Ok, this is sacred ground, I know! The
music in our ears, and the voices in our heads, are sacrosanct, so I
am not going to try to tell you what you need to listen to, or even
why. However, I shall divulge the secrets of my meager Ipod, and some
of my whys, and why nots.
I've said before that you must have
patience to run; note to self: add Guns n Roses to playlist. I
actually mean, that I get bored, everyone I know gets BORED running,
so the noise helps us. Each and every runner I know has a different
running style, toe-runners, flat-footed and now-a-days even
bare-footed, our playlists should be no different!
So the First Note: Being different is ok!
My most accomplished runner-friend
regularly listens to PodCasts while she trains. She catches up on
stuff and occupies her mind. Another friend of mine, with heart
concerns, listens to classical. He insists it lowers his heart-rate,
and who doesn’t want that? Personally, I have a big mix right now
which rambles like Hippo at night: Offspring, No Doubt, Melissa
Etheridge, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, even the soundtrack from Scott
Pilgrim. So try lots of different stuff, mix it up and don't be
afraid to air-drum at the crosswalk.
Second Note: Housekeeping is crucial!
I try not to obsess over what is in my
Shuffle; yes I only use a little Shuffle, see Note #4. Seriously
though, I leave stuff on there forever! Runners are creatures of
habit, so I like to think that I've basically click-trained my body
with the Van Halen, I don't want to change it too much once race
season is on. That being said, I go through and delete all the songs
which give me the automatic response of hitting FF after .08 seconds.
Sorry Patience, you've been cut anyway.
Third Note: After 9 miles you don't hear it any more anyway!
This was amazing when I discovered it.
So, on long runs our bodies start needing sugars between 8 and 10
miles, so we start going right for the gummies or the gels. In
addendum to our muscles needing that raw caloric intake, our poor
little neurons are starving too. Yup, if you've ever wondered why you
go fuzzy-headed after awhile, it's because your neurons, pretty
exclusively, use carbohydrates, no carbohydrates means no thinkin'
Scarecrow! The end result was that during my first half marathon, I
got to mile 12.5ish and started to think I needed to queue-up my
finish song. At this moment I realized that I was 5 minutes into the
8.25 minute American Pie, by Don McClean,....not a running song
people. Where had the last 5 minutes gone? They probably also took
the last plane for the coast. What this taught me was that there is
no point in fighting my Ipod to change songs after about mile 6,
cause my little starving brain is just hearing noise!
Note Four: Don't run a race with anything you don't want destroyed!
I don't know if you've seen it yet, but
I always see a huge pile-up 100yrds in when someone drops their phone
or Ipod cause they didn't have it secured, and now 3000 sets of kicks
are trampling the perfect playlist and the perfect Iphone on a
perfect morning. Seriously, on long runs and races I carry my phone
in a tight tiny waist bag for emergencies. It doesn't come out till
I'm done. If my little Shuffle gets knocked off and sails into a
storm drain I'm not gonna let it interrupt the first time I hit a
perfect 9minute pace, maybe Leonardo will return it one day.
Note Five: Finish strong!
Whereas I have just trashed planned out
playlists, huge-gigged storage, and Don McClean, I do always search
for one song to blast through the last 100 yrds. Whether it is the
click-training or any actual primal brain type response, I always can
muster a final sprint from down deep with the right song.
In the
event you've read all the way down here, my finish line song:
Beastie Boys' Sabotage!
Hope this list helps you contemplate
the way in which you hear a race. At the very least you now have my
permission to listen to A Prairie Home Companion!
No comments:
Post a Comment