What do you think about when you run?

Annoyance du jour or a solution to some problem

I think about school, race strategy, bumping an 8-year-old thread on letsrun for no reason, and Craig Engels' mullett

I usually think about what Jamin's next post will be about.

Musical lyrics, possible scripts to write, situations that are personally bothering me, hypothetical scenarios.

Only on long runs, in workouts it's all about splits and running form, no time for nostalgic nonsense.

Think about

How many times I have fall fallen

Sprits are using me

Mostly nothing. Sometimes race visualization. Never girls, never school. If I do think, it's about my immediate surrounding and circumstance. Never think about past races.

dfrew wrote:

Cool question, should be a good thread.

I'm all over the place too with what goes through my head, but there's also a lot of time where there is just blanking out thoughts and taking in the stuff I'm running past.

Funny though, unless it's a very specific sight, smell or feeling I rarely think about past races.

Yup, good question.

Long run: Vigilantly observant for rattlesnakes

Short run: Effort level, pace, form, breathing, trying to fight back negative thoughts relating to my suckage as a runner and how slow I'm actually going despite my hard effort.

How my body is feeling (usually trying to push my body to last a bit longer before I take a break), noticing my surroundings/landscape (where to place my feet, cool architecture or landscaping, safety awareness).

I usually run with another person, so it's trying to keep up with the conversation.

If I'm just running easy alone and not doing a workout, I would say...

70% daydreaming about any number of things (imaginary or potential scenarios, total fantasies like being a singer, problem solving, rehashing conversations)

20% imagining race scenarios

10% enjoying the scenery and not thinking about much/zoning out

Women’s butts

i think about what food i’m gonna eat a lot.

I think of horse hyphen cvm dot net specially vid 928095685... F&@& YEAH!

Everyone does wrote:

Women’s butts

+1

Also, troll subjects.

Usually not dying, I have a love hate relationship with running.

Zen Runner wrote:

I don't really think about anything except form & pace. I hope it doesn't sound stupid when I say it's very Zen-like. There's the road. Your footfalls. Nothing else.

Meanwhile, I don't really like running by myself. I like companionship, but I don't want to talk to you, per se. I really simply like someone else being there.

I agree with this. Its the best when you just hit an effortless pace, not working too hard, but in a good rhythm. You kind of just space out and the run happens, no thinking required. I just let my mind process what's happening around it without actually thinking about any of it. Its meditative.

This is what I seek on every run - just a man and the rhythm of the road. This is what every runner should strive for. Running need not be complicated.

What do you think about when you are at an uncomfortable pace?

John Utah wrote:

hank jr wrote:

I agree with this. Its the best when you just hit an effortless pace, not working too hard, but in a good rhythm. You kind of just space out and the run happens, no thinking required. I just let my mind process what's happening around it without actually thinking about any of it. Its meditative.

This is what I seek on every run - just a man and the rhythm of the road. This is what every runner should strive for. Running need not be complicated.

What do you think about when you are at an uncomfortable pace?

Now that I re-read my post, pace isn't really the driving factor. Its more about running effortlessly, the pace doesn't really factor into it. That doesn't mean just easy jogging, I can get into this zone while running quickly as well. This is about 50% of my runs.

When running "uncomfortably", I mostly think about how much further I have to go, and is there anything in my stride that is causing me to be uncomfortable. If I'm just having a generally sh*tty run, I will try to focus on something unrelated than running - listen to birds, look at things, etc... This helps distract me from being uncomfortable, and also helps me to let my body do the running and not overthink it. It also helps me justify a bad run..."well the run sucked, but I saw an eagle, so it wasn't that bad". (25% of my runs)

There are other runs, that are comfortable, where I just think about whatever is on my mind. Running is very helpful for me to sort things out in my head as well. (25% of my runs)

Mr. Obvious wrote:

I think about running.

Unless I am running with a friend on a long run, then we think and talk about anything and everything.

Pics?