This morning, as I waited for the official confirmation to come through that I had in fact registered for my 3rd half marathon for 2013, a few thoughts popped into my head. Namely, have I lost my mind (yes), will I be able to handle running 2 half marathons within a month of each other (maybe) and will my legs ever fully recover and forgive me (likely to the first, no to the second).
While I was doing a short run on my dreadmill on Tuesday, I was keeping myself company with Sarah and Dimity of Another Mother Runner fame. I’ve been letting their awesome podcasts build up in my iPod and decided running by myself in my depressing basement with nothing to look at was the perfect time to pretend like two of my favourite mother runners were in my basement with me having a nice conversation. Or that I was stalking them and eavesdropping on their private conversations. Either or.
One of the topics in this podcast (which are golden for passing time and making you laugh out loud as well as feel just a little bit more normal knowing your running woes are shared by many) was whether you listen to music when you race.
I haven’t run many races but with the exception of my October half marathon that I ran with my best running friend (BRF), Leslie, I always have music going. But it’s more of a half and half thing for me.
The first thing you need to know about me is that I don’t race well. Mentally, I tank out and physically, I have a very bad habit of starting too strong and bonking well before I’m sporting my finisher’s medal. I rely on music to keep me going but I also love the roar of the crowd, especially when I’m in an energy slump and those harsh inner voices start taking over.
My solution? Have the best of both worlds. I run with music in one ear only and the lose bud tucked under my bra strap. That way I have something in the background to help me pace and the crowd coming in the other ear to keep me going! If I need an extra boost of music, I can plug in fully and if I just want to listen to my surroundings, I can take the other bud out.
Your Turn: Do you race with or without music? Do you feed more off the crowd or Usher making you wanna Scream?
I like the idea of 1 earbud in, & 1 out. I’ll have to try it.
I typically run with my music loud enough to keep my pace, but low enough to get pumped from the bands/crowds as needed.
Happy Racing!
I like to race the way I train; with music. But, headphones aren’t allowed in triathlon, so it’s good to practice running without them.
I do race with music. Usually I try to have it staged for me at the half way point that way I have something to look forward to and something to help me through the last half of the race.
Thanks for the shoutout! I have always raced without music but when running the Full this May I think I will have to have it with me. The Full is a new beast to me and I intend to take it down whichever way possible!
Other than that, I have you to encourage me along! The crowd helps too.
I always have my ipod on during a race, but if there’s a crowd, they tend to drown out the music.
In fact, I have said several times after races that although my music played the entire time, I could not remember a single song that had played – something about a race takes my mind completely off the music…but at the same time, I would feel lost starting a race without headphones in and music turned on!
3 half marathons!?! ROCKSTAR STATUS!!
Ha ha!! More like MEDAL WHORE!!! I do love me the hardware
I nominated you for a Liebster award! Because I can and I would love to hear your answers! http://wp.me/p2LNGW-6l