Last night I had a minor case of insomnia. I just wasn’t sleepy and the worst thing you could do is to try and force it. So I stayed awake until I was absolutely tired. This meant that when my alarm went off at 4AM, I was quick to turn it off and immediately fell back asleep.
I finally made it outside a little later and it was a bit of a struggle to even get out there. I had a slight headache that sneaked (snuck? eh) up on me, but I kept telling myself that I could just go out for 15 minutes and if the headache was still there after that time, and I didn’t feel like continuing, then I could easily come back home. Turns out I was out there for about an hour and covered 5.3 miles (Thanks gmaps). I honestly didn’t think I was going to be out there an hour so I didn’t bother to take my Garmin, but I did do something a little out of the ordinary for me.
Normally when I run outside I don’t listen to music which I think is funny now because I remember when I first started to run many years ago that I just HAD to have my Walkman with me. I couldn’t leave the house without it if I was getting my fitness on. Oh yes, my dear Sony Walkman that looked a little like this:
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| “These were the days my friend.” |
Actually it looked a LOT like that. RIP Sony Walkman. Now it’s become a rare thing for me to listen to music outside and this is due to a few reasons…
- I don’t want to wear (or carry) my iPod
- I like to hear the noises on the street so I’m fully aware of what’s going on (and I can pick up the pace if something is creeping me out)
- Sometimes the sound from the traffic can drown out the sound of my tunes
- I can think better
- Group running on the weekends made me not miss (or need) music
For this morning’s run, I actually took my iPod with me. I didn’t really want to think and I wanted to drown out my headache and whaddya know, the songs helped. These songs helped:
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| Hardcore music, I know. |
I didn’t even mind wearing my iPod either. I just let the music relax me and take my mind of stuff. No wonder my 15 minutes turned into an hour. No wonder.