Ear Candy

I find it nearly impossible to run without music – it’s a vital part of maintaining motivation and pacing myself over the course of many hours.  An assortment of music with varying beats-per-minute (BPM) makes it easier to dig in, get the adrenaline pumping, and motor up a steep hill in record time, or settle into a consistent, energy-conserving pace over long-distance.

When I’m listening to music I can’t hear the sound of my own breathing, which psychologically tires me faster.  I also don’t want to hear somebody else’s heavy breathing (at least, not in this context) or their footfall behind me; it’s creepy and distracting and sounds as though somebody's following me... which of course, they are. 

Regardless of how many gazillabytes worth of music you have on your iPod, after so many hours of pounding the pavement, eventually your music selection will become stale and predictable. Fortunately for me, I have a good friend who is always discovering new music and it's a huge passion of his – he sends me new music regularly, so I can overhaul the iPod regularly – that prevents boredom, increases my motivation, and greatly expands my musical repertoire. I am often reminded that he “owns my iPod”, for which I am very grateful.  You’ll find everything on my iPod – from Aimee Mann to Al Green, N.E.R.D. to Neil Young, Peter Gabriel to Pearl Jam, Thievery Corporation to Thin Lizzy and everything in between.

Good music matters just as much as good coaching and can send you to that Nirvana state a lot faster. If it weren’t for amazing ‘ear candy’.... who would want to run for multiple hours or days on end? Who would I call upon besides Blondie for support when there is no one else to turn to?

What would I do without Bono there to push me to the finish?

Happy running,

CMc