Running never did it for me, I just couldn't stick to it, was always miserable and bored, etc. My main focus is strength training, but for my cardio cycling is what brings me joy. I would dread going for a run, but I excitedly look forward to my next bike ride.

Cycling, swimming, hiking, rowing, even dance will all get you the same benefits so if you're bored doing one, try something else - the important thing is to get moving, the specifics of the activity doesn't matter.

If you really want to get into running, and you have some green spaces or trails near you, give trail running a try. It's the one form of running I sort of enjoy - I get so bored on a treadmill or just in my neighborhood, but I love being out in the woods.

   - load chess problems (look at a diagram before getting out the door) and try to solve it while running. Sometimes, I solve it the first 5min, sometimes I get frustrated because it turns out to be too difficult.

   - practice polyrhythms. you have a dominant cadence while running, now impose  others on top of it.

Be careful to avoid injury, however. I wouldn't recommend this until you've already got a solid running base of miles to build upon.

I use WorkOutDoors (with a Polar H10), and I've attempted the whole "do hill sprints" thing to calculate it, but I'm generally not far off from 220-age. When I put my resting heart rate into WorkOutDoors the zones get thrown even further off, so I don't even bother with that data point. I've kinda just shrugged it off and assume what is reading as Zone 5 is more like a high Zone 4.

I've considered doing a lactate threshold test, but honestly I just go running once a week to supplement my muay thai training, so it's not totally worth it to me.

Threshold test might help you dial it in, and it doesn't have to be in a lab (though that would be most accurate) -- you could do a workout effort to estimate your max sustainable heart rate for an hour, then calculate zones based on that threshold HR (i.e. my Garmin calculates based on % LTHR, where zone2 ends up being 83-89% of LTHR).

It's also not an exact science - it's a spectrum and shifts day to day depending on lots of conditions!

Like running, keeping notes in your head is something that gets easier if you do it a lot. It's also a really useful skill to have when talking to people in person.

This is how we ran before smartphones, anyway.

I'm the same, but running literally allows me to do this while I'm running, instead of while I'm trying to go sleep. Most of my most significant problems were solved during mind-wandering runs.

Interesting, I started running with my Walkman -> eventually Discman (switched back and forth with some headphones that did FM radio when I got tired of CD skips) -> Early mp3 player (could only fit about 5 songs at a time lol) -> classic iPod. I got injured and stopped running around the time I got my first smart phone, so I never experienced running with a phone.

For audiobooks, something I've been wanting to try is to see if I can listen to an audiobook of a textbook for a topic that I'm interested in. But I'm not sure if it would work well, since often textbooks have diagrams and such.

Sounds like you are only listening to non-fiction? You don't need to research topics to enjoy (say) a genre thriller, so listen to fiction.

If going outside is not an option, stationary bicycles are a thing though there wont be any nice outdoor scenery to go with your cycling.

Never did any sport in my whole life, officially obese, but now I’m taking a collective course in a skatepark every week and I’m having so much fun that I’m forcing myself to do more sessions even when I don’t feel like it. And even if I’m still pretty "bad" at it, it’s just amazingly liberating.

I guess you just have to find your thing ?

Maybe accept that running, or perhaps exercise in general, is not your thing? You clearly have more pressing interests and there are other ways to maintain good health. My grandfather lived well into his eighties with nigh a scrap of fat on him and, near as I can tell, did no formal exercise after his army days ended. My mother is on the same track despite health issue severely limiting her mobility.

I say this as a guy who rides an indoor cycling trainer 3-4 times a week during the winter and turns in to a raging jerk if he doesn't get his workouts done. If you're not a "gym guy", "runner guy", "biking guy" or whatever, why waste your extremely limited free time trying to become one?

This is profoundly bad advice. Being completely sedentary is absolutely awful when it comes to health. A single anecdote of a person who didn’t exercise but didn’t die young is meaningless. I’m not going to recommend people take up smoking because my grandpa smoked for 60 years and is still alive at 95.

I too once preached the exercise gospel to any that would listen. But I have mellowed out with age (while still riding my stationary bike).

To get back into running I listened to some page turners, but I’d only listen to them when running. Sometimes I’d do an extra lap just to hear more. And I’d look forward to the next run.

Once the habit takes, I don’t need as much stimulation.

Another idea is political commentary slop or news. Don’t consume any during the day like you normally do (Reddit, twitter, news sites).

Instead consume it only through Youtube on your run. It’s usually stimulating enough to compel the run.

Playing a computer game for hours on end feels productive when you burn 1,000 calories doing it.