Woman Who Runs with Tunes

Our runner Julia weighs in on music and running. Check out Julia’s other posts as she trains for a marathon and raises money for A Nun’s Life Ministry — the only nun-run social media hotspot helping people discover and grow in their vocation by engaging questions about God, faith, and religious life! Support Julia and A Nun’s Life – DONATE  NOW!

I love running with music. To be precise, I can’t stand running WITHOUT music. My workouts are, without fail, dictated by the songs on my iPod shuffle, which goes with me on every run–as long as it’s not raining. (I tried that once, and the results were disastrous.) Sometimes, the only thing that gets me out the door is the knowledge that my new musical obsession is just waiting to pour through those earbuds and fill me with sound.

I am always amazed at the powerful effect that music has on me. When I’m tense, Michelle Branch’s “Breathe” hauls me out of my slump. When I’m tired, a few bars of Train’s “Hey Soul Sister” is all I need before I’m practically dancing down the sidewalk. Sometimes, when I feel as if I just can’t go anymore, I hit the skip button furiously until I find that song–the one that I’ve been listening to on repeat for days, the one that I know will loosen up my achy legs and put a smile back on my face. Sometimes I go five miles listening to that same song over and over again.

Now, I know plenty of people who don’t need music to run; in fact, many of my runner-acquaintances prefer their workouts to be decidedly soundtrack-less.

Quite frankly, I think they’re nuts.

Then again, music has always been a huge part of my life. I often associate songs with memories and emotions; so strong are these connections that at times an unfortunate event has ruined a perfectly agreeable song–or the correlation of a tune with a wonderful friend has me grinning from the time I hear those first notes. This has worked in my favor as I have embarked on my training. The songs that Sister Julie and Sister Maxine play after podcasts have expanded my musical horizons, and many of them have ended up in my music library; as a result, when I hear those songs I often associate them with my A Nun’s Life peeps! They come on during my runs and not only do they make me run faster, they also remind me to pray for my friends. One of the things that I love about NL is the amazing network of prayer that exists here, and I am so happy to be able to add to that.

Rock and run, friends.

Nun Note: I stumbled upon this while searching in vain for a runner silhouette. I was so deeply compelled by Leia with an iPod that I decided it must be used (the Force made me do it).