Ep#365 How to not be bored on your next run!

Welcome to the Not Your Average Runner podcast. If you’ve never felt athletic, but you still dream about becoming a runner, you are in the right place. I’m Jill Angie, and I help fat women over 40 to start running, feel confident and change their lives. I have worked with thousands of women to help them achieve their running goals.

And now I want to help you.

Hey there runner. Welcome to another episode of the Not Your Average Runner podcast,the show that is here to get you running safely and confidently, no matter your size. I’m Jill Angie your coach and running BFF and today’s warm up topic is something that almost everybody struggles with and that is getting bored while running.

Can you relate?

All right. As always, you start walking, I’ll start talking, and we’re going to dive into some things you can do right now to make sure today’s run stays fun, fresh, and anything but boring. Okay. So we’ve all been there, right? It’s like 10 minutes into your run and suddenly you’re thinking, you know, is this over yet?

I am so bored. I’m so over this, right? And then you spend the rest of your run which may be just a few more intervals if your brain wins, right? You spend the rest of your run trying to talk yourself into sticking it out which is the least fun way to be a runner, by the way. It is miserable. But there’s lots of things that you can do to actually keep it interesting and fun and keep your attention from just feeling like you are bored silly.

So the first thing I want to do is like the obvious thing. Let’s talk about switching up your route. Some people actually prefer to run the same route over and over. I get it. But if you’re like me, you start to dread it. So you’re like, I do not want to look at the same exact houses day after day after day.

So instead today, I want you to try a different route and I know you’re already in your warmup right now But that doesn’t mean you need to do exactly the same thing as last time. So even small changes like running your route in the opposite direction or cutting through a different street or just mixing it up a little bit can make a big difference on how your brain processes the run.

So that little shift in your routine can keep things interesting and keep your mind engaged. Now, if you’ve already planned your route for today and there really is no opportunity to switch it up, No worries. Another great way to avoid boredom is to bring some entertainment with you. Okay. And you know, you probably, well, obviously you’ve brought entertainment with you because you’re listening to this podcast right now.

But like right now during this walk, I want you to think about what is going to keep you pumped up. So if you love music, queue up a playlist that gets you excited. Pick songs that match your pace, make you want to move. This may require a little bit of preparation. You may need to do that ahead of time.

So it might be a next run thing if you don’t have one ready. Or – And this is a really easy thing to do, especially if you have Spotify. Spotify is awesome at this. Have your music app generate a playlist for you. And you can go into Spotify and look for playlists that are for specific purposes or have specific beats per minute.And the cool thing is you don’t know what song is coming next. So it’s kind of things to keeps it interesting.

Now the next idea, as far as entertainment goes, is for a very specific type of person. So, and that type of person is me, but I know there’s a lot more out me like this. Who love, like you have TV series that you absolutely love, and you’ll watch the whole thing from beginning to end over and over and over again. Maybe you put it on while you’re working during the day and you just have it on the background. For me, that series is The Office. It used to be Friends, but I think I’ve watched Friends enough times that I could recite the entire thing from beginning to end and I’m done with it.

But what I want to tell you about is, you know, you cannot take your TV shows with you while you’re running outside, but you can try a re watch of The Podcast and these are so much fun. So right now I’m working through one called the office ladies where Jenna Fisher and Angela Kinsey go through all nine seasons of the show episode by episode.

They talk about the plot of the episode. They talk about interesting details from filming. They go through kind of like little things that you may not have noticed when you watched it. They interview other cast members and they just generally reminisce about the show. It is so much fun and it’s a great way to get the comfort of watching your favorite shows while you’re still running outside and getting some fresh air.

I mean you can use it on the treadmill as well but I highly recommend this and there are tons of rewatch podcasts out there for all your favorite shows. Just go on your podcast app, search for the show name and you’ll see what I mean.

Now, as you start getting further into your run, another way to keep your mind active is to set small goals throughout the workout. So instead of like, Oh, I got to run for 30 minutes. Let’s just break it down. I’m going to run till the next lamppost or let’s see how many intervals I can do before this song ends. Like give your brain many milestones to focus on. It keeps things interesting. It distracts you from checking your watch every two minutes.

The point is to break your run down into chunks and then focus on the one you’re in right now instead of thinking about what you have left to do. And sometimes my inner math nerd pipes up and I’ll think, okay, I’m doing 30 intervals today and I’ve done 11. What percentage is that? Well, I know 10 intervals is 33 percent and 12 intervals is 40 percent because that math is easy.

So 11 intervals must be like 36 or 37 percent and then I’ll try to like do the long division in my head. And as I’m saying this out loud, I’m realizing how crazy I sound. So if you’re not a math nerd and you don’t like to do math in your head, maybe don’t try this. Or maybe try it. I don’t know. Maybe it’ll break your brain while you’re out running and it’ll be over before you know it.

