Exercise my mind

I have noticed that my mind is not nearly as in shape as my body (and that's not saying much!).

Some days, my body is fine, but my mind keeps me down. An example: no matter what the length of the run, the first 1/2 mile and the last mile are ALWAYS torture. So if I'm running 5 miles, the first 1/2 mile I'm warming up, the last mile I'm wishing I was done, and the middle 3 1/2 miles are okay. That's all fine and good, but what happens when I'm only running 2?! With 1/2 mile warm up, 1 mile end of the run torture...that only leaves 1/2 mile of good running! I know its all mental. I even tell myself that while I'm running. "You ran 4 1/2 miles yesterday, what's the difference between 4 1/2 and 5?!" But myself is not a very good listener.

I know if I could find a way to keep myself from thinking about how far I've gone or how far I have left, it wouldn't be the same issue. Although I would still feel the twinges of pain here and there, at least I wouldn't be dreading every step of that first half mile or last mile. I am anxious to find some ways to distract my mind from the pain it thinks its feeling and concentrate on the good stuff. Even having Kyle next to me talking doesn't seem to help. (Maybe that's because he talks about real estate and creating websites, but hey if one of us is distracted from the pain, that's a start! :))

So this week I am on the hunt for distractions. I tried cranking up my music, which seemed to help a little, but then poor Kyle was running next to me talking about his websites and the only response he was getting was "what?"...I guess I didn't realize how loud I had it cranked. I couldn't hear a thing. I've tried playing that ABC memory game where you match an object with each letter of the alphabet...During a run, it goes a little something like this:
"I went to the store and bought an apple.
I went to the store and bought an apple and a bagel.
I went to the store and bought an apple, a bagel, mmm a bagel sounds good, oh, I mean an apple, a bagel, and a chimichanga.
I went to the store and bought and apple, a bagel, a chimichanga, and a donut...What am I doing? I'm hungry, and there's Top Pot! Screw running!"

Next distraction technique to try: freestyle running. I can do that. (Check it out. Its cool. I promise.)