“Why the boredom of long distance treadmill running is so good for my mental health”

Hopping on the treadmill for a long distance run offers more than just physical benefits. I’ve come to find that it helps beat stress, boost my mood and generally allows me to think more clearly. Not sold? Well it could improve your run speed too…

In my opinion, running is great. It helps not only with general fitness, but it’s also a beauty for my mental health, helping settle a stressed and busy mind and generally putting me in a really great mood.

Typically, I take my long-distance runs – 15km and upwards, outside so I can lap up the fresh air, wind, rain and sun (and likely, a dangerous amount of London pollution but we’ll forget that for a moment). Shorter runs I tend to do on a treadmill, so I can check my pace and make sure I am honing in on my speed. Plus, long distance treadmill running can be mind numbingly boring. It’s excruciating at times with the only saving grace being a decent playlist or podcast to listen to.

So why do it?

The words ‘boredom’ and ‘good for mental health’ might not seem like an obvious pairing, but actually, slogging out a long run on the treadmill has been really beneficial for my mind.

You may also like

Couch to 5K: “The 3 things that helped a beginner learn to love running 5k”

In fact neuroscientist Alicia Walf, claims that the human brain has limits to how much it can handle, and that it’s useful to let our brain become ‘bored’ sometimes.

She explains that an area of the brain, called the default mode network (DNM), seems to be most engaged when we’re bored. A study found that those with high activity in the DNM network could be better prepared for future social interactions.

Plus, Alicia also reckons being bored can improve our creativity. This, I could relate to.

During the run, I’d also managed to make a few decisions (which, let’s face it, weren’t being made whilst I was browsing Asos or scrolling online), and I’d mapped out a tricky conversation that I was due to have with someone later that day.

You may also like

RED month: “I’m an avid marathon runner but trying to run every day was the most boring thing I’ve ever done”

The physical benefits of long-distance treadmill running

Plus, if you’re someone who often signs up to outdoor run challenges – marathons for example – training the mind to just.keep.going is half the battle. If your mind is already accustomed to having to battle through boredom, come race day, you might find the impending long run slightly more tolerable.

An improvement in my mental health is just one benefit of long distance treadmill running; there are in fact several more, IMO.

You may also like

Treadmill versus road: is running on a treadmill as good for you as road running?

Improving run speed is one such benefit. I track the majority of my runs on my Apple Watch so I can keep tabs on my speed and overall performance. There have been several times where I have plateaued with my outdoor run speed, unable to go quicker.

This is where the trusty treadmill comes in. By setting a speed, your legs have to keep up, as opposed to your legs dictating the speed when running outside. If, say, your current half marathon time is two hours, but you really want to start sliding into the 1 hour 55 mark, then you would set your treadmill speed accordingly. Naturally, don’t be optimistic and try to cut half an hour off your time in one hit… you might struggle to keep up with the speed.

I also love long-distance treadmill runs for the fact that they allow me to play around with the incline, so I can challenge myself a little bit more and almost make my body overly-prepared for a long-distance outdoor run.

Again, hear me out. The thought of running a half or full marathon outside can fill many of us with dread especially if there are hills involved. By mimicking these inclines on the treadmill at a set pace, your body starts to become accustomed. By exaggerating the inclines, you can be sure that when it comes to race day, you might actually find your run slightly easier than you envisaged.

All in all, whilst even the thought of a long-distance treadmill run might fill you with fear, it’s definitely something I would encourage, even if it’s just an occasional thing. You might just find you enjoy it.

You may also like

Can TikTok’s 12-3-30 treadmill walking workout actually improve your fitness?

Images: Getty

Source: Read Full Article