I was at a student project that just transitions to a being a normal job once you get your BSc, and there was one guy on our team who nobody knows how he got there, since there were objectively better students (in terms of grades and knowledge) who got rejected. He was beyond useless and always got other people to do his work for him.
Anyways, the company I worked at offered internships for students, and the main criteria for getting accepted was your average grade. I was present to witness that guy going on a call with someone who determines who gets the internship to vouch for his friend. His friend had an average grade far under 8 (which is honestly embarassing at our uni), but this dude said how his friend is very motivated, wants to work, the grade problem is only there because those are some subjects he doesn't care about, and he personally stands behind him that he'll be a grear intern.
Well it worked, that guy got the internship and other students who actually knew something got rejected because they didn't have connections inside the company. I imagine that's a story that gets repeated often. Higher mamagers don't really know who's doing what, so people who know how to confidently bullshit can talk themselves into and out of many situations and they often form connections with similar people.
I stopped running with music when I ran a half marathon once and about 17km in I just started getting annoyed by it. I'm out there dying, and some asshole is screaming into my ears.
Idk, I enjoy running by itself. I ran a full marathon without music and didn't get bored once. I'd either just enjoy myself, think about random stuff, look around me, play music / sing in my mind etc. But to each their own I guess.