Some people can run for hours and enjoy every minute of it. But others, not so much. If you belong to the latter group, do not give up on running yet! There are ways to make running exciting and worth looking forward to.
Here are 10 tips on how to make running less boring.
1. Run with a friend
Invite your best buddy or even your whole squad, and your run is guaranteed to be far from boring. In fact, if you’re the type who finds running alone to be boring, you should join running clubs.
2. Listen to music
Sing along to your favourite tunes, out loud or silently, when you run, and you will hardly notice the distance you’re running. The right music can transform an otherwise boring run into an energetic, full of life run.
3. Listen to audio book/podcast
While running, learn something new through a podcast, or finish a book that you’ve started a year ago but haven’t finished yet by listening to the audio book. Your body and mind will be well-nourished by the end of the run.
4. Speed it up
A speed work, be it interval, tempo or fartlek, spices up your run and brings your stamina to a whole new level. Interval and fartlek require you to sustain hard effort running for a certain period, then rest for a certain period, and repeat the cycle for a few times. Meanwhile, a tempo run is a comfortably hard run at a constant pace.
5. Set small but attainable goals
Let’s say you’re planning to run 15km, break it up into smaller chunks and set small but attainable goals for each chunk, such as to complete the first 5km in 40 minutes, to arrive at 10km point before sunset, and to meet a friend at 15km point for a meal at an agreed time. This way, you have multiple goals to look forward to in a single run, and your satisfaction will be multiplied by the number of goals you achieve.
6. Plan a running route with exciting pit stops
Incorporate exciting pit stops in your running route, such as food court to grab a cold isotonic drink, air-conditioned shopping mall for a short break, toilet break, or an Instagram-worthy location for an awesome runfie.
7. Go for trail running
Trail running offers so many benefits that road running doesn’t. It minimizes joint injuries due to the softer surface and improves your speed through hill training. Trail running requires you to be mindful of your trail path and stimulates your curiosity of nature. Whenever you get tired, take a break under the shade and breathe the fresh air.
8. Run for a reason
Dig deep and find out the real reason why you get into running. Is it to lose weight? To be fit and healthy? To live an active lifestyle? To climb a mountain? To heal from a heartbreak? To relieve stress? Once you identify your own reason, that’ll be your most powerful motivation to run.
9. Explore new places
With so many running places in Singapore, you have no reason to run in the same place over and over again. Explore new places, try the new park that has just opened, venture to somewhere far from where you live, run outside of the island (e.g.: Pulau Ubin, Coney Island), you might surprise yourself with what you find!
10. Treat yourself after the run
You deserve a reward after a long run, so why not treat yourself to your favourite food at the end of your run? Make it a special meal that you can have only if you’ve completed a run.
Do you feel that running is boring? How do you deal with the boredom? Let us know!