Who knows?

I also do this when I’m swimming laps, which I haven’t done in ages, but like, that’s how I keep myself amused when I’m swimming laps.

Anyway, speaking of intervals, if you’re looking for something fun to try during today’s run, try some speed work. And this is not like all out sprinting, just Try picking up the pace maybe on every other interval or every third interval, run it a little faster than usual.

Just shake up the pace and, or you could say are doing during the chorus of each of my songs, right? Like when the chorus comes on, if I’m in a run interval, I will pick up the pace or I’ll pick up the pace for this block. Just like challenge yourself to go a little faster and then bring it back down. And this kind of variety keeps your brain and body engaged. It’s also great for building endurance and and speed.

Okay. Now, if you’re not feeling like pushing the pace today, and by the way, if today is your long run, don’t push your pace. Keep it even, even and relaxed. That’s our rule for long runs. But if it’s a short run, you can play with the speed work.

But if you’re not feeling it, that’s fine. Turn the run into a mental game instead. Okay, so pick a landmark ahead of you. A tree, a sign, a parked car and imagine there’s a string tied between you and that object is reeling you in. This is really helpful when you’re on a hill, like looking at the top of the hill, and imagine you are literally being pulled up.

Or imagine you’re running on the moon and every step feels super light and easy. So play some mental games with yourself as you’re running to interact with your environment. And just kind of like change up how You’re experiencing the run. You could also do something like, I am going to see how many blue things I can count between here and the next interval. Or how many you know, red cars I can count between here and the end of the next two intervals or something like, play some little games like that.

And then finally, well, next to finally try to be mindful of the moment. Okay, if all the others don’t sound interesting to you, Just do a quick body scan, like go into your body and start noticing what it feels like in there.

So we covered the body scan a couple episodes ago. Work your way from your toes to your head and see how you feel. You could pay attention to other things, like how your feet feel. hitting the ground. What is your breathing like? How’s the air around you? Like start noticing the little things and use the time to practice being present.

Because you might find that when you really focus on the run, instead of letting your mind wander, you’re going to – which I’m all for letting your mind wander as well. That’s also a way to keep it from being boring but when you focus sometimes it’s easier to stay engaged. So give it all a try  – give your mind a job.

This is another thing I do I’ll give myself a problem to solve when I start out running so I’ll say okay for the next 30 minutes I’m just gonna think about how to fix this one particular issue in my life or I’ll spend the time brainstorming about a plot point in my book. If I have ideas I can just read them quickly and do a voice note on the next walk interval so I can look back at them later.

And, yeah, that’s it. And by the way, almost all of this applies to running on a treadmill as well. And I know treadmills people are like, oh my god, it’s the most boring thing ever. One time a client told me that, her treadmill was boring. And I was like, girl, it’s not the treadmill. It’s you. You are the one who’s boring the look on her face.

But I did not mean it as an insult, but more like a. Hey girl, you’ve got this amazing brain in your body that can think any thoughts in the world. Give it something to do, right? I remember being a kid in the 70s with no internet only three channels on the TV This was pre cable. My brother and sister had already grown up and moved out So I was basically an only child and I was never ever bored because I had my imagination I had a million books to keep these interesting.

I had my friend, Missy Mandarano and Missy if you are listening to this, I want you to know I still think about this to this day, every once in a while, she lived kind of a few blocks away and every once in a while, like, over the summer, we’d play and we were obsessed with the Hardy Boys and if y’all remember the Hardy Boys books, we were just obsessed and we would build forts in the backyard with all of the blankets and lawn chairs and these were complex forts, my friends, they were, they had rooms and front doors And we would we had this whole bit where we were you know, the girlfriends of the hardy boys and we would make dinner and go on.

Oh my god! It was just insane So those of you those of you who were in your middle school years in the mid 70s can probably relate to this I don’t know. I may be totally embarrassing myself here, but we’ve already done it with the math anyway, so there we go. Anyway, my point is I was never bored because I had my imagination and I had a million books to keep things interesting.

So just channel your inner Gen X kid when you’re bored on your next run because that version of you would, would not be bored now, right? Like, cause they would find something to do. So keep it fun, keep it fresh. And remember every single run is progress. You are out here showing up for yourself and that is what matters the most, my friend.

So that is it for today. I know we went a little bit long cause I started the reminiscing, but if you are loving the show, please don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and now it is time to start that interval timer and. get your run on. I will talk to you next week. Big kiss. Have fun!

Real quick before you go. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you have to check out my seven day jumpstart plan. It is a free downloadable guide that will teach you exactly how to start running safely and confidently in the body you have right now. Head on over to notyouraveragerunner.com/jumpstart to grab it.

That’s notyouraveragerunner.com/jumpstart. I’d love to be a part of your journey.