Mind games

March 3, 2007 7:50 PM

When I run, my mind gets left out...

Generally when I am doing some sort of monotonous exercise, such as running, I get really bored. Sometimes I'll go into "the zone" and the workout will breeze by, but other times, it feels like its dragging on. I find that music doesn't help. On road runs, the scenery sometimes helps to keep my head occupied, but on the track (where I run more often), there's nothing to entertain me. Are there any sort of games I can play in my head to fend off boredom and maybe give my brain a good workout too? I'm basically looking for anything that can distract my thought processes to facilitate a "zoning out" or at least help make the time pass by quicker.

posted by god particle to sports, hobbies, & recreation (17 answers total)

Nothing makes time pass quicker whilst running than talking to a friend. I'm kind of an antisocial person but running alone is kind of painful to me because it goes so slowly.
posted by loiseau at 8:04 PM on March 3, 2007

I too have a pretty bad problem with getting bored while running alone. Personally, I've never had luck with mental stimulation--music messes with my pace and any sort of mental work (such as reciting formulas or facts for class in my head) gets old after half a mile, tops.

What I've found that works best for me is not to try and occupy my mind, but rather to do your second option and try and "zone out". One of the best ways I've found to do this (and that helps with your running, too) is to focus on breathing patterns, similar to meditation. That, combined with the endorphin rush of a good run, make can help to make running an amazingly relaxing experience.

Similarly, you can do counting games with your strides, which is what I used to do before I decided that breathing worked better for me. I would usually count strides between cracks in the road or light posts or something to that effect. Is there some sort of markings along the track that would similarly work for you?

However if you don't find trying to zone works for you, you could also see if you could line up your running times with a high school band's practices and run on the track surrounding their football field as they practice on it, if this is something you would care to do. I know when I was in high school marching band, we had a lot of runners that all seemed to appear at once during our practices. Of course, this won't help you until marching season in the fall.

If this is the sort of music that also doesn't help, you could also try listening to audio-books or the radio on some non-music station. Are you an NPR fan? I know they make good little radio/headset things gears towards runners.

Just some ideas to try out.
posted by internet!Hannah at 8:13 PM on March 3, 2007

When I am in spin class and we are doing a boring endurance ride sometimes I count to 100 silently-it helps me get in that zone you are talking about.

Another thing I do is concentrate on form-on what exactly my muscles are doing, taking one pedal stroke at a time. I imagine you could do something similar while running.

BTW do you have a heart rate monitor? Concentrating on keeping my heart rate at a certain percentage, or dropping it, or raising it, can be entertaining and distracting. Not to mention it's actually useful info to have.
posted by konolia at 8:15 PM on March 3, 2007

I have perpetually done math in my head on long runs. I have assumed a mph and figured out how long it would take for me to run 8 miles, 13 miles, 26.2 miles. While running, it seems to take a lot more mental capacity than it would if you were still. Sounds silly - but it worked for me.
posted by beachhead2 at 8:46 PM on March 3, 2007

How about listening to audio books or podcasts?
posted by ShooBoo at 8:52 PM on March 3, 2007

I don't know if you run primarily inside or outside, at home or at the gym, but I have a computer right by my treadmill and can watch TV shows, listen to podcasts, etc... while running. It's nice because I can get into a routine where if I watch show X or listen to a certain podcast I do it while running. That way I can control the amount of time I run and ensure that I do it on a regular basis. Plus it gives me something to look forward to.
posted by dujoducom at 9:28 PM on March 3, 2007

Meditate while you run. Did you go to TM classes and get a magic word? Yes? Use it. No? Say something inane like Ahrum. Silently, over and over again. Breathe deeply. Concentrate on the word, let all thoughts of your run, your pain, anything else fall away. You will fall into a zone, one where you feel relaxed despite your efforts. You can still maintain sufficient awareness to keep from being run down but you can't really run your guts out (at least I can't). I usually go with the music, but meditation works for me.

