Monday 17 August 2009

On running with music

Throughout my running career, I've always been against running with music. Not just for the safety considerations of blocking out one of your five senses, but also somehow because I (pretentiously) felt it would detract from the experience of running. Like a stream of urine on a virgin snowdrift, the blasting of headphones would surely adulterate the spirituality of that pure, ancient act of setting one foot in front of the other.

....it all sounds a bit silly doesn't it? Anyway, I invested in a crappy ipod nano knockoff on Ebay and decided to take it for a spin tonight. I was feeling pretty tired and sore and rather suspected it was going to be a real drag, so anything that would make it easier was definitely worth investigating.

I couldn't believe the difference it made! It was the best run I've had in ages! My legs picked up on the rhythm of the music and I was flying (comparatively - 10k of hill reps in 57:00).

I'll definitely be bringing the player along in the future, though races are definitely a no-no safety wise.

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