Running in Silence

I always listen to music when I run. Loud rock music (interspersed with some pop and classical favorites) has become an indispensable part of every run for me; without it, I feel that running won't nearly be as enjoyable.

And so I've become a fan of the Nike+iPod system, which lets me listen to music while recording my running distance, pace, time and calories expended. I've tried several combinations of this system: a 3rd gen iPod Nano with a shoe sensor, an iPhone 3GS with the shoe sensor, and most recently, a stand-alone 6th gen iPod Nano (no sensor needed!). Needless to say, all my running shoes are Nike+.

I especially love this latest iPod Nano because it's small and it's touchscreen. It can easily be clipped to your race singlet. It can also be used as a watch. It measures running distances AND walking steps. In other words, it's also a pedometer. Maybe I'm just a shallow person, but every morning, it gives me a kick to see that I've walked 1,300 steps from my kids' school to our house and saved PhP18.00 on tricycle fare at the same time. I just love knowing my numbers.

On the downside, this iPod Nano is not very accurate in measuring distances. It typically exaggerates how far you've run. But this is a shortcoming that I can live with, since I usually already know the distance I'm running in a race or around a familiar oval. And I have such a consistent (i.e., slow) pace that I can approximate the distance I've run once I know my time. If I really need to measure a running distance with some accuracy, I depend on my Suunto watch with its accompanying shoe pod.

I'd really put the Nano to good use lately. It's my companion on runs, walks, bus/FX rides, and even while exercising on the elliptical. What can I say, I love my music.

Then the unexpected happened. Though my Nano is barely three months old, it suddenly died out on me. And in the middle of a race too! It conked out, without any warning, during my 15k Tiktakbo race. I panicked for a while, thinking it'd be very hard for me to complete a race without my music! Running in silence, that's unheard of, that's so not my style!

I desperately tried to restart the iPod. I pushed the Start button several times, but nothing happened. Then I tried pressing and holding two buttons down simultaneously (this is usually how you reboot Apple devices). For a brief moment, the screen display came back on, but faintly, with ghostly outlines. Then it flickered out again. Permanently.

All this happened during a race, so I was pressing on the buttons while running. I must have looked like a crazy runner angrily muttering to herself while tinkering with something on her hands. After about a kilometer of this futile exercise, I finally gave up and stashed my useless iPod inside my belt pouch.

Fortunately, I managed to finish the race without my music, and in relatively good shape. I must have run 12 km (out of the total 15) without U2, Iron Maiden, Led Zep, Aerosmith, AC-DC, Black-eyed Peas, Maria Callas and Sarah Brightman blasting down my eardrums. I listened to my breathing instead, and kept close attention to my form. The funny thing is, I believe this helped improve my run. It forced me to become more attuned to my body. I was able to correct myself when needed, to stand taller, to keep my core activated (tummy tucked in and breathing from the diaphragm), and to consciously direct my right leg to compensate when I felt a cramp starting on my problematic left shin.

I also never stopped to walk, except for a few seconds while I gulped down water from the hydration stations. As far as I can remember, I always walked a bit during long runs and races. But not on this Tiktakbo race.

When I finished, I got an unexpected reward: a medal that only the first 100 finishers were given. This is perhaps my third Tiktakbo run, but it's the first in which I finished among the top 100. Woo-hoo! :-)

Later, I learned that I finished in 41st place. Not bad for this slow, old girl.

I've been running for several years now, and it's nice to discover new twists to this beloved hobby. Running music-less, in silence, isn't so bad after all.

"Have Fun With Your Life!"

What can ten pesos buy? Not much, these days. It's just barya that's barely enough for a short jeepney ride. But the other day, I got something really valuable for my measly ten pesos. 

I was at school fetching my two girls. Alden had already come out from her class and was sitting with me, and we were waiting for Raj. We were surprised by this little boy who, seeming to come from nowhere, blurted out to me: "Miss, miss, do you have ten pesos? I'm really hungry and I need to buy some food! Look at my tummy (and he proceeded to expose his bony midsection), see how small it is? Please, please, do you have ten pesos you can give me?"

The boy was a schoolmate of my kids'. He was very loud and animated, and he spoke in straight English. He looked like he might be half-Korean or -Japanese.

Taken aback, I searched in my pocket for some change. I found a ten-peso coin and gave it to the boy. He was talking all the while, loudly for all the world to hear, saying he'd really love to buy something that the vendors were peddling just outside the school. (I didn't catch what it was exactly.)

He thanked me profusely upon getting the coin. Meanwhile, shy Alden was crouching low beside me, perhaps embarrassed by the boy's forwardness. He spoke in a shrill young-boy voice, but it was as if he had a microphone hidden under his collar.

I thought that was the end of it, but it wasn't. The boy came back after a few moments, asking if I was sure that I was okey with giving him money. He asked if it was with a clean conscience, a willing heart, etcetera, etcetera, that I was giving him cash. He asked questions like "Is that your final decision?" "Are you positively, absolutely sure?" "Is your heart telling you that it's the right thing to do?"

I assured him that it was fine, that it wasn't any big deal. But he came back, again and again, with the same question. He was so makulit that I almost ran out of ways to assure him I was willingly and happily parting with my ten pesos.

At one point, he even attempted to return the coin to me, because he said he felt guilty about taking money from a stranger. I told him that nothing would make me happier but for him to be able to use my ten pesos for food. I really was running out of assurances.

In the end, he went away and bought his snack. Finally.

Alden breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't possibly crouch any lower on the bench. I know she wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. I sort of felt the same way.

But--surprise, surprise!--the boy came back. This time, he was holding a small cup of taho (or something that looked gooey and unhealthily sweet). He offered me some, and I politely declined. He then went into the now-familiar tedious "Are you sure?" routine. But perhaps because he was hungry and eager to enjoy his snack, the questioning didn't last too long this time. He went away happy, shouting his thanks and a heartfelt "Have fun with your life!"

Raj then arrived and we headed home. For some reason, the boy's parting words--"Have fun with your life!--echoed in my head, like a pesky song that won't go away and leave you in peace.

I muttered to myself: "Okey, then. I've have fun with my life."

Then a light bulb seemed to go off in my head.

Oo nga naman. Why not? I'll definitely have fun with my life.

The boy, though he was a bit irritating, was a little Master Yoda in disguise, reminding me of the best lessons in life.

My ten pesos was very well spent.