Music is a big part of my life. I did a solo singer-songwriter thing for years (250+ horrible demos recorded), I’ve had radio shows, and I run music blog (http://desertislandmixtapes.com). Fittingly, running has provided a great opportunity to put on new albums and listen to them front-to-back without much distraction. Music makes running a lot of fun.  But, when things started warming up this year, and people began posting pictures of enormous rattlesnakes on the local trails, I rethought this practice. I saw 3 rattlers last year, and all three times they were right under foot. With narrow or overgrown trails, it is a bit unnerving to think that one might be at hand. Earbuds tucked in my ears mean that if one did start giving me a warning rattle, I wouldn’t hear it.

So – I tuned the music off. In fact, I haven’t listened to music while trail-running since May or so.  And you  know what – it hasn’t been all that horrible. I  have actually really enjoyed the silence at times. I can hear the rushing water of a creek I am approaching, the clicking of cicadas, chirping of birds, rustling of wind in the trees, myself breathing heavily. The silence has also given me time to myself and my thoughts. I am a historian and writer by profession and taking regular time to think through complex historical problems I am working on during the day has led to a number of epiphanies and breakthroughs. So, maybe running sans music isn’t all that bad.

Well, until tonight. I ran up the Farmington Creek singletrack, up Farmington Canyon Road a bit, and then turned around to descend.  Knowing that I would be looking at 5+ miles on a wide dirt road (no risk of not seeing a snake lurking about) I brought some tunes with. I put the ear buds in, hit play on Spoon’s new album They Want My Soul (great, by the way!) and headed down the road. It was great. And I immediately realized how much I had missed it.

(by the way – great run. 7 miles in 1:18:44 @ 11:17 min/mile and with 1,514 ft. elevation gain)

So – final verdict? I think I can have enjoyable experiences either way. I used to think that running without music would be horribly boring, and I have discovered that it isn’t. Sometimes, its preferable. However, sometimes nothing beats running with some good beats. Either way, I’m in the mountains running – right? Win win.

And, ironically, my falling and slicing my hand open happened about 50 yards into my run, supposedly when I was bombing down the road, running in the dark, too fast and distracted by the tunes!