Saturday, January 29, 2011

Mind Games

I'm not averse to the cold temps or even the piles of snow we've had in Minnesota since early December, but lately I'm running low on the mental juice required to get suited up and out the door for my daily run. And other than draining my body of essential vitamin D, I've found hitting the treadmill an attractive alternative. It's not the warmth of an indoor run that keeps me going, though, it's the mind games I play while cruising along on Old Reliable.

I do it outdoors, too, it's just not as precise. Doesn't keep me quite as accountable. Since we can all use a little help at some point, I thought I'd share some of the mental tricks I use to keep me going when workouts are more difficult mentally than they are physically.


Pyramids
Increase the speed and/or incline every half mile until I hit the mid-point of my run. Then I go through the same profile on the way back down. Yesterday's run went something like this:
  • One mile warm up at 9 min pace, 0% incline
  • .5 mile at 8.5 min pace, 0% incline
  • .5 mile at 8.5 min pace, .5% incline
  • .5 mile at 8 min pace, .5% incline
  • 1 mile at 8 min pace 1% incline
  • .5 mile at 8 min pace, .5% incline
  • .5 mile at 8.5 min pace, .5% incline
  • .5 mile at 8.5 min pace, 0% incline
  • One mile cool down at 9 min pace, 0% incline 

Thought Chunking
This one works well in the pool where I dedicate each lap or length to a year of school, a year of my life, a year of my children's lives, a year of marriage, etc. Sometimes I'll thought chunk a run and give myself 10 or 15 minutes to think about the different projects or problems I'm working on. Makes good use of the countdown timer on my sports watch.


Musical Movement
Listening to music doesn't just motivate me to work harder, it's also a good way to break up my workouts into bearable increments when my head is less than clear. A well planned playlist helps me look forward to "what's next" and keeps me moving so I can hear my all time favs positioned strategically at the end of my workout.


If you have any good strategies that keep you moving, post them here. I think we can all use a few more ideas in our fitness arsenal!

2 comments:

  1. I play those same games on the dreadmill! This winter has been tougher than most for me as well. Do you think it's age? I hope not!

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  2. Tell me about it sister! I just discovered that the treadmill goes to something like a 15% incline! When you're doing that on a treadmill, there is something seriously wrong! Bring on the warmer weather!

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