Two little white ear buds are not an uncommon sight on city bike paths, in the park or even down Bank Street. IPODs have evolved from their ancestors, the portable cassette player, to be light, user friendly and with an immense amount of storage space. They are great training tools, especially on solo workouts, but have people become too reliant on them?
I have been asked a few times, when working out with someone, if it would bother me if they listened to their IPOD. One of my pet peeves is people running together along the canal both plugged into to their IPODs. Why do you need a running buddy if you are not even going to talk to them? Some people say that they don’t like to hear themselves breathing, while others say the time goes by faster. What about the sounds of nature? I love running in the Gatineau Park, and for me - most of the time - that is enough to disconnect from the sounds of the city and the IPOD is left in the car.
I do run with an IPOD once in a while, usually in the city. However, I often find myself running to the beat of the song rather than watching my heart rate. What else are you supposed to do when you are on a zone 1 ski and your favourite song comes on? It’s hard not to just go with it.
There is a danger to working out with IPODs, especially when you are unaware of your surroundings. You are essentially eliminating one of your senses, so if you are listening to your IPOD you better have your head up. Half the time when you ski up behind someone with their IPOD in you scare them half to death because they didn’t hear you. Something to keep in mind while you’re on the trails either listening to your music, or if you are coming up on someone who is.
IPODs can help you disconnect, get into your own zone before a race and even give you that extra little motivation before 8am practice. My IPOD has gotten me through many workouts and I love having it when I need an extra little boost.
I asked some XC Ottawa athletes this weekend about their favourite pump up songs. Here’s a little compilation - there is a variety of styles, ENJOY!
S & M –Rhianna
Levels-Avicii
Bullet with Butterfly Wings-Smashing Pumpkins
Sail-Awolnation
Niggas in Paris- Kanye West & Jay-Z
Old Dan Tucker- Bruce Springsteen
Yaa I Get It- Shad
Party in Bullshit- Biggie Smalls (Ratatat Remix)
Back in Time- Pitbull
Ghost Inside-Broken Bells
Where da Hood at?- DMX
Unstoppable-Santigold
Remember the Name- Fort Minor
A few other XC Ottawa favs are the Black Keys, Foster the People, Mumford and Sons…And anything from Karl’s notorious mixed CDs.
Also if you don’t like our music eight tracks has a great selection of pump up jams.
http://8tracks.com/mixes/pump_up
"Winning Moves"