Runner's World magazine had a story about mantras and how they motivate some runners.

According to Runners World, A mantra can be anything from a poem to a line from your favorite song. Chanting it when the going gets tough, can help you push through to the end.

They asked some top runners to share the mantras they use. Most of theirs were, of course, performance related (about running harder, or lighter, or whatever).

I've used a few mantras before -- "harder, stronger, faster" is one I often use when facing a hill or trying to catch a competitor. "Finish strong" and "Calm down and breathe," are a couple I've chanted to myself in the last tenths of a race (which I use depends on if I'm trying to pass someone!).

When I ran my first, and last, marathon the mantra I was chanting in my head for the entire last three miles was, "Dear God, let me stop running. I want to stop running. Dear God, let me stop running...."

Here's hoping, there's a more positive mantra running through my head at the end of 26.2 miles in Cleveland in May.

Maybe something like "Boston, here I come."

What do you chant in your head? What gets you through the rough humps of your runs?

Post a comment or e-mail me at heather.cass@timesnews.com and I'll post it for you.

Enjoy your winter weekend runs -- here's hoping it's the last of the crunchy snow runs we'll be doing for a long, long time.