The Game of Four: Runner lies and self-deception

When my legs are REALLY tired they can only manage thinking of my run in 1/4 mile increments. So I play this game in my head where I count to 4. One…two…three…four. Yay, we’re done!! Well, no, the cycle just starts again.
runner lies
Don’t bag on the formula, it works; yesterday’s 9-miler was brought to you by the ‘count to four’ method. Oh us silly runners and our mind games. 😉

You want another peek into my crazy? Well the the little game gets better because I don’t look at my Garmin during my easy runs. I’ve told you guys, easy runs should be EASY…and not to get sucked into getting overly competitive on our easy days, or mad at yourself if the times are slow. I’m not quite brave enough to go fully naked (aka watchless) so my compromise is I let the Garmin beep my miles but I don’t look at the splits.

So then I make this whole 1/4 thing into an even MORE fun guessing game. I picture myself on a track and then think, “Hmmm, I definitely think it’s been a lap. One. Now we’re getting close to two laps I bet. Two…etc.” So I try to predict the 4th beep and see how close I can get.

Yes, this whole, entire game is purely a distraction. It’s crazy, mostly senseless…but aren’t all of us runners just that?? 😉

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My latest article “Master of the Treadmill Workout: HTS Elite Coach Brad Hudson shares his keys to making your indoor workouts count” up on RunBlogRun. If you HATE winter weather and are trapped on the treadmill, check out some AWESOME workouts from one Mr. Brad Hudson and you’ll see the results. 🙂
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1) What’s a funny game you play running?
2) If you try my cool new runner game, let me know what you think! 😉
3) What’s a treadmill workout you do?

9 Replies to “The Game of Four: Runner lies and self-deception”

  1. I am all about the mind games when I run. I break my long runs up – first I think about the first three miles, then we get through the middle miles and then as I get tired and towards the end, I switch in my head to thinking, it’s only a few more minutes (instead of counting miles at that point). I play the game on the treadmill by breaking it down literally to .10 of each mile, playing with the speed sometimes every .10 to keep busy, distracted yet focused. By speeding it up so often and slowing down a bit, it somehow gets done quicker (at least it seems that way lol). Do I even make sense? lol

    • TOTALLY making sense because i do the same things!!! hehe…oh, playing with the speed on the treadmill is one of my top ways to make the time pass. and bonus is you usually wind up running faster overall too! 🙂 win win!

  2. During the later miles in a long run, when I start getting really tired, I play “the water game.” Every half mile I get to have a sip of water. It helps me break down the final miles 🙂

    One of my recent treadmill games (takes 2 miles each time you play): Start at a comfortable, conversational speed. Every 0.1 miles bump up the speed 0.1 mph. When you hit the next mile you’ll be going 1 mph faster and then every 0.1 miles you bump the speed back down 0.1 mph until you are back where you started. For me, I start at 6.0 mph and bump up until I hit 7.0 mph and then work my way back down.

  3. Pingback: Believing, Running, and Lies |

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