The Farsighted Runner

There’s ample evidence to make a solid case for running while listening to music. Not surprisingly, music has been shown to serve as a motivator during exercise. It also provides a distraction from minor discomfort, fatigue and boredom.

When I first started running, I had to have music. It was a matter of necessity because I ran on a treadmill. Doing time on a treadmill was fairly mind-numbing — without music the activity felt nothing short of torturous.

It wasn’t until I joined a running group that I started heading outside for my runs. Try as might, I couldn’t get past the four mile mark on the treadmill. Looking back, I now know exactly why I couldn’t. It wasn’t because I was physically incapable — it was because I was bored. At the time going anything beyond four miles presented a psychological barrier. And I hoped that joining a running group would help me overcome it. It did.

I quickly aligned myself with the lollygaggers. We were the ones at the back of the pack laughing and gossiping and holding up our coaches from being able to take down the water stops they’d placed along the day’s route. On many of those pre-dawn Saturday mornings the running itself became secondary. Much of my running motivation in those days was kept afire by the promise of brunch and coffees after (in particular, a short stack of banana granola pancakes provided incentive enough to complete a long run).

Managing to run without headphones when running in a group was easy. Good conversation is a great distraction, and at the time running with what was to become a tight knit group was probably the one thing that had the biggest influence in  helping me to meet my weekly mileage goals. On the shorter runs — the ones I ran alone — I continued to listen to music as a matter of unquestionable habit.

My new found running friends and I trained together for what was to be the first of many half marathons. We plodded together through an entire season of training — our pace rarely quickening beyond the deliberate, but our enjoyment in and devotion to the activity was unfailing. This routine remained unaltered until the day of the race. We planned to gather early, pose for a couple of pre-race photos and run the course together. Staying in a separate hotel across town, I was the only one who didn’t car pool to the starting line that day. And, consequently, I was the only one who arrived on time. My friends were so late in arriving, in fact, that I was forced to start alone.

Photo by Rainbeaux

That was my first experience running without distractions — no conversation, no music. And I was amazed at how quickly the time passed. I fell easily into a natural rhythm thanks to the sound of thousands of feet pounding the pavement in unison all around me. My experience running that day was a breakthrough.

And, much to my own surprise, I finished the race 40 minutes ahead of my friends.

Since then I haven’t had the slighted trouble running without music. In fact, I’ve developed — generally speaking — a preference for going without. Which brings me to my main point — that is, sometimes there are just days when I really need to pair a particular run with music. Most of the time I don’t. But, sometimes I just feel like it, and so I go with the urge. Other times I’ll listen to an audiobook. (While listening to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for instance, the average length of my daily outings increased). Or a podcast (I get pretty picky about the content though, and find news or anything too heady distracting).

I’ve read the headlines stating that music can boost performance and stamina. And, (with very nearly) all kidding aside, it makes sense in an Eye of the Tiger kind of way. There is a reason, after all, why that particular song and movie resonated enough to firmly cement themselves into the collective memory of aerobicisers everywhere. Quite simply, it can be inspiring to listen to music while exercising.

But, in the long term when you’re committed to activity like running, there is a risk that the rituals that surround and support the act can become habitual — and eventually boring.

In other words, sometimes listening to music helps break up the routine. But more often listening to music can be the routine.

And sometimes it helps to turn it off.