So, while I run I often think of a lot of different things, but today it was a little bit different. Since I got out of High School and got an mp3 player (No, I don't have an ipod, itouch or anything that begins with an i) I haven't really run without some sort of music playing. Don't get me wrong...I LOVE running to music. It's one of the reasons that I would rather run by myself, because that way I'm not ignoring the person I'm running with. But now that I have a smart phone this has transformed into Pandora playing while I run, which gives me a nice mix of all kinds of music. Not only do I have music but I also have a GPS that tracks how long and how fast I run. Before I would have to time myself, then get home and map it myself to find out average pace.
Today while I was running I changed a setting in my running app. I had my app, RunKeeper, say when I reached each mile of my run. Well, this caused Pandora to stop playing, so after a mile and a half I lost music. At first I was really annoyed, but then I started to like it. Without music all I heard was my breathing and the birds, which helped me to quiet my mind a little bit and think. It's really hard to run for both fun and a good workout, at least for me anyway. I ran longer and faster today that I have in quite a while. But I had to choose, do I want to know how far I'm running or listen to music.
I really enjoyed running without music again. I often forget to quiet my mind and just relax and reflect on what the Lord is teaching me. I've got to remember to His faithfulness and goodness. God invented running! :-)
So, we'll see if this actually happens, but I'm thinking about trying to run the Portland Marathon in October. But for now these are my accomplishments:
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| The 5K Badge from Foursquare |
I once heard that you can tell if someone is a deep thinker if they do mundane things (like running) without music.
ReplyDeleteAnd as my dad said while recovering in the hospital: "Running will kill ya. But that aint gonna stop me."