I was only 15 minutes into my 10-mile workout when the cold metal wrapped around my neck made me regret my latest attempt at long-run entertainment. I was fighting a losing battle against boredom, and you know what they say about desperate times.
This didn’t used to be a problem. Before starting at Runner’s World, I focused on shorter distances and never had to run continuously for more than 30, maybe 45 minutes at a time. But after I joined the staff, inspired by my coworkers, my long runs ballooned to hours in length, requiring new tactics. I’ve spent the past year or so experimenting with different ways to pass the time, with varying degrees of success. Here’s how they measured up:
Mental Exercises
Inspired by the trend of “rawdogging” flights (where passengers do nothing but stare at the seat in front of them for the duration of the trip), there were a couple of long runs where I set out with nothing but my thoughts. Running without outside distractions can help build the mental toughness necessary for marathons and longer races, and research has proven that embracing boredom can have cognitive benefits, such as bursts of creativity and social connectivity afterward.
I incorporated a variety of mental exercises to fill the hours. Using the time to plan ahead was productive but perhaps enabled too much of my Type A personality. Mindfulness techniques, where I deliberately focused on the world around me and how my body felt, were great for improving my form and being present in the moment, albeit not the most sustainable—my mind has been likened to a dog walking through a park full of squirrels. During one run last fall, I decided to see how high I was willing to count and spent an hour getting up to 10,105 before my internal tally machine burned out. Not sure I accomplished anything, but at least Sesame Street’s Count Von Count would be proud.
GRADE: C
Music Making
Listening to music had been my go-to running entertainment for years, but early last fall, I decided to take things a step further. After reading how Taylor Swift sings on a treadmill in preparation for her concerts, I figured why not take some advice from Miss Americana herself and switch from conversational to singing pace.
I had way more fun than expected. There’s something energizing about belting out a rendition of “Highway to Hell,” which helped get me through the final miles of an endless gravel canal path. Much to my chagrin, singing did require me to slow my pace and spend more time on the runs I was desperately trying to get through. And I sang only on secluded routes, as I consider my voice amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
And then one day, after finding my old harmonica and its hands-free holder, a lightbulb went off in my head. I reasoned that playing the instrument would also help maintain conversational pace, and having the metal bar set around my neck would force me to focus on limiting my vertical oscillation—otherwise, the stand would bounce up and down. But I neglected to consider the fact that the harmonica’s notes are tied to an inhale and exhale, which required a lot more breath control than anticipated. Suddenly, I had much more respect for those who play in marching bands.
GRADE: B+ (for singing), D– (for playing)
Spoken Word
One of the best pieces of advice I received was to find some way to get excited for the long run. For me, the most obvious solution was to cue up an audiobook. I’ve loved being able to combine two of my passions and could easily lose myself in a good story. Last summer, I found myself circling my block during the climax of All the Light We Cannot See, not wanting to end my run until I found out whether the Nazi sergeant would find the blind main character hiding in the attic.
But I soon found myself longing for physical pages and seeing my reading progress, and eventually swapped out Audible for a podcast app. The trick was finding a series that was engaging enough in both content and delivery. Although psychology is one of my favorite topics, my mind started wandering as I tried listening to the soothing voices of NPR’s Hidden Brain explain the neuroscience behind doing difficult tasks. Two drag queens discussing culture on The Bald and the Beautiful proved to be much more captivating.
GRADE: B, up or down a letter depending on the subject matter.
Socialization
I quickly found that my favorite way to pass a long run was to do it with a partner. Experts cite several benefits of running with others, including accountability, morale, and pacing—nothing keeps you at a conversational pace better than a literal conversation. I still remember running an impromptu half marathon along Lake Michigan with a friend at the end of summer that, despite sweltering heat, was filled with so many great discussions that it became one of my favorite runs ever.
Calling someone on the phone can be a great substitute. Miles flew by whenever I used the chunk of time to catch up with friends and family—provided they didn’t mind the occasional huffing and puffing on my end.
GRADE: A
The winner? Mixed approach. It turns out that for me, quantity trumps quality. Doing any single activity every week for hours on end eventually ended in mental fatigue; but once I started mixing in a variety of ways to pass the time, the boredom disappeared. Today, my long runs might start out with a couple of songs to pump me up before I call a friend, then pivot over to a podcast, which I’ll pause every so often to run in silence and take inventory of my body, form, and surroundings—ending the run with a rousing rendition of the ’80s hit single “I Ran,” by A Flock of Seagulls.
Michael McDonough joined Popular Mechanics, Runner’s World, and Bicycling in November 2024. He loves the variety of subject matters that comes with his work—as a former contributor to Encyclopedia Britannica, he’s previously written about topics in statistics, psychology, and more. A former sprinter, he’s currently working his way up to longer distances with the encouragement of his coworkers.