Boredom – in my opinion is one of the most common reasons as to why people don’t go running in the first place, or why they don’t enjoy it when they do! Of course running is going to be repetitive to some degree when you take around 2000 sequential steps per mile, with often only your own thoughts to entertain you. So here are a few boredom busting tips:

Run with a friend

This is an obvious one. Running with someone else to keep you company can help pass the time and create extra motivation when you’re running and you can even have a good catch up at the same time!

Music

Another obvious one, music can get you motivated and it can be enjoyable losing your thoughts and listening to music whilst you run. If you find yourself struggling, put on a song that will get you pumped and give you the motivation to keep going!

Podcasts and Audiobooks

Maybe less obvious, but a good one for those longer runs. If you’re going to spend a while running then you may as well learn something at the same time. Find something you’re interested in and learn about it; fitness, health, nutrition… It may even help you to improve performance and reach your goals at the same time.

Technique

Bad running technique can lead to a whole host of injuries but it’s rare that we actually focus on our technique. We always want to run faster and further but sometimes it can be good to reduce the speed and distance you run and pay close attention to form instead.

Add in some sprints

Running at the same pace can become repetitive, so why not add in some sprints too?! Not only will they bust boredom when running but they can also be beneficial to performance too. If sprints aren’t for you, you could vary pacing between miles instead, running at a faster pace for a mile and then dropping to a lower pace and so forth. The point here is to add variation to running speed as a method to reduce boredom associated with repetitive pacing.

Set goals

Goals provide a focus. Aim to complete a run in a certain time or set a goal to be able to run a set number of miles within a set number of weeks or months. When it comes to motivation, entering into a fun run or a race will get you out running even in the worst of weather as you know you have something to train for.

Start tracking

With activity trackers and tracking apps growing in popularity, you can now find out almost every detail about your run – in the office this has almost become an obsession! Using an activity tracker to track how many steps you’ve taken, or using a tracking app to track distance, pace and time of a run can all provide motivation when it comes to running, or just generally being active. This is a great way of comparing you against yourself and is a great way to help you become better than you were before.

Change where you run

Running will become repetitive if you always run the same route. It doesn’t take long before you know how long each section of your run takes and sometimes this makes the run harder. By changing where you run it’ll be enjoyable and you’ll see new scenery, rather than running the same route you’ve taken countless times.

Think

As many people say, ‘running clears the mind’ and it can be the time when people think most clearly. Think about your plan for the next week, think of some ideas for the project you are working on or simply just get lost in your own thoughts.

Hopefully this blog has given you some insight on how to bust boredom when it comes to running and if you’re still not convinced then there are still many other types of activity you can take part in instead, such as going to the gym or joining a sports club.

Adie Blanchard – Researcher