Here's the book "The Incomplete Book of Running." I'm thinking of getting the audiobook and listening to it when I go on my run. It's not really a contradiction to what Sagal is talking about because he says he listens to music nearly all the rest of his time, including while writing. I almost never listen to music while reading and writing. Too distracting! I listen to things while walking and (sometimes) while running because I want the distraction.
And here's my post from September 2nd about mind wandering, where I said: "I find I get my best mind wandering done while running. I do 1.6 miles at sunrise nearly every day, and I like the quality of thinking that happens with that activity — at that time of day, in that setting. If I start thinking about, say, a movie I just watched... I can access all sorts of ideas about it and tangential to it." I also, like Sagal, do imaginary conversations and practice ideas an arguments. But unlike him, I have rebuttals, counterarguments, and ripostes. I imagine them! Not to torment myself, but because I like debate, and I need to test my ideas.
By the way, how old do you need to be to know what that title — "The Incomplete Book of Running" — refers to?
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There's the people who need constant noise to drown out the voices in their head and the people who want things to quiet down so they can listen to the voices in their head.
I don't like to run with headphones but where I run now, if I don't wear headphones all I hear is leaf blowers.
Lately I've been in the pool instead. Hard to wear headphones there...
---By the way, how old do you need to be to know what that title — "The Incomplete Book of Running" — refers to?
I would fixx that age at six months shy of older than dirt.
When I used to run and train for marathons, I would run 40 to 60 miles per week, or between 6 and 9 hours a week running. Never wore headphones. I liked the voices in my head. Spent a lot of the time just doing useless calculations about my running (if I run this mile at this pace, then my average pace will increase to x). I found it kind of a brain palate cleaning exercise.
Why would he practice arguments if not to examine how they fare in the light of counter-arguments? He does not seek enlightenment, he lets off steam. Which is fine so long as he realizes that that is what he is doing.
Sagal could especially use a counter-argument to his argument that since he is better off without headphones, everybody is better off without headphones.
There are two types of people in the world: those who feel obligated to share thoughts like this, and those who find it bizarre that someone would do so.
I never used to listen to music while running or walking. Those were some of my favorite times to sort through my own thoughts, reflect on my life and things I could do to try and be a better person for those around me, not to mention being more a part of and aware of the nature around me. That all changed in March of 2020 for me. All of my thoughts were dark and terrifying, and quite honestly, I had a harder time in my life than I ever had before. I couldn’t turn off the thoughts of despair in regards to the course our country was taking, and the willingness of my fellow countrymen to completely turn over freedoms in the name of possibly being “safe.” That is a simplified version of what I went through, and I understand that it sounds dramatic, but I just felt so lost for the first time ever, and I couldn’t bear to hear the thoughts in my own head. So I started taking really long walks where I either talked on the phone (through my headphones) or listened to music, particularly music I’d never heard before - a lot of older country music that had never previously crossed my radar. I found a lot of comfort in it, and my thoughts couldn’t wander as easily. Now it’s a habit that I’m finding it hard to get out of, but I’m trying to get back towards my old ways of being more present in my surroundings when I’m on walks.
When I see it, I wonder about the safety of it. Is it wise for women running alone? Seems like it would make situational awareness more challenging to maintain. Does it make it more difficult to hear traffic sounds that may signal danger? Don't know - just wondering.
…there’s also crazy animals in the woods.
It's easier to win a Darwin Award when running with headphones.
On some runs I don’t wear headphones but all the voices in my head cancel each other out.
On those days I drink a manhattan…
People wearing headphones are just in a different internal space than people without. They are effectively deaf. They are a hazard on the bike trail-they wander into the middle of the road, can't hear you call out from a distance, and then tend to jump the wrong way when you try to pass. Cyclists are guilty of this as well, on the roads as well as the bike paths.
PSA: wear only one headphone if you are share a space with others as fast as or faster than you are.
Real runners do not wear headphones. Running is meditative and allows for wandering creative thought, or no thoughts at all. Also, you'll get hit by a car or overlook a rattlesnake if you can't hear.
You'd need to at least remember Ronald Reagan in office to remember Mr. Fixx's book.
