How I get through 10 miles (or a run in general)

Yesterday was my first double digit run of this training regime. 10 miles on a lovely 9°F day with little wind. It was a good run, not too hot and not too cold. I finally used my balaclava and it worked like a charm. But, the run was not without difficulty.

So now you’ll pardon me as I go geeky, again. Sometimes, I have to put my mind somewhere else to get rid of the thoughts of “what the hell am I doing this for” and “I’m giving up”. Usually I can just focus on a point ahead of me and get to it. Have a mini celebration in my head, then pick another point in the distance. This doesn’t always work. So it’s time to play mind games with myself. Sounds wrong, eh?

Read on, if you dare…

Way back in the day, when I was younger, and awaiting the premier of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, I would occasionally go for a run with my Dad. (I seem to recall once wearing my REVENGE OF THE JEDI t-shit on one of these runs. Yes, “REVENGE“. Sadly, my mother thought I should get rid of it and disposed of it for me.) I really didn’t want to run but I did. (Heh, sometimes much like running now.) We ended up out on trails down by the river flats, running across treacherous old railroad bridges, in the woods, and such other odd places. I think, in an attempt to get me into it, my Dad often referred to these as our “Jedi Training Runs”. Now, if only he had carried me on his back and I could have whapped him in the head like Yoda, it would have been more fun. But alas, I had to run and got through it imagining myself running though the swampy forests of Dagobah.

Well, I’m still a geek and this still works for me. So, often, when I hit a difficult section of a run, I have to think about being on a Jedi training run. I imagine myself with some green little Jedi Master prodding me along. Screwy, eh? Sometimes I go ahead and imagine that I can use The Force to make me lighter, so my legs don’t hurt as much. [This is especially useful then trail running down a steep section of path. Use The Force to push you slightly up so as to keep from falling down the trail. Works great. Try it!] I imagine The Force masking the pain in my knee or calf. Heck, you can use The Force to imagine all sorts of helpful little things during a difficult run.

So that’s how I get through a run sometimes more often than not.

Yup, I’m a g33k. But it works…