This argument is very common for people who do not start running regularly, and the answer is simple: it is normal to feel this way, running is boring if the conversation you have with yourself is also boring. While we sleep we do not have those internal dialogues (or at least consciously). Nor when we are with more people (or at least we shouldn’t). When we work, yes at times, depending on the work, but it is a more task-oriented dialogue.
There are not many situations that are especially conducive to listening to one another, reflecting on how the week is going, on whether we are satisfied with the way things are going, on whether we feel good, the latest funny anecdote or some worrying situation… Of course, running is not the only context in which we can carry out these self-dialogues, but one of the psychological benefits of running is that it is one of the most accessible and most inviting situations.
The feeling is extraordinary: You go out for a run with music, you come back, and you don’t even remember more than two songs you’ve heard. I’ve been talking to you, and you must really like me because you’ve come back with more positive energy, happier. The frustration that a runner suffers from an injury or a problem beyond his control, which prevents him from continuing training or achieving his goal, is a process that is not so easy to understand if you have not gone through it. Many hours, a lot of effort, a lot of effort… And in the end you don’t achieve your goal.
This accidental part of running is also very enriching at the level of emotional management. Facing difficulties is an opportunity to take advantage of one of the most important psychological benefits of running. In the face of obstacles and setbacks, we train our ability to adapt, to accept our limits and the factors that do not depend on us. Emotional processes that are as important in our lives as acceptance and emotional reevaluation are put to the test.
I accept that i can’t go at that pace, that with this injury i can’t go to the race I’ve been training for for 3 months, that at this point in my life i can’t train 4 times a week. But not only do i accept it, but the frustration that it produces in me i transform into motivation to once again consider different objectives, new challenges, different growth. The motivational part is key. Sports psychology focuses a good part of its work on motivation processes, and one of the psychological benefits of running is learning to relate to these processes.