Yesterday I decided to go for a low pressure cycle as my ankle has a niggle I can’t quite identify. My main purpose was to get a workout at the same time as having a pleasant afternoon. And it was pleasant, sunny without being unbearable, a light breeze, and no deadlines to meet. At times I could have been in another country.
A distant Buddha seen from the bike path
My intention was also to cover about 50k. When I was training for the North Face 50k run I often used distance as a goal as 50k was a new horizon for me and I wanted to be sure I was putting in sufficient volume, but today the requirement felt oppressive and took the fun out of the activity. Then I had a brainwave – I would cycle for two hours and see how far I had gone then just gently make my way home. As a result I felt reinvigorated by the challenge and completed just over 46k. With just another 2 and a bit ks to get home I was not that far off the 50 but the 2hr challenge put the joy back into the activity.
It would be interesting to find out who works by time and who by distance and why?
rage against age 
my works vary sometimes it is time and sometimes it is distance or sometimes both. trying to cover a certain distance in a set amount of time. I am trying to run a 3 hour marathon so being able to crank out the mileage is key and so is speed. each workout has serves a different purpose.
I agree with you. Changing things up can put the joy back into training. I have been running for distance for a few months but I recently was lossing interest so I set my focus on bringing down my mile splits. That has me excited about training again.