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> Everyone is busy. “I don’t have time”, “It’s impossible”, I’ve heard it all - I don’t buy it. If this was the case, you wouldn’t have time to do your laundry,

> Everyone is busy. “I don’t have time”, “It’s impossible”, I’ve heard it all - I don’t buy it. If this was the case, you wouldn’t have time to do your laundry, watch that TV show, or even read this rant. Most of those 'other' things are asynchronous or can be 'multitasked'. I can 'watch' a TV show while checking some emails, or eating a snack, or while folding laundry. Running is a full-body one-thing-at-a-time-only endeavor. I run 1-2 miles several times per week. I run at a gym on a treadmill, or I run in streets around my office. I can't talk on the phone. I can't fold laundry. I can't eat. I can't read blogs. I can listen to podcasts and music; that's about it. I get extremely bored most of the time running beyond 2 miles. (well, really after about half a mile). I hit my apple watch 'rings' - 730 cals, 30 min exercise - 400 days in a row. It was time consuming, and often boring, but I did it. Then stopped. It didn't bring me any great satisfaction or insight or whatnot.

jvanderbot 3y ago
You may appreciate audio books while running. My reading queue has been decreasing because of this.
- mgkimsal 3y ago
  I do some - I perhaps lump those in with 'podcasts' mentally, but yeah, sometimes I do audio books.
lxe 3y ago
I've listened to so so many audiobooks while running. It's amazing.
avbanks 3y ago
You can certainly watch a tv show/youtube while running on a treadmill or an listening to an audiobook while running outside. I listen to a book a week running about 40ish miles per week.
fullstop 3y ago
> Most of those 'other' things are asynchronous or can be 'multitasked'. I can 'watch' a TV show while checking some emails, or eating a snack, or while folding laundry. I can also do these things at night when it's not very safe to run.
- gffrd 3y ago
  The boogey man loves to nibble on runners
  - fullstop 3y ago
    It's also a lot more difficult for cars to see you but we can pretend that the boogey man is after us.
    - voisin 3y ago
      Reflective clothing and vests with flashing lights can help. Not sure where you live but if I don’t run in the morning (sometimes I fail to wake up early enough), I have to run in the dark at night otherwise it is just too hot!
      - fullstop 3y ago
        Yes, it helps, but it's not the same as visibility during daylight hours. Fewer drunk drivers as well.
        gffrd 3y ago
        Solution: move to New York or Tokyo. Never dark!
darkclouds 3y ago
> I hit my apple watch 'rings' - 730 cals, 30 min exercise - 400 days in a row. It was time consuming, and often boring, but I did it. Then stopped. It didn't bring me any great satisfaction or insight or whatnot. You dont mention your diet, which could explain why you stopped.
- mgkimsal 3y ago
  It's... OK. But... I just stopped because trying to hit that every... single... day - rain/shine/snow, while traveling on the road, etc... it just became ... boring. Well... some days "inconvenient" was a better term.
  - darkclouds 3y ago
    I've found iron to be quite stimulating, it can make any couch potato get up and do some exercise, but the risk of tearing muscles becomes very real its scary.
  - gffrd 3y ago
    Did you shift that "energy" elsewhere? I've found that my routines are like seasons: the time and place for a routine just passes eventually. This used to frustrated me. It's hard to build routines, and the initiation energy to resume the activity—and the effort to sustain the same routine—was higher than before. Somewhere along the line, though, I realized that while past routines were hard to resume … others that were previously hard to start had become more natural … so I began paying more attention to where the "current was flowing," so to speak, and would use that to my advantage.
    - mgkimsal 3y ago
      This has been my experience. I'm going to the gym more, but not necessarily pushing myself to exhaustion every visit. Used to swim more, then switched to running, may shift back to swimming, or more outdoor walking. But my work schedule is variable enough that focusing on "X @ 7am every day" is not realistic. Yes, I should reorient work around my life, instead of my life around work. Easier said than done, and... even when I've gone through periods of that philosophy (have done it), it didn't have any noticeable impact on my health (mental or physical).
zer8k 3y ago
> Then stopped. It didn't bring me any great satisfaction or insight or whatnot. I fixed a few health problems running, and stave off others. Every mile I add is another health problem I can kick down the road. I only run 30 minutes or so 5 times a week. Around 3-3.5 miles per run depending on how motivated I am. 30 minutes is such a small amount of time but it may as well be an eternity when you consider how obnoxious internet connected life is. I feel better and care a lot less about the small shit in life. I'm sorry you didn't see the same benefit. Maybe another modality is your cup of tea.
jvm___ 3y ago
I can't talk on the phone. I can't fold laundry. I can't eat. I can't read blogs. I can listen to podcasts and music; that's about it. You can talk to whoever you're running with... Middle-age friends lifehack: Join your local running group. Spending an hour a week jogging with people, where there's nothing else to do other than talk about running. Except talking about running means you talk about the places you've been, or why you can't be there next week, or you ask a question about where they live (because they're local like you). Small talk becomes easy because there's 0 distractions and you can always just talk about running. The math on how you determine if someone is a friend is something like 100 hours spent together or 1,000 to be a best friend. Running together weekly is a life-hack to accumulate hours with new people. --- Look for your local Facebook or meetup.com group that meets 'at 6:30 on Tuesday at the Starbucks parking lot'. If you don't think there's one in your area, drop the area below this comment and someone will know of one.
- mgkimsal 3y ago
  I'm in a local run group. I can't really run and keep up with folks. Occasionally I do a slower run/walk with folks, but people don't always want to be that slow (for me). It's also something that is only convenient once a week or so - doesn't answer the issue around the rest of the time.
  - jvm___ 3y ago
    Most groups are an out and back type thing. Maybe keep showing up at the start and be back for chatting afterwards? The bold thing to do is to start your own run/walk group. My local one started with someone who lived outside the city and wanted people to run with in town.
mgkimsal 3y ago
EDIT: replying to my own post... The whole "then stopped"... I didn't mean I stopped running altogether. I stopped aiming to 'close the rings' every single day. A 400 day streak was too much effort to keep going.

