Discussion: Recovery run mind training

Since its winter break for me. I have been running by myself for a few days. Is there anything that i could do during a hour long easy run. So far i have come up with pace counting. Is there any other simple things i could do while i'm running?

This works even better with company (ie someone to talk to) but can be done alone. Take a map (or few) with some nice route choice legs on it and think your way around the course. As well as good practice for thinking about route choice, it keeps up the ability to read as much as you can without having to stop, and if like me you sometimes have trouble keeping easy pace runs at an easy pace it can be somewhat a natural speed limiter

Read comic books.

Sometimes when I get bored of visualizing routes, I count climb.

I used to run the Wildwood trail, a very nice, slightly hilly trail which had precisely measured markers every 1/4 mile. I could count paces and measure the time between markers. I developed a very good understanding of how much the slope effected speed, effort, stride length, and cadence.

To improve the training, I spent time guessing the distance to a feature. A bend in the trail, the top of a hill, etc... Then I could run to the feature and check my guess.

I also spent a fair amount of time juggling my water bottles.