Do you run with music, TV shows, audiobooks and podcasts?

This fall, three relay teams of four Daily Arts staffers will train for and run the Probility Ann Arbor Marathon. But as writers, we can’t just run the race — we have to write about our past experiences with running, how we are preparing for the marathon, what we look forward to and what we are afraid of.

What shocked me most as I walked out the back door was how afraid I was. It wasn’t dread, just sheer anxiety, as if I was an overly attached kid going off to kindergarten for the first time. I had butterflies and sweaty palms — you get the gist. I actually almost chickened out! I thought to myself, no, this seems too hard. And it’s pointless. Maybe I shouldn’t. What Herculean task had I resigned myself to complete? 

I, for the first time in years, had decided to go for a run without music.

It sounds so trivial it’s almost absurd. But the knots in my stomach were real — and it seems I’m not alone. In 2016, a poll in Runner’s World magazine found that 61% of respondents reported listening to something while they ran; of that population, 82% listened to music, 11% to podcasts and 4% to audiobooks. When we introduce the treadmill into the mix, even visual forms of media can be consumed in motion. I grew up watching my mother use the machine while catching up on episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy.” Gyms are littered with televisions blasting sports, news and all the other delights a cable connection can bring. Art, it seems, is a runner’s constant companion. But is that a good thing?

When evaluating the “performance” of your run — measured by pace, mostly — findings lean positively toward staying plugged in. A 2020 study showed that listening to preferred music over a short period increased speed against a similar no-music trial. Another from 2015 showed positive results when participants listened to “motivational songs.” However, the results rely on a bit of a limiting framework. Is speed all that we should consider when evaluating the “quality” of a run? Those in the anti-running-with-music camp claim that the extra stimulus detracts from enjoying the run itself. The distraction is exactly what it sounds like — a distraction. It acts as a way to pull you away from your movement, your breathing and yes, the constant struggle and pain that comes with running.

If you consume art while running, are you really giving it the respect it deserves? When I run, I exclusively use a playlist of well-worn songs. I know that if something new comes into the mix, I won’t be able to give it the attention it needs. The proof that humans are bad at multitasking is overwhelming, meaning that during physical activity, we constantly switch between comprehending whatever we’re listening to and telling our muscles to push ourselves forward. Especially during long distances, runners tend to zone out to get through some of the strain they put on their bodies — any narrative piping into their ears just isn’t going to register.  

This brings me to my jog: I’m training for the Ann Arbor Marathon Relay with some of my fellow arts writers, so I planned to go about four miles — about 45 minutes at my tortoise-level pace. For me, that’s a long time to be without mindless stimulation, let alone with the ever-present reminders that my feet hurt, my legs hurt, my shoulders hurt, my lungs hurt, I’m thirsty, I’m tired and I want to go home. That’s what I was so nervous about: In my head, running without something to take my mind off — you know, running — was analogous to getting a cavity filled without numbing cream. What was I going to focus on other than the physical effort? 

The answer, strangely, was my own breathing. Without headphones, the sound of it was shockingly loud. With that awareness came control, and with control came rhythmic inhales and exhales — exactly the pattern you’re supposed to aim for while running. Without songs to roughly mark how long I’d been going for, my perception of time seemed to melt. When I reached my goal distance, I was shocked it was already over. 

Despite my positive experience, I don’t know if I’ll undertake this experiment again; the ritual of my playlist is just too strong. Still, I think my days of audiobooks and movies at the gym might be over. Running is something worth engrossing yourself in. So is art. Are we really so short on time to have to experience them simultaneously? 

Art aids pain; it always has. Often, that’s what it’s best at doing. But art also deserves our full attention. The next time you run, try to enjoy the art you’ve got — whether that’s coming in through headphones or just the performance of your legs pushing forward and forward and forward. 

Daily Arts Writer Grace Sielinski can be reached at gsielins@umich.edu.

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