Must have music

As my training runs increased in length, I realized that it wouldn't do for me to listen to the incessant sound of my nostrils whooshing. I needed music in a bad way, so I made a date with my good friend eBay and scored myself a nice little iPod. I might be the last person on the planet to have purchased one, but that's the way I operate. When CDs started making their debut, I recall distinctly thinking that they were frivolous when I could listen to all my music on a cassette just fine--with the ability to record it right from the radio to boot! (as long as you don't mind a bit of DJ chatter at the beginning and end of every song on your mix tape, it's totally rad.) I also didn't see Titanic in the theatre, and have yet to create a social networking profile the likes of MyBook or FaceSpace or whatever. So you could say I'm a little slow to react when it comes to trends.

The day after my iPod arrived was to be our longest run yet: 4 miles, so I set to work uploading CDs into iTunes. I am a highly organized individual, and I can't stand the thought of just importing entire albums when I might only listen to a handful of songs from each. I don't want my shuffle setting to be an unending skip session--that would be no better than listening to the radio. So I am painstakingly going through each disc and selecting the songs that are worthy of my playlists. I use the present tense because the process is less than half finished. I don't know all the titles of songs I like, so I have to listen to snippets of some before deciding. On top of this I need to create a playlist just for running: songs with a tempo to keep me moving fast when I just want to lie down.

Since I had informed her that I finally jumped on the bandwagon, Margie brought her iPod for the first time too. But when I turned mine on I realized...I had uploaded a bunch of CDs, but had forgotten to sync the player with my computer. So the only music I had on my iPod was a test song I had downloaded compliments of Starbuck's pick of the week. In my humble opinion it sounded like the music I normally hear blasting from the boombox outside a house being framed by a group of Latin-American gentleman. In case you don't walk by construction sites often, it could be the same music playing over the speakers in your favorite authentic Mexican Restaurant. So that wasn't going to happen. I put my iPod back in the car, but told Margie she should still use hers, it was no big deal.

That was a naive statement to make, because that was a horrible run for me. I think Margie was in the zone with her music, and I felt like I was dragging 50-pound weights on each leg. It was a tough run. Our next run was a shorter distance, but listening to music helped significantly. I felt great and finished the run strong. What a difference.

Yesterday I ran my first race since I was 19. It was a measley little 5k. And it really kicked my butt. I am pleased that I finished with about a 9 minute/mile pace, but I would have loved to quit only halfway through. This makes me quite nervous for the 5-mile race I'm supposed to run this Sunday. My friend Anne, an experienced runner, said that I just need to go slower. She also said that I'm supposed to feel that way during a 5k, because "if you run it right, you should feel like throwing up at the end." Hm. By that advice, I'd say I did mighty well indeed.