I agree with the author about the need to clear one's head on a walk or run. I used to be pretty fervent about that. It was, as he says, the only time I could allow my brain to be fully unconnected. And I always felt like you get more out of being outside when you actually hear the outside. Especially in the area we live, with little traffic and so many different birds and wildlife. (cranes, ibis, gulls, egrets, hawks, eagles, herons, and others). They are interesting to pass, as they tend to ignore us and just keep on doing their thing, but if riled...some make spectacular noise (cranes in particular).
But all this said in the past. I used to feel that. Now I use the walk time to listen to podcasts. I do miss that unconnected time, but occasionally I find a podcast so riveting I don't even realize I'm out there in the 85 degree/85% humidity of a Florida summer morning. (85 degrees at 7am). It gets nicer into late fall and winter. The bad thing, of course, is if I don't hear that gator rambling out of a retention pond coming up to meet me for breakfast.
As for writing...when I was young I always liked to have music on while writing. Even a TV in the background did not bother me. Now I have to have complete silence. I cannot have any other distraction or I cannot put my thoughts together. Which...when looking at my writing seems to be a chronic issue.
I was a test driver for an automotive engineering company. I would spend 10 to 12 hours in a car with no radio (they had radios but we were not allowed to use them). Two 15 minute breaks and a half hour lunch out of car was the only time you possibly could have conversations with someone outside your head.
The worst was getting a song stuck in your head.
I don't have headphones to wear. But I find that when I'm walking, a song will pop into my brain and then another and another. Who needs more than that? I also like listening to what's going on around me.
It's unusual for me to see students on campus without earbuds in. So shut off from the world.
There was a difference by age regarding reactions to Fixx's death, with older than about 35 horrified (appropriately,I see now) and those under laughing at the surreality of a heart attack in a health icon.
As to headphones on the run: Only if you really do look both ways twice when crossing streets.
So when he's cooking or eating or driving or taking a shower or moving from room to room or getting ready to go to sleep he isn't alone with his thoughts? I understand that he may have the radio or the television on, but still, it isn't occupying his full attention all the time, is it? Maybe it's admirable if his mind doesn't wander when he's doing his daily tasks, but it's hard to believe he doesn't have moments during the day to sit back and think.
I'm biased. I won't walk unless I have a book to listen to, and I won't get through a whole book unless I'm walking or driving, but still when I'm moving I do notice things along the way. Also, I don't really trust "runner's mind." Maybe there's some Zen aspect I'm missing, but "jock thought" doesn't much seem like thinking at all.
Tip on headphones while running or biking. I bike for 2 hours along the ocean on a bike path and very low usage roads mostly with bike lanes. I use a bone conduction headphone that does not cover or go in my ears. They make it easy to hear your surroundings as well as the history podcasts that I listen to. Quite enjoyable to learn about 3,000 BC Egypt while riding. Did you know that the Egyptians started with two gods? A masculine, Horus, the god of the sky and a lesser female goddess akin to Athena. They may also have had the first female ruler in known history. Such learnings make the time in the saddle go by faster.
There are good reasons to reduce stimulus for periods of time.
It is too bad that this article is written by someone who just comes off as a smug asshole.
But NPR has it's target audience... of smug assholes.
Sometimes I like to run in silence, especially in the morning. Other times I like running music, especially if I am pushing hard to make a particular time. And like Harsh Pencil above, sometimes I combine running with mental exercises and calculate how I am doing by quarter, half and mile segments, and then start calculating what I have to do to make a particular time, and then play word games with the environment (how many words and phrases can you come up with for an oak tree?)
"Ann, I've said before as a life long runner I have great admiration for your ability to put your shoes on early every morning and hit the road for your 1.6, but if you like the place in your head you get with that distance and time, go out every now and then and do five plus, it's truly a subjective thing, but there's a "zone" out there that's quite interesting."
First, keep in mind that I am 70 years old and I'd gone for decades believing myself incapable of running until I started this sunrise practice 2 years ago.
I put together the run by alternating with walking until I did it with no walking and, after that I never gave up and did the whole thing running every time (with one or 2 irrelevant exceptions having to do with conversation).
But from the time I did the complete run, I thought that I'd turn around and run back and then keep extending that until I'd done the 1.6 run twice in one session. But I've never made any progress at all and have mostly just hoped to plateau.
I know I'm largely missing the runner's high, but for me, it's about witnessing the sunrise.
I'm an anti-headphone puritanical prick. That's my problem. That said, whatever people need to do to keep moving is fantastic. Slut shaming, while a fun hobby, is counterproductive social intercourse.
