Don't Let Great Music Be A Bad Coach

Even the best music, like the kind being made here, can make a run harder.

Uhhh uhhh ahhh uhhh ahhh THUNDER!

Uhhh uhhh ahhh uhhh ahhh THUNDER!

Uhhh uhhh ahhh uhhh ahhh THUNDER!

- Thunderstruck by AC/DC

I love music. I mean I really love music. I listen to music when I drive. I listen to music when I cook dinner. I listen to music when I shop for the food that I use to make dinner. When I take a shower I have music on. When I write… I listen to music. I’m listening to music right now! (Stone Roses singing Love Spreads if you must know.) I even listen to music when I clean up all the poop left in our back yard from our two dogs. I listen to music a lot. I listen to music on most of my runs now too. Music can be inspiring and motivating. Music can provide energy and excitement. 

What does this have to do with running?

Great question. I’m getting to it. Relax.

Music can offer guidance. Music can be a teacher and friend. Yes, music can even be a coach. And that means music can be a great coach… or a crappy one. 

Let’s talk about this coach - you know… Coach Music. Technically, they are an assistant coach. Anyway, let’s set that assistant coach of yours up for success. Remember, any coach in your life should assist you in becoming a better version of yourself. A coach is there to serve you and make sure you have what you need in order to give you the best opportunity to accomplish whatever goals you have set. A coach is there to help… not hinder. A coach is there to point you in the right direction and not guide you down the wrong path. A coach is there to celebrate you and support you in good times and bad. A coach sounds like a pretty important job. It is. It’s a badass job. And if you’re not doing your job the right way when you’re a coach then you’re screwing up a really important job. 

What does this have to do with music? 

And why are you quoting AC/DC at the start of the article?

More great questions. And I’m trying to getting to it all. Are you always this aggressive of a reader?

I love checking out the music playlists that people listen to on their runs. I especially like to look at the playlists of people that complain about running. You know the people. You may be one of them. Running sucks. Running is so hard. I hate running because it always hurts. Running is misery. I’m terrible at running. Running is just the same thing over and over and over and over again. I can’t run for very long because I can’t run for very long. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I get it. Now let me see what you’re listening to. 

Show me the playlist you listen to. 

Hmmm. You’ve got good taste. And you’re got a little bit of everything on here. I like that. I see some Nirvana. Nice. Pearl Jam too. You got to love Seattle during the early 90’s am I right? Okay, interesting… you’ve got Bob Marley and the Wailers… awesome… followed by Warren G… Regulate… and then… Blue? Oh no. This isn’t that Blue (Dah Ba Dee) song is it? It is? How can you have that on this or any playlist? No wonder you hate running! And that’s not even the biggest problem with the music you’re listening to on your run! Think about that! You have a bigger issue than Blue (Dah Ba Dee). 

What could possibly be a bigger problem than that abomination of a song by Eiffel 65? 

It's the AC/DC you have on there. 

Hold on! Calm down! Don’t tear your sleeveless black concert t-shirt in protest just yet. Hear me out. AC/DC isn’t the problem. Believe me, I want to hear Thunderstruck just as much as the next person. Assuming the next person likes music that RAWKS!

Again, the problem is not AC/DC. The problem is where you have AC/DC. The problem is that you are starting your run with the lads from down under. You are literally starting your run with a song called THUNDERSTRUCK. And if we run with my idea that your music is basically an assistant coach of yours then we have a problem with how you are being coached. Because you have an assistant coach telling you to cross the starting line and immediately call out to  the god of thunder to bring all her lightning down while during the first strides of the run. 

Now I KNOW what happens next. Because I know the music is cranking before you even press start and begin the run. You are psyched up! You are energized. You feel that you need to be cranked up to eleven (yes, this one goes to eleven) because you hate running or at least think you do. And you think this because running is always hard for you. You think this because you are always running hard! (You haven’t put those two things together yet.) And that’s why Thunderstruck is your first song… the first song you hear when you start your run. And by the time Brian Johnson is ready to start singing with his gravel and razor wire voice after the band has yelled “thunder” not once or twice but ten times in a row… 

you… 

are… 

ready… 

to rock and roll! 

Oh baby, I can see it now. 

Your pace is hot right off the bat. Your form is strong… no… it’s more than strong… it’s pure power. You are rolling and you feel good and every store window you pass you glance over to sneak a peak at yourself. You’re thinking to yourself that maybe this year you’ll run a marathon or maybe something faster like a 10K or 5K. You sneak another peak in another store front window and damn you still look good! 

How does one sign up for the Olympics anyway? Because who knows? And is the volume all the way up? Let’s tap it a few more times. Thunderstruck! Damn this song is so good! Let’s go! Who said running is hard? They’ve never started their run with… 

wait… with… with… let me get… my… breath… nobody never started… is that a double negative? Nobody… has… am I at elevation… run with… with… AC/DC. Did it suddenly get hot? Are my lungs shrinking? Why won’t my knees lift? How is Thunderstruck not over yet? How long is this AC/DC song? Running sucks! The Olympics are just a marketing ploy to get me to buy… why there so many storefront windows? I need to stop. I can’t do this. Why am I doing his? Finally. The song is finally over. It’s not over? There’s more? How many times can one be thunderstruck? I just… need… to… walk… for… the song is done… oh thank you… just find a place to lie down… what song is this now? No Diggity? When did I put this on the mix? 

Yeah. I can see it all. Because I’ve seen it before. I see it all the time. That assistant coach of yours… Coach Music… is terrible at their job. You don’t put an athlete in a position like that. Warming up and into their run with Thunderstruck and AC/DC? That’s bad coaching. You want to start your run relaxed and comfortable and running easy! I’m thinking more Mama (I’m Coming Home) from Ozzy and less Paranoid by Black Sabbath. You start a run with Digable Planets not Social Distortion. A really good assistant coach will tell you that. But a really good Assistant Coach will also help you position Social D at the right time too. They’ll look at the run you’re doing and the playlist you have set up and they’ll change the order to fit the purpose of the run and make sure their coaching (the music) you’re getting is the right coaching (the right music) at the right part of the run. 

That last stretch of your tempo run… that last interval… Mike Ness and Social Distortion tearing through I Was Wrong may be the coaching you need to maintain focus and drive your energy in the right direction at the end of the workout. Starting with that song? Get ready to start fast and finish early with nothing left because you gave too much to an easy run that you ran hard and ended feeling like you’re not enough because the effort was too much. 

So, what to do? Sit down with that assistant coach of yours… Coach Music. And talk about what you need and when you need it. Work together on that playlist of yours. Make sure that your on the same sheet of music. Make sure you’re playing in the same key. Make sure you’re both in tune. Make sure that your rhythm and their melody is riding the same wave. I’ve exhausted my reservoir of music analogies.

The point is that you are your own best head coach. It’s your job to help your assistant coaches become better at their jobs. Take the time to make sure you stay in time with each other. Okay. I had one more I guess. 

I love music. I love what music can do for me and my life. Just make sure that something as beautiful and powerful as music is helping you have a better run and not a worse one. At the risk of being cheesy and that’s a risk I never mind taking… if you can get your running and your music to work together and not compete against each other… you’ll make a love song that you’ll never get tired of hearing. And it’s always the right time for a great love song.