I had a great run today. 1.59 miles. 9’28” pace. I felt like i could have gone further, but i made it up the hill without slowing down too much and decided to quit while i was ahead. Hopefully this will leave me cramp free tomorrow and ready to run again.
It was sunny and pleasant, about 60 degrees and i ran in shorts and a T. There were several other runners out there doing it and not a few nice looking ladies. Given that this is a little college town, with a high school almost on the campus, it would be wise to verify whether or not these gals could even drive – but i have always been a fan of nice scenery on a run.
I made a change for this running season – headphones! No i did not buy any more equipment, i just used my gear to add music to the mix and i think that helped me out. I stayed mentally loose instead of focusing only on the run and the pain and the pace.
I used my good ole (new-ish) Dr Dre in-ears. I slapped on my winter ear warmer thingy and that kept the gear secure. Which looked something like this:
I made a “running” playlist, loaded that onto the old 120 GB iPod classic and set out with that just in my hand. About half a block in, i slipped the iPod down my shirt, and that worked great for cord management. I had no cord or road or footstep noise. I also slapped on the super light Ironman sunglasses i got before Mexico. My Nike+ gear still works fine.
Back to the mentality – I enjoyed the ‘now’ of the run and was not trying to escape the experience. But having something else to help give my thoughts a nudge was nice. I followed thoughts brought on by the changing tunes. I am an album guy, but i did something i have never done before and would not ever do under other circumstances – i used “shuffle”.
So far, the “Running” playlist has albums by:
RPG – Ratt – Iron Maiden – Wolfmother (*Note – listen to “Dimension”) – the only two White Stripes tunes i like – T Rex – The Stooges – Soundgarden – Pixies – Nirvana – and Metallica
It kicked off with RPG “Right On”, then The Stooges “Gimme Danger”, into Nirvana’s “Nevermind”. I had a lot of thoughts of Richmond and being on the road with RPG through the first two tracks and then – with just the first notes of Nevermind, into my head pops, “Because i am crippled and i wanna listen to Nirvana!” Which was interesting since i just re-loaded the first four seasons of Friday Night Lights onto my computer to begin a re-watch in preparation for April 15th, the NBC premiere date for the final season.
Good times!
*Note – we stay spoiler free over here at The Bone of Contention so keep your direct tv season 5 secrets to yourself – for now 😉