Oh man, do I have strong, cranky feelings about this topic. Even back in the dark ages of 1996, I had to have my Walkman and Alanis Morissette tape buoy me through my one pitiful season of cross country meets so I wouldn't go out of my mind with boredom (What's A Matter Mary Jane?" takes on extra heart-warming resonance when you see one of your teammates barfing into a storm drain). Despite the Discman being a nearly useless upgrade for runners since they tended to skip CDs at the mere suggestion of jostling, I also soldiered through this era until finally, finally the iPod and Nike+ pedometer kits came along and made working out immensely more tolerable.
Nike+ is swell because it recognizes that I'm a bottom line kind of gal when I exercise:
"1.5 miles to go," the female-bot pipes over my playlist, almost apologetically, and then fades back into my music. Only 1.5 more miles? And then I can go home? CAN DO! If prompted, fem-bot can also tell me my pace, calories burned, etc, but the most crucial piece of information she holds is when I can stop running to pursue more rewarding endeavors like the season premiere of Flipping Out.
Alas, some speed work on a small indoor track last winter along with my running coach's insistence that being too absorbed in your music and unaware of your surroundings is no bueno finally motivated me to at least try going for runs without the iPod.
"You should be listening to your body," people would tell me. As one who's long since given up on yoga due to an inability to "center" and do just that, I was pretty skeptical that I could make this sort of hippie dippie adjustment without shanking someone.
But you know what? Not so bad...if you're willing to adapt to Nature's Soundtrack.
Oh, I'm sorry, are you unfamiliar with Nature's Soundtrack? Based on last night's 3 mile run in Prospect Park without my iPod (Nike+ was acting up), I'm going to give you the track list:
Nature's Soundtrack
Track 1: UGH! HUH! GRUNT! UGHHHHH!--man sprinting past me making sex noises. And you thought these guys only hung out in weight rooms!
Track 2: Weeeeee-ooooo-whoooooooooo!--po-po sirens
Track 3: MOMMY! MOMMY! MOMMY!--demonic child on trike
Track 4: HI LIZZ!!!--my coach's wife, volunteering at an in-progress race. This interruption actually warmed my pulsing black heart, as this woman is an absolute joy and such an inspiration.
Tracks 5-9: the Beastie Boys's "Girls" accompanied by the mental image of a dog repeatedly chasing its tail. The song wasn't actually playing, but often times this is where my brain goes when I'm trying to "clear my head."
Track 10: Mumble mumble mumble, eee??--by far the weirdest encounter and a perfect example of why I prefer to block out the outside world when I run. I was almost home and sporting my usual super attractive post-workout tomato face when this 11 or 12-year-old boy with one foot in a cast approached me and asked me something completely unintelligible ending in an "eee." Possible queries:
"Do you have weed?"
"Do you want E?"
"Do you have some money?"
"Are you in need?"
"My, what speed!"
Let's go with one of the last two!
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So what do you think? I guess one could argue that foregoing the headphones keeps the journey fresh and unexpected in some respects...but on the other hand, if your brain defaulted to this on a constant loop during a 26.2 mile run, wouldn't you want some alternative songs?
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