I'm pretty sure that I got my first copy of The Complete Book of Running through Book of the Month Club. I joined as a teenager. The book was first published in September 1977, the month I turned 18. I let someone borrow that book years later and it never made it back to me. About 10 years ago, for nostalgia reasons, I purchased an older used one on Amazon that has the same jacket. If it happens again, I'll try to remember to use the Althouse portal.
For many years, I didn't listen to anything while running because I didn't like the distraction when I tried it. By distraction, I mean more to do with bulky devices, static, cords, etc. than the actual music/talking. At some point maybe ten years ago, I tried it again and enjoyed it at times. But I noticed that I didn't get the same meditative effect from running with sound, especially when I listened to spoken word like podcasts or talk radio. But I kind of got addicted to listening to things when running roads, at times, and I did it anyway out of intellectual laziness. On trails I have always felt like I have to be more present so I generally haven't used any listening devices on the trails. When I was practicing law and I needed to think, I never wore "headphones" on my longer runs, and I would often think through every case I had chronologically, and decide on a next step. It was the most productive time of my practice. I've done the same thing on lots of major life issues. As I think about and write about this, I'm reminded that although I almost always feel better on and after a run without headphones, I still will often use them to distract myself from me. It's pretty much like aimlessly scrolling through Twitter, looking for some type of stimulation that most likely will end up making me feel worse. It's like not meditating when I know it will make me feel better both during and after the session, but spending that time instead reading over sports, often running, news or other news that is being increasingly contaminated by identity politics agendas, and frequently causes me more agitation than happiness.
When I do listen to something when I run or walk these days, I use one pod in my right ear. It's still as much of a distraction to myself as I am apparently wanting, but I can also hear the noises of whatever environment I'm in, as well.
“It's easier to win a Darwin Award when running with headphones.”
Just so. The speed with which traffic/cyclists can be upon you is underestimated. Too fast for the distracted eye, way too fast for the blocked ear. I run on a dike trail, so no traffic or bicycles. I allow myself a one-ear podcast at low volume. No doubt a little distraction makes hard repetitive exercise go by quicker.
i only listen to music on earphones to drown out other poeople. If the trail is uncrowded I prefer to enjoy the outdoors in peace/quiet. OTOH, listening to an audibook while walking around town is a great way to enjoy a book. instead sitting in a chair, I'm getting some exercise.
1.6 miles is pretty good for a 70 y/o. How long does it take you, 18-20 minutes?
Ann, I've ran a quite a lot in my life, though I don't run anymore (mountain biking is way more fun). I've done a couple marathons, a handful of half-marathons, and a bunch of shorter races. I've ran a lot of miles, and I've yet to experience anything I'd call a runner's high.
I don't doubt other people get it, but you may not be missing out on anything by keeping your runs relatively short. Rather I should say you might be missing out on the runner's high no matter how far you ran, like me. Seeing the sunrise and getting some exercise are sufficiently good outcomes, in my opinion.
Oh, and I only ran with headphones and music once. I hated it. My subconscious kept trying to synch my breathing with the beat of every new song, and I really disliked not being able to hear my surroundings.
I usually listen to talk shows or music when doing my walks, often 6-8 miles.
But I can also have two or three other 'tracks' going simultaneously...what would a new backyard landscape look like? What I should have said to so and so when they said such and such. How many screens do I need to design to get an app user from the home page to the payment page...what do they look like?
It drives my wife crazy (so I only do it when she's not home), but I like to read with both the radio and TV on : )
Just like your run of the mill (yeah, that was deliberate) 21st century liberal deciding that he, Peter Sagal, knows what’s best for his friend. Yeah, you liberals know everything and can determine what’s best for everyone else based solely on your own inclinations. For their own good, of course.
Peter Sagal’s friend needs to be more selective about whom he choses for friends.
I don't run (knee problems) but I do walk and sometimes use a stationary bike. I always listen to music to keep the right pace.
On good days I use a playlist that starts with these songs:
Change Of The Guard - Steely Dan
Gimme All Your Lovin' - ZZ Top
Missing - Everything But The Girl
Roadhouse Blues - The Doors
On bad days (or on the stationary bike) I use a playlist that starts with these songs:
The Wanderer - Dion DiMucci
She Belongs To Me - Dylan, Bob
Shanty - Jonathan Edwards
Lady Madonna - The Beatles
I would never get through a workout without the music.
