Running Deaf

The other day my headphones crapped out. This happens from time to time. Every so often I have to go out and get new headphones. The connection becomes loose down by the end that you stick into the iPod. I assume it’s because they get jostled so much by the running, biking, etc.
I can’t use the earbuds that come with the various i devices; they won’t stay in my ears while I’m moving. So I go out and buy the cheap Phillips set that hooks over my ears. They work just fine until that connection becomes loose. The sound quality is OK-they almost block out all the annoying traffic noise.

I have run so long with something playing in my ears that I can hardly concentrate if I’m left with my thoughts. Yet most races don’t allow headphones. I suppose I should train the way I race, but man, it gets boring when I have to entertain myself.

So what do I think about when I don’t have a podcast going?

“I wonder if those expensive headphones work any better than these cheap ones. Would they lose the connection at the bottom? Probably, they’re not really made for running, are they? I bet they make headphones just for running. They’ll sell you anything. I probably should have pooped before I left. I sweat all over these headphones, so I don’t want to get anything too nice. Man, I really need to do number 2. I wonder if the bass level is better on those expensive…oh man, I have to poop! Dang it! This is going to be the first run where I have to pull over and take a dump in the bushes!”

My intrepid iPod Nano is still going, however. It is several years old. It’s one of the earlier models. Meriwether Lewis used one like mine while exploring the Louisiana Purchase. Yet it has seen better days. I can’t get the display to work right anymore. I have to re-set it just to see my playlists and what not. But after all, it’s been sweated on, jostled, dropped, and who knows what else, and it appears it will live forever, like Steve Jobs.

There’s this iPod Shuffle you can get that you can swim with.

The Nano really is perfect for working out. It’s not too heavy, not too bulky, not too flimsy. It’s easy to get your music and podcasts on there via iTunes. Mine has no wireless capabilities, but maybe the newer ones do. I think the newer ones have cameras. That would be nice. Sometimes when you’re out running and you see something odd, like a guy toting two samari swords, you need something to obtain photographic evidence. What would I do without my Nano? Probably go get one of those waterproof Shuffles.

Bye for now. Let me know if you have any headphones that work well while you’re running and/or riding. And let me know if headphones is even the right word. For some reason I have this image of someone out running with those big ’70s style headphones bouncing up and down on their head.

iPod Nano

 

Still Alive

For some reason I think about how I may die more frequently than a licensed psychologist might consider healthy. When I'm given to such morbid daydreams, I never imagine that I'll die in a hospital bed. No peaceful passing for me with family gathered around listening as my last breath pushes out the last feeble word, and then everyone crying, and then arguing about what it was I said. My imagined demise is generally due to some horrible accident or at the hands of evil doers. Am I crazy?

When I do go I hope it's in a dignified way. Not screaming and yelling, "Ahh, it burns!", or worse, "Don't tell my wife!" I also don't want to drown during the swimming leg of a triathlon. That would be embarrassing. I already feel like a pretender when I'm out on the course. Aspirating lake water would not do much for my self-esteem. I think that would be the worst kind of DNF.

So I went swimming this morning, instead of sleeping in my bed. I read once that you always do what you most want to do. Which means most mornings I want to lie in bed dreaming of triathlon glory instead of getting up to practice staying on the top side of the water. Though if you were to ask me, "Ken, do you want to swim well in your next triathlon?" I'd say, "Why, yes, thank you for asking." But obviously what I really want is to be a world champion snoozer. Well, you know what I mean. I just want to do OK in my age group at the next snooze off.

This may not be the time or place to mention this, but I would like to come by some goggles that don't fog me over. This last pair I got said, "Won't fog you over," or something along those lines. But they lied. I've yet to swim in a triathlon with any kind of vision past the first twenty-five yards or so. I figure if I'm getting jostled now and then and inadvertently slap someone on her butt then I'm going the right way. Generally when I get to the beach I take off my goggles, and then I'm like, "Oh, it's daytime."

It's been a while since the last post, but I am still alive. I hope to see you soon, assuming I'm not wearing my goggles.