This week's blog prompt: What is you favorite way to distract yourself while working out?

I have two responses, one for outdoor walking and one for indoor riding of the stationary bicycle.

When I walk outdoors I don't look for distractions.
I live in the country and walk on country roads. There are no sidewalks only large irrigation ditches on both sides of the road. No place to get off from the road and the roads aren't very large maybe only 50 to 60 feet wide. There isn't a lot of traffic, but when there is, it is coming rather fast- 50 to 70 mph- with big two-ton trucks or large semis, or farm machinery. I don't want to be distracted when I am out walking. I want to be able to hear the trucks or tractors so that I can get out of the way. But that is okay because I can be alone in my thoughts and the rhythmic movement of my feet helps to open up my mind. I can pray, I can think. I can sort out problems and when I return home I am better able to meet the day.

I love walking outdoors. Ilove the feel of the cool air as it wraps around my head and face. I love looking at the scenery that changes almost daily. I love watching the birds. Different times of the year bring different types of birds. Right now I can hear geese as they fly overhead.

Another thing about walking outdoors, you can't quit early. Once you get so far you can't quit until you arrive back home. No cheating allowed.

Now the stationary bicycle is another story.
I am riding a bike to no where and it can get rather boring.
My hands are not free to read a book, as the handles move with the pedals of the bike to give you a full body work out. There is a little timer that tells you the time, how many calories you have burned, how far you have gone, and how fast you are going. It rotates through all those numbers in 30 second intervals. If I do nothing but watch the timer after five to ten minutes I want off of there.

So here is what I do. I have tried turning on the TV, I have found that I really notice the commercials when I watch TV and they are way too long. I don't overly enjoy watching the TV. The same for the radio, too many commercials and besides to get the volume up high enough to hear over the wind of the resistance wheel it makes it really loud.

Listening to a CD isn't bad, and it works once in a while. With the same CD every day you can judge by the song that is on how much longer you have to go. It does help some and is very useful at times.

But most of the time I use the following method of distraction.
First let me explain:
Several years ago I was having trouble with negative thoughts replaying in my mind over and over again before I fell asleep. I ended up memorizing Children's Primary Songs, Hymns,the Articles of Faith, my Patriarchal Blessing and other such items. They are very good thoughts to have in your head. They keep your thought process positive and they help to keep your mind alert and active. The very ritual of going through those memorized items I feel is very motivating and confidence building.

When I first get on the bicycle I go through all those memorized items before I even allow myself to look at the timer. By the time I get through all of them, five, ten to 15 minutes have past. Wow that went pretty fast. The next five to ten minutes I am forcing myself to come up with things to think about. I am trying really, really hard not to look at the timer. When I get down to having only ten minutes to go I start counting the rotations on the timer. Only twenty more rotations, only 19 more rotations, only 18 more rotations etc. When I get to the last rotation I just about fall off of the bicycle and I am so tired, but I am really pleased with myself for going so long.

And that dear readers is how I distract myself.