Ideas flit through my mind all the time when I am running.  I don’t know what causes it.  Maybe the chemicals being released.  Maybe it is the breathing and lack of concern for anything besides that next step.  Whatever.

Every run, or so it seems, the world goes quiet.  You could be rolling solo, in a hard trail race or road race, in a pack of runner out for a training run or pushing each other to a fast time.  But even then, there is a moment when you are left with your own thoughts, fears, and in many cases some self-talk.

Every runner should have a word or phrase that they can repeat when the going gets tough.  Mine is “Go Get It”.  When things go quiet, that is the phrase I try to repeat to keep myself focused on the task at hand.  Sometimes it is cool to look around and check out the trees, the bees, and the back someone’s knees (seriously think about how many knee backs you look at when you are running).  But when you need to buckle down and get through a hard spot, having that word on repeat through your brain pushes out any negativity and might be one more thing to keep you going.