Why run with headphones?

Earbuds pipe more than music

I’ll confess. Running bored the hey out of me. The iPod turned my runs upside down – I suddenly rocked along to my own theme music. I ran longer. Even better, I ran regularly.

I’m not the only one. Brunel University compared students running with music vs. students running in silence. Music increased endurance 15 percent.

Still, the best runners I know avoid music. Not sure if they’re worried about safety or if tunes shout “amateur” in the elite world. Either way, I think they might be missing some of the less obvious reasons for tuning in.

1. Spoken stats: Big, clear numbers on your iPhone are terrific, but sometimes you’re pumping too hard to read the info. And squinting at numbers on a watch? Ugh.
2. Safety: Loud music doesn’t mix with situational awareness. But tying into your app means sending a map and calling a friend is only a few clicks away. Just keep the volume reasonable.
3. Podcasts: Serious runners often put so much time into running they need to scrounge for extra minutes. Podcasts allow you to combine runs with lectures, news, running articles – whatever you need to catch up on.

Big numbers if you're looking

When I’m running normal, I like occasionally hearing my pace, distance, distance, etc. Every half mile is the perfect wake-up in case I’ve let myself get distracted. Plus, I love the countdown after my halfway point. My reptilian mind wants to know how much longer before I stop – this just makes it easy.

If I’m training hard, I love hearing my stats over and over. This pushes me up and further. The stats button occupies the upper part of the iPhone, so it’s easy to tap without even looking. My personal need for easily-accessed stats drove Roadbud towards carefully-designed screens and application-level screen locking.

New version 1.04 is at the App Store: Roadbud 1.04 adds a number of improvements. The most important are better audio status, accuracy, and battery life. I’ll get deep into the hows and whys of GPS accuracy in a future blog post.

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