Thanksgiving tempo run playlist

I am trying to figure out what music, if I run with music, to run with during my upcoming marathon. One of the ideas I came up with is throwing a bunch of my favorite CDs on a playlist and hitting shuffle. Here is how that list played out today: 

Fall Out Boy- Death Valley 

Fun-Carry on

Houndmouth-Say It

Fall out boy- Miss missing you 

Cold War kids-hotel anywhere 

Misterwives-our own house 

Cold War kids- Harold Bloom 

Houndmouth-Darlin 

Lake Street dive- use me up

Fun-Some nights(intro)

Foster the people-I would do anything for you 

The Academy is-Slow down 

Woolworthy-Vaporized

Taking Back Sunday-The Blue Channel 

Walk the moon-Jenny 

The Killers-somebody told me 

Taking Back Sunday-Head Club 

The Starting Line-Saddesr girl story 

Plain White Ts-shine 

Lucky boys confusion-Child's play

""-40/80

""-not about Debra 

Was the moon-tightrope 

Lake street dive-use me up 

The dog and everything-love is 

Taking back Sunday-cute without the E(cut from the team)

Bayside-tortures of the damn 

Fenix Tx-no lie 

Jimmy Eat World-Sweetness 

Houndmouth-My cousin Greg 

Woolworthy-Woolworthy stomp

What are some of your favorite songs to run to? How do you put playlist together 

Heard on my run

I went for a long run in Detroit and just let my iTunes do the rest. Most of the time I try and control what is playing even if I don't create a playlist. There were s lot of random tunes I might have changed, but it was fun to hear what was coming next.  Part or whole portions of these songs played over two hours: 

Nelly-Nasty Girl

2 Pac-2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted 

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound-Rouse Yourself 

Lil Boosie-Bad bitch 

Andrew McMahon-Cecilia and the satellite 

Mest-R Ska Song 

Linkin Park- H! Vltg3

JC Brooks & the Uptown Sound-Ordinary 

YoungBloodz-Spending some change 

O.A.R.-About Mr. Brown 

Eric Hutchinson-Rock & Roll

Rooney-All or Nothing 

Pomeroy-Sir Duke 

Rooney-Simply Because 

Ben Folds-The Last Polka 

Lil Scrappy- Ei L.A.

311-Same Misrake Twice 

Kings of Leon-Notion

Clipse-All Eyes On Me 

Mest-Wasting My Time 

Simple Plan-My Alien 

Short Arm Trick-Wasting My Time

Jack's Mannequin-Hey Hey Hey

The Beastie Boys-Country Mike's Theme 

O-Town-Liquid Dreams 

Lloyd Banks-I get High 

Augustana-Stars and Boulevard 

Ok Go-Return

Catch 22-Straight Forward 

The Strokes-Games 

The Killers- Jenny was a friend of mine 

Rich Boy-Get poppin 

Fall Out Boy- Rat a Tat

Girl Talk- That's right 

Ok Go- What to do 

 

10-3-11

There are a few things that inspired this post: seeing Everest, my strange run last Saturday, and the upcoming Chicago Marathon. It is a strange combination, but it all makes sense in my mind. 

There is a small part in the movie where the characters are talking about the trouble climbing is causing in their lives. Jon Krakauer's character then asks, "Why do they keep doing it?" None of them really answer the question except for one guy. I am paraphrasing this, but essentially he says, "because I can." This brings us to my 15 mile run last Saturday morning.

Morning runs will always be tough for me.  They are extra hard when you go to bed after 1 a.m., it is chilly in the morning and you wake up to see it's misting and it is crazy windy. I dreaded this run. Training is going well, so I should have had no reason to be nervous. 

The run did not get off to the greatest start. I went back to get gloves before I got started. My shoelaces came untied twice within the first mile. I really wanted to turn around and get back in to a warm bed. Does anyone reading this think I would actually do that? I continued to trudge along and feel miserable. I asked myself, why am I doing this again? 

Part of the answer to that is because I am training for a marathon. It really bothers me to miss out on training runs. Ask anyone who knows me. When I see them out, they assume I ran there. Things only got worse when I finally hit the path. The mist and the wind picked up, and my stomach turned against me. A lot of people ask me what I think about during long runs. Like I did on this one, I am talking myself through it. An example of something I might say is, "get yourself to this point and you will feel better." That may not be true, but it feels good to say in my mind. On this run, I wanted to get to the turnaround point. Things did not get any better and I still could not answer the question of of why am I doing this right now. 

My stomach felt terrible and the wind still sucked. Once I got off the path, things felt better. I think my stomach and I agreed that I only have three miles left and it would play nice. Of course that made the last three miles the best of the run. I finally finished running and now knew why I went running. 

I went because this is a run that I will remember on December 6, 2015 when things get tough. I went because I could. There are a ton of other crazy people that would have loved to have been in my shoes. No run or race will always be perfect. I also went because I knew I would feel good about doing it. It is also a good battle story to tell. The funny part about the run I just described, is that it went very well. Things just did not completely click that day and that will happen. 

Good luck to all those running weekend. Remember to remember a tough run or two. Use it as motivation and power through. Remember that if you feel terrible at some point during the race, you will be a marathoner once you are done. 

 

A weekend in the life of a runner who enjoys a social life

