Music(less) Monday – Thoughts from the More Fitness Shape Half

Every Monday I have posted about my love of music while running, and in yoga, songs I recommend, and working on playlists, etc. etc. The past Sunday was the More Fitness Shape Women’s Half Marathon, and as I was getting ready for bed Saturday night I realized I hadn’t finished my list. So I grabbed my phone at nearly midnight and jumped on Spotify to finish up my epic running mix.

I was so excited on Sunday morning as I got into the park, it was a truly beautiful day – Central Park may never have looked nicer, blue skies, trees and flowers in bloom – and a sea of women uniting to run! After checking my bag I made my way to the corrals, so ready to run the most miles I have logged since running the TCS NYC Marathon. As the race began, I went to play my well-crafted playlist, and I heard… nothing. I thought it might be that I couldn’t get a good signal (I couldn’t load a race start photo to Instagram), but no my phone was showing that it was playing a song, what would have been an epic 1st song to hear crossing the starting line of a women’s only race “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” by Cyndi Lauper. But nope, silence.

Well obviously not silence, I could hear all the sounds of the race around me. I wasn’t going to let the technical difficulty interfere with my running although I couldn’t help but think that I would probably never be able to get through 13.1 miles without my music (not a thought you want to get in your head). I also couldn’t help think that I really should have thrown out those ear bubs that weren’t working right (what was I keeping them for?!), I had a feeling when I pulled them out of the box they weren’t the right ones. I knew I would fixate on it, this was not how to start a race that had to go through the Harlem Hills, twice. I tried to adjust them, pull on them, bend them – only getting a crackle once.

So, I pulled both buds out and kept running. And a little but later, I pulled them out of my phone and threw them on the curb.

I was untethered. I was running like a purist. No music, just the sound of sneakers on pavement, the conversations of fellow runners and the cheers of the spectators.

It was not always easy, and when I was somewhere in mile 6 not feeling it, wondering it I would even finish (and then remembering I was probably feeling that way because I hadn’t had my gel at the water stop) I couldn’t help but blame my lack of music.

But I did it, I finished, in a time I was pretty happy with considering all those hills, and I really “experienced” this run.

Will I run music-less from now on? No, I love having music around me – but to know I could do it, that’s a really nice feeling. Other nice feeling from the end of the run, getting a High Five from Mary Wittenberg!

It was a really great race, and a fantastic day.

Here’s a pic from my corral and then me with a medal and a bagel!