If you're a runner of any distance, you probably get faced with this question from time to time:
"Do you listen to music when you run?"
My incredibly simple answer to this simple inquiry:
Yes. And no. But sometimes.
Okay, maybe a not so simple answer.
Yesterday I hit some climbing, winding trails for a nice 7 miler, and I opted to toss on the headphones, as I haven't for quite some time. It completely changes the way I run. And this ancient article raises the question, "Does music give runners an unfair advantage?"
I have to admit, in my case, it does.
If an adrenaline-pumping song pops on, I find my pace quickening. If a more light-hearted song clicks on, my mood lightens. I find I'm more out-of-my-head (as opposed to my usual "out-of-my-mind" state) and pay less attention to mental distractions ("Is this climb EVER gonna top off?!?" and "Dammit, my ass if chafing!"), therefore focusing more on my running. It's kind of an opposite state than you'd think - music doesn't distract me; it merely distracts me from my distractions.
On the flip side, I can only take music for an hour at a time. I can set a watch to it. By the end of my 7 miler, I HAD to remove my earbuds...at precisely the one hour mark.
The secondary question regarding music is, "What do you listen to?" So here, categorized, are a few samples.
Ass-kicking
Hot For Teacher - Van Halen
Baba O'Reilly - The Who
Fire - Jimi Hendrix
Silly/Makes me smile
I Want A New Drug - Huey Lewis and the News
Heat of the Moment - Asia
M-79 - Vampire Weekend
Plain embarassing
Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson
You Better Love Somebody - Rick Springfield
Roll With the Changes - REO Speedwagon
Luckily, I've already deleted the Brittany Spears from ym playlist, so I don't have to admit that.
Whoops.
2 comments:
I LOVE REO Speedwagon - Take It On the Run (Baby). :o) . . . and then about 220 country songs.
Now that you even said the words "Heat of the Moment", I will have that song stuck in my head all day!
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