What do you listen to when you run?

It is always interesting to find out what someone listens to when they are running.  Early on, my wife discovered Pandora and has now trained it to play either Fergie or Aerosmith.  Myself, I typically listen to either a mix of my own or if I am listening to Pandora, it is either the No Doubt or Trance channels.  

The problem though with Pandora is that we always chew up our cell phone battery.  If I am listening to the mix on my phone instead of my Ipod Shuffle, I find that it decides to begin dialing other telephone numbers about 30 minutes into the run.  I have recently discovered TuneInRadio, which is great; however, it again it chews up the battery if you are not careful.

Talking with other runners, I have found it runs the gambit, from music, to sports (the 49er story is one of my favorites!) to podcast.  

However, listening to podcast, seem to me the most interesting thing to listen to. I mean, I have been sold on the idea that actually listening to something with a good beat actually improves your pace, this is great for road racing on a near flat course; however, for trail running, sometimes having something to listen to keep your mind  of the hill you are climbing.  So when I found out that my buddy, Ultraryan listens to them when he runs I was intrigued.   He even listens to NPR podcasts while he runs.

Well, about three weeks ago, I started listening to ScienceFridays, on NPR while I ran at lunch.  Yes, my wife has known I am a NPR geek, even before we were married.  This was  also the run where, according to Strava, I PR’d on my Embarcadero Run segments.  So I didn’t see a decline in my pace.

So today, I discovered Ultrarunnerpodcast.com, and boy was it fun!!  I listened to Devon CrosbyHelms podcast about the Olympic Trials this year in Houston, why she does Ultra’s, and why she got into cooking.  I also listened to Hal Koerner recap this year’s Hard Rock race as well as pacing Tim Olsen for Western States.

So I guess I am going to have to give listening to podcast when I am running a try. And Sunday will be a perfect day for it since I decided at the last minute to run Zoom’s new Castle Rock Run.  I do feel a little duped since originally (up to Monday) the half-marathon was mapped through the Shell Ridge and Diablo Foothills Regional Parks.  Now the run takes you to Mercado Ranch in Danville and up to Rock City before descending back down to Castle Rock Regional Park.  I will be doing a recap next week.