Do you Listen to Music While Running?

As you can see by the new playlist I've added, I do listen to music while running - sometimes. Most often it's during long runs on trails and/or when I am running in areas that I am very familiar with. I also am more inclined to listen to music when I am doing easy miles or hills. When I am doing serious training or running in an area that I am not familiar with or if it's dark, I want to know beforehand if someone is going to jump out and kill me or that a dog is about the take a chunk out of my leg! I've ran one marathon listening to music and I've never done it since. I found it isolating and since I'm not there to win the race half the fun of running is the feeling of community and the encouragement you get from fellow runners and the crowd. I'm not one to judge my fellow runner either about who listens or not - to each their own. Just be aware if you are wearing a headset in a race of others around you.

I'm less than a month out from the Capitol City Marathon in Olympia and just a few days away from starting the "serious" training. Tomorrow I have a 19 mile long run - I plan on running nice and slow! Kent is leaving today for a business trip to Japan so I will have extra time on my hands and may venture out on a new trail.

I've never ran one marathon while training for another and I know some would say not to do it but I'm going to give it a try. The challenging part is to blend the training plans for the two marathons over the next several weeks. I've got two more long runs before Olympia as I start the training for Cologne when traditionally I'd start off slow. I think the key is to run the long runs and the Olympia marathon at a very slow pace so not to injure myself but in the mean time begin to incorporate in speed work, hills and increase both my weekly mileage and the number of days per week I run. I've been running four days per week and will increase it to five next week.

Off to enjoy the rest of my day - have a great weekend!  Let me know if you ahve any current suggestions! BTW - if you have never checked out Playlist.com  - Check it out if you are a music lover.  Great service! 

Later -

Jim