How to Convince Yourself to Go for Longer Walks
I like long walks and jogging, but I try not to too many of them for one reason: I get bored. Walking 5 miles (or 10) is boring. My Pandora playlist and podcasts can only keep me entertained, and after the second mile, I tend to get distracted enough by what I need or want to do at home, which I call it stops. At the gym, I came up with a solution to this problem by watching a TV show or movie on my iPad. On the street that I prefer, I started walking to destinations.
I ran my first destination marathon about ten years ago. I signed up for Nike + Half Marathon the day before everyone had Fitbit. My Nike + tracker fits on the bottom of my shoe. The virtual nature of the marathon (one could do it from anywhere) prompted me to sign up (it was the future!), But as the day of the race drew near, I realized that my patience for running was likely to last no more than six miles. 13.1 miles sounded like torture, not from a physical point of view, but in terms of travel time. And then I got the idea to split the trip between destinations.
Since then I have incorporated direction into many of my workouts, and I think it made me much more willing.
In the destination-based half marathon, I split 13 miles into several different stops. I started at 7 am at my house and ran downtown, which was about five miles away. I took breakfast in the city center and then walked another three miles to the local farmers market. I took something there and walked home. After that, I was about three miles from success, the three miles I ran to meet up with friends for a late lunch. I drove 13.1 miles, but it didn’t feel like 13.1 miles. I was also met by people in several places. The group did this first run with me and a few more people met us for breakfast and went to the farmers’ market.
I never ran a destination half marathon again (although I was close), but I built training into my daily routines. There is a grocery store a few miles from my house that I really like and I always go there when I need to shop instead of driving. The round trip, which means I have walked almost five miles, more than I could have if I had just gone for a walk without knowing my destination. This trick also works for planned hikes where I know I’m aiming for a waterfall or peeking through.
Yes, it would be better if I just ran all this, but I have come to terms with the fact that running and walking long distances is just something that I am not going to do. My runs are much better when I only run a few miles at a time. For longer journeys where I have a goal, there is a kind of finish line that I aim for, which makes the task easier, even if that finish line is also the starting line for the next leg.
If you’re having trouble pushing yourself to go the extra mile (or seven), I would recommend trying this.
Any tips on how to get motivated for longer walks and runs? Share them in the comments.