Sometimes time goes by very fast while running. Sometimes it’s rather long-winded. Listening to music (or audiobooks, for that matter) very often does the trick for me and puts me into a different state of mind. Sometimes it is distracting (in a positive way), sometimes it energizes me and sometimes it brings up old and new thoughts and emotions that can turn every run upside down.
Only a few people know this, but I almost exclusively listen to music on shuffle. I like to keep my listening pleasure unexpected and challenging. This means that RISE AGAINST can be easily followed by AZAD, DAG NASTY, SLIME or SISTERS OF MERCY. you name it. To make sure that the upcoming song is not complete crap, I grade my music library by a simple star-rating. 3 stars = good. 4 stars = great. 5 stars = absolutely amazing. 2 stars are reserved for very VERY great songs that I only want to listen to every once in a while (for example when racing) and 1 star is given to tracks that I hate but have to "bookmark" for another reason but my own listening pleasure. With the help of "intelligent playlists" I usually get very fitting picks. So when I go for a run I choose a playlist like "4 & 5 star rated songs of the last 52 weeks" or "5 star songs which are shorter than 3 minutes" or "4 star songs that I haven’t listened to in over 6 months".
A short detour: A few years ago, when I still was an active musician, I often had the problem, that my reception of the songs I listened to was way too analytic. It was more like "Oh, that chorus came in fast" or "I wonder if they even recorded a bass for this?!" or "Why isn’t this mosh part 4 beats longer?" or "Oh hi, Dual Rectifier! My old friend…". You get the point. I was constantly distracted and pulled into the world of a songwriter, instead of simply enjoying the vibe of the music. Although this analytical view is definitely an additional and very interesting dimension, it does not come in handy while you are running. However, the more rarely I pick up the guitar to write a song, the lesser I care how songs are written, recorded, mixed and mastered. For the most part I can simply enjoy the sound and words these days.
If you are interested in what songs inspire me the most during my preparation for Western States 100, here’s an Apple Music Playlist, updated more or less weekly.