Boredom
The terror and the possibilities
Boredom
This week, we're taking on a spicy topic: what to do when you get bored while running.
Yes, that's right! I get bored during runs like anyone else. Whether it’s in the middle miles of a run or just because my mind wasn’t focused in the first place, I often feel the irritation and sluggishness that characterize boredom.
Acceptance and Continuation: Stoic Stalwarts
Because the thing is, running is repetitive, and I know the initial hump of boredom keeps a lot of people from getting into it. But although boredom is inevitable in some runs sometimes, we can think of the boredom as a feature, not a bug. Stoicism teaches us that inevitable things like boredom must be embraced and, while not sought after, at least acknowledged as not an evil to be avoided (that would be hedonism).
However, I think we can actually go beyond that stoic principle of acceptance and see boredom as a positive. That’s because boredom is something that's denied us by so much of modern life, where constant demands on our attention have eroded our privacy and attention spans. Getting released from those demands to the point of real, actual boredom can be kind of great, and learning to manage boredom is a life skill worth having. Controversial opinions, I know. But what I’m saying is: boredom can be good, so you embrace it on your runs, as far as you can.
Music (Might Be the Answer)
That being said, sometimes boredom can slip past the useful into the truly distracting. This is when we need tactics for holding it back so that we can get through our runs. I’m going to state the obvious tactic to fight boredom first: listen to music. I understand that this idea is not going to make anyone light up, because everyone already knows it, but here's an embarrassing secret: for years I didn't run with music. For DECADES. I resisted it because I thought of it as a crutch. In my mind, I should experience my runs in full consciousness; I should be able to mentally face the hills and handle the miles without any help, and I would be weak if I couldn't. Then, after my first kid, I wanted to run longer mileage. Still not high mileage, but high for me. I decided maybe I did need a crutch. I decided to try running with music again and...it really works!!
Here's an embarrassing secret: for years I didn't run with music. For DECADES.
YES: I know I'm literally last to this dance floor but I know I’m not the only one who had a backwards notion that any aid is bad because then you're not connecting with your workout. But the thing is, if you're bored you're not connecting, either. So the issue is really less of whether you’re giving yourself an easy way out or not and more about understanding your mental state and managing it.. So music: use it when you need it; don't use it when you don't. It helps you not be bored and it doesn't hold you back.
Gratitude Miles: Love On Yourself
Another tactic I’ve used is gratitude miles. The way it works is that when you get bored in your run, you spend a mile just listing what you're grateful for. Absolute truth: I have never done an entire mile like this, but I do find it useful to spend a little while just really noticing how amazing it is that I can run AT ALL. I mean, it is, isn't it?! Your body is out here, doing this wonderful thing, swinging back and forth and not falling down, while you breathe and look at things and hear stuff and are apart from your problems. So gratitude miles: good things to do when you're bored.
Finish Line
When I'm with other runners, mileage always seems to be a central topic of discussion. And I always, always have the lowest mileage. Other runners are shocked at how low it is! But the truth is: I get bored. Maybe you do too! I don't get bored on mile one or two, but by four or five I'm a little like "okay this can end now".
What do I do about it? Acceptance, music, and gratitude miles. I'm not a high mileage runner; I never was and I never will be. And guess what? I'm still successful. If you get bored, that's fine! Accept that about you; I love that for you. Do what you will with it; you can still be a runner.
I’ll see you again next week on social and in this newsletter. For today, remember: go run.