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After some time off, I'm ready to start thinking about long runs and marathon training. I still have (thankfully) more than 19 weeks until the Vermont City Marathon. Lately I have found myself perusing iTunes, looking for new music to keep me entertained as I get ready to hit the pavement again.
This poses a dilemma. As I get further into my studies about hearing loss and hearing conservation, I get more turned off by my ear buds. It frightens me how loud I actually listen to music when I'm running. I am probably turning up my tunes so loud to drown out the sound of cars driving by or my feet hitting the clunky treadmill at the gym. I know this because as soon as I enter somewhere quiet after a run or workout, the music is roaring through my tiny headphones and I need to turn it down. I'm also beginning to wonder, am I turning up certain songs when I need a little more push, say during a sprint, or during the last few moments of my workout?
I CAN run without music. I'm dabbled in experiencing the nature side of running and thoroughly enjoyed listening to the rhythms of steps and breaths. Do I like to run without music ALL the time? Not really. I have no clue how I ran the whole marathon last year tune-less. Regardless, I want to train a little harder this year. SO what do I do? Music or no music?
Being someone who understands the effects of Noise Induced Hearing Loss as well as someone who truly wants to teach others about PREVENTABLE causes of hearing loss, the decision to run sans iPod seems obvious. However, on my iPod (and most newer iPod models) there is a way to set a maximum level of output. Meaning, you won't be able to turn up your music beyond a certain point!
So what I've decided to do is listen to my headphones in a quiet room and set this preferential listening level. I have "normal hearing" which means I do not have a hearing loss, so what is perceptually low volume to me is likely to be realistically a low volume, given that my preference is to keep it soft. That way when I'm tempted to turn up the volume at the gym, I will know I'm exposing my ears to a safe level of sound. I think I found a happy medium!
I've also decided to do one run/week without any gadgets, meaning no iPod & Garmin.
Do you listen to music when you run? Why or why not? Have you ever thought about how loud it might be?
I blog my journey through graduate school and marathon training at AuD Runner !
