Running by Default

January 5th, 2023
running
In video games it's common for characters to run by default: it's faster, why wouldn't you? I think this is also a good approach to apply in real life, at least over short distances. It saves you time and it's a bit of exercise. Over pretty much any distance short enough that I'm not going to break a sweat I'll run.

I've done some of this most of my life (I can still hear my middle school principal shouting to stop running in the hallway—Jeeeeff-reeeey!) though over the last five years or so I've pushed myself to do it more consistently. The more I do it the easier it gets, and the shorter commutes become.

Note that this is another example of describing something I do that works for me, and that I expect would likely work for many more people than I see applying it. But probably not more than 30% of people, though?

(Prompted by a coworker talking about the inconvenience of an 8min distance between two buildings at work that I think of as a 2-3min distance.)

Referenced in: Running With a Backpack

Comment via: facebook, lesswrong, mastodon, substack

Recent posts on blogs I like:

Linkpost for March

Effective Altruism

via Thing of Things March 2, 2026

The Newest Technology in Frozen

There are lots of different things in Frozen that are new-ish, but my dad and I were wondering: what is the actual newest thing in Frozen? This led me to watch Frozen a lot while taking notes. Some of the things I found included: Elastic hair-ties A safety …

via Lily Wise's Blog Posts March 1, 2026

2025-26 New Year review

This is an annual post reviewing the last year and setting intentions for next year. I look over different life areas (work, health, parenting, effectiveness, etc) and analyze my life tracking data. Highlights include a minimal group house, the usefulness…

via Victoria Krakovna January 19, 2026

more     (via openring)