As for races, 90 percent of the time the rules forbid earphones or "personal sound systems" of any kind, which I can respect. Racing is about being in the moment and taking in all the stimuli around you — the crowd, other races, your breathing, your footfalls or pedal turns, the day in general. Having music with me creates an environment in and of itself, and each race presents a unique environment, one I like to experience on my own terms. The more different race environments, the better.
Indoor workouts are another story. Without something in my ear other than the rush of the water or my own labored breathing, I'd want to stab myself in the ears with a ball-point pen. So music it is.
Granted, with no sound source in the pool I have to make sure I've got a song in my head (and heart, I suppose). In which case, I'll play some tunes in my living room before driving to the pool, and then I'll listen to the radio on the drive. Now, I have been known to sit in the car for a few minutes in search of a song I can tolerate in my head for the hour I'm in there. Once I had some Lady Gaga bullshit infiltrating my workout (because it was the last thing I heard before getting out of the car, and you may cast whatever aspersions you want about my listening to a radio station that would play such music) and I wanted to beat my head into the wall. Lesson learned.
The treadmills at the Y here face a wall with three crappy TVs, but the TVs are not angled for visibility. That's fine, but it means I need some sort of outside stimulus. Enter the iPod. I can stare at the white wall (and the illustration of health benefits of elliptical/treadmill/stationary bike workouts, and the suggestion box, and the sink) for as long as I have to with some nice, loud, angry music in my ears. Same thing with the bike trainer. I set it up in front my old TV and VCR with Ironman videotapes to break the monotony to some degree. Of course, the next time I go into my "pain cave" will be the 15th time I've seen each of those races, but I'll take whatever I can get.
As I said, it's loud, angry music no matter what the visual stimulus — 90s alternative, hard rock from any era, hip-hop, a little punk. However, I admit to having some dance/electronica in there as well, because it moves and it drives, a nice break from people screaming about slights real and imagined.
So here's what I listened to during today's 1-hour, 6.99-mile, 870-calorie jaunt. I loaded all my workout playlists (Yes, I have those) into my iPod earlier this week and hit shuffle when I started the treadmill...
1. "That's How You Got Killed Before," Elvis Costello with the Metropole Jazz Orchestra
2. "You Can Do It," No Doubt
3. "Blind," Korn
4. "The Choice is Yours (Revisited)," Black Sheep
5. "Teenage Dirtbag," Wheatus
6. "Stop," Jimi Hendrix
7. "Hard Row," Black Keys
8. "Keep on Movin'," DJ David Coleman
9. "Under Your Skin," Luscious Jackson
10. "Jerk It Out," Caesars
11. "Midnight in Her Eyes," Black Keys (think I might have left this album in there)
12. "Corduroy," Pearl Jam
13. "Don't Stop," Brazilian Girls
14. "Can't Stop me Now," Dr. Theopolis
15. "Sugarcube," Yo La Tengo
