For the past year I’ve been running a lot, and I’ve found that listening to podcasts and/or audio books is a great way to stay cognitively engaged with something other than the physical sensations of running, as a bonus you get to learn and experience cool stuff.

There is also a benefit to running without audio, in that you have a chance to let your imagination go wild, or try to focus hard on your breathing, cadence, and form, but I can understand that being challenging for many people to do for an hour or more at a time.