[spiderjerusalem]

I hate gym culture and I hate running too because the exercise is the 'core' of what you're doing in that time. Walking works for me because I can listen to new music and podcasts or sometimes just go through my mental monologue backlog without any stress. Living in an extremely walkable European capital is also a plus.

Human legs are heavily optimized for walking. Running is a hunting/fleeing mechanism and it just feels wrong for me to artificially simulate that stress environment.

[vladvasiliu]

I understand what you're saying and in my experience, while lifting weights or running, I don't really think about anything but the current action.

However, I find that taking this time "off" from my usual activities, especially during the work day, is like a breath of fresh air (pun not initially intended).

Yes, I also find that walking allows me to either listen to podcasts, music, or just think about random things. I will even start walking around my apartment or my parents' garden when I need to think over a difficult problem.

But I find, more and more, that being "on" all the time and trying to optimise every last minute of the day isn't all that... optimal.

Taking, say, an hour off work every day [0], during which I absolutely do not think about work at all, and only focus on the feeling of my muscles working or my breathing during a run has enormous consequences on my thinking about work when I actually get back. I find that this helps be much, much more focused than had I staid at my desk browsing random things on the internet or even walking and having my thoughts drift back to whatever it was I was working on. Bonus points for this removing my back and other random pains while sitting.

To me, those are different "tools", each with its own purpose.

---

[0] I don't run for long periods of time and am not looking to run a marathon. My goal is usually to run around 30 minutes, just enough to give my cardiovascular system a bit of a workout. So all in all, it takes me around 1h, counting the cool-down period (when the thinking random thoughts process comes back), washing my clothes and showering.

[busymom0]

> I can listen to new music and podcasts

That's exactly what I started doing last year when covid hit. Before then, I used to do decent running / stepper cardio in the gym. When covid hit, I cancelled my bus pass membership and have been walking everywhere since then. I do all my groceries, buying pet food etc walking. It takes about 40 minutes and I get to listen to podcasts during then. I have even started to "plan" my groceries - so I only buy around 2-3 days worth of meat and that ends up forcing me to leave the house at least every couple days. I sometimes plan things like buying larger items like toilet paper on separate days so I can walk with all my items without having to do uber or something else.

[spiderjerusalem]

Yes haha, I've also been 'cheating' myself to walk more. Grocery planning as you mentioned, also picking up food from far away restaurants that I miss due to the lockdown.

[Steltek]

Me too! I call it "hamster wheel exercise" (not sure where I heard that term). Bike commuting to work feels very different than simply biking in a circle after work.

Pandemic has not been kind to the bathroom scale. I lost my regular exercise but my diet got worse from stress eating.

[akvadrako]

> Walking works for me because I can listen to new music and podcasts or sometimes just go through my mental monologue backlog without any stress.

That's why I like running.

[spiderjerusalem]

Any sort of intense exercise makes it impossible for me to actually think or concentrate on listening. It's a heightened state in many ways biochemically and is very different from the calm that walking gives.

Running would just make what I'm listening to background noise, but that's not the correct level of engagement I want. I want 'exercise' to be the side effect and not the main activity I'm engaging in. Running is the other way around.

[prlambert]

My dad is a competitive runner and ultramarathoner (now well into his 60s). One of his favorite sayings is ‘how do you know if you’re a runner? If you don’t think about running while doing it.’ I finally got into it too, and for me/us it’s much more like meditation. Or taking a hot shower. I let my mind wander, come up with most of my best ideas, and generally don’t think much about running while out there.

If you can’t do this you’re probably running too fast for your fitness level. I was for a long time.

[vladvasiliu]

That's interesting. I don't usually think about running while running. And I do find the state somewhat meditative, especially since I find I usually observe my breathing and the sound of my feet on the ground.

But this feels more like a "trance" to me, in that I seem to not actively think about anything at all, I just "observe".

[Cd00d]

I agree, and also find it meditative. I also feel like your thoughts engage differently when running. Some of the most incredible conversations I've ever had have been on long runs (marathon training, so multi-hour runs) with a friend - at some point you just start sharing and releasing vulnerability, and discuss things you would never talk to each other about otherwise (for clarity, not because it might be an embarrassing topic, but rather just very internal).

[vsareto]

I generally can't think coherently if I'm doing a 9mph interval for a short time (this is 170-180bpm heart rate territory for me) but I actually prefer that mental state. I wish I could get that same mindset at my lower speed (5-6mph) because the time melts away. It feels like a flow state in a good way but with no focus.

[elijaht]

I think you are running too fast. For years I detested running because of what you mentioned as well as it just draining me mentally. My mistake was trying to kill myself on every run. Now I run significantly slower- by the end of most of my runs I am not even breathing heavily. This is actually recommended, as well

[rrdharan]

You could try running significantly slower (jogging, ~10 min/mi pace). Worked well for me.

[kossTKR]

Yes this is actually an important factor that is often overlooked.

For the longest time i ran really fast to the point of exhaustion, ,sometimes with small pauses interval style.

Then i tried running slower, which was actually hard for me for some reason, but could go much longer, and with less tax on my sympathetic nervous system and joints.

I've also seen people do the "powerwalking" thing so that's also an option.

[akvadrako]

> I want 'exercise' to be the side effect and not the main activity I'm engaging in. Running is the other way around.

What I meant is for me running is the background and it's mostly automatic. I can listen or think about things and they are my primary focus.

I'd say it takes a few months to get to this level but for most people it's doable.

[cafard]

A neighbor's son runs cross country for his high school. She quoted him last fall or winter as saying that he didn't miss the classroom, he missed the conversations on long training runs. It has been a long time (maybe 35 years) since I did much running with anyone, but I do remember conversations.

[randomsearch]

When reading about improving sleep, it seems the evidence points toward rhythmic exercise being important. The repetition of running and swimming seems to help (vs say interval training).

[sn9]

You should try running slower at a conversational pace. It's much more aerobic at that pace, and is more meditative and more stress-relieving than stressful.

[atat7024]

Have you tried running on CBD?

[mrfusion]

Explain?

[atat7024]

Use CBD (from cannabis) tincture in the mouth, or loose leaf vaporized, before and after running, can reduce recovery time and inflammation.

[frosted-flakes]

Running high

[pc86]

> Running is a hunting/fleeing mechanism and it just feels wrong for me to artificially simulate that stress environment.

"Artificially simulate that stress environment?" Is that a joke? Exercise is [physical] stress. What about that seems "wrong" to you?

[spiderjerusalem]

No, no humour was intended by a purely subjective statement that intense exercise is more or less a deeply unpleasant experience for my body and my brain. The fact that it is beneficial to long term vitality is orthogonal to how it makes me feel and why I am almost never motivated to do it.

[conistonwater]

Just to be clear: if running is "intense exercise" that means you're doing it wrong, and you will have a much better time of it if you slow down to easy conversational pace. (People usually use the run-walk method to develop such a pace in the beginning.) The thing about exercise and human biology is that there is some room for subjective statements, but not that much room. I, for one, find it quite pleasant about exercise that it doesn't matter how it makes me feel temporarily, that it works so long as I do the right thing.

[scatters]

There's an argument that stress is bad, because it forces the body to prioritise immediate survival at the expense of long term health.

However, simulating a hunt should be good for the health since it informs the body that it is in a prey rich environment. The same goes for other stressful but evolutionary fitness promoting activities such as sex.

[pc86]

Any stress-related problems from running (not a point I'm conceding as I've never seen evidence of any) certainly outweighs the long-term problems from being overweight and out of shape with the lower respiratory capacity to boot.