I-Pod: Pump it or Dump it?

A while back, the headphones for my MP3 player stopped working. Tired of shelling out $15 every few months to replace them, I simply began training without them. While training was a little boring, at first, slowly the advice I had been ignoring about listening to breathing as an indicator of effort made sense. I began to notice how accurately I could judge my effort by the quality, rate and sound of my breathing. I no longer stared at my heart rate monitor, but only stole quick glances, confirming I was working at the effort my breathing indicated.

At my very next race, I ran my way to a PR and my first podium ever. Why? Besides training well, I realized training without headphones more closely mimicked race conditions. I developed a better correlation between my perceived effort, heart rate and my breathing. Without music to distract me, my heavy, labored, and ragged breathing during the race sounded just like it did during the high-intensity workouts I completed in the weeks leading up to the race. I knew exactly when I was going too hard or too easy, based on the sound of my breathing, and more accurately paced myself for the race without using a heart rare monitor or power meter. My training methods improved and, therefore, my racing improved.

Still not convinced you should stop training with an MP3 player? Worried you’ll be bored out of your mind? Here are more reasons for leaving it at home.

Safety – You can’t hear vehicles approaching you with headphones on; vehicles approaching from side streets are especially difficult to see as you cannot hear them until you are in the intersection; directly in front of the speeding car. When cycling or running in a group, hearing directions or warnings about hazards becomes difficult and you could injure yourself or another person. As such, my steady riding group has a moratorium on wearing headphones on group rides.

Hearing Loss – Long-term use of headphones at elevated volume levels has been shown to contribute to Noise Induced Hearing Loss [1]. If you value your hearing, turn it down (or even off!).

Headphones or headsets are banned at most races. At Ironman events, headphones or headsets are not permitted during any portion of the event. USAT rules also prohibit such devices, but leaves the ultimate decision up to the Head Referee at individual events.

“Rule 3.4 i. Unauthorized Accessories. No participant shall, at any time during the event, use or wear a hard cast, headset, radio, personal audio device, or any other item deemed dangerous by the Head Referee. Any violation of this section shall result in a variable time penalty.”2

Training is supposed to prepare you for racing. The more closely your training mimics your racing, the better prepared you are for race day. By constantly training with an MP3 player, you become reliant on it for pacing and motivation. When race day comes around, you may find yourself yearning for your favorite tune to get you through the tough patches. Better to get used to biking and running without it so you’re used to dealing with tough stretches on your own, without the MP3 player crutch.

The importance of correlating your heart rate, perceived exertion and breathing is worth repeating. Ironman and ½ IM competitors should consider racing with a heart rate device or power meter for accurate pacing during the event. For shorter events, line Olympic Distance, Sprints or Xterra races, chances are your heart rate will be higher than you’re used to and you’re likely to slow down when you see that high heart rate. As a result, I don’t race with one and recommend my athletes don’t either.

How well do you pace yourself? If you’ve been using headphones during your training, chances are you’ve been pacing off how your legs feel, wound up going out too hard initially and ran out of gas at the end. If you train without headphones, you’ll be used to what your breathing sounds like at given effort levels and heart rates. In this way you can adjust your pace based on what your breathing sounds like and accurately pace yourself without the inconvenience of wearing a heart rate strap or the wasted time in transition while you put it on. Moreover, you’re used to how awful your breathing sounds at the high effort levels required for short course or Xterra-type racing. You’ll also know exactly how to time that last surge to the finish and maybe, finally catch that competitor you’ve been chasing all season!

Eric Palmer is a USA Cycling certified coach and an Affiliate Coach for Training Bible Coaching. He can be contacted via e-mail at LyroVk@aol.com or through his coaching website: http://www.ericpalmerendurancecoaching.blogspot.com/.

[1] The Hearing Journal, October 2007, Vol. 60, No.10
2 www.usatriathlon.org

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