Mind games on the treadmill

Lets face it, sometimes running is boring and long. Sometimes, you wish it could be over as soon as you start. If you don't give your brain something to focus on, you will start to wonder "why am I doing this?", and after that you'll soon start to think "I should just do a short one today" or "I should just stop the treadmill right now and go home."

Its hard, but you have to work to keep your mind busy while your body is moving. I'm going to be doing a lot of treadmill running this summer (since I live in the hot desert) so I've been trying to come up with some new ideas for keeping my mind occupied. Here is an excellent story of a runner who imagined she had won the lottery and brainstormed all the ways she was going spend the money over the course of the run. You have to read the story, I won't even attempt to retell it here it because its so good in its original form. I received this story in an email newsletter from Iron Girl about 6 months ago and since then the same lottery question has gotten me through more then a few runs. Now that it has gotten old in my mind, I am on a quest for new and thought provoking questions that I can ponder while running.

So I've done some internet research and I'm thinking about ordering these Table Topic cards to take with me to the treadmill. They are designed to start a dialog between two or more people, but I think they could also work for one person who just wanted things to think about. Here are some of the questions from the website:

* What historical event would you like to witness?
* If you could have any view from your back porch, what would it be?
* Which other culture would you choose to be born into?
* What would be the menu on your ultimate birthday dinner?
* Which personality trait has gotten you into the most trouble?
* What virtue would you give to all human beings?

All of these questions could be taken a little deeper or expanded on. For example, after you decide the historical event you would like to witness, you could decide who's eyes you are watching the event through. Are you a peasant? A king? etc.

Of course, if you are just starting out running or trying to do interval speedowork, daydreaming may not be the best strategy. But we all have those days when it's all you can do to put on your running shoes and hope to cover the distance, whether it be fast or slow. Those are the days I need a little extra distraction to get me through. Do you guys ever imagine things or ponder life's questions while running? Got any good thought provoking questions to add to my list?