He looked at me and said “you thought about eating this on your long run today?” So funny mister. Maybe I had thought about it, I just won’t admit it. J
Questions for you:
What do you think about on your long runs?
Do you find yourself breaking up your long runs into more
manageable/familiar distances in your mind?
--Tasha
I started running without music about 2 months ago - but since then, I forget about what I think about. I know I think things - work, races, training, etc. but I can NEVER remember the exact thoughts.
ReplyDeleteI also use the same strategy as you to "countdown" miles - only a 5k left?! I got this! :)
I'm glad that someone else uses the countdown system too! I also don't usually run with music. I find it distracting.
DeleteI think about the same things... everything, nothing, running, life and everything in between. I pray, I talk to God. And, I love how you break your mileage into races. I break mine into tasks - less time that a trip to Target, less time than taking my kids potty in Target :), the length of time it's takes me to shower... the list goes on. Absolutely makes everything more manageable when you break it down!
ReplyDeleteI love how you can remember your thoughts! It must be a "mom" thing to break your miles into tasks. :-) It's a very clever way to make the miles fly by. I might try it sometime.
DeleteMy mind wanders a lot on long runs but food certainly takes up a great percentage! Mostly sweets and Pita Pit! Yum!
ReplyDeleteI love thinking about food. I usually think about food I would never eat (candy) which is weird. Gives me something to keep my mind off of how many more miles I have.
DeleteYeah Cabbage! Can't wait to hear about it :)
ReplyDeleteYou will love the recipe!!! I'm posting it tomorrow and will share it with you.
DeleteI must not think on my long runs...I can't remember anything in particular...but I'm assuming it was probably something to do with pizza or a burger.
ReplyDeleteLol! We must be twins!
DeleteOh my, what do I think about?! I'm like you, it's random stuff for the most part. Sometimes I pray and sometimes I have come up with some really deep thoughts that seem like they would be great converstaion pieces and then I forget them once I'm done, lol. MMmmm, I do think about food too, especially if I'm running the morning, I think about pancakes and bacon with a Starbucks :p
ReplyDeleteI do a countdown when I run for instance, when I have done 1 mile I tell myself only 2 more if I'm running 3 (did that today) so pretty much the same thing.
Its weird to think about the stuff that goes through our minds. I am glad that I'm not the only one who doesn't remember what I was thinking about. Thinking about a warm sbux is good...I like bacon and pancakes too! Maybe I will have that meal on Sunday after another fun 22 mile run :-)
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