If I’m outside running, I can almost guarantee you that at some point I’m writing a post about running in my head. It’s probably a great post, too. If I could actually remember it by the time I get home! When it’s warmer, sometimes I’ll actually stop and make a note on my phone when I have a good idea — that’s harder to do in Winter, when all I really want to do is get home so I can put on my nice warm clothes and drink hot chocolate. But I’ll try!
The Outside Thoughts
Oh crap! I was supposed to blog about this
One of my first thoughts was it was nice to not be thinking. Then I realized I meant to mentally keep track of my thoughts on my run for this post! The irony.
A side stitch in my last half mile? Really?There I was, creeping up on my longest run in about 6 weeks (a whole 4 miles) — when in the last half mile of the run the side stitch struck. I was like c’mon! That’s not fair! It wasn’t that bad, I just ran through it, but I was a little annoyed for sure.
Has Lloyd actually got out with Bandit yet?
I mentioned this in a post not too long ago, but Bandit often refuses to walk if I am not there. If I’m already out, he’s more likely to walk — probably because he’s looking for me.
There are many days I do my long run and have to walk with Mr. Judy or Bandit refuses to walk. On this particular day I didn’t want to have to come home, quickly change, and walk some more. Luckily I ran into them in my last half mile (after the side stitch) so no need for extra walking.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to cool down by walking Bandit. Not as much in Winter, and I’m still rebuilding fitness so still being conservative with activity. I was just worried that I would get home, find Mr. Judy just getting ready, and know that Bandit wouldn’t get a very long walk if I didn’t go with them.
The Treadmill Thoughts
Another side stitch? Really???
It had been 2 hours since breakfast. It was on the other side. I was definitely not running fast at all! Thankfully this one passed very quickly.
She mentioned Eagles . . .
. . . which made me think about the rather large bird we saw last week. I often see hawks hanging out in the trees opposite our house, although not so much in Winter. This bird was much larger. Mr. Judy finally found something that let us get a close up look at the bird. My guess is either a young eagle or a turkey vulture; Mr. Judy thinks a very large hawk or a young eagle. We have never seen an eagle in our neighborhood, but they have been spotted by others pretty close. The bird hasn’t returned — I really do think it was a young eagle!
When will this ever end???
I’ve been doing fairly well with treadmill runs, but I realized I’d already taken this run, and while I liked it, the instructor seemed to be calling out everyone and their brother (birthdays, hitting a certain amount of runs, etc.). That gets old — let me listen to the music or just shut up already (people probably think the same thing when I teach Yoga). I gave serious consideration to cutting this run a little short but . . .
Flip the script
I realized I had let my thoughts be really negative for most of this run. In the last five minutes or so, I made a serious effort to concentrate on gratitude: for my treadmill, for my healthy, for my ability to run. I made an effort to smile. You know what? It worked! Even though it was the last few minutes of the run, it suddenly felt easier.
Do you think about different things on the treadmill vs outside?
Do you think about the same things on most runs?
What about short runs vs long runs?
Linking up with Zenaida Arroyo and Kim @ Kookyrunner
This week I am also joining up with the new Runners’ Roundup linkup.
Chocolaterunsjudy 
Don’t have a treadmill.
Never think about blog posts. Thanks to link ups, they are mostly planned already.
Mostly I think about work. Ugh.
Podcasts are the best thing to listen for a distraction because you have to pay attention. I quit Peleton but that was a distraction too.
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I don’t listen to anything while I run. Except the birds & church bells. 😊
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I need more of a distraction. And it’s the only time I have time to listen to podcasts which I do enjoy.
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I’m writing blog posts in my head all the time!
I’d be the same as you: I really wouldn’t want to come home from a long run and then have to go for a walk with the dog – especially not in winter!
I like your idea of flipping the script: think happy thoughts! I’ll remember that for my next long run!
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Sounds like a lot of us are writing blog posts on the run!
