iRun

One of my first thoughts after realizing that I would not be able to listen my iPod while running the marathon was, "No way." I vowed that I would try to slowly wean myself off of the iPod, but that was probably going to be more towards the 2009 end of things. Then, tragedy struck. I had to run 10 miles without my iPod, a daunting prospect. But it wasn't that bad. I realized that I actually prefer running without one and haven't run with music since.

It sounds crazy, I know. I would have laughed in your face if you told me that I would voluntarily run without music to distract me, but here I am. I can remember reading running articles in which the author describes running as meditation or reaching a zen-like state of mind. I never bought that. Running is hard. It still is, but that's part of why I like it. But now I get what all of those people, I think.

Using your head to push your body 2, 5, 7 miles further when you already feel fatigued -- that's something a lot of people don't engage in on a regular basis. There's a reason why half of all cross-country shirts ever made say "mind over matter." Listening to music let me tune out what my body was feeling and why. In fact, life can be a lot like that. You can choose to tune out and find things to help you do that, or you can face it head on and really dig in. I feel like I do that when I run. Eventually, my mind and my body find an agreement and I just run. And run and run.

Before that agreement can happen though, I have an argument with myself that goes something like this:

Me: Yeah, this actually is not even a good idea. And my ankle huuuuurts. You can probably just stop and go back home now. Stopping this running thing will probably make it feel a lot better.
Me: Mmmm, yeah, but I'm supposed to run seven miles today.
Me: Pffft. Pleaaaaase. I am wheezing over here.
Me: No, no, how about I run over the Mass Ave bridge and see how that goes? If running continues be this unpleasant, I'll stop. If I don't finish this workout, I'm going to blog about it and I really don't want to say that I gave up on a run for no reason. So I'm going to keep going.
Me: Okay, yeah, that isn't that far. Besides, I kind of want to be able to say I ran seven miles today...