The Running Thread - 2026

[Naomeri]

The treadmill screens in my office building have an alternate view of a track, so I can pretend I'm going somewhere. There is also a big tv that I could turn on (unless someone else gets there first) but then I fall into decision paralysis trying to find something to watch.

On the subject of other people using the gym, there's too many people that don't wipe down their stuff after their workouts There's one dude who comes in, spends about 60 seconds each doing 8 different things, and then just wanders out again.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

On the subject of other people using the gym, there's too many people that don't wipe down their stuff after their workouts There's one dude who comes in, spends about 60 seconds each doing 8 different things, and then just wanders out again.

Some people just suck. This morning this woman came into the gym and started playing something on her phone speakers, and when I asked her if she had headphones, she haughtily informed me that she had been coming there for two years and no one had ever complained, and was I new?

 

[nancipants]

That is cold -that's at the limits of what I'll run outside in when I'm training. Do you have cold weather running gear? You could always pick up some inexpensive gear and save it as MW throwaway layers. What's the predicted temperature at the start? And how long do you have to wait for the start?

My “cold” weather running gear consists of leggings and marathon weekend t-shirts. I’m gonna layer a few up top and wear shorts over my legging. I also have a throwaway hoodie that might stay on most of the race, along with a hat and gloves. Oh and double socks. Thankfully my hotel is 5 min from the start and I don’t need to wait long.

Maybe I’ll be like a dog in cold weather and get the zoomies.

 

[5xdisneyfans]

On the subject of other people using the gym, there's too many people that don't wipe down their stuff after their workouts There's one dude who comes in, spends about 60 seconds each doing 8 different things, and then just wanders out again.

People are at the gym near me are nasty. Nobody wipes down anything. I haven’t gone there in years. Gym’s use to get people to wipe things down after they use equipment. Not at this one. I am glad to have my own treadmill and barbells.

 

[FlyingDonut]

OK, I need to crowd source a question: DW gave me an OpenMove headset for Christmas 2021, which I then used for Dopey 2022 and I don't know how many runs since then. In the past few days, the left side of it has quit working. When I called Shokz a few minutes ago, the help person said it was out of warranty and they don't do repairs.
I get that they are way out of warranty, but I hate to just toss them, and I see that they sell refurbished, which may be why I thought that they did repairs.
Thoughts or comments? Did I have a not-so-trained help person, or is it simply time to upgrade?

Follow up on my Shokz.
They are just over 4 years old, so well past warranty.
I was thinking that since they had refurbed headsets on their website, that they may do repairs. Seems not.
After dealing with their chat bot and customer "help" help person that was only marginally helpful, they sent me a discount code for a new product. Fair enough. I'm going to try the OpenFits and see how they do, and will report accordingly.

I think this is a good outcome. I hate throwing out tech and have repaired several of my laptops (including ones Microsoft really didn't want me to repair) but looking at a few videos of Shokz teardowns it does not look fun in there. Here's one example:

The silicone outside looks to be an overmold on most models I saw, so there's not good way do get in. People cut it or at least peel it back and have to glue it back. Then, once you get into the electronic components, everything is directly soldered to tiny little boards, so even if something just came disconnected, you're talking some micro soldering setup (surrounded by plastic). I'm sure people could do it, but it's past my skillset.

I'm not sure how good the discount code is, but Shokz are at my local Costco. Not sure if the OpenFits are among them. I know you had a prior pair, but it could at least be an opportunity to try them on before buying. I wish I'd gotten mine in the smaller size.

 

[IamTrike]

See, I have a very old iPad and I don't think it supports any useful apps anymore. It's my building's gym so I don't have my own setup with tv etc. That would probably go a long way. I have podcasts on my phone but it only does so much. Any other mental tips & tricks would be appreciated.

I do about 90% or more of my runs on treadmills as it seems to be a little bit easier on my old knees. I agree the ideas already shared.

On thing I do to make long runs a little more interesting is to play with intervals. I think it's just a variation of the breaking things up into smaller increments. Even in the paces aren't that different the countdown to the next pace change keeps my mind off how long I've been running or how long I have to run.

This was something I learned from a friend in high school. In a boring class, she would write down the times of the class period in 5-minute increments and then cross them out as they went by - definitely made a class go faster! Same principle....just breaking a longer time period into smaller ones. But it works!

+ you also get the little dopamine hit from checking something off a list.

The iFit content is why I bought my Proform, and I love it (same company as Nordictrac)! They have instructors who do series and races around the world. I've climbed Mount Everest, run through Vietnam, hiked Scotland, and run the Boston, London, Berlin, New York and Chicago marathons all from my treadmill!

I really love the Tommy Rivs workouts on Ifit. The combination or run training information, cool locations around the world, and anthropological context on the area that your virtually running in is just incredible. He's a really amazing dude, a world class ultra runner, anthropologist and physical therapist, that's gone through some massive health issues.