Me, Myself, and We

Do you ever talk to yourself when you workout?

Well, I do.

I have 2 styles of conversation that I follow to motivate myself [only while in the process of doing cardio, using an sort of weights or muscle building machine causes me severe pain and skews to thoughts dually trying to register in my mind]. 

1.  Negotiations:  I prefer this method during my stints on the elliptical.  It sounds almost identical to a business meeting, except I play the roles of all sides involved.  I like to trade workout time for promises of shopping, but since my current hiatus from that activity, I have to come up with new and exciting ways to move negotiations along.  For example, "If you [and by you I mean me] keep your heart rate above 170 for the next 20 minutes, you [me] can procrastinate on that homework we're dreading until tomorrow" -  which has replaced, "5 more minutes and you've earned that yummy pair of knee-high boots that would look great with that darling sweater you earned at our last meeting."

2.  One-Up-Manship:  On the treadmill, it's a different ball game.  I'm currently, and possibly futilely, training myself to be a runner using the interval technique [also recommended to reduce the risk of Type II Diabetes].  The conversation with myself goes something like this:

"You only have to run at x speed for 1.5 minutes and than you can go back to walking for 3 minutes."
"Hell no!  I'm going to run for 2 minutes, and only walk for 2.5, and than do it again"

It goes on like that for a half hour, until at which time I'm particularly sweaty gross, and both sides agree that cardio is accomplished for the day.