jvanderbot 3y ago

You may appreciate audio books while running. My reading queue has been decreasing because of this.

mgkimsal 3y ago
I do some - I perhaps lump those in with 'podcasts' mentally, but yeah, sometimes I do audio books.

lxe 3y ago

I've listened to so so many audiobooks while running. It's amazing.

avbanks 3y ago

You can certainly watch a tv show/youtube while running on a treadmill or an listening to an audiobook while running outside. I listen to a book a week running about 40ish miles per week.

fullstop 3y ago

> Most of those 'other' things are asynchronous or can be 'multitasked'. I can 'watch' a TV show while checking some emails, or eating a snack, or while folding laundry. I can also do these things at night when it's not very safe to run.

gffrd 3y ago
The boogey man loves to nibble on runners
- fullstop 3y ago
  It's also a lot more difficult for cars to see you but we can pretend that the boogey man is after us.
  - voisin 3y ago
    Reflective clothing and vests with flashing lights can help. Not sure where you live but if I don’t run in the morning (sometimes I fail to wake up early enough), I have to run in the dark at night otherwise it is just too hot!
    - fullstop 3y ago
      Yes, it helps, but it's not the same as visibility during daylight hours. Fewer drunk drivers as well.
      - gffrd 3y ago
        Solution: move to New York or Tokyo. Never dark!

darkclouds 3y ago

> I hit my apple watch 'rings' - 730 cals, 30 min exercise - 400 days in a row. It was time consuming, and often boring, but I did it. Then stopped. It didn't bring me any great satisfaction or insight or whatnot. You dont mention your diet, which could explain why you stopped.

mgkimsal 3y ago
It's... OK. But... I just stopped because trying to hit that every... single... day - rain/shine/snow, while traveling on the road, etc... it just became ... boring. Well... some days "inconvenient" was a better term.
- darkclouds 3y ago
  I've found iron to be quite stimulating, it can make any couch potato get up and do some exercise, but the risk of tearing muscles becomes very real its scary.
- gffrd 3y ago
  Did you shift that "energy" elsewhere? I've found that my routines are like seasons: the time and place for a routine just passes eventually. This used to frustrated me. It's hard to build routines, and the initiation energy to resume the activity—and the effort to sustain the same routine—was higher than before. Somewhere along the line, though, I realized that while past routines were hard to resume … others that were previously hard to start had become more natural … so I began paying more attention to where the "current was flowing," so to speak, and would use that to my advantage.
  - mgkimsal 3y ago
    This has been my experience. I'm going to the gym more, but not necessarily pushing myself to exhaustion every visit. Used to swim more, then switched to running, may shift back to swimming, or more outdoor walking. But my work schedule is variable enough that focusing on "X @ 7am every day" is not realistic. Yes, I should reorient work around my life, instead of my life around work. Easier said than done, and... even when I've gone through periods of that philosophy (have done it), it didn't have any noticeable impact on my health (mental or physical).

zer8k 3y ago

> Then stopped. It didn't bring me any great satisfaction or insight or whatnot. I fixed a few health problems running, and stave off others. Every mile I add is another health problem I can kick down the road. I only run 30 minutes or so 5 times a week. Around 3-3.5 miles per run depending on how motivated I am. 30 minutes is such a small amount of time but it may as well be an eternity when you consider how obnoxious internet connected life is. I feel better and care a lot less about the small shit in life. I'm sorry you didn't see the same benefit. Maybe another modality is your cup of tea.

jvm___ 3y ago

I can't talk on the phone. I can't fold laundry. I can't eat. I can't read blogs. I can listen to podcasts and music; that's about it. You can talk to whoever you're running with... Middle-age friends lifehack: Join your local running group. Spending an hour a week jogging with people, where there's nothing else to do other than talk about running. Except talking about running means you talk about the places you've been, or why you can't be there next week, or you ask a question about where they live (because they're local like you). Small talk becomes easy because there's 0 distractions and you can always just talk about running. The math on how you determine if someone is a friend is something like 100 hours spent together or 1,000 to be a best friend. Running together weekly is a life-hack to accumulate hours with new people. --- Look for your local Facebook or meetup.com group that meets 'at 6:30 on Tuesday at the Starbucks parking lot'. If you don't think there's one in your area, drop the area below this comment and someone will know of one.

mgkimsal 3y ago
I'm in a local run group. I can't really run and keep up with folks. Occasionally I do a slower run/walk with folks, but people don't always want to be that slow (for me). It's also something that is only convenient once a week or so - doesn't answer the issue around the rest of the time.
- jvm___ 3y ago
  Most groups are an out and back type thing. Maybe keep showing up at the start and be back for chatting afterwards? The bold thing to do is to start your own run/walk group. My local one started with someone who lived outside the city and wanted people to run with in town.

mgkimsal 3y ago

EDIT: replying to my own post... The whole "then stopped"... I didn't mean I stopped running altogether. I stopped aiming to 'close the rings' every single day. A 400 day streak was too much effort to keep going.