Personal Cheering Section

Unlike almost everyone else in the world, I actually prefer running in my basement on the treadmill to running outside.  Even on nice days like today (68 degrees and no humidity) I would rather run inside and then spend my outside time relaxing.  And it isn't as if my treadmill is in an inspiring location.  Here it is:

And this is my view from the treadmill:

Still, this is where I get my best runs.  I credit this to my ability to trick myself into imagining that I'm running outside with tons of people cheering me on.  I picture my husband and daughter, my parents, my brother and his family, and my best friends.  I also picture my daughter's cross country team and my husband's cycling team.  All these people line up along the made-up course in my head.  They give general encouragement such as "You're doing great" and "You can do it".  But there are also other people assigned to remind me to lengthen my stride and telling me that this is the time to sprint. 

Is this a sign that I'm insane?  Maybe!  But it gets me through my runs and makes me fell fantastic once I'm done. 

I was telling my husband about this earlier and he immediately recognized where I learned this - Wii Fit.  As soon as he said it I knew he was right.  When I first started exercising, I used Wii Fit.  My daughter had randomly made Miis for various people we know.  Our family members are out there, several of her friends, one of my best friends, and another friend's son.  It would make me smile every time, especially when running (which is actually running in place), as I would pass someone I knew.  While my husband and brother would obnoxiously pass me throughout the run, my dad always seemed to be at the end to cheer as I finished.  I loved it.  It made me feel like I was on some fantastic island with everyone I love and we were all super healthy.

So apparently without realizing it, I've taken that aspect of Wii Fit and internalized it so that I can have my own personal cheering section  no matter where I go!