Running with Music, Yay or Nay?

I used to run with an Ipod. As a matter of fact, this device used to be a crutch for me. When my Ipod would pause, run out of battery or do anything that halted the music flow to my ears, I felt like my air supply had been cut off and would slow my pace to a zombie like walk. Then one day I signed up for a race that banned Ipods. Like any addict in denial, I just assumed that the race was to far in the future to worry about, but time has a habit of not stopping and race day approached. Then one day I left the Ipod at home and began my run. For the first few miles I kept thinking about where in my apartment I left my Ipod and how I should go back and get it. Then all of a sudden, I began to notice things such as houses I had never seen, streets I never ventured down and the general world around me. Had my Ipod really been denying me all of this? It took a few more runs to get the “this would be better with music” feeling out of my head. However, these days I can’t even imagine running with any device that would deprive me from the full experience of the run; it was weighing me down anyways.