When I talk with people about running long distances, the question "Don't you get bored?" often comes up. And my response is always heck no!

I feel a lot of different things when I run.... tired, cranky, exhilarated, energized, free, strong... but nope, never bored.

I attribute my lack of boredom to what I have playing in my ears. See, I never ever run without my iphone. I need to listen to something while I run. If I didn't, boredom would probably come creeping up. Now I know, not everyone is programmed like me. Some of you can go run 15km with nothing in your ear....but I can't do that.

What I play while my run heavily depends on the type of run I'm doing.

TEMPO RUNS

If I'm doing a tempo run (aka your race pace), I run with fast paced music. Here is part of the playlist that I ran with on my half marathon race:

Pump It- Black Eyed Peas
Dancing with Myself- Billy Idol
Hey Ya!- Outkast
Good Feeling- Flo Rida
Bad Romance- Lady Gaga
I Love It- Icona Pop
Fancy Footwork- Chromeo
Anything Girl Talk
Two of Hearts- Stacey Q.
D.A.N.C.E.- Justice

I know, some of my songs are pretty lame-o but hey, they get me running fast!

LONG SLOW RUNS

When training for a half marathon and a marathon you usually have one day a week where you do your long, slow run. This run builds up your strength to run the many kms.

For these runs, I don't usually listen to music...(unless I'm near the end and need a kicker to get those last few kms done!)

Instead of music, I listen to podcasts and audiobooks.

I'm currently listening to a sermon series by Pastor Steven Furtick from Elevation Church. That man is hilarious and an amazing preacher.

And in the last couple of months I started listening to audiobooks. I'm a big fan of audiobooks (they're the best multitasking companion!) When James and I went to California in 2013, we had a 17 hour drive to do on the last day. It was sooo brutal. The only reason why we didn't die of boredom was The Chronicles of Narnia on audiobook. Listening to The Voyage of the Dawn Treader helped the hours soar by!

I don't know why it's taken me so long to listen to audiobooks while I run, but it is amazing!!! So far I've gone through the first two books of the Divergent series....yes it's teen fiction but I'm finding the action keeps me entertained and helps me keep my pace up. I'm actually finding myself looking forward to my long runs because it means I get to listen/read the audiobook for a long time! ha.

So that's what I listen to when I run. All you runners out there, I would love to hear what you listen to!

stay gold,

s.s.♥︎.