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The Shuffler

Running mini-experiment: Running naked

August 16th, 2010

Sunday night, I conducted an impromptu running experiment.  I had originally planned to do a 12-mile long run but the stars weren’t lining up.  Specifically, I was tired and headachy and it had been raining a good part of the day.  To top it all off, my mp3 player, which has been acting up lately, chose to shut down completely.  Now, a lesser runner might have given up altogether and settled down in front of the television with a fistful of peanut butter M&Ms, a bourbon and Arrested Development DVDs (good times!).  But I’ve been adhering to my program pretty faithfully for eight weeks and I was damned if I was going to miss a run.  So I decided to swap my long run with next week’s tempo run.  Instead I did six miles at a moderate pace instead.  Despite my misgivings and before I had the time to think too hard, I headed out without my faithful mp3 player.

Faithful readers will know that on the headphone debate, I come down firmly on the side of portable music players.  One might say I do so in a somewhat rigid manner.  In fact, I’m not really sure when was the last time I ran all by myself, without music, television or a running buddy (human or canine).  I was pretty surprised by the results of the experiment: it wasn’t awful.  Two observations right off the bat.  Traffic is really noisy.  Crickets are spectacularly noisy.  But I was pleasantly surprised by the volume of my footfalls and my Shuffler-style wheezing: specifically, neither was as loud as I expected (prior to this run, I was almost certain that I would be deafened by one or the other).

Another fear I had was that without music, podcasts or audiobooks, my thoughts would wander into unpleasant corners of my mind and get stuck.  I tend to dwell on things and running without stimulation seemed like the perfect setup for rumination.  My thoughts kind of flitted around without settling for the first twenty minutes.  Then I ended up focusing on running itself.  I came up with ideas for blog posts.  I thought about my upcoming races.  I thought about my training program.  It was actually pretty peaceful.

All in all, I would call this one an unqualified success.  I would definitely be willing to do this again on shorter runs (an hour or less).  It certainly stirred the blog muse. 

Over to you, readers.  How do you feel about running “naked”?  Is your default running without headphones or do you turn back if the batteries on your mp3 player run low?

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8 Responses to “Running mini-experiment: Running naked”
  1. John Says:

    I rarely run with music and never with headphones as they don’t stay in my ears. I find the time running without music better as you can think with no interruptions. And like you mentioned hear your footsteps and adjust your running form accordingly.

  2. bornfeetfirst Says:

    I like to switch it up: sometimes naked sometimes not. For long runs, I like to have some music for when times are tough – certain songs can pump me up for a difficult hill or when I’m feeling sluggish. But I also like to hear the sound of my feet on the pavement… there is something methodical and calming about hearing my footfalls and breathing.

  3. carleigh Says:

    I find music to be incredibly motivating, especially when an upbeat song comes on. Without it, I can survive, however I constantly check my watch and become obsessed with my pace time. When running with a friend, without music, I tend to talk more than I run. So for me, music is best.

  4. EndorphinBuzz Says:

    I like music while training especially for longer runs. Once in a while I will purposely leave the headphones behind and enjoy the natural sounds around me.

  5. Tim Says:

    I’ve been running without music for most of the summer due to similar technical failures. I must say it’s a very different experience, though I did it for years before music was added to the mix. I find it difficult to keep a consistent pace as I use music, not a watch, to moderate my intensity. Running without music makes me pay more attention to my body, as well as let my body ‘do it’s own thing’. It’s a different experience and I recommend trying it for a few weeks so that the weirdness – as with running truly naked – wears off and it becomes a more comfortable if different experience.

  6. Runs with Spatula Says:

    I almost never run with music. I like the sounds of the world around me too much. The birdsong along the Rideau river is nice!

    Once I had to do a 29km run in the winter, at night. The only path open was the 8km length of the Rideau canal. I used music (with one earphone out, for safety reasons) to keep me from going crazy from the repetitive scenery. It was helpful, but I still prefer running without it in general.

  7. Granger Says:

    Like you, I am very firmly in the pro-music side. In 3 years of running I have only every done about 4km without music when running alone all added together. (These were all due to technical failures mid run.)

    Really, I am just to scared to try it without music. I read about people saying all kinds of great things about running naked, but still I keep thinking – why risk it?

  8. Barebuns1 Says:

    I don’t believe in running with an ipod or any other portable musical device. But I firmly believe in running nude whenever I can. I run nude at the nudist park where I spend my winters. But I have run the famous Wreak Beach Bare Buns run twice. I do think this is an incrediable experience for those who want to live on the wild side. I would not recommend running nude at Wreak Beach for females, there are a lot of unsavory characters with cameras and cell phones. It being a public beach there is not much you can do about that.

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