What to think about

There are so many things to think about during each and every workout. My mind is always going crazy during my workouts.  I tend to think about every little thing in my life during a long run.  From the workout, to hitting splits, to telling myself to slow down, to Riley, my wife, work, Thunder, my shoes, anything.  Everything is fair game in my mind.  And there is no rhyme or reason as to why I think about what and when I do it.  The weird part is, I do most of my thinking while Im running, and not swimming or biking.  When I'm biking, I tend to focus on the actual workout and what I need to be focused on.  When Im swimming, I always seem to focus on catching the person in front of me, thinking about the upcoming race, and how much longer in the workout (swimming is my least favorite discipline).

For example, I had a 14 mile run planned for this past weekend.  It was absolutely freezing the past week in NY so I was forced inside the whole week.  But I decided to brave the elements and run in about 14 degrees of warm (yeah, I said warmth since the rest of the week it was so much colder).  Let me start and say my run was amazing.  I was cranking out the miles and felt great.  If it wasnt so cold, I probably would have added at least 3 more miles to my workout.  It was one of those runs where everything was working.  Hills were easy, pacing was great, breathing was comfortable, and the music in my ears was exactly what I wanted to hear and when.  We all love those types of workouts.  They dont come often, but when they do, you know it instantly and enjoy it the whole time. 

It was about mile 3 when I noticed that in the past 15 minutes or so, I thought about like 10 different topics.  I kept telling my self to slow down since I wanted it to be an easy run and it snowed the night before so I didnt want to have a misstep on a piece of ice and injure myself.  But my pace was just awesome.  I was going at faster than race pace so I just went with it. 

Here's a breakdown of things I thought about:
Riley- clearly.  right now he's my life.  I knew this was my time to get out and run, but I wondered what he was doing.  Was he sleeping, being fussy, eating, etc?  But other thoughts crept in my mind like what about his college and will I be prepared financially to pay for it.  I actually thought about when Im going to have the birds and the bees conversation with him.  I remember my fathers talk with me, and I knew there is no way I wanted to have the time type of talk with Riley.  I thought about my in-laws babysitting him that night and will he be ok.  Or what sport he'll want to play when he grows up.  Pretty much, everything that you can think of as a father, I thought about at some point yesterday during the run.

Thunder- Thunder has been my best friend for the past 7 and a half years.  He has been there for everything important in my life and him and I have such a special bond.  I thought about coming home to him and making sure he gets enough attention since I feel bad with Riley being born that is Thunder getting the love he needs.  Its also been an annual event for Thunder to dress up for Halloween.  And even though we are 10 months away, I still want to beat his costume from this past year.  Its going to be hard to do, he was a fighter pilot. 

Thunder's ready for takeoff

My wife-  Among the things I thought about are, is she going back to work after her maternity leave is over, will she want to work, how can I give her a break so she can do what she wants for a few hours.  I thought about ways I can make her feel special in the next few days.  Which one of us will do which feedings at night.  Those are just some of the things about the wife

Work- Im in sales, so hitting my numbers is something thats always on my mind.  I wanted to review my last week's appointments and see how I can build off of them, and what I can do to drive some business and help my sales team.  I thought about what surgeries I am going to see in the next few weeks and what can I do to make them go smoothly.  I'm always paranoid about my job so I'm always thinking about it. 

Dinner- My wife and I were going to our favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner, so I wanted to know what I was having for dinner.  I knew that if I pushed myself, I would be able to have that extra margarita.  Plus, this restaurant has the best appetizer you can think of.  Queso Fondido.  Picture a pot of melted cheese and you dip tortillas in it.  Its cheesy goodness and my wife and I love this. 

YUM

Next set of workouts- Even though I was fully focused on the current run I was on, I was still planning the next week's set of workouts.  I wanted to make sure how I felt after this run, and could I jump on the bike Sunday to go for a quick ride or spin.  I knew I had to ride easier, but I wanted to make sure I got the bike in.  Then I was thinking about which days I wanted to do tempo runs, hill workouts, etc.

how cool is this?  its a mouse

Our new computer- my mother in law bought us a brand new Apple Imac, so when I was out for the run, my wife was putting it together and installing everything.  She loves doing those type of things. But I wanted to get home and play with it, see how different it was from out current computer, and play with the new track pad mouse. 

Other random thoughts- Will Tiger win the tournament this weekend? What shoes are other runners wearing?  I know I wear cool shoes (Skora Base)- but there are a lot of people looking down at my feet.  How many people can I pass?  What are the Jets going to do with Darrelle Revis?

See, there are so many things that run through my mind during each and every run, that its crazy.  I feel like I cant stay focused on one thing, but I dont care.  Its all of these little things that get me through my workout and keep me plugging along.  I've never thought about how many different things I think about on a given run until yesterday, but what goes through your mind during your workouts?