via normanack
Last weekend, I had one of those terrible workouts where anything sounded better than running. I was scheduled to do a long run on the treadmill dreadmill, but only made it 6 miles before I couldn’t take anymore.
If you have ever experienced this, here are some tricks to beat the boredom.
- Run during your favorite TV show or sporting event. One of my favorite ways to get in an interval workout is to run fast during the commercials and slow down during the show. Take any prime time sitcom and you’ll end up with 5-6 great intervals in 30 minutes.
- Take weight lifting breaks. For example, after warming up, rotate running one mile with lifting two muscle groups. I ended up doing 3 rotations of running and lifting before I was exhausted. The lifting kept me interested during the run, forcing me to focus on recovering.
- Lastly, change up your songs or listen to an audio book. At one point, I was singing the next song before it even starting playing because I had heard the play list so often. (Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance” come to mind?) Nothing freshens up a training run like new music.
Do you have any other tricks for overcoming the dreadmill?
Treadmill workouts for runners and spinning/roller workouts for cyclists can definitely be boring. A long musical play list is a great idea. It’s easy to run to the beat of the music, so you’ll want upbeat songs while avoiding slow ballads. Intervals are also a great way to avoid tedium – it breaks up the workout into 1-5 minute segments that’s more tolerable for the mind and the time on the treadmill seems to go faster. Finally, if you watch TV, one recommendation is to watch a fast-moving sporting event, like basketball, instead of sit-coms and soap operas. I’ve found that a combination of these concepts works really well: I try to do my workout during a televised basketball game, I turn the sound off on my TV, turn-up my upbeat music, and then do a workout that involves changing the pace periodically or intervals. That works for me!
Great idea, Kelly! Last year, I watch some March Madness while getting in my long runs. I just about fell off the treadmill a couple times during close games! It’s surprisingly how fast a two hour run goes by with sports and loud music.