Wednesday, January 28, 2009

It Really Does Make it Better

I have a Swimp3 player.

Keep in mind, this is something I would never have bought for myself. It's a device that costs over $100 (that's $100 that could be going towards my new bike, yo) that I will use for only one, specific purpose; in fact, it can't be used for any other purpose. So it's like a lot of products in triathlon--a cool toy, but not much more than that.

However, one of my dad's co-workers is a triathlete, and he suggested this as a gift for me.

So now I have one.

And let me tell you, I love it. Love love love. Don't get me wrong; I enjoy swimming, I don't mind long sets, and I have no problem losing myself in the meditative motions of glide catch pull recover slow smooth strong fast. But the music? It makes it even better.

And because I'm good at this sort of thing and I enjoy it, I decided to make a list of songs that seem (to me) perfect for swimming. This is probably a highly individual preference--even more so than biking or running music--but what the heck. Here's my swim playlist anyway.

23 by Jimmy Eat World (141 BPM)
In the Sun by Coldplay/Michael Stipe (123 BPM)
Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol (149 BPM)

Both Hands by Ani DiFranco (144 BPM)
Fireflies by Amy Cook (88 BPM)

And who knows? Maybe I'll even put together a swimming podcast, one of these days. Although, considering that this falls into the "cool toy" category, I might be the only one who ever uses it.

Does anyone else have one of these? What's the group's opinion of this nifty (but admittedly superfluous) device?

3 comments:

  1. ooooooh! Tell me more about the swimmp3 -- I would really like one of those! As much as I hate swimming maybe that will make it tolerable!

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  2. Jealous, I am so jealous! I love swimming, but I think rocking with some good tunes would be fun during some of the longer distance swims!

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  3. I've eyed them, but I never listen to music on long runs or rides and really haven't had a desire to during the swim. I have a hard enough time keeping track of laps as it is.

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