A Music Revolution

I downloaded iTunes in the first 24 hours it was available for Windows.  (iTunes originally came out only for Mac, and in those days no one owned a Mac.  There was no iPhone.)  I fiddled with it some, ended up spending the entire night playing, downloading, etc.  My wife thought I was insane.  I told her -- the music world has changed forever.  Record stores are extinct (one of the biggest in the world was around the corner), and albums are history too.  And oh, Apple will rule the music business.  She laughed.  I was 100% right.

My next reaction was to buy a bunch of Apple stock.  My friends talked me out of it -- it was expensive and the success of iTunes was already factored into the stock price.  Besides...its Apple.  Um, ok, right, so I passed.  The stock is only up about twenty times since then.  100% wrong.

I have been trying to get music and running right since the beginning.  Headphones -- I have tried them all.  Seriously, I bet I have 20 pair.  I owned, as a kid, one of the very first Walkman stereos (a cassette tape model, with foam covered headphones and before the yellow rubberized case, 1980 maybe?).

My first Walkman circa 1980?

So, with that backdrop...I present the next revolution...Bluetooth headphones.  In essence, athletic headphones with a tiny Bluetooth receiver in them so no wires to the iPod.  Is that a big deal?  I think so.  The wires bounce and tend to pull out the headphones.  (My Sennheiser sport headphones have the single worst cord design I have used -- a microphone right in the middle that bounces and both distracts and pulls out the headphones in ear.)   For my runs, I assiduously plan the location of my iPod, the wires, where they go, etc., and the armband, Spibelt, pocket whatever, where the iPod will be stashed.

For Christmas, Mrs. Wolve gave me a new iPod Nano.  Eh, don't need it, but thanks, probably return it.  Keep in mind I just returned and got a new pair of Westone headphones (under warranty yeah!) which died because of sweat. But then I saw a post about these Bluetooth ones, designed for sports and  sweatproof ...Jaybird Bluebird X.  What if...I used the headphones, bluetoothed to iPhone...yeah!  I bought the headphones (pricey at $169, but I had a discount from Best Buy to use, so not insane).

First run, with the iPhone, was a revelation!  Not having wires dangle was just, like magic.  They sounded great and it was literally like music just appeared in your ears.  It is disorienting really, not having a wire dangling, because I expect it.  It's just weird, but awesome.

The next problem was the iPhone.  It's too heavy to stash in a pocket and slung around as I ran.  And then I remembered.. the new Nano has Bluetooth!  Awesome ...it will fit into the tiny little pocket in most of my running shorts. (For whatever reason, most mens shorts have like a 2 inch elastic pocket sewn into the waist that is good for nothing except holding a nano.  Maybe a key, but not money, trust  me.

And so I configured the nano, the headphones paired, etc.,.. and ...Game Over.  This is it.  The nano is undetectable.  The sound is incredible.  The lack of wires is indescribable.  This is it, the ultimate running music set up.  I cannot describe enough how crazy good the sound is and the lack of wires makes it just like it is coming from inside your head.

Is it perfect? Eh., pretty close.  As the name implies the Jaybirds, are bud style which have to lodge in your ear canal to stay put.  When they do, the sound is incredible.  If they slide out the sound is only just good, and it feels like they are about to fall out as I ran.  Invariably, I can't get the right size tip and the holder to make a perfect fit.  Soon, though, someone will take the Yurbud idea (a rubbery thing that molds to your ear and make them Bluetooth and sweatproof...and bang.

I called the iTunes revolution.  The next one is Bluetooth headphones.

First FIRST long run

This weekend was the first long run in my marathon training program. According to FIRST, it should be 13 miles at Marathon Pace plus thirty seconds. For me, that means 13 miles at an average pace of 8:30. I ran two loops around my hilly seven mile course in Westchester County, which has about 300 feet of elevation gain and loss per loop. A couple of tough hills and then other rolling pieces and some flats. Plus, I know where to strategically hide water and gel along my route so that I don't have to carry it with me.

Without getting into boring splits (which I'll post below for my own review later in this 16 week cycle), I ended up going 14.1 miles with average pace of 8:21. Felt pretty tired after, and my left calf muscle was killing me. Tight, and just sore. It is still sore two days later, but not so bad.

For gel, I tried something new -- Accelerade Gel. It was good, and I liked it. Accelerade's hook is that it has some protein in it, so, according to its science, it is absorbed faster by the body. I couldn't tell really. But it tasted OK, had a decent texture, and did not upset my stomach. I also drank Accelerade sports drink, and it tasted OK I guess. One thing I did taste and seemed to give me a boost was Amino Vital drink. Amino Vital supplies amino acids, and given that amino acids are supposed to help create energy in cells, the theory is more amino acids means more energy. I have no idea if that is correct. But I did have a chug of drink at mile 7 and it seemed to really help. I am little hesitant to build too much of it into my workouts because it is not available in any race or in the marathon.

As for diet,I forgot how hungry a big run can make me. I ate like a mad man all day. Pretzels, chips, bread, steak, potatoes, beer, you name it. Now I remember why it is so hard to lose weight while training -- my appetite is just huge. And yesterday (Sunday), the day after, I was still starved and gorged on carbs too. But my weight was only up three pounds from my carb-less state. (Eating or not eating carbs significantly affects water retention, and for me can produce a swing of up to 5 pounds.) So, I am not worried about relative weight right now.

One week down, 15 to go. This week's long run will be 15 miles at 8:45 pace. I may run on flat course this week to give calf muscles a week off from hard stuff.

And I had many technology glitches this weekend. Managed to erase my iPod Touch. And I left my Nano at the gym, which is a real disaster because it had all my running lists and tunes. And I love that Nano -- so much so that I am giving up my Touch soon.