My first time running with an audio book
I did not have enough time over the past few weeks for running because of my new role as a father. Our child needs a lot of care, and I also want to spend all my free minutes with him.
But I notice that I am not as fit as before, don't get enough physical activity in my daily routine, and am eating more unhealthy food. I need to get active again.
The coming months won't be any better. I'll be just as busy as I am now. I have to make sports one of my priorities again and create free time in my schedule. Otherwise, it will get harder and harder, and the extra kilos won't go away.
Yesterday, early in the morning, I did a 5k run. It was harder than it used to be, and my pace was slower than before, but not too bad.
This morning, I decided to do another 5k session. On weekends it is easier than during the week, and I have to seize this opportunity. Today, as an experiment, I ran with my headphones for the first time while listening to an audiobook. So far, I was a bit skeptical about the whole concept of running while listening to music or audiobooks. Listening to music distracts me from my surroundings, and audiobooks, on the other hand, require more concentration than I have while running.
But the combination of running and audiobooks worked better than I thought. Maybe timing was also a factor. Early in the morning, especially on a Sunday, there aren't many distractions on the streets. On two or three occasions, I felt like running faster than my usual pace because I was so deep in the book, but in general, I felt engaged enough both physically and mentally. In the end, I was almost as fast as yesterday, and I felt like time passed much faster.
Currently, I am listening to "Eine Frage der Chemie" ( Lessons in Chemistry) by Bonnie Garmus. The fact that the book was interesting played an important role in making the time seem to pass more quickly, but I guess having my mind engaged was even more important.
Anyway, I think the experiment was successful, and I'll go running more often with headphones in the future.