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REPOST: Should You Listen To Music While Running?

While these modern times offer the advantage of portable music players providing the soundtrack to our daily run, running fundamentalists look down on any additional stimuli when pounding the pavement with one’s trainer-clad feet. This article presents the two sides of the coin when it comes to whether or not one must run with a musical score and lets readers speak out in the comments section.

Image Source: runnersworld.com

No. The sound of your feet hitting the ground should be all the music you need.

My first year as a runner, I never left the house without my iPhone and my headphones. If you happened to be on the Kennebec River Rail Trail in Maine at the same time I was, you probably heard me rapping along with Eminem. Music, back then, was a huge part of running for me.

So what changed? Why am I here, debating Caitlin about why you should not run with headphones? Because I tried running without them and I loved it.

Running without music blasting in my ears has given me a whole new appreciation for the sport. I'm much more in tune with my body now. I pay attention to my breathing and the way my feet hit the pavement. I can focus on my effort level and my surroundings, rather than the song that's playing in my ears. And, if I'm running with a friend, we can chat without having to shout at each other.

Oh, and I have a much better chance of hearing that car barreling down on me, or that dog chasing after me when I leave the headphones at home. I try to be safe when I run – I run against traffic and try to wear some bright colors – but my safety is not a driver's first priority and there are some dogs that just want to bite me. If I can hear a car behind me, at least I'll have a chance to get out of the way and if I hear that dog chasing me, I might be able to protect myself. On the other hand, if Marshall Mathers is cursing in my ears full blast, I don't stand a chance.

So, while I once loved running with my music, I love running without it even more.

Yes. Pump up the jams (just do it safely).

By Caitlin Giddings

This one goes out to all the beginners–all the brand new, struggling runners who never would have made it to the second lap if not for the sweet sound of Jay-Z thumping through their headphones–the only distraction from the searing pain pinballing back and forth between legs and lungs.

There is no reason you should feel shame for wearing headphones.

Yes, many of us came to running in search of time alone with our bodies and minds, and the chance for a quiet hour or two in which to reflect. Certainly those types of runs should be honored and enjoyed–sans technology–on a regular basis, as needed.

But what about the filler runs? Those heavy-legged training runs when you have to force yourself out into the rain? Studies have shown that external stimuli, such as music, can block out some of your fatigue and spur you to longer distances and faster miles, reducing your perception of your body's limits. Just try waiting until the last six miles of a marathon to kick on your playlist of pump-up jams, and tell me you didn't get the mother of all second winds.

"But what about safety?" my opponent will likely counter, "What about all those hapless, headphoned runners who risk stumbling onto train tracks, wandering into traffic, or just missing the polite warnings of a fellow runner barreling past?"

With great audio power comes great volume-control responsibility, which is why so many of us drop an earbud, limit our use to trails and treadmills, or use ear clips that don't block ambient sound. An MP3 player is just another tool in your training kit, to be used with caution, accountability, and moderation.

To be honest, I never would have started running at all without music, and though I only use it for around 30 percent of my runs now, it hasn't hampered my ability to connect with my body or achieve a "flow state." It elevates my mood, helps me change up my paces, and gives me a needed burst of power late in a race. Sure, I enjoy plenty of my runs with the company of friends or my own thoughts. But if you see me tearing across the finish line like I'm the star of an action movie, imbued with the power of endorphins and 1,000 guitar riffs, you better believe I'm doing it with a soundtrack.

Your Response

We tallied up your votes and found that most of you – 74% – say runners should listen to music while running, should they so choose. 8,354 voted yes, 2,974 voted no.

I’m Brittany Perskin, and I’m a veterinary technician and animal lover who loves to run to my favorite music to de-stress and keep fit. I share more articles and resources on animal rights, pet care, and my favorite artist, the Beatles, on this blog.

#running with music vs running without music #is it better to run with music #should I run with or without music #benefits running with music #disadvantages running with music

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a proposal to protect the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery in Bristol Bay, Alaska, from the potentially destructive impacts of the proposed Pebble Mine.

Bristol bay provides millions of dollars in jobs for commercial fisherman and supports 31 Alaska Native Villages who source salmon for their food, livelihoods and income.

By conservative estimate, more than 5,000 mammals, birds and amphibians have been killed by vehicle traffic between 2001 and 2012.

Highway 49 is both a convenience to motorists and a killer to wild animals.

Visit this Brittany Perskin blog to know how you can help protect animals.

If not taken care of, ocelots will be extinct in a few years. Let's save them.

Once construction begins, road crews are quickly followed by land speculators, loggers, farmers, ranchers, gold miners and others who carve away the forest along the route.

Study: Bird migration affected by electromagnetic waves

A recent study has revealed the disruptive effect of low-frequency electromagnetic radiation on birds.

Scientists observed the European robin to explore how migratory birds orient to the Earth's magnetic compass. Image Source: nationalgeographic.com In an experiment three years in the making, Henrik Mouritsen, a professor of neurosensory sciences at the University of Oldernburg in Germany, and his team noticed this effect when one of the team’s members suggested using Faraday Cages—grounded metal boxes which screen the local electromagnetic fields generated by electronics while keeping the Earth’s static magnetic field intact—to correct an experiment that, at first, drew only random, disoriented results.

A European robin takes flight in Groane Park, near Milan, Italy. Image Source: nationalgeographic.com

This brings new light into the long debate on the effects of weak electromagnetic fields on the environment, particularly upon animals which rely on magnetoception, the ability to orient themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field in order to navigate across long distances without need of the sun and stars. The frequencies of the waves that had the disorienting effect on the birds were much lower than the safety limits for humans imposed by the World Health Organization. These frequencies are common in urban areas and their disruption may provide an explanation for the recent drop in migratory bird populations in highly urbanized countries.

Image Source: huffingtonpost.com Currently, Mouritsen and his team have not ruled out the exact sources of the frequencies that disrupt the birds’ magnetoception, as their initial testing area, which was just outside the Oldenburg campus, contains a wide variety of electromagnetic field-emitting devices, such as appliances, radio and mobile devices. They are confident, though, that in time, they may be able to single out the particular disruptive frequencies, in order to aid the birds in re-establishing normal migratory patterns. Human phenomena which have affected animals in all sorts of adverse ways have always been an interest of Brittany Perskin. Visit her page here for more about her research on preserving the normal behaviors of animals.

#bird migration #magnetoception #electromagnetic fields #migratory birds

As reposted on Brittany Perskin's blog, there are several ways to protect wild animals.

These species of birds are learning ways to adapt with a hostile environment man has left them.

Insightful: the politics of shark bites

It does my heart good to see efforts to save endangered animals go so well. This report from TVNZ showcases the first baby kakapo, a flightless species of parrot, born in nearly three years. Painst...

#endangered species #kakapo #animal welfare

#endangered species #animals #animal welfare

REPOST: Top 10 Cat-Friendly Small Dogs

Cats and dogs aren’t always the natural enemies we see them to be. Animal Planet lists down 10 of the most cat-friendly small-sized dog breeds.

Lions and lambs. Birds and worms. Dogs and cats. There are some combinations of animals, which left to their own devices, just don't mix. This is especially true if both species like to lounge in your living room. (Hopefully you've realized we're zeroing in on dogs and cats here, and don't have a roaring/bleating situation on your hands.)

After all, it's only natural that dogs chase cats, right? Not necessarily. With proper socialization, dogs and cats can live in harmony. In fact, they may even become what we'd consider "friends." Still, it pays to stack the odds in your favor, so we've put together a line-up of "most likely to succeed" dogs. Which breeds made our top 10? Find out, beginning on the next page.