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When I recently complained on the Interwebs that running on a treadmill was just soooooo boring I never wanted to do it again, someone suggested that instead of listening to music I listen to a podcast or audio book because, unlike the music which fades into background noise, the talking will force me to stay engaged mentally, thus taking my mind off of left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot (etc.).

I decided that this was a fine idea, and I listened to The Talk Show (episode 73) yesterday while doing my modified Week 7 Day 3 of Couch to 5K (now Run5K).

I've been wearing a Garmin watch for a little while. It's got a foot pod to track my cadence, and a strap that goes around my chest to track my heart rate. I had my iPod Nano clipped to the waist band of my shorts and the headphone cable fed up under my shirt to my ears. The watch was on my left wrist.

I've got my watch set to automatically split every half mile ((I'm not yet running far enough to split on the more customary 1.0 mile mark.)), and the watch will vibrate for a couple of seconds and show my split time. It's a handy way of knowing that you're another half mile along, and the buzz is fairly strong as I imagine it has to be for someone who is running to notice it.

Now, Dan is always ribbing John about his audio quality, and unfortunately for me, one of John's typical glitches occurred at the worst possible moment. It just so happened that I hit mile 1.5, causing the watch to vibrate on my wrist, at exactly the same moment as the podcast hit the 34:24 mark.

Go ahead, listen to what happens at the 34:24 mark. I'll wait.

So I'm running along, listening to John and Dan bemoan PayPal ((I think it's fine, but I've never been one to keep much cash in it.)), when all of a sudden my watch vibrates and my ears are jolted with a loud buzzing electricity sound at the same moment. I couldn't tell you which came first; they happened simultaneously.

I nearly had a heart attack. When I realized I wasn't actually being electrocuted or anything, I thought perhaps the buzzing of my watch had interfered with the iPod Nano. That clearly wasn't the case because I'd been through mile 0.5 and mile 1.0 previously without incident. Then as John and Dan kept talking I realized what had happened.

Then, ten minutes later, my heart rate had finally settled down ((Actually, my heart rate didn't increase, and this image is a joke.)).

I'd have paid money to see my face when I thought I was being electrocuted or whatever the hell was going on. I'm glad nobody was around.

Thanks John. I'm now firmly in Dan's camp - fix your goddamn audio problems, John!!! 🙂

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