Running Technologies

I've been thinking about running technologies the last few times I've been out, but I don't mean some kind of fancy new shoe or some type of space-age fabric that's supposed to be more comfortable, wick moisture away, prevent chaffing etc. No, I've been thinking about the music I've taken with me and how the device I use to take it with me has changed over the decade and a half that I've been running.

Take the Walkman. Yup, old school, for certain, but man was that thing durable. The one in the picture isn't an actual Walkman, but regardless of the brand, they could take a beating and keep playing. The very fact that I still have one that works is a testament to that, but so too are the multiple times that clutzy me accidentally snapped the headphones and flung the device to the ground.

In fact, the device itself seemed pretty durable and the only limitation was the cassettes themselves. As any child of the eighties knows, heat and/or overuse can kill a cassette. I recall ruining a whole case of cassettes by forgetting them in the rear window of the car after a vacation. As a lowly burger slinger with a 5 buck an hour job, I can tell you that one hurt the pocketbook severely!

But then of course the CD player came along. The stereo CD player was pretty much a staple by the time I got a portable one, but frankly, it was a bit of a disappointment after the cassette player. The original portable CD players weren't made to handle much movement (somebody apparently didn't look up the word 'portable' in the dictionary before designing the thing...) They skipped and slid across the CD's tracks like a thing possessed. It was a real disappointment, at least until they got wise to the fact that many people wanted to, you know, actually move with the things in hand, and they started building delays and shock absorbers into them.

The portable CD player actually had another downside in that it emerged long before CD burners did, so if you wanted to use one, you were stuck with the CD you'd bought. At least the old cassette players could play mix tapes. I made one after I discovered that my running pace fit perfectly with a bunch of 80s pop songs. Not sure what it was, but David Bowie, the Police and Foreigner in particular seemed to match my stride just perfectly.

At least I got the playlist back when I received a Zune as a present. It was a bit big, sure, but the screen and  simple button arrangement made it really east to scroll through. And the graphics were of course really nice given the size of the screen. I suppose in size it's similar to a full-size iPod, though it was about half the cost, which made it a more practical choice for someone on a limited budget (like me!) Unfortunately, the battery on mind gave up the ghost after a few years. It couldn't seem to retain a charge for more than two days, and I was forever finding myself annoyed at wanting to go for a run and finding the battery dead and facing the prospect of only listening to the heavy breathing/wheezing that occasionally characterizes my running efforts. Not the prettiest sound to listen to, that's for sure!

I must say that the most recent device is the one I'm probably the most fond of. It combines small size, with the ability to create playlists, but even more delightfully, it records my workouts as well. I hadn't realized the mini iPod could do that, so you can imagine my delight in finding out that it would track my time and distance as well as provide me with just the right tunes. I was tickled! There's even a voice that tells me how the workout compares to a previous one, and I know it's silly, but there's something rewarding about hearing a little voice tell me I've just run further than I ever have before. It also doesn't hurt that I recently upgraded the software and it erased all the previous records, so now I'm impressing myself all over again!

I suppose the only way to make my music even more running friendly would be to get rid of the device and headphones all together and implant my playlist right into my head. Of course, that seems a bit extreme, not to mention a bit science fictional. I like science fiction. But on paper, not in my body!