Real Running Unplugged

The Tools of the Trade

While preparing to head out for a long run the other day, I noticed with some horror that my son had killed the battery on my trusty, tiny, brand-specific MP3 player. You know the one: it’s the size of a matchbook, comes in several delicious colors, and comes with those ubiquitous white earphones. The horror continued when I found my equally trusty brand-specific GPS watch wasn’t actually plugged into the charger and was stone dead. I had 16 miles ahead of me that afternoon and the thought of those late miles without Pearl Jam just about broke my spirit.

Before I go further with this, let me confess that even though I know it makes me a pawn of the corporate marketing world, I love gadgets. I know I don’t need any of them, but they’re so cool I just have to have them, much to the displeasure of the other adult member of my household who likes to ask the most painful question of them all: “Why do you NEED that?” Need? Who needs any of it? I just like it. So if any advertising reps from the unnamed brands above want to contact me, please fee free. 

Seriously.

Let’s not pretend there is suspense here. You know what’s coming. I actually went running without my various electronic tethers. No GPS watch measuring my distance and pace. No music piped directly to my brain. No heart rate monitor. Just me, the environment, and my brain. What is this, 1996?

And here’s the whole truth of that unplugged run: I dreaded it. The first miles sucked. And the rest was fantastic.

As I warmed up and got into a groove I worried constantly about my pace. Was it too fast? Too slow? Inconsistent? I kept looking at my wrist for external feedback. I caught up with a runner on the Burke Gilman just to try to steal a glance at her watch so I could see my pace. I tried counting accurate seconds like we used to in backyard touch football games. One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand…

At mile two it became very clear that I had a serious problem. I was addicted to my GPS. This is no joke. Somewhere along the way, I started to rely on it so much that I lost touch with the actual feedback my body was giving me. I needed an intervention, and since I had no music to listen to, my brain started to wonder if maybe someone drained my gadget batteries on purpose just to teach me a valuable lesson.

On I went, through miles three and four without Eddie and the gang to power-riff me through the boring stretches of the run. I like my music as much as anyone, but it seems maybe I rely on it a little too much. Get in the car for a drive: pop in a CD. Sit at the computer to work: open up Pandora (you don’t know about Pandora.com yet? Best look soon.) Go for a run: earbuds.

Without my musical cocoon I actually started to notice stuff around me.

The first thing I noticed is how many people have those white things jammed in their ears. Runners, walkers, mothers pushing strollers, maintenance crews with week trimmers, bus riders, small dogs, and, improbably, young couples strolling hand in hand on what anyone would recognize as a date. I can only hope they were listening to the same song at least*.

The second thing I noticed was the sounds that are important for runners. I could hear my footfalls and had immediate feedback when I was getting lazy and slapping my feet on the ground. Normally I have to wait until my ankles start screaming at me to realize I am making this mistake. I could hear my breathing. I could hear the unnerving hum of the overhead power lines, which can’t be safe or healthy. Ditto the teenagers in the brand-specific import coupe listening to Lady Gaga.

And the third thing I noticed was that my brain thinks thoughts. Scary but true. As I hit walls in the late miles I could talk my way through them without Stone Gossard distracting me. I also managed to solve a couple of work problems and compose a few lines of this article, which I of course promptly forgot, but still.

So running unplugged wasn’t so bad after all, but you knew that was going to be the thesis of this little exercise. In fact, I would run unplugged more if I didn’t like having the data from my GPS when I finish a run. Solution? Lately I’ve been running with my GPS in my pocket or upside down on my wrist. Then I use my undistracted brain to guess my splits and heart rate. When I get home I compare my brain’s data with the brand-specific GPS data. I don’t know what this accomplishes, but it’s interesting.

So unplug once in a while. It won’t hurt much.

The Unmistakeable Earbuds

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*I’m kidding about the dog, but it honestly wouldn’t surprise me of some over-zealous dog owner out there has outfitted his dog with tunes.