New to playing fast!

So, I have been playing guitar FOREVER. And finally I'm starting to make sense of fast soloing techniques.

However, there's something I can't figure out.

In a repeating style lick, say... a simple three notes repeated over and over. How do you keep track of the ammount of times you're supposed to do the lick?

It gets mesmerizing! Do this one sixteen times followed by this one thirty two times etc. There has got to be a way to simplify all of this counting! I'm always losing track of where I am!

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!