This blog is all about running. Sort of.
Cool Tunes and Cheesy Ballads
It’s now been three months and two days since I started running. I am not quite to my goal of 8-minute miles, but I am making progress. Since I set that goal I’ve shaved about a minute off per mile and now regularly average three 9:45 minute miles. Give or take a few seconds. So today I figured I’d try something new.
The iPod.
Those of you who have been with me since the beginning have heard me talk about the iPod, how it messes up my concentration and I can’t run with one. Well, since things have been going so well with my running I decided to give it another try. Why should I be denied listening to music while the rest of the running world seems to have no problem with it? If it’s something I have to train myself to do, so be it. Today’s the day.
I got these cool new headphones that wrap around the ear so I don’t have to jam those white ones into my ear cavities, which makes them sore and never really works anyway. My new ones look goofy, but they work. So today I put them on, hit ‘shuffle’ and started my run.
The first song that my iPod selected was ‘September’ by Earth Wind and Fire. Perfect song to start with. Upbeat. Happy. And I didn’t seem to have any trouble keeping my breathing steady. In fact, I felt pretty good and the first half-mile of my run went as smooth as I could have hoped. The next song was ‘Rockin the Suburbs’ by Ben Folds. Another one of my favorites. By now I was running uphill but I didn’t mind. Music was great! I can do this! No wonder people like to run to this stuff! Feelin the groove I finished the first lap in 9:18. I couldn’t believe how much easier running was with a soundtrack. I was now running downhill and thinking about running the second mile even faster.
But the iPod, I soon discovered, has a sense of humor.
In case anyone is wondering, yes, I am a Night Ranger fan. In fact, I am one of the four people that own their Greatest Hits album. But for the record, 'Sister Christian' is not what I would call ideal running music. The slow crescendo of power-chords quickly began to eat into my brain, which in turn began to play havoc with my basic motor functions. And that’s when I realized that I had run that first mile way too fast. The adrenaline surge had worn off, and with it went my stamina. I quickly hit the fast-forward button on the iPod, and was rewarded with the Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle.’ That worked for a while, but once Sting started singing that he was going to send out an SOS to the world, over and over, I kinda wanted to too.
After that, I pulled the thing off my ears, put my head down and gutted out the last mile in silence. It wasn’t terrible, but there was no way I was keeping the pace of that first mile (my last mile was about a minute slower.) And it was a bit of work.
So the good news is I can run with the iPod. But I may have to work on my play list.
The iPod.
Those of you who have been with me since the beginning have heard me talk about the iPod, how it messes up my concentration and I can’t run with one. Well, since things have been going so well with my running I decided to give it another try. Why should I be denied listening to music while the rest of the running world seems to have no problem with it? If it’s something I have to train myself to do, so be it. Today’s the day.
I got these cool new headphones that wrap around the ear so I don’t have to jam those white ones into my ear cavities, which makes them sore and never really works anyway. My new ones look goofy, but they work. So today I put them on, hit ‘shuffle’ and started my run.
The first song that my iPod selected was ‘September’ by Earth Wind and Fire. Perfect song to start with. Upbeat. Happy. And I didn’t seem to have any trouble keeping my breathing steady. In fact, I felt pretty good and the first half-mile of my run went as smooth as I could have hoped. The next song was ‘Rockin the Suburbs’ by Ben Folds. Another one of my favorites. By now I was running uphill but I didn’t mind. Music was great! I can do this! No wonder people like to run to this stuff! Feelin the groove I finished the first lap in 9:18. I couldn’t believe how much easier running was with a soundtrack. I was now running downhill and thinking about running the second mile even faster.
But the iPod, I soon discovered, has a sense of humor.
In case anyone is wondering, yes, I am a Night Ranger fan. In fact, I am one of the four people that own their Greatest Hits album. But for the record, 'Sister Christian' is not what I would call ideal running music. The slow crescendo of power-chords quickly began to eat into my brain, which in turn began to play havoc with my basic motor functions. And that’s when I realized that I had run that first mile way too fast. The adrenaline surge had worn off, and with it went my stamina. I quickly hit the fast-forward button on the iPod, and was rewarded with the Police’s ‘Message in a Bottle.’ That worked for a while, but once Sting started singing that he was going to send out an SOS to the world, over and over, I kinda wanted to too.
After that, I pulled the thing off my ears, put my head down and gutted out the last mile in silence. It wasn’t terrible, but there was no way I was keeping the pace of that first mile (my last mile was about a minute slower.) And it was a bit of work.
So the good news is I can run with the iPod. But I may have to work on my play list.
Total Comments 4
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The playlist is key. As is finding songs with similar beats. Don't know about you, but when I run with music, my stride will find the beat, whether I want it to or not. Which is fine when it's more or less in sync with my natural pace.
When it's not, however, I'll either find myself sprinting and wondering why I'm suddenly dying, or bouncing along like Buzz Aldrin, wondering why people are looking at me even funnier than usual. Groove tunes, brother. Nothing but 4/4 groove tunes. |
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Updated 10-17-08 at 09:15 AM by Om |
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Stayin' Alive .... music to do CPR to.
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Recent Blog Entries by Henry
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