Might As Well Face It...You're Addicted To...

...running with music!!!

Yeah well...thats what you say...I say you crazy!  But I guess maybe they help keep those stupid ginormous sunglasses on your face?

Anyway, last September I stepped out from the zen runner JunieB and got myself in iPod shuffle ... just in case ... I needed it in Chicago ...  I ended up listening to maybe 2-3 songs while running Chicago, and that was it.  It just made an already horrible situation, worse.  Aggravated me to no end.

Since then I have become quite attached to it...It didnt take long either...but what did take a long time was getting that thing full of songs, and in just the right order...I actually didnt get to that nirvana until maybe a month ago?  If that.  I would load new songs, rearrange, delete, repeat until it was perfect.

This past Saturday...somewhere in mile 6 of the group 10 mile route, CD was just ahead of me and I saw her venture off to the left where there was a grassy 'field' and the sprinklers were going off and I like her, thought of it as an oasis in the middle of the Mojave..only these weren't your grandmas sprinklers, these were high powered super sprinker jets...While it felt awesome, only about a mile later would I realize I had made a mistake...

Now I have poured enough water on myself and sweated enough on that darn iPod to where I didnt give it a second thought, but when the music started going in and out, or would pause and I kept having to click the play button, did I realize uh-oh.  Finally I was so irritated with it that the final 2 miles were run sans music.

Yeah, when I needed GaGa the most the purple monster that connected me to her, decided to ditch me.

I know Ryan...I know...

So I get home, put the darn thing in rice to dry it out...only I didnt realize you needed to leave it in there for like 1-2 days...so in like 1-2 hours I take it out, put the thingabobber back in, put an earbud in my ear and turn it on....um...screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech in my ear...I am still deaf on that side!  And the iPod was hot to the touch.

I had fried it.

So I did what any other addict would do.  I paniced. 

WTF am I gonna dooooooooooooooooo??!!  I didnt think I was going to be able to find that version anymore, so I first looked on ebay then decided I couldnt wait for that!  I went to Target.com and sure enough they still carried them, and I saw that a few of the stores in Houston actually had a few in stock.  So off to Target I went.  Yep...gettin' my fix at the Target store...

$45 and a slightly different version, I had myself a new shuffle (this one has voice over and can flip through playlists which is kinda cool)!!

Pink.  Not purple.  Rude.

So after charging the thing, the task at hand was adding the music.  I pretty much could remember what songs were on there, but not the order!!!  So I did the best I could, made the playlist (which I will NOW SAVE in iTunes for future catastrophes!)  Will be trial and error again for a while I guess...

Anyone else out there addicted to the music when you run?  Did you use to be zen and now a card carrying iPod queen of runners?  Any good music you can suggest?  Something off the wall, I have most everything dancy dance you can imagine...Have you ever fried  your iPod by doing something as stupid as running through industrial strength sprinkler systems?