iTunes, youTunes, weallTunes

I'm a fan of the Pasta Queen blog, formerly known as "Half of Me." Originally, it was a weight-loss log and culpability mechanism; after reaching her goal (more or less, but that's one of the things I like about her), Pasta Queen diverged into more personal entries about chronic headaches, branching out into self employment, and her cats.

I'll admit that her casual, anecdotal style, which (in spirit, at least) reminds me of my own, was one of my motivating factors in starting to blog. She's also the reason I decided to try out the Couch to 5K; after training for and completing a half marathon (horrified gasp!) as part of her weight loss routine, she, well, I'm going to say "took a break" from running long enough that she began to struggle even on short trail jogs. After running a half marathon (horrified gasp!), she had no shame in partaking in a training program designed chiefly for total beginners. So why not me?

Anyway, there's all that, but mostly, I mention her because she did an entry a while back (that I can't find. I can find more cat pictures?) on the music she listens to while working out. She mentioned a preference for fast beats, sneaking oversized headphones into her races, and a few programs that will automatically adapt one's playlist to match one's pace.

Yesterday, during my 2.75 mile jog (because I ran that far, people! That's 2.75 miles, jot it down somewhere so you can compliment me later), I attempted to listen to music for a while, and absolutely hated it. The rhythm! The pacing! They did not line up in perfect symmetry! No, this did not do. And no, I am not saying that this was the first time I tried listening to ANYTHING on my run.

Normally, I'm very happy with NPR.

Podcasts, specifically. "This American Life" is my favorite, but I'm also partial to "This Week in Food," "Story of the Day," and recently, "Radio Lab." I'm also giving "Planet Money" a stab, in the hopes that a twenty minute broadcast of blog post-esque analogy-based humor will make up for a twenty-five year run of totally failing to understand economics.

It all makes perfect sense to me. If I'm going to run to escape from wallowing in thought, why not upload something new to think about for when I'm done? The lack of steady beat in talk radio lets me work out my own pace, too - and, while I might need to rethink this once the weather grows partial to running outside, there's no rush when I'm stuck on a treadmill.

Am I alone here?