What do you think about on the roads?

What do you think about while out running around? Probably a lot of stereotypical training thoughts.

A study, published earlier this summer, looked to try and figure out what goes through the heads of those training for marathons and half-marathons while out running. The participants, though few, were humorously stereotypical.

The study had ten runners, six men and four women between the ages of 29 and 52, complete two runs wearing small recording devices and asked to speak their thoughts out loud. This is known as the “speak aloud” technique. Each participant had completed a marathon in the previous year and was training for another or a half-marathon.

They completed one run on a treadmill and one outside. In total, researchers analyzed 18 hours of recordings to realize runners think about running.

The researchers write in the study that “Overall, the results indicate that long-distance runners’ thoughts fall into one of the three themes: (a) Pace and Distance, (b) Pain and Discomfort, and (c) Environment”

A full 40 per cent of the recordings in some way had to do with how fast and how far participants were running, 32 per cent were focused on discomfort and fatigue, and 28 on the environment around them.

An obvious problem with the study was that there were only ten participants. Also, it’s tough to determine if what the participants are saying is actually what they’re thinking; knowing their recordings would be listened to, it’s possible the runners didn’t say everything they were thinking.

The study was published in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology in July.