I find that when I am running on the treadmill I seem to be watching the clock. The longest I have ran for is 25 minutes, I feel that I can run a bit longer, but the time gets in my mind and starts to make me feel that I can't run anymore.
I can't cover the timer on the treadmill because it also motivates me to run, because I do a count down of how long is left till the next 5 or 10 minute mark, plus there are clocks around the gym that are unavoidable.
Any tips to keep me from not watching the clock or to keep running.
I hate running on the treadmill...but if I have to, I cover the clock on the treadmill with a towel, put on some good music, and try to relax and enjoy the run.
Now, put me outside, on the bike path, and I feel like I can run forever. I'm amazed at the difference it makes for me.
Definitely what Suzy said - run outside (if you can) and listen to some good tunes! Another thing that keeps me motivated is to have goals - distance, pace, time, etc. I love a good challenge!
I'm the same way! I HATE running outside at the track or anywhere else though. It's just so much harder on my feet and knees. I can run at the track and be sore, with shin splints and pain everywhere...or on the treadmill, get a good workout and have no pain. At the track I struggle to run one entire lap, but on the treadmill the other day I ran 30 straight minutes without stopping once. I was bored to DEATH and haven't done it since, but I did it...
I look at my time on the TM as MY time. I put on my headphones and listen to my tunes and zone out. Some days I jog for distance, some days I do more intense intervals = I try to switch it up to make it a wee less boring. I stare at the moving pictures they call a TV. And when it is really just plain torture to run on the treamill - I run outside.
I know what you mean about the time playing with your mind. The speed plays with my mind big time. I obsessively watch it and think I can't run faster than X speed for X time. The thing is, if you can run 25 minutes, you can run 30. Even if the extra 5 minutes is run at 4 mph you CAN run it. Just go slow and challenge yourself to increase the time.
Some people are able to read magazines while they run, but I never got the cordination down. Try just people watching and zoning out. Listening to music helps, and actually watching tv helps too - if they have something on that is interesting. Just get lost and try not to look down. Stare at something else in the room and day dream.
The thing that helps me most is to change the speed to challenge myself. So right now you are running 25 minutes. Try upping it to 30 - do the first 10 minutes at a slow speed, the second 10 minutes faster and then the third 10 minutes slower. You will need to watch the clock, but it motivates me to be able to get through X minutes at X speed.
The thing that helps me most is to change the speed to challenge myself. So right now you are running 25 minutes. Try upping it to 30 - do the first 10 minutes at a slow speed, the second 10 minutes faster and then the third 10 minutes slower. You will need to watch the clock, but it motivates me to be able to get through X minutes at X speed.
I do this some on the elliptical, on the days I just can't stop looking at the timer no matter what. I'll use the timer as a tool...up the resistance for 3 minutes, rest 2, then up it again for 2 and then rest 3...whatever it takes to get through it.
The treadmill bores me out of my mind, too. I try my best to run outside when at all possible. There is a park near my house, and I have recently worked out some paths near my house that are safe.
I do find myself on the treadmill sometimes, and I can generally make about 3 miles these days. I move the resistance up and down, I change the speed, I change the incline, try to make it an interval workout more than anything else. I just can't do steady running on the treadmill anymore - makes me insane.
ETA - my treadmill has a tv on it, which helps. And, could you cover the timer but keep the mile display visible? Would that help?
Last edited by Shannon in ATL; 07-22-2010 at 11:43 AM.
The ONLY things that keep me from getting bored on the treadmill are good workout music and the tv. Luckily, I have a treadmill in my living room so I usually blast my music and have the tv on an interesting channel. It can make 10 minutes go by like that!
I also love taking exercise classes. When you're concentrating on the moves or what the teacher is doing it can make the time go by a lot faster.
I made an accidental discovery while out running the other day. I think I like it better with no music! Last summer, I had a set of tunes that I used to run to and I finally got sick of them, so I quit. I was always trying to match my pace to the music and that really is so inflexible, because I feel like I can't slow down if I need to. Anyway, I turned off the music because I was tired of it and was running while listening to NPR. That was OK for awhile but then my battery died in my mp3 player, so I ran in silence.......
.....and I liked it. I can run as fast or slow as I want, and I can think about work or my quilting projects or anything I want without music or news yammering in my ear. I can hear the sounds of the neighborhood as I jog through it. I really, really like it!
I have a hard time running on treadmills unless I have the TV to look at. Otherwise, the time just crawls by and it seems so pointless. I'd much rather be going someplace, even if it is just a loop around my neighborhood.
LOL, Ennay! Yep, running outside is so much better.
But, like the Army wife, this Navy wife resorts to the treadmill when I've got all the kids (with just the little guy I can use the stroller -- but I'm not ready to push a triple jogger with a 7 and 5 year old in it, too!)
On the treadmill, I like to listen to podcasts. My favorite is This American Life on NPR. I use an app on my phone that automatically downloads it for free. Another of my favorites is Wait Wait Don't Tell Me. The major risk here is that I may start to cry, or laugh out loud, in the middle of the gym.
When I'm outside, like Windchime, I run with nothing. Someone told me a long time ago that it just messes with your natural rhythm. Now that I'm a mama, I just like to savor the quiet.
I keep an imaginary clock in my head, and at the start of my 30-minute run the hands are at quarter to three. The first 15 minutes are the "uphill" minutes; the next 15 are the "downhill" ones.
So if I look down at the time display on the treadmill and 5 minutes have gone by, I tell myself "OK, only 10 more minutes until the home stretch," etc. etc.
It's a kind of mind game, and definitely makes treadmill running less of a clockwatching experience for me.
running not getting bored
