"I'm Mr Brightside"

WOW! Commute route 43:29!!!!!!!!!!

Normally the route home takes me 52-57 minutes. Music makes a difference though. When I was rocking out to Mr. Brightside (the Killers) I looked up and realized I was already passing the statue that normally takes 24 minutes to get to and my watch only read 19. Music for me really decreases the RPE as we say in the exercise physiology/cardiac rehab world ( the rate of perceived exertion) It just doesn't feel as hard. But it'd be dangerous for me to run with music all the time as I'd over train....it be like running in college with competitive teammates racing everyday! Such a waste of all that effort. Besides, I still make fun of runners with headphones dangling.

Random thoughts on today's run from my head:

-Man that lake is pretty..turquoise like the Caribbean
- hey there is almost no wind today
- wow, it must be nearly 80 degrees (+20 from what all of May was here..cold)
-Look at all these people
- mmm bikinis
- a string bikini on her is not indicated...nor appropriate
- that dude is jacked
- Volleyball looks cool, but always hurts my forearms
- I probably suck
-I am getting better at this prosthetics thing though
- but, I did manage to cut up my thumb with a screw driver today
- and mixed up my foam wrong yesterday
- and had to re-do today
- suppose it is all just good practice, I am here to learn
- I did rock that anatomy exam last Friday though
- Dr. Ada Kelly of baylor Univ would be proud of me
- The one question I got wrong I had written down correctly at first
- then changed...I should never change my answers
- That homeless guy has shorts on today, good for him
- That dog seems to like the water
- Holy crap that girl has the best body I have ever seen!
- better than Divinci could sculpt
- better than a model
- wait Models don't have good bodies, just skinny
- thery are supposed to show off the clothes..muscles draw attention away
- why is my libido so high when I am away from my wife?
- The year in Egypt was like this too
- except no good bodies there at all to look at
-rollerblading looks fun
- I'd commute on rollerblades if I had some
- I am running faster than this bike rider.....he must suck
- No one is passing me today...running
- Madonna is cool
-so is Tool
- I run well with a goal
-I'm going to break my course record, for sure
-Beck is awesome
-Look at all those kids playing soccer
- soccer is way bigger today than 20 years ago when I was a kid
- or was that 25 years ago
-I graduate highschool 15 years ago this month..I'm old
-Haile G is my age and still breaking world records
- Ed Whitlock was running 3:00 marathons at age 73
-Why don't I train faster?
- I suppose this is good Hardrock training
- pancake flat, but with my breathing and heartrate a COOKING
- I'm number 15 on the waitlist, should I buy a plane ticket?
-I should write this all down in my blog
- ugh this is getting uncomfortable
- almost there now
- hey I need to get some milk
-cereal this morning with water on it sucked
- nice, catching the walk sign at the light
- sweat 43:29...solidly 4 minutes faster then ever
- how far is that again?
- 6.8? 6.6, 6.5?
-I'm getting there

High Tech World

Thursday- 6 miles- 46min
Fri-AM- 4miles- 33min easy
PM- 4miles- easy with 6 x striders

Well technology can be a great thing. I'm thinking of music today. I grew up listening to records on the family stereo, (my brothers KISS albums, and danced to my Mom's BeeGee's. I later learned to drive in a Big Buick Estate Station wagon with a third seat that faced the rear. It had an 8-track player in it. We bought an adapter for cassette tapes. I bought my first musical groups music on cassettes (Bobby Brown, Cheap Trick, B 52's, Roxette), then in high school everything moved to CD's. Now the Internet world and IPOD down loadable MP3's have taken over. Tonight I attempted to download my first songs off ITunes....despite having owned an IPOD for a year now I never had downloaded anything.....just listened to my own CD's I burned onto my computer hardrive. Well technology is great and all. But my Internet in Egypt sucks...so it didn't work. Bummer. Apparently I have paid for the music though so, I'll keep you posted on if I am screwed or not.

UPDATE: Okay it worked! It did take about an hour per song to download but I now have (and am listening to on the run) the great album: Depeche Mode Remixes 81-04

Adding Music To My Run

Okay, I admit it. I am a complete hypocrite and sell out. After years of taunting people who ran with headphones and Walkmans/disc mans/IP3players, I have now finally joined their ranks. I used to discriminate immediately upon seeing someone running with cords coming from their ears. Obviously they were not a REAL runner. The were not serious...they had to be running just to lose weight. I even talked my wife into leaving the music behind...slowing the pace and enjoying the surroundings more. This fortunately lead to running becoming something she really enjoys and not something done as a chore to stay fit. When running in the states I do 90% of my running in the woods on trails and never wanted to listen to music as music simply was all around me in the wild. I did not understand when someone had headphones on while out in nature. Why tune that out? I'm not sure I understand that still, but due to my current life situation I find my running very boring. I either run on a treadmill to avoid the desert sun and heat, or I run multiple boring loops around my small base staring off for miles in every direction with nothing but sand to be seen.

So I caved in and bought an IPOD Shuffle.....which is amazingly small and cool. I have 15 hours of music on it that will not repeat or run out of battery charge. Best of all, the whole thing weighs about the same as a piece of paper. I conveniently clipped it to my Montrail hat and coiled the headphone wire up and twist tied it to the tightening strap on the hat. I then ran the cords directly to my ears. NO JIGGLING CORDS! A beautiful thing for sure.

You know what? Music is pretty nice on the run. I think I am a bit faster while listening to my favorite upbeat tunes, and maybe a little less in tune to my surroundings, but living here I am not missing out on anything. The loop seemed to flow a bit quicker and the boredom was definitely reduced. Will I use the IPOD back in the states on trail? I doubt it, but at least now I have a new appreciation for those who do.