Running

Lately, I've been running longer distances and more frequently than I ever have before. Although I could say this is because I want to be healthy and in good shape, I'd be lying if I said these were the motivating factors. What really inspires me is that running enables me to become a cyborg and gives me an opportunity to listen to metal. I'll explain.

Cyborgs

One could argue that because I'm rarely without my iPod touch, I'm almost always living as a cyborg. However, I disagree for the same reason that I don't think my girlfriend Vicki is a cyborg even though she's rarely without her Android phone. Becoming a cyborg involves a more intimate merging of human and machine, like, for example, using a bluetooth ear piece that rarely leaves your ear. It can be removed at anytime, but while it's in place, it essentially becomes part of your body.

Running with a Nike+ iPod Sport Kit has a similar effect. It becomes a supplement to the nerves in my left foot, which do a fine job of letting my brain know when my foot feels pain, but can't determine how far I've run, my average pace or how many calories I've burned. When the chip in my left shoe alerts the receiver in my iPod that I've run two miles and a friendly sounding voice tells me I've reached the half way point, I can't help but to imagine myself as a character in a science fiction movie and wonder about the ways in which technology might be enhancing our bodies in the near future. The fact that I can become this character again every time I put on my running shoes means that exercising is almost as fun as watching Blade Runner.

Heavy Metal

To say that Vicki and I have different tastes in music is a bit like saying Satanists and Mormons have different tastes in God: it doesn't even begin to describe the gap seperating our musical preferences. This has resulted in our own version of the Cold War's deterrent of Mutually Assured Destruction. I know that if I try to play Cradle of Filth when we ride in my car, The Chipmunk's Christmas will be waiting to pierce my eardrums the next time we ride in hers. She likes to describe heavy metal as an assault on the ears, and although any metal band would take this a compliment, it's not intended as one. I hate to admit it, but I do have to acknowledge that I can understand why her ears find metal so offensive.

When I run, I can always listen to metal without assaulting anyone's ears but my own. Running also provides me with the perfect excuse to create new playlists and buy new music.

If I'm able to complete my four miles tomorrow, it won't be from a desire to tone my legs. It'll be because I don't want to miss the next episode of my sci-fi adventure and because I need an excuse to buy Entombed's "Wolverine Blues."