A completely different approach might be to attack the boring nature of your exertion. When running the scenery changes pretty slowly. However, if you put your ass on a bicycle you get a much faster changing scene for a similar level of effort.
posted by caddis at 9:51 PM on March 3, 2007

Back in the day when I ran track, my friends and I used to play word games. We would play "Drugs, Sex and Rock and Roll". Name a drug (in slang or regualar), something with sex, or a song, musician, band etc. This is all in alphabetical order. You'd be surprised how entertaining this is. Couldn't get a letter after a while we would omit it.

Another game we would play is the famous name game. You name someone, take their fist letter of their last name and begin with that. So and answer to John Travolta would be Tom Hanks. The answer the Tom Hanks would be Heratio Sands. Then Sandra Bullok...etc.

Haikus are fun to write in your head also.
posted by thetenthstory at 11:44 PM on March 3, 2007

Try "This American Life" podcast and/or audible.com downloads. It's the only thing I find myself sitting in the parking lot listening to a segment finish (that's the kind of athelete I am).
posted by ill3 at 12:41 AM on March 4, 2007

Audio books or podcasts are your friend. A good audio book should make you want to run for longer just to keep the story going, and you should be just about able to let your body go on autopilot while your mind enjoys the story.
posted by tomble at 4:21 AM on March 4, 2007

I'm an improvisor and often improvise songs, so I find it very occupying -- and good practice -- to compose motivational cadence calls in my head. I'll improvise instantly on whatever comes to mind. It doesn't matter how lame it is, just that it comes out immediately and holds to my rhythm.

Example: I hear a truck roll by. I think: "I just heard a truck roll by! (I just heard a truck roll by!) Run until I get a runner's high! (Run until I get a runner's high!)" This is definitely not for everyone, but for me it makes the time fly by and keeps the mental gears greased.
posted by ROTFL at 5:45 AM on March 4, 2007

Run faster and focus on running alone. The next hill, how you feel, how you will feel in a little bit.

Always been enough for me.
posted by tmcw at 9:28 AM on March 4, 2007

I swim and it can be a similar thing: we stare at the black line for two hours. Interval training helps, because then you are too tired to get bored. I think runners usually run a certain amount of time at high speed, then another at low speed (active rest). Sometimes swimmers do that, but we will also do timed repeats, where you swim a distance on a certain time, then get to rest. (So if you do 100 on 1:30, you could swim the distance in 1:20, then rest for 10, or swim it in 1:25, rest for 5, etc. I have no idea how to convert that into running distances.) That way all you can possibly think is "OMG, I'm gonna barf. Ah, sweet rest. Again? OMG, I'm gonna barf." And if you can think more, you need to drop your interval.

I also sing songs in my head or recite poems. Try to find a song or poem that matches your pace. Also, do you have a goal? Do you race? Because even when I do fall off or get boredish, focusing on how hard my oppenent is probably working can perk things right up.
posted by dame at 9:55 AM on March 4, 2007

I think about women, sometimes, naked, sometimes not...and lots of them. It helps.
posted by Postroad at 12:00 PM on March 4, 2007

I prefer counting backwards from 100. Counting forwards 0-100 takes almost too little effort, and I feel like I can still think of other things while counting. Counting backwards 100-0, however, takes slightly more concentration. If I realize I have accidentally started counting forwards, I have to start all over again.

Another ame is to try to do the alphabet backwards. As a bonus, once you've mastered it, reciting Z-A is a good party trick!
posted by kidsleepy at 12:28 PM on March 4, 2007

*game
posted by kidsleepy at 12:48 PM on March 4, 2007

Seconding kidsleepy's counting-backward suggestion, but I go up and then back down the number line. When I'm really struggling to finish a workout, I'll maintain two simultaeous counts in my head - primarily the numbers on my footstrikes and secondarily the number of times I've made it to 100 and back to zero again. If I lose track of either, I have to start over. It sounds easy, until you're desperately trying to remember whether you're on countdown #12 or #13 and you're already in the 20s - 24..23..22..Ack, was I by that green house when I said I was at 11?..21...20...19...

I also alternate (by sets of 100) on my right and left footstrike to even out any unconscious unevenness that counting causes.
posted by brozek at 7:40 PM on March 4, 2007