May: Tunes

   Those little white earbuds now adorning athletes everywhere provide an unlikely philosophical flash point. Some runners go nuts at the sight of them, believing Madonna or Mozart intrudes on what should be a single-minded effort and a silent connection with nature: to them, God did not intend for people to run with iPods. To the folks with the earbuds, though, tunes quite simply give them a better workout.

   Chalk one up for tunes. A song with a fast tempo early in your run raises your respiratory and heart rates, gently priming you for the hard part of a workout. Music has been proven to extend endurance, though it's not clear why. One theory maintains that it diverts your attention from pain and fatigue, a technique called "dissociation," which distance runners have long employed, with or without music. Another theory suggests that rhythm and melody release dopamine, endorphins, adrenaline, and even steroids into the bloodstream.

   The science is fuzzy. Though studies about the effects of music on running extend back to the 1950s, much of the research has been shoddy, even silly. Neuroscience has kicked up the best information we have, however limited. Music stimulates the auditory region of the cerebral cortex - the temporal lobe - which is intimately linked to the limbic system, our body's command center for emotions. Indeed, most runners will tell you they bring music to their workouts not for any performance advantage, but because it makes them happy.

   Music and movement have clearly evolved together. After all, dance is integral to most every culture across human history. The next time you can't fall asleep at night, contemplate this: why do human beings dance? For runners, the practical question is whether music moves you faster down the merry path. Science says no. So does the anecdotal evidence. You won't find little white earbuds on any marathon champion. They don't show up at collegiate track-and-field events or at the Olympics. Many coaches won't stand for them in daily workouts.

   Serious competition, it seems, requires unwavering focus and vigilance over the myriad subtle signals our bodies send us. Music distracts us from this great business. Even many noncompetitive runners use their workouts as a meditation, a chance to shut out all stimuli unconnected to the task at hand - putting one foot in front of the other, as the Zen master would prescribe. Few of us live so completely in the moment as when we run. It's no surprise that answers to some of the most difficult problems we face arrive soon after a workout has cleared the mind.

   Yet even those who are loath to run with music players find that tunes have a place in their workouts - and in competition. A subdued melody right before a race can soothe starting-line jitters. Many runners discover that once they've found their pace, they begin piping a tune through their thoughts, even though it's drawn from memory, not from an iPod. Arguably, it's not music at all. Who cares? Running is private. You can enjoy music any way you like.