it varies. sometimes its stuff from work or things at home or sometimes i play six degrees of kevin bacon. on the bike it is just general paranoia that I'm going to run over by the crazy driving public

I do the same as RV. Try and focus on the immediate of what you are doing, don't just be in the now, be in the RIGHT NOW!

I'm a numbers and maps geek so I often calculate things in my head. Mileage, pace, where I'll be (time or distance or both) when I hit certain points). They help me keep or increase intensity, especially on the bike. Lately on the long ride I tend to have a goal overall time, and then want to be able to go easy the last hour and hit the time, so I figure out how hard I have to go to make it so that the last hour at a 15 mph pace would get me the goal. Of course I then get a new "ideal time" into my head and seem to still push it most of that last hour :)

On the run I focus on where I'm rolling through my feet and other form stuff (about once a mile) and just let my mind wander for the rest. I'll figure out how far ahead of me Mike is, or other distance/time stuff for me. Or, on heat training stuff lately, my thought process is more "hot hot uugggg hot ooh water hot hot a second of shade! and more sun stupid sun hooottt..."

I am a lot like Kyillee on this one. I will do the math over and over in my head.
This is the monologue my brain produces on runs:
Ok man you are 4 miles into it and the total time is 30:31 you still have two miles left to go and you want a sub 45 6 mile. That means you have to run a 14:29 which boils down to a 7:14 mile per mile. Aight so watch your garmin if you can grab a 3:36 at a half a mile that will give you enough leeway to be able to get your time even if you fall off in the end a bit.

That is my typical internal monologue that goes over and over again.

Depends. If it's an adventure race and we're 20 hours into it - "Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this? Why am I doing this?" Great inner dialogue there. And if I have the map - "where are? where are we going? are we on the right road?"

If it's a race where I've trained up for it, and I'm focused, then I pull out the numbers make estimation for when I am going to reach point B based on my speed from point A.

For tri's ff I'm in the middle of the run leg and I've been keeping a hard pace, then I pull out the 1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 step mantra to keep me in rhythm. Keeps my mind of the 5 and 6 minute milers that are flying by me. :)

The swim is a mix of: "Stop climbing on top of me!!", "Where did my googles go? (jk)", "Breathe-2-3, Breath-2-3", "Did I just get punched in the back?"

Hope that helps

That's interesting because one of the athletes said a turning break through point for him was when the same thought came to him, "Why am I doing this." He suddenly realized or "FELT", I do it because it is fun, and then everything changed for him, and writes books now and holds titles.

I asked the double Ironman World Champion on Sunday what he thought, and he also does math, but also focus on how his body feels, and thinks only positive thoughts.

Another big name told me that he has a few special moments and memories of places that were powerful and positive. He relives those moments or goes to that place when it begins to hurt.

THanks everyone for your feed back. I think I am coming to the point where I am getting into the endurance aspect and having to break through these barrier, which are the moments that make you go further and harder. I realize at this point how often my thoughts fly around getting me no where.

THANKS!!!!

What else POC, every shared thought could be a break through for me. Don't be shy, as I know you are not.

BBB, No brain no pain. right?

On long bike rides, I just think about life and what is going on. Its also a good time for me to do some deep thinking. Then there are the thoughts like, "Wow, that is a really nice house." Or, "I really like the landscaping in that yard." Or, "Wow, that guy keeps his grass SO nice."

On runs, I have to stay positive or everything goes down hill and I start to feel every little pain. Also, I think about the next race that I am doing and how I'm going to do better than the last one. I think about my wife standing at the finish waiting for me and how proud she will be of me. I also picture my dad waiting for me and how proud he will be. I picture myself passing people at the end of 5k's during my sprint finish. During 5ks, I do math to help me keep the motivation of beating my previous time.

During the swim, I usually am just counting laps. Not much in the way of thought other than just keeping things positive with some positive self-talk. When I do my long swims, I just keep it positive and keep telling myself that its no problem and that I feel good. I'll concentrate on my breathing for a few laps, then on the stokes and then on what the rest of my body is doing.

I guess during all my training, at times, I think of my family standing at the finish waiting for me and how proud they will be and how I need to push harder to do better. Those are my main thoughts during races. Its pretty cool too because, so far, my family has been to most of my races(5ks and tri's). If they're close to home, some friends come watch too.

Here's one I just remembered:

on a fast curvy descent with tricky crosswinds like, say, coming down out of Yellow Lake, I think happy positive thoughts like:

"I am strong, solid, immovable. I cut through the air like a knife."
and,
"My tires are bullet-proof. My grip on the handlebars is like the bite of the pitbull. I charge down the mountain like the powder avalanche. I can fly!"

Okay, so sometimes I get carried away, but it's better than worrying about a blow-out and looking at the roadside for a soft landing spot.

PoC

When the going gets tough and the pain starts I say out loud, "This is easy" and force myself to smile. It actually works. That and the Gladiator soundtrack blasting through my head.

I do what most of the other posters do. I think about pace and numbers. I do the math. On long swims in the pool. I check under my arm and look at the pace clock making sure that I am keeping the same pace or in some cases picking up the splits.

In cycling, I like to look at my wattage meter and heart rate and keep consistent numbers going there. If it is an interval, I like to finish the interval at higher watts than I started and make the last interval my best.

On runs, I take splits on each mile and like to finish the long runs at a faster pace than I started. The same goes for intervals. I might think about running form too.

Like others, I think you need to focus on the "right now". I think it helps you race better, because you tend to focus more when the times get tough and you feel like quitting.