Listen to the Music

Need the tunes baby! Kicks up the natural rhythm. - my freshman sister


   You can talk about speed and rhythm in running, but what's really important is the music. That's not to say it can't be done without it. It takes all the discipline you can muster and I am proud to say I eked out 3 miles of discipline last week. I doubt you'll see that happen again. Well, let me digress even further.
   Music means different things to different people. For some, it's the rewind button on life, bringing back memories of experiences, good and bad. For others it's music, entertainment; neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things. For some it evokes such an emotional response filled with empathy as to render the listener practically breathless. Alright, can you tell I feel very strongly about music? Music and movies, but we won't go there.
   So, flashbacks aside, music does motivate you. It helps you, to use the vernacular, "move that ass."  The trick is to pick songs that help you move and in that, timing is everything. 
   So rather than getting all reminiscent, musing about the past, let's talk playlists. The Fool's Run is next Saturday, so I need 35 minutes of top notch music to get my ass moving.  Let's take a look at the old Nano playlists, shall we? Oh wow...as I look at this, I realize I have some bizarre and, shall we say, eclectic playlists...


Don't you feel it growing, day by day
People getting ready for the news
Some are happy, some are sad
Whoa, gotta let the music play...
                          -Doobie Brothers




1. Beethoven's symphony # 7 (from the soundtrack "The King's Speech")  - as it happens, this starts off slow and keeps building up and up so that by the end of it when you are really hauling some ass, you've slowly been warmed up and you haven't even realized it. What can I say, it works for me.
2. I'm Gonna Live til i Die/Frank Sinatra - the sentiment and the tempo is there. 
3. Oh Happy Day/The Edwin Hawkins Singers - this crossover spiritual does it for me every time. You can definitely see my peaks and valleys during this song. Every refrain my speed jumps.
4.  It's Amazing/Jem - More for the positive sentiment than the tempo. Good thoughts.
5. The Ballad of John and Yoko/Beatles - again speed. "the way things are goin' they're gonna crucify me"
6.  Empire State of Mind/ Jay-z w/Alicia Keyes - any New York song is bound to make you feel good or is that just me goin' back to my roots? "the City that never sleeps better slip you an ambien"
7.  La Grange/ZZ Top - Nothing gets me moving like the guitar in this song. 
8   Going the DIstance (from the motion picture soundtrack "Rocky") - don't ask me why, but a few weeks ago, at the end of 7 miles, this song came on and so help me, I grew wings. I can't explain it. Who knows if I'll get that back but it worked then, so it can work again.