Running With Music

Hello and happy Tuesday. It has been an interesting day so far.

Today's Workout
4.5 mile run, 49:49, pace 11:05
Core

Today for my run, I broke out my running tights because it was cold. El wore her down snowsuit and her pumpkin hat and was super cute, as usual. (PS--I keep taking pictures and putting them on flickr, but they aren't showing up when I paste the code in here. I will have to keep working on that.) My phone gave me two temperatures, so when I started running it was either 35*F or 29*F and when I finished it was 39* or 31*F. I'm not that great with knowing the temperature by feel, especially here in WA with the humidity. But I do like running in the cold weather, and in the past have run outside when it was 20*F, but having El to worry about makes me not as excited to run in the cold with her. When it is cold, I'm not so worried about temperature as I am about ice, but things were OK today.

Anyway, I was doing one-minute intervals, and then El started to scream. I think it was the cold air in her face. I tried covering the stroller with her blanket, turning around, talking to her. There were not a lot of people on the trail, but the trail goes through a little shopping center and there were people getting coffee or walking to work. They were all glaring at me. I thought, 'I am 2.5 miles from home. What should I do?' And then I remembered that I was only a half mile from my BFF Shannon's apartment. She told me to walk on in to her house any time I needed to. I prayed that her door was unlocked (it usually is) and ran as fast as I could to her place. We parked the stroller under the stairs, I pulled El out, ran up to her door, knocked and twisted the knob...

It was locked.

I knew that the one time I needed to get into her apartment, it would be locked.

But then her hubby Brady opened the door and let me in! They are heading out to CA this afternoon so both of them had the day off. We warmed up, gave El some goldfish crackers, chatted, and I was very stinky. I shared some hot chocolate with El, which she dribbled on her shirt. After a half hour, we loaded back up and ran home. El was happy and then fell asleep. Even better, she fell asleep in her crib after we got home. YAY!

So it has been cold and weird and thank goodness the weather cover should be here tomorrow because I think El will be a lot warmer with it.

Now, the topic at hand...

Do you run with music? Does it help you keep pace?

I don't. The headphones always slip out of my ears or make them sore. I don't like wearing them since I run in streets without sidewalks, among drivers who I can trust to pay attention, and where dogs prowl their yards. I feel much safer without headphones or music playing. It also seems like my iPod is always out of power. By the by, I did use my iPod last night during my rowing workout but not on today's run. It is about of power.

Since I want to work on my pace, I think upbeat music could help. The tempo could push me and the energy could motivate me. But I still won't if I have to wear headphones to get those benefits.

Let me tell you, my 2+ hour training runs got pretty long without music to break up the monotony. But I do think training without music helps you train for races that don't allow music. I imagine the race could get tough if you depend on your tunes to keep you on pace, to entertain you, or to keep your mind off the pain/discomfort.

But I still would like to listen to music or an audio book while I run---but no headphones. So I have a running etiquette question for you. Can I play music on my phone or other device during my training runs? I would just put it in the stroller's cup holder and go. Since I don't usually see many other people out walking or running when I am out, I don't think it will be bothersome to others. I could potentially be embarrassed about some song that comes on. Thoughts on that running etiquette?

Do you run with music?

What is your favorite song to workout and/or run to?
I do like "Eye of the Tiger" in spin class. Cliche, I know. I also really like INXS and Tina Turner. Everyone knows 80s music is the best to workout to.

Can I listen to music without headphones while I run?