Lots of us go running with headphones and music. I sometimes do when I run on my own. The right music can really motivate you, put you in the right mood and distract you from the hard work – making your workout that much better and enjoyable.  Music can effectively reduce your perception of how hard you’re working.  Some people love running to a certain beat.  Haile Gebrselassie famously trains to Scatman because the tempo of the song fits with his world record pace.  Maybe you just need to find the right track…

Many gym goers can’t live without music or the tv  going as they crank out their time on the treadmill or bike.  It’s easy to understand that since you’re not going anywhere – you really do want something to distract you.

However, there is a flip side. My running club has a specific policy against runners wearing headphones during club runs.  Why?  The gentle reason is that it’s anti-social. The serious reason is that a few years ago one of our runners was hit by a car and broke his leg – he was the only one in the group listening to music and the only one that didn’t stop as they were halfway across a road (presumably because everyone else heard or saw something, but he was distracted).  Likewise, at athletics matches, you’re not supposed to wear headphones while on the track or field – you might not hear the warning horn go before the javelin starts to fly towards you…

So when I heard about this story on the radio, I figured it was worth sharing. Let’s hope that there aren’t many airplanes crashing where you go running but, it turns out, you can’t be too careful.