Department of Agriculture

[Kevin]

You know, the type that when they go running (or jogging as the call it) in a somewhat 'natural' area wears earplugs to listen to their ipod insetad of to the birds.

Hey now, don't stereotype all those people. I run with while listening to audio books, because I've found that is what works the best for me to stay motivated and run farther/faster which give me more health benefits. I appreciate the visuals of running outdoors more than running indoors and even with headphones I can still here a lot of nature sounds. But since I'm running for exercise I'm generally not going to stop because of seeing or hearing something, I mean I stop if someone needs help, and stuff like that or if something is really bizzare, but that almost never happens. Without the audio from the player I simply would not run as much. Running with other people works because the conversation helps (yes you should be able to have a conversation while running unless you are doing speed/sprint work). I also go for walks/hikes and I don't wear headphones on those because I have the time to listen, look, and appreciate.