Today I read about having a mantra while you run. Haruki Murakami used I am not a human. I'm a piece of machinery. I don't need to feel a thing. Just forge on ahead. Granted, he was running a 62 mile ultramarathon at the time, while I was only attempting to run three miles today, but I tried it out anyway.
I've had a weird exercise month. I'm in a show which takes more energy out of me than I think I'm used to admitting and I'm trying to go easy on my knees. Last week I wanted to run four times. Instead I ran twice and biked once. I'm always very motivated at the beginning of the week. Not so much at the end. Granted, weekends are when the show is, so I'm very busy, but still.
Anyway, I've been running two miles only for awhile. It seems like a long time, but it's probably only been a couple of months. I didn't have an ipod today, which means I am more likely to overly fixate on my breathing and start to wonder how on earth I am ever supposed to do this. So, today I paused between mile two and three and tried to get my head into a better place. I thought, it's a mile, just a mile, what's a mile? just a mile. and I started running. Pretty soon my mantra morphed into multiple variations of the above and and i jog, jog, jog and i jog, jog, jog. This got mixed in with strong legs, strong arms, strong head, strong heart! i am strong, strong, strong and i jog, jog, jog.
It was strangely effective. And I ran that mile.
Ha! I love this. It makes me think of, "Cat! I'm a kitty cat. And I dance, dance, dance and I dance, dance, dance."
ReplyDeleteI am glad you're reading that book. It's so simply written, and it was nice for me to read a book that is written so intimately about something so specific that I relate to on such a physical level. That book made me feel like an athlete for the first time. It was weird.