I was thinking the other day how significantly my whole "running experience" has changed in the last few years.

I know there are some people who go on about running being their release and at one with nature etc. etc., but to be honest, I don't buy it. Sure, I like a decent view as much as the next man, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of outside assistance to take my mind off the monotony of so much solo running.

I remember back to when I first started doing any meaningful running training (back in the early 90's) and how I would get frustrated that there weren't any other outside stimuli to keep running interesting. Back in those days, the CD players of the day would skip if you so much as tilted your head, so there was no chance of running with them. This led to some pretty boring runs I have to say, as well as some crafty planning of your social life (which for me is heavily dependent on watching sport). In the summer of 1998, I stayed back in Oxford to train for some of the important Pentathlon competitions of that year. That summer the European Athletics Champs were in Budapest and Britain had a really strong team and won loads of medals. I remember that I didn't have a video player or iplayer, so couldn't record the action and with no portable radio to listen to the action, I had to make sure I had done all my training by 6pm, so I could get in front of the box. I was very jealous of my Mum and Dad who had gone out to watch.

As a result, the biggest advancement for me has to be the rise of the portable audio device - for me, my ipod or now my iphone. I don't think I have done a steady run in the last couple of years without mine on. Shocking, really.

So what is on my iphone? Well, I download quite a few podcasts onto it and my favourite is unquestionably "Marathon Talk." Although the marathon isn't my event, Marathon Talk covers all aspects of distance running; is a really good listen and is brought to life by a couple of very enthusiastic presenters, Martin Yelling and Tom Williams. I know Martin from 2006 when I was in Melbourne watching the Commonwealth Games and he was out there watching his wife Liz (run the marathon). We hooked up through our mutual friend, Darren Talbot, and did a couple of runs together down the banks of the Yarra River. I've also exchanged a few emails with Tom recently and he is a really good guy too. The show is well worth a listen, if you haven't already: in particular they have some really good guest interviews, with superstars of the past like Steve Jones and Eammon Martin, as well as the likes of Mo Farah and Paula Radcliffe, from the present.

I also listen a fair amount to the radio and for that I have one of the best apps since the invention of the bread slicer - "Tune in Radio," which is an app that converts your iphone into a digital radio and allows access to 40,000 stations around the world: incredible. For me, this means that I can get Radio 5 and crucially Radio Sheffield, so I quite often run home from work listening to Radio Sheffield's "Football Heaven," which rounds up all the local football action and of course concentrates primarily on Sheffield's biggest and best team, Sheffield Wednesday. Happily this season has been a bit more positive than the past few. If you ever want a laugh, you should tune in as pretty much every night "Brian the Blade" (a Sheff Utd fan) calls in and spouts the biggest load of nonsense you have ever heard! Even the supposedly neutral presenters ridicule him. That said no doubt Brian will be calling up on Monday to brag about the weekend's results (we lost 1-0 to Charlton...)

I rarely listen to music although I do have a few songs on there which I often listen to pre-race and need "psyching up". Most people who know me well will know that my taste in music is shockingly bad. My music of choice tends to be based on anything with a decent tune and uplifting beat, as opposed to my wife who listens intently to songs with poetic and more meaningful lyrics. The most difficult part of our marriage so far has been choosing the playlist for our wedding - my insistence on the Nolan Sisters wasn't well received. As an example of my awful taste, I specifically recall that the song playing on my ipod before I ran a sub 4 minute mile was a song by Avril Lavigne. There you go, a life of shame is to follow, now Ive admitted that.

The other "vital" piece of kit to any self respecting runner nowadays is a garmin. I really like my garmin and it has made a big difference to my running. Back in the day, my mileage was at best, pure guesswork, but now I have an accurate log of what I have run. It has also proved extremely useful on tempo runs and keeps an account of my running speed.

They do have their occasional downside, although that is more related to my own incompetence. On my Thursday run this week, mine ran out of charge about 2 miles from the end, so I had to guess my distance, in the same way I used to on every run. I was cursing myself for not charging it up though. They also can be a bit off-putting, especially when they beep regularly, more often than not in the rain, as they seem sensitive to water for some reason. Also, it isn't uncommon in a race for it to sound like a digital percussion section as you go through the mile splits in a big group. For this reason, if this is something that grates with you, then don't run with Dave Norman. I think he's got a beep/chime set for every 100m! Running with Dave is like going running with someone playing Tetris.

So, the important question is has all this technology assisted and made me a better runner? Well, in terms of making it easier to get out of the door, then certainly yes. Whether it has made me any faster, I'm not sure about that and I'm pretty sure Norman deserves most of the credit. I know there'll be some people who would say that running is all about being at one with the world and alone with your thoughts, but, I'm sorry, I don't agree. I probably didn't hear you because I was playing Avril Lavigne too loudly anyway.