I was a runner for decades- I never once did so with headphones any kind. It really isn't safe to do so, either. It is why I don't wear them in the car, walking, or doing anything where I am moving around in public areas.
I would miss too much--good, bad, and potentially very ugly--if I wore 'phones on my walks. Dangerous, especially after dark.
But I don't feel like I miss anything much, compared to the way I can ruminate on important things like Althouse, and the infill redevelopment that is transforming the neighborhood. And I have an extensive soundtrack of music--mostly marches--in my head for a good stride.
Still not a fan of talking heads blogs/podcasts whatever, even if I like the people and topics.
I can play loud music in the SUV, and am happy to use headphones sitting here with the radio on, or careening around Youtube.
'I know I'm largely missing the runner's high, but for me, it's about witnessing the sunrise.'
My runner's high is when I stop.
Robert Frost in a poem called "Directive" tells of a place in the woods where children have made a playhouse with cast off junk. The narrator says, near the beginning, "Come, if you'll let one be your guide who only has at heart your getting lost..."
if I didn't have headphones,
my inner voice for the entire run would be
"God I HATE running. HATE. RUNNING."
I never wear headphones when I run. I agree with RoseAnne about situational awareness - I especially want to hear any traffic coming. Even so... I stepped wrong last week and broke my ankle. I took my eyes off the road for about 2 seconds. Now I'm down for 8 - 10 weeks and the last 6 months of gains are lost. I'm pretty depressed about that. Anyway, I've never experienced anything like a runner's high. I feel like I have to focus and push myself, and the reward is progress. It's impressive that Ann is able to do this every day at 70. I'm 10 years younger and she is part of my motivation.
I read the Complete Book of Running as a teen. Striking cover: bright red background, muscular legs, ASICS shoes. I took up running for a time, though in yellow Nike shoes. I was sad and surprised when Fixx died at 52. Running feels too jarring to my body now; walking is my speed.
By the way, how old do you need to be to know what that title — "The Incomplete Book of Running" — refers to?
I think it was......Jim Fixx, The Complete Book of Running. He was a sedentary newspaper reporter that gave up cigarettes, and poor diet to run. He expressed his love of running, and then died of a massive heart attack at 52.
"Real runners do not wear headphones."
Real runners were earbuds. I ran for years without music but then they invented the iPod Nano. Some music is good for helping you maintain a pace, Tainted Love by Soft Cell was always part of my running playlist.
"I know I'm largely missing the runner's high, but for me, it's about witnessing the sunrise."
If I didn't get the buzz I felt I had cheated myself. It is a bit addictive. Without the high, running was as they say, "like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer, it feels good when you stop."
'I run on a dike trail, so no traffic or bicycles.'
So no straights? Sounds discriminatory...
There's the people who need constant noise to drown out the voices in their head and the people who want things to quiet down so they can listen to the voices in their head.
Excellent observation.
We're told that we don't read enough. Now we're told to turn off the audiobook and just listen to the voice in our head or commune with being. It's hard to win.
Nobody has told me I don't read enough--nobody who pays attention, anyway, and when I was a kid people told me I read too much.
My head's abuzz with all kinds of things most of the time. A good serious read, or a good serious listen to music, require attention from me, but there's always stuff running in the background, associations being made, memories bubbling up . . .
I don’t appreciate or give advice to people on what to do in their own heads, and doing so seems really presumptuous of the author.
I tried running to music - but don't like the sweat getting in and on the ear buds; and headphones fall off.
I also preferred the wandering, wondering mind while running.
After my heart problem, I do walks. I still don't like music nor podcasts while walks - the wandering mind for me, including wondering about what I'm looking at in the woods. (Of Slovakia) There's a lot more enjoyment of nature on the walks - but the same distance takes a lot longer. But I also have more time, and get less tired in an hour of walking.
I live near the Smokies and I would never think of hiking with headphones. I agree that it is good to let your mind wander and reset, but it is also important to be aware of your surroundings for your own safety. Running in Madison, one could encounter a vehicle with a distracted driver. Hiking in the Smokies ... yup, I have run into a bear or two. It is alsways wise to be aware of something in the brush making a big noise since it could be bear, wild pig, or elk.
BTW, as also a "woman of a certain age," I have a theory that hiking, not simply walking, provides the added benefit of improving balance since the terrain is often not smooth and, in the case of mountains, you have to be careful with roots, loose rocks, steep grades, etc.
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