Boredom while running

[OrangeGrad]

So I'm toward the end of training for a marathon and I can't believe how boring it is to run. Anyone have any ways to keep yourself distracted while running for three or four hours? Music hasn't worked.

 

[SalukiNC]

Running bores the **** out of me. That's why I ride a bike.

 

[Batman]

So I'm toward the end of training for a marathon and I can't believe how boring it is to run. Anyone have any ways to keep yourself distracted while running for three or four hours? Music hasn't worked.

Run through a bad neighborhood. Keeps you on your toes AND improves your time.

 

[schiezainc]

So I'm toward the end of training for a marathon and I can't believe how boring it is to run. Anyone have any ways to keep yourself distracted while running for three or four hours? Music hasn't worked.

Download some podcasts and/or buy a comedy album?

 

[Double J]

So I'm toward the end of training for a marathon and I can't believe how boring it is to run. Anyone have any ways to keep yourself distracted while running for three or four hours? Music hasn't worked.

Get hit by a plane?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iirpHqO8nA4ZBeupaFWr_K6H7PmgD9EFTIL02

 

[jlee]

Do a mental project. I write rap songs while running.

 

[cyclingwriter]

So I'm toward the end of training for a marathon and I can't believe how boring it is to run. Anyone have any ways to keep yourself distracted while running for three or four hours? Music hasn't worked.

Get hit by a plane?

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iirpHqO8nA4ZBeupaFWr_K6H7PmgD9EFTIL02

ouch.

I usually write stories in my head while running, but since you are training for a marathon I guess you want to keep focused on your time.
So try either changing your running routes or visualize the marathon itself.

 

[User 1019]

I replay conversations over in my head and try to think of what I could've said to make them better.

 

[mustangj17]

Take a handful of pennies. Drop them on your route. On the way back see how many you can find and pick up.

Do out and backs where you try to return faster than you went out.

Try negative splitting where you try to run every mile faster than the previous mile.

Run somewhere new.

 

[TigerVols]

Podcasts are a lifesaver. There are plenty of marathon-oriented ones; I also like to listen to Planet Money and several classes on Podcast University.

 

[WaylonJennings]

I really like the Slate culture and political podcasts. They are oozing with oblivious pretension to the point of almost being self-parody at times, but still really entertaining. Plus, they are 40-50 minutes long, which is often an issue with trying to find podcasts because they are so short. I wish I could find just some straight news and news commentary daily podcasts for just this purpose, but they are usually only about five minutes long.

As an aside, I once did this story about high school cross country, and got an earful from an angry coach who thought that I was somehow slamming his sport. Definitely a what-am-I-doing-with-my-life moment.

 

[The Big Ragu]

I don't run nearly as far as you probably are, so I don't know for certain if I could ever get bored running. I just blast music in my ears, but I barely even hear it, because I get into a zone when I run. That is why I can't imagine being bored while I run. My mind rapid fires. All the time. Even when I am trying to fall asleep. It's a curse. Running is the only thing, other than serious drugs, that truly calms my mind and allows me to focus on nothing. I love that feeling -- getting physically exhausted, sweating and being able to push myself, because of the feeling of calm and the fact that my mind can be on a vacation in some dreamland a thousand miles away. I can't imagine the boredom of just running if I didn't have that.

 

[Moderator1]

WAY back when I ran regularly, I used the time to think, plot, plan, dream. Christ, it was my favorite time of the day and a major reason I need to get my fat ass moving again.
Varying routes helps. See new stuff. Count varieties of birds. Make friends with a couple of dogs.

 

[Armchair_QB]

Don't run.

 

[I Should Coco]

Run past an area with nesting red winged blackbirds and/or magpies. They'll get your attention real fast.

Carrying a tennis racket helps knock them away as they peck at your face/head.

 

[BTExpress]

I love running to hit a yellow fuzzy ball before it bounces a second time.

Pretty much hate running in any other form.

Are we having fun yet?

 

[Idaho]

Chose a treadmill in front of the yoga/zumba class

 

[Mizzougrad96]

So I'm toward the end of training for a marathon and I can't believe how boring it is to run. Anyone have any ways to keep yourself distracted while running for three or four hours? Music hasn't worked.

Download some podcasts and/or buy a comedy album?

Podcasts and comedy albums are great. If you have an iPod touch, you can listen on 2X and everything really passes quickly. I don't know if they have that option on regular iPods.

If you have a comedy album and you want to listen at 2X, all you have to do is hit Control I and change it from music to audiobook. I do it all the time and love it.

 

[Bristol Whipped]

It's running. It's supposed to be boring.

 

[Batman]

Podcasts and comedy albums are great. If you have an iPod touch, you can listen on 2X and everything really passes quickly. I don't know if they have that option on regular iPods.

If using the iPod touch, just make sure you turn off the option to change songs when you shake it. Nothing worse than hearing a new opening note, or a seemingly stuttering podcast host, with every step you take.