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I think about blog posts and then forget all the good bits when I get home! Like sometimes I would have found the perfect wording to something and then… it just disappears like that dream you can’t ever remember! My thoughts outside and on the treadmill (when I had one) are COMPLETELY different. Outside, I can think of everything in life (sometimes also how hard the run is but my thoughts are not just dictated by how the run feels). BUT on the treadmill – the only thoughts are about the run and how hard it is and how I’m not enjoying it and how I hate treadmill running, LOL!
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Oh I know, I come up with great wording frequently & while I might remember my ideas, I rarely remember that! So frustrating.
I use distraction on the treadmill, which at the moment means Peloton.
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The side stitch toward the end of a run is so annoying! I’ve had this happen during a race when I’m trying to push my pace for the last minute and it’s so painful.
I often have great blog ideas while running and then of course I forgot about 90% of them once I get home, lol.
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Forgetting blog posts we think of on the run seems a universal theme today. 😊
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I thought I was the only one that forgot the blog topic I was thinking of on the run by the time i finished the run.
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There are obviously a lot of bloggers who do this!
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My thoughts are all over the place too. I haven’t really noticed a difference in outdoor vs treadmill, but I’m sure there is. I, too, think of a good way to word a blog and then, poof, it disappears.
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Yeah, I really do wish I could remember actual wording. Never happens. I come up with some great stuff on the run!
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My treadmill running thoughts are generally a bit more negative than my outdoor, carefree running thoughts. I’ll just leave it at that 🙂
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I have found Peloton to be a great help on the treadmill & luckily I don’t mind it so much in the first place.
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I think if I was on the treadmill, my thoughts would be “I hate this. This sucks. I hate this. This sucks.” for the duration of my run lol.
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Luckily I’m ok with the treadmill. If I lived in FL I. Et I’d be on it a lot in the summer!
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I don’t think when I’m on my treadmill because I’m watching a show on Netflix. I often come up with blog post ideas when I’m running. The hard part is trying to remember everything when I get home!
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I use peloton for my treadmill runs — there’s good info from the coaches (even if sometimes too much talk) but still room for thinking.
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I relax much more outside and I am able to take in my surroundings and let my mind wander. I am at some point thinking about lunch!
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I don’t usually think about food as much as I used to. Probably because I don’t run as much!
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I am able to relax and let my thoughts wonder alot more when I run outside. I don’t even know what I end up thinking about alot of the time! But I think alot about what i need to do and sometimes I make lists in my head.
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I don’t think I think that much about to-dos. It’s my time to get away from all that!
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Because I run on the mill with the TV on, and the display is right there in front of me, I think about whatever show I’m watching, as well as run/interval time and pace. When I run outside I let my mind wander more. I’ve seen a few eagles around here over the years and they are magnificent!
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Now I use peloton for treadmill runs — I do like that better than watching shows. Most of the time it makes the time go by more quickly. For me, anyway!
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I like the comparison between the outdoor vs. treadmill thoughts! I listen to podcasts a lot on my runs, but sometimes I take a podcast break to just mull things over.
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I don’t listen to anything but what’s around me & my own thoughts while running (outside).
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I write blog posts or Instagram posts (or letters to the editor if something is annoying me) all the time. And, like you, I almost always forget them when I get done.
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Apparently most of us do this! I’ve never written a letter to the editor, though.
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I listen to podcasts on the treadmill but nothing outdoors, so my thoughts are usually different. Although sometimes I’ll get lost in a train of thought and then have to rewind my podcast because I missed what they said.
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I use peloton on the treadmill, nothing outside. I don’t listen to podcasts. There’s never any time!
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I haven’t been on a treadmill in ages since I don’t have one at home, but I do think I have different thoughts on the treadmill vs. outside. When I’m outside that usually is when I think about blog posts and different ideas, and when I’m on the treadmill I usually take advantage of the TV and try to watch something to help pass the time lol.
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I’m pretty much the same except now I use peloton on the treadmill.
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someone really needs to invent a brain – keyboard blog app because, like you, I write on the run but they never ever get written
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LOL, you seem to have read my mind. I have a post on something similar in a couple of weeks!
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