Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Mind Games Galore

I ran today.

I'm recovering from a cold, and my ear is still clogged and echoing in a funny way. But I ran. On a track. Let me tell you one thing about running on a track. It is about as interesting as listening to your child tell you about all her boo boos.

The mind games I had to play with myself to keep the old legs pumping were pretty funny. Here's a bit of my inner dialogue as I run:

"OK. Just two miles. I'm just gonna go two miles. I can make it. OK. Three. Go for three. Oh, I'm tired. I'm so tired. I can stop any time if I want to. What lap am I on? OK three miles aaaaalmost done. Might as well go for four. Ouch, my legs ache. Why do they ache? I ran six miles last week. Who is that guy running behind me? I wish he'd pass me or slow down. Oh, my legs. Maybe I'll stop. I can stop anytime. I can walk too. No, one more lap. I can do this. OK Four miles. I'm doing four miles. This is too painful! Why am I doing this? If I was faster I could run further and it would be so boooring. OK I did four miles! Just one more lap. I. Can. Do. This. OK One more. Four and a half miles. I'd better stop so I can run further next time."

And yes, I've tried running with my iPod. Listening to my age old music over and over again is even more boring than my silly mind chatter.

Where is my zen moment? Where is my adrenaline rush? Where is my second wind?

Hello? I'm waiting for you guys....

2 comments:

Mike said...

First off, I never run around a track unless I'm doing something where knowing my exact pace is important. It's waaaay too boring otherwise.

Second, try sticking some new stuff on your ipod. If you're tired of your music try some spoken word stuff, like podcasts. I'll bet you can find something on a topic that interests you. Or an audio book!

Sue said...

Yeah. I know. But my kid is swimming right nearby and there's the track and no where else to run. It's when I can fit it in....

I'll think about the iPod suggestion...