By Cool J in Minneapolis
LL and I have discussed running with headphones multiple times in the past (HERE and HERE) My personal stance has usually been that music is great when you’re doing your long training runs alone (with a consideration first for safety), but I would never wear them on race day.
My personal stance temporarily changed with the Marathon-to-Marathon in Iowa last spring.
I brought my nano for that marathon, as it seemed like a necessity. There were only 200 runners, and very few spectators, so I needed the distraction. I “saved” the music until the halfway point, and then was temporarily revived by the fun tunes I had planned when I finally turned it on. But alas, the battery must have been running out during the first half, because it died on me after only a few miles with tunes! So frustrating.
Since that experience, I have usually avoided the hassle of the nano. However, I still respected its amazing power to pump you up on a run!
So last weekend, I decided to wear my headphones for the “Run for the Health of it” half marathon in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I put together a new playlist (Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, anyone? Maybe some #thatPOWER with some Beibs…) and I made sure the battery was fully charged this time.
