Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

During my runs, I have been listening to Christopher Lawrence’s new album, Subculture, Vol. 01. It happened to be in my collection because Mike put it there, but I found it and have been digging on the beats. It makes running so easy.

I decided to listen to it while I ran the Salt Lake 5K. It made the race very different than any other race I’ve run. I’ve never listened to music while running a race. I didn’t want anything weighing me down. I didn’t want to have to deal with holding a music player. It just wasn’t practical before.

This time, I found some great shorts for running that have a plethora of pockets. There was room for my chapstick and most importantly, my phone. I can play music on my phone, but I wanted to bring it along on the race because I always get separated from my family during a race and it would make it easier if I just had my cell phone with me.

So I listened to Christopher Lawrence during the 5K and I finished slower than I’ve done in years. Not the music’s fault, of course. It would have helped if I had actually trained for the race. I must say that having the music helped me survive the race better than I have ever done before. The beat kept me pounding away even though the heart rate monitor said 190 bpm. I finally stopped to walk when it hit 200, but the music drew me forward.

Next time running sounds like a drag, download a bunch of techno music from the likes of Christopher Lawrence, DJ Tiesto or Paul Van Dyk and you’ll find yourself pounding the pavement with a vigor you didn’t know you had.