I can totally relate to this article.. As I am training for Boston, I too ran my last 21.5 mile run "naked" (no ipod). I ran the first 10 with another runner, and then went solo. I was surprised that I did fine without the music. Music has helped me in the past for sure... I ran most of my personal records last year while wearing an Ipod. In my last 2 marathons I carried the Ipod, but did not turn it on until I hit 16 miles. When I stopped to stretch in mile 24 of the VT City marathon last May- I started fussing with trying to find the right song--all but ignoring the crowd around me -- and they were encouraging me to keep going! But I figure there is no way using music on a lonely run can compare with the excitement of the course and spectators at the Boston Marathon.