I count among my adversaries while undertaking long runs exhaustion and tedium. Fortunately, these adversaries haven’t given me too much trouble. I usually plan well enough to avoid exhaustion (for example, by getting enough sleep), and I usually deal with tedium by listening to music.
I almost always listen to music when I run. The few times I have run without it, I’ve limited myself to distances of four miles or fewer. While I often listen passively—some people would say I merely “hear” the music—I find that having music in my ears gives my mind something that it can wander to when I’m not thinking about the run itself.
Although I saw many people running Broad Street with their iPods, the official line is, “For your safety and insurance considerations, no headsets are permitted.” I agree that this is a wise policy, but I also wondered if tedium would rear its head during my run and make me feel that Aristotle was wrong about Zeno’s paradox.
My fears weren’t realized. I'd hoped that the sights and sounds of the race would be enough to keep me from getting bored, and I was correct. For that matter, I probably spent even more time focused on my running than during most of my long training runs. The heat forced me to think about how I was feeling and to pace myself accordingly (often in consultation with my heart monitor). By the middle of the race, thoughts of when I’d encounter the next water station or open fire hydrant also became more prominent in my thinking.
In short, then, I did fine without the music, and I didn’t even miss it. But I’m not ready to undertake a solitary long run without the iPod yet.
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