Runner or a health conscious or maybe an exercise enthusiast? No matter what category you fall under, it’s time for you to sit back and enjoy reliving the thoughts you have while running on the track.It will be like watching a documentary with you as the subject as well as the narrator, and you will be saying your thoughts, out loud.
The moment you get into your running outfit to the moment you jump into that cold shower with that sweaty exercised body, some thoughts rush into your mind. They repeat themselves the next day too. It’s like a cycle where you contemplate the same things every time you run. Well, we are here to tell you that you aren’t alone! Every person who goes running relates to your thoughts and as a runner yourself you’ll be surprised how common these are.
To walk you through what we are talking about, we will be narrating your thoughts with respect to a scenario. You wake up early in the morning and change from your night suit into your exercise outfit.
1- You pick your running shoes from the rack:
You wear your joggers, and right before you lace them up you go like “Do I have to?…Why did I sacrifice my warm bed for this? I could have been dreaming about food right now, ” but then you snub yourself by joking “Food is what got you hear in the first place!”
2- You stretch your legs:
As a runner, it’s mandatory to stretch your body before you start running to avoid any unwanted muscle pulls, but wait why do you feel so heavy. You always end up thinking “hey now why are my legs so sore. Was I exercising in my sleep…no that can’t be. Is this routine too tough for me? MY MUSCLES SHOULD NOT BE SORE RIGHT NOW. I HAVEN’T EVEN STARTED RUNNING. I am going to die today.”
3- Fitness app or setting your smart watch:
You discovered a new app on your smartphone app store, and you downloaded it on your phone. You were excited about this new fitness app and how it will improve your workouts. At the moment, however, your thoughts are basically “SIGH! What difference does this app make; it isn’t going to make this ordealany easier anyway… God if this GPS doesn’t calibrate the location in the next 20 seconds, I am going back to bed!”
4- A couple of strides in:
You just started, but the runner inside you is overpowered by the lazy boy who goes like “You’re already quite healthy, screw this exercise. You’d rather be doing something else right now. It still isn’t too late to call it a day”. It is very hard to resist giving in to the laziness, but you continue.
5- Runner V.S. the wind:
“No matter how many turns I take on the track I still end up with headwinds. How is that even possible? Not cool…not cool at all!”
6- You encounter the first hill:
It has been some while since you started running and now you reach the hill in your track. You need run uphill now, and you do because you are a stubborn runner but wait a minute “Knees, please do not fail me. Please Don’t! Please, pretty please…why do I feel a pulsating pain in my left knee…I think my body is done for the day. I should go get some bed rest.”
7- The one-mile notification:
“Hallelujah! Where is my prize…c’mon I deserve a cake slice, someone gets me a cake slice!” the one-mile marker is a checkpoint for every runner. It is the assurance that if you have managed to run for a mile, there are good chances that you will be able to complete the track too. You have won the initial battle.
8- The runner’s thirst:
“HOW DID IT GET SO HOT? NEED…WATER…ASAP. This bottle of Gatorade is no match for the thirst!” Suddenly you find yourself panting like a dog and in desperate need of water. You feel like you will collapse if you don’t get water soon.
9- The playlist keeps on disappointing:
You spent so much time on the weekend making the perfect exercise playlist which would last the entire next week. But now that you are listening to it you can’t help judging your choice. Song after song, your feel is being ruined while you are trying to achieve your health goals. It is frustrating you so much that you go like“Oh if the next song isn’t nice I swear to God I am going to smash this phone on the ground.”
10- Humans around you:
You are exerting yourself and making your way through the track. You are also out of breath a little, and that is when you spot other runners on the track. People are exercising or maybe just in your route which is okay, but you start thinking “Oh My God! Do I have to run past them now? I hope they don’t stare. I think they are staring. Why are they staring? THIS IS MAKING ME UNCOMFORTABLE. I don’t need your judgy looks, look away.”
11- You reach the midpoint:
“At least half of this is done, just got to repeat the same now. I feel like this is going to be the tougher half though! It’s okay; I can do this. Run babe run!” This midpoint reassures at that moment that maybe you are good enough to go through with this tough exercise.
12- Pace monitor:
You crossed the midpoint, and you are motivating yourself as you run but then you check your pace and see it’s quite slow. So you console yourself by saying “hey you don’t suck, you are good at this. Today might be an off day. You can do better than this. C’mon push yourself!”
13- Body goals:
As you are running your body goals flash in front of you. You see that every step you take is getting you closer to your health and body goals. You are getting fitter by the step. “Man, am I getting a hot beach body or what!”
14- The pride:
By this time people are waking up, rubbing their eyes or just whining about how hung over they are while you have a sweaty runner’s body and you think to yourself “Pfft! I am so above their league.”
15- You are radiating energy:
Am I enjoying my session now and loving energetic self. I’m nothing but self-praises. “I am the Flash they talk about in the comics! haha!”
16- The chafing begins:
“OUCH‼ I need to get a more comfortable lower. This is not going to work like this.” The constant friction between your skin and your clothes is making your body sore and hurt, and you just want it to end now.
17- Eye Candy:
You spot a cute runner, and now you just want to check him/her out, so you run a safe distance. “OKAY WOW! Don’t want to be a stalker but can’t miss this opportunity either so will just keep a 15ish feet distance.”
18- The faster, the sooner:
Just a fraction of the track is left, and you are almost out of energy now. You are tired and want to stop but you are aware of the fact that if you stop right now for a break, you won’t be able to resume the running and today will be a failed effort. Hence you start thinking of ways to get done with this sooner. The only way you can think of is “if I run faster, I will get their sooner. All I have to do is take bigger steps and faster. Can I do that? I don’t want to collapse just before the endpoint…let’s just not take the risk.”
19- The last push:
“I am almost home. The cold shower here I come. Just a tad bit left. I can do it.”
20- Stopping the stopwatch:
“I did it! This is what being a successful runner feels like! This is awesome. Definitely doing this tomorrow. Time to jump in the cold shower now.”
With this, the running scenario ends and with that ends the list of every runner’s 20 thoughts. Share with us if you were able to relate this article and what other thoughts you have while running.