Try going without music on your shortest run for the week, and see how that goes.

I just stopped cold turkey. I haven't ran with music in probably 2 months or so. They are too many races around that don't allow it so I figured why listen when I workout if I can't listen when I race.

I like using my iPod because I enjoy listening to the music.  Ever since it's gotten dark and cold for my runs though I've been running without it.  Keeping the earbuds in can be a pain in the butt because of my hat and headlamp.  Plus, when I run in the dark I feel a little safer being able to hear traffic.  I'd say 75% of my miles right now are done sans music.  You'll be surprised at how quickly you'll get used to it. 

I'd still prefer having the music with me though. 

Trail running can help break the habit.

I listen to an ipod when running most days, but not on single track trails.  Too many other runners, bikers, hikers, snakes, & bears on trails in our area.

I do like having music for long runs on the road, greenway and races if allowed.

I've raced marathons with and without music.  I always prefer to run with music than without.  If you want to make the transition, go out there and do a run without music.  Don't even carry the iPod and force yourself to do it.  You'll get used to soon enough.

I ran with music for 10 years until one day in 2010 on a 20 mile run about 1 mile in, my MP3player

died. It's a one mile climb with a 350 gain to get back home, so the thought of going home back up

to get another player was not very appealing.

I ran the 20 miles without music, listening to my breathing, footfalls and life around me. It was one

of my best and most enjoyable training runs ever up to that point. Luckly I live in a beautiful semi-suburban

area along a beautiful river with not a lot of traffic, so it's easy to enjoy the environment.

Since then I rarely run with music.

Just leave it at home, you might find you like it.

An event I wanted to run clearly stated on its website that headphones were not allowed.  Crap.  So I tossed the idea back and forth in my head, then decided a week before the race to go for a short run without them (4 miles I think) to test it, and I hated it.

Okay.  I still wanted to run that race so I tried it again a few days before the event during a five mile run, and hated it even more.

Ultimately, I decided to go ahead and run it without them, but took them just in case.  Got there and sure enough, there were dozens of people wearing headphones at the start line and no one said anything.

I thought about grabbing mine but, it was like a test for me so I did not. 

That decision has paid major dividends for me as a runner, as I have since learned how to pace myself by listening to my footsteps and breathing, whereas prior to that my pacing was all over the place.

I will thus never run with music again, words I never thought I would say in a million years!

I disassociate while running, so I thought I needed them to do that but learned that I do not.  I still disassociate, but now I am in tune with my body, while everything else is still a blur.

People talk about being able to listen to nature and the wind and all of that crap, but none of that interests me.  I run in my own world, so you are still likely to scare the living crap out of me from behind, just as though I was wearing headphones.

Give it an honest try, and you will get to know your body in a way you never knew it before.  You will be able to tell when you have lost your rhythm, and need to make an adjustment.  You will realize you are panting as a result of running too fast or breathing too shallow before it's too late. 

Whether fast or slow, you can easily tell when you are not on pace, and make the correction without skipping a beat.  It's pretty cool actually.

We are all different so I wouldn't knock anyone for wearing them as we are free to do whatever we want, but if you really want to take your running to the next level, the single best piece of equipment to do that is not really a piece of equipment at all.  It's you.