"That seems like a long time to do anything. How do you stay sane? Do you listen to music?"
That is a really good question. It is one I would have asked if I knew anyone who had done an Ironman and could asked them. Initially, I did not listen to anything (this was back like 10 years ago). Crazy to think, but when I was in college an MP3 player that could play 32 songs was top notch. I am really lazy and didn't like constantly rotating music on my player, so I ran in silence. Eventually, I got an mp3 player that could hold like 200 songs and consistently listened to music, but got bored after an hour or so. I had an on again, off again relationship with listening to music while I ran.
About 4 years ago I realized that I could stream Pandora on my iPhone while I ran. That greatly lengthened the amount of time I was able to listen to music while running. Currently, I have an Eminem, Sublime, Weezer, Jay Z, Kanye West, & Vampire Weekend station that is just on point. I can run for about 2 hours to this station and it really helps pass the time.
My most recent epiphany has been books on .mp3. I have been a big fan of books on CD for a long time, but they are not great to run with (CDs tend to skip). Once I realized I could put books on my iPod /iPhone I have been much more excited to run, but more importantly ride long distances.
I am sure my mystery reader's next questions are, "What books do you read? Where do you get your books?" These are both great questions. I have listened to a lot of different books. I had a brief obsession with books on serial killers and famous murder cases. I burned through most of those and expanded my horizons. Currently, I enjoy non-fiction books that involve social science research. I read a book "Moon Walking with Einstein" that covered the World Memory Championships and also delved (somewhat rigorously) into research that explains memory. I am a social scientist, so I realize that a book like this is not everyone's bag. I also enjoy biographies/memoirs (Running With Scissors) historical writings (Fly Boys), and a good mystery (A Red Herring Without Mustard). Really, if the book can engage me, 4-5 hours of bike riding flies by.
I utilize a number avenues to get the audiobooks. The cheapest and easiest way to get books is to use your local library. Most libraries have elending, where you just log in to the site and download the book. Usually there is a limit on how long you can have the book (2 weeks), but you don't really have to return it, it just deletes if you connect to the site. However, if you do not connect your iPod to their website it won't delete the book (hot little secret there). There are various sites where you can purchase books (Audible, Simply Audiobooks). These sites you can do subscription or a la carte. It can get pricy though. There are also some sites that have open source downloads of classics, like Moby Dick (call me Ishmael). Finally, I have heard you can download books off of file sharing websites. But, that is illegal and I don't condone it.
I guess that best way to leave you is with a list of some of my favorite books I have listened to:
- Anything by Khaled Hosseini
- Dan Brown's books
- Green River Running Red
- My Life Among Serial Killers
- Under The Banner of Heaven
- Are You There Alone?: The Unspeakable Crime of Andrea Yates
- World War Z
- Augusten Burroughs' books
- Moon Walking With Einstein
- Incognito
- Brain Rules
- The Chronicles of Narnia
There are a lot more, but those are a few that I have really enjoyed. Currently, I am listening to "A Beautiful Boy."
Have a great night!
Bill
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