Feeling Righteously Indignant

My friend sent this link to me, knowing the deep, abiding, borderline unhealthy relationship I have with my iPod.
My first knee-jerk reaction was "Are they serious? Who the hell cares?!" Like, how has listening to music become a big enough deal that it is anything but a personal choice? After I read the article and some of the many, many comments, I have some more coherent thoughts. (Disclaimer: obviously, I've never run a marathon before. Heck, I've never run more than 7 miles in a row. But I plan on doing both, so I feel justified in at least expressing my opinions.) First of all, it really pissed me off to read comments like this one: "The whole purpose of running is to be able to put everything aside and just be able to run free for as long as you can, with just your thoughts and the natural sounds of surroundings you are running in." Um, excuse me? Do not tell me why I run. If that is why you run, comment person, then more power to you. But don't go telling me that I'm missing the purpose of running because I listen to music. (Clearly, I tend to get a little overexcited when people tell me what to do in an unreasonable manner...deep breaths…calming, zen-like breaths…) Second, when I run I listen to my music at a reasonable volume (as do most people I've come in contact with). I can hear my own footfalls, I can hear passing cars, dogs barking, I can talk to other runners and walkers if I'm at the track. So I don't buy the safety concerns. Like the article said, no one could come up with a single incident related to headphone wearing. So here's my feeling: if runners want to listen to their headphones, let them. I do not plan on starting the Yakima marathon with my ipod on, however I will be carrying it with me. And when I get to Mile 17 and I'm deep in the canyon and my legs hurt and I'm tired and there is no one else on the road and I really want to stop, I think that what will keep me going is a little infusion of upbeat, happy tunes.

It's odd that I read this today, because last night I made the decision (the PERSONAL decision) to run without my iPod. For one thing I am trying to wean myself off of it a little bit. (I think that it will mean more to me to start out quiet and put it on toward the end of long runs when I'm hurting.) Also, I made the call (it was a PERSONAL decision) that since it was quite dark when I left the house that I should be totally focused on running safely (I also wore a godawful bright yellow reflective vest). The run wasn't great. It kind of stank, actually, but I'm proud I went out at all considering how I felt last night. I know what went wrong: I did a shoddy warm-up. I knew it as soon as I started running but I figured that since it was only three miles I'd be fine. I'm NEVER THINKING THAT AGAIN. One thing that not wearing an ipod will do? It'll make discomfort much harder to hobble on through. I did an extra long cool down to compensate and then stretched for half an hour in front of the TV. I feel fine this morning, so I'm treating it as a lesson learned and moving on. Fingers crossed, my 6-miler this weekend will go more smoothly. I haven't run six miles in years! But I know I can do it! Positive thinking! Woot!