Ok, total newbie here. So, keeping in mind that my longest run to date was 4.2 miles in 46 minutes, I like taking in the scenery. I mostly run around my neighborhood, so I look at the landscaping, the houses (sorry, number games would make me insane, quickly, as I slow down and stumble to a walk, then a stop to count on my fingers.), wonder about what kind of bird that was, how far I am running, and, when I get into a nice zone, just enjoying the silence, my breath, and the nothingness that is in my mind. Sometimes, I'm trying to be aware of traffic, or some other safety thing. Sometimes, I like to see how long it will take me to catch the person walking ahead of me (I'm not so bold as to think I could pass anyone out running, yet).

Anyway, if I can get into a zone, I know it's going to be a good run. The time passes, and before I know it, I'm at the end. On the days that I can't get occuppied in anything other than how hard the hill is, I struggle.

Make my grocery/meal list. Unfortunately I've usually forgotten everything by the time I get home, but at least it passes the time

I'm with mrinertia- I try to empty my mind, and just listen to the wind in the trees, the sound of my breathing or my feet hitting the pavement.

BUT..... once in a while, I find I need a distraction. Right now, I find myself admiring people's gardens, and trying to find ideas for my own. When I was looking for a house, I ran through neighbourhoods I wanted to live in looking for houses for sale. At Christmas time, I look at people's Christmas lights. I enjoy saying hello to kids playing in the street, people doing yard work, or elderly folks lounging on their front porches. So much to do....

If all else fails, you can play the licence plate game- randomly pick out cars, and try to spell a word with the letters on their plates. This works well on long car trips as well!!!

LONG DIVISION!!!!! Like 843 divided by 12. It's great mental exercise and once you're all done getting it down to a decimal, you can turn around and multiply your answer by your divisor and see if you did it right! The possibilites are endless....

Also, I like to practice conjugating verbs in Spanish in the different tenses. However if you don't speak a foreign language this doesn't really work too well.

I like the address game, but unfortunately I don't run by any addresses, lol. Mostly trails and parks. Instead, when I find myself wanting to stop I start playing the count the squirrel game or counting cadence in my head and switch the rhythm of my counts (i.e. left, left, left, right right right, left, right, left, right, right, left, left, right, left, right) in synch with my left and right footfalls. Other times I sing this cadence drill in my head that I learned in PT:

My girlfriend is a vegetable
She's up in the hospital
She ain't got no arms or legs
Instead she's got some hooks and pegs
One day I tried to play a joke
Pulled the plug and watched her croak!

For some reason this one still amuses the **** outta me.

by playing games aren't you not increasing your BT (boredom threshold)? It's probably more efficient to just try and extend the time your capable of being bored. Before you know it you'll be able to sit for hours in an airport waiting on your flight delay with hardly a care in the world.

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quote:<HR>Originally posted by thejoggler:
I listen to books while running. It is much more engaging than just music.

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Same here. I have audiobooks that I have put onto my mp3 player (which I only let myself listen to while I run).

But don't do what I did during my HM yesterday - I put more of my audiobook on pre-race, but it was ALL out of order!! Not something I care to deal with while racing. (I just took off my headphones and enjoyed the sounds of the race.)

I'm still laughing at the "one liner" game, mentioned above...

I must confess, I'm a counter. Sat I saw 10 bunnies!