Hate running, or even the idea of running? Me too, until I started hacking it

(CNN) — I found another person who hates running, and I’m not surprised.

“I find it tedious and boring, and I feel like I’m failing at it all the time because I’m so slow and out of breath.” That’s how my colleague Madeline Holcombe articulated how it’s going as she’s started to take up running.

Madeline writes wellness stories for CNN and is highly versed in the many health benefits of running, and the convenience (and frugality) of not really needing special equipment (shoes, maybe earphones, perhaps a watch to track distance), or a specific space to do it. She’s also a former competitive dancer. But none of that necessarily means running is an easy or enjoyable habit to start.

Madeline’s assessment mirrors how I felt when I started running 20 years ago, and how many others feel, too. Now that I enjoy it — and even look forward to it — I can articulate how I got from point A to point B. In my case, point A was an embarrassing jog with a new girlfriend in my late 20s, and point B was finishing multiple marathons. Like my running itself, it was a slow yet largely fun journey.

The company you keep

Some people enjoy running solo, and some prefer logging miles with a partner or a group. I love all of the above, and you’ll find out which one is more fun or distracting for you by trying each.

Catching up with an old friend over a run is great. Organized groups build community and accountability, and they are everywhere (just check out your local running shoe store, gym or online sites). They sometimes socialize afterward, too. Meanwhile races can deliver a big surge of energy and support, and they can also be a motivator for the training they require.

Conversely, running alone means no pressure to keep up, combined with the joy of listening to whatever you want.

Listen to what you love

When I began running regularly, it was while living in Bangkok, which is not a run-friendly city, on a treadmill in the basement of my apartment building. The only thing I enjoyed about it initially was a series of music mixes I made to pass the time. They were short and fun to curate.

Later incarnations, when I lived in Brooklyn, evolved into the use of music apps that made run mixes at various tempos and a useful way to find more songs for my personal running collection. (You could share your favorites in the comments section!) Later, as my runs got longer, my listening library included some (not all) podcasts and audiobooks (particularly my guilty pleasure of celebrity memoirs) that I find particularly engrossing.

More recently, as I trained for marathons, I started listening to the audio of favorite movies — ones I know and love so well that I can “see” the film in my head while listening and running. What all of these have in common is that they are distracting from running itself.

I know running purists will make the case that listening to nothing keeps them in tune with their bodies, or that it’s a joy to be alone with your thoughts while running. That’s OK for them. But if listening to your favorite mix, podcast, books and even movies will be more entertaining and therefore distracting from the un-fun of running, just do it, as one running shoe manufacturer might say.

An accessible passport

All respect to treadmill runners (who can actually watch their favorite movies while running), but another aspect of running that is often joy-inducing, is running outside. Trail runs, or even a paved path through trees taps into another form of wellness. Want to feel like a kid again? Run (carefully) in heavy rain or over snow.

My first real (embarrassing) run, was an easy jog through a beautiful park in Madison, Wisconsin. I was there visiting my marathon-running, “Chariots of Fire”-loving girlfriend at the time and couldn’t keep up even when she slowed down for me. Later we moved to Bangkok where I started putting in treadmill hours, and then we spent a year traveling around the world. When you rarely stay in the same place for more than a couple of days, as we were, the only exercise besides walking that was available to us were runs.

And those runs were the best, filled with joie de vivre. We found running was a novel way to explore the streets of Beijing, the parks of London and the Mongolian steppe.

I still make a point to organize runs for myself when I travel. A predawn 6-mile (10-kilometer) romp along empty canals in Amsterdam, a sprint along the Black Sea in Sochi, Russia, and a jingle jog through a snowy, Christmas-y Reykjavík suburb are cherished travel memories that transcend the drudgery of running.

I once made a goal of running every path and unpaved trail in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, near where we used to live. I highlighted them on a map and then combined segments to create the Greatest Prospect Park Run of All Time. You could treat your neighborhood or a nearby park the same way.

These days I mostly run to coffee shops. I have a coffee and a treat with my journal (carried in a running backpack) and then run back, listening to favorite music, a podcast, book or movie. No one is having more fun exercising than I am.

No need for speed

Finally, back to Madeline’s new-runner lament that feeling slow and getting out of breath is contributing to her dislike of it.

First, being out of breath will take care of itself. The more you run, the more you can run. Reaching the point of exhaustion will grow longer and longer. There are techniques such as alternating running with walking that can be helpful to beginners. And pay attention to the early, if brief wins, where it actually feels powerful or fluid to run, even just a few strides at first.

As for being slow, my advice would be to be zen about it. If you run alone, no problem at all. If you run with others and you feel you’re holding them back, find other running buddies, at least initially. In races, runners are grouped in corrals based on speed, which reduces feelings of being too slow. Find your corral and know that as you stick with it, your pace will speed up, slow down, even vary between days. There’s no need for speed, unless that sounds fun, of course.

Inspired, but don’t know how to start? Here are tips from the founder of the Couch to 5K program. And never a bad idea to let your physician know, especially if you have any health limitations. But I’ll also remind you of what every kid knows intuitively: You can just start running.

Are you ready to do more? Sign up for our LBB Fitness newsletter for more ideas to incorporate movement in 2025. If you need help setting and sustaining your fitness goals, try these tips for building habits.

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