You wouldn't think so, but it's true. I mean, every other technological advance has been beneficial for me.
You see, when I started out running, I was 12. I had some baby fat, so I'd run around the block. I didn't have any music. I could go about a mile before listening to my rhythmic wheezing killed my resolve.
Then, I started borrowing my mom's CD player, or "Walkman." It made me 100% a better runner. I would craft these 20 song mixed CD's with pirated music from Limewire. I loved Eminem, Pink, Sonique, and Sugar Ray. My parents' computer was completely ruined because of me, probably. I would run with the CD player placed out in front of me like I was a ring bearer carrying a pillow. That still didn't keep the damn thing from skipping, or turning off altogether. It did keep me going further on my runs, though.
Then my mom got me this crazy red CD player for my birthday one year. It was the Sony Psych. It was AWESOME. It wouldn't skip. It had these clip on headphones that stayed on my ears, even when they got all slippery from sweat. I thought I was the shit. I could go for miles, and the thing wouldn't even skip that often.
Ipods started coming on the scene shortly after that.This, I thought, was the greatest thing ever. I got my 30 gig video iPod for Christmas my freshman year of high school. I could go running with it. I could have literally all of my music in one place. If I needed a particular song to push me through some extra miles, it was right there. And, the best part of all, it was smaller than a CD player. I didn't have to baby it, either. I could run like I was holding a big USB drive in my hand, because that's exactly what it was.
I ran with my video iPod for years. Being the blind consumer that I am, though, I wanted the next new thing. I decided that I deserved not to have to carry anything while I ran. I got the iPod shuffle for Christmas. It's absurd, really. The thing has a touch screen, and holds about 1500 songs. You can clip it to your shirt and not know it's even there. I was going on really long runs, with my hands free. I was spoiled by now, having dozens of running playlists on my iPod to choose from. I thought it couldn't get any better than that.
But then, then came the iPhone.
Once I started running long distances, I realized that it was a good idea to take a phone with me. At first, I didn't like the idea of carrying something while I was running, after owning my iPod shuffle. But I quickly warmed up to the idea. You would think that the iPhone would be a great thing for me.
I mean, it has apps for running, like MapMyRun. I can never get lost with it. I can access my whole iTunes library with it. Even more than that, I can go on 8tracks, Pandora, or YouTube if for some reason a particular song doesn't work for me.
Unfortunately, the iPhone is almost too good. It's so good that half of my run is now playing with my iPhone. I stop to take pictures of graffiti to post on Instagram. I have a thought and I need to post it as a status on Facebook. The iPhone has taken my soul. I used to work on sculpting my body into a running machine while thinking about deep questions, like the meaning of life. Now I'm walking around in running clothes, eyes glued to a tiny screen, considering what kind of anecdote or statement will get likes from my Facebook friends. I am completely overstimulated on my runs now. I actually think it made me dumber.
Even knowing all of this though, I'm still taking it out with me tomorrow. Isolated contemplation is overrated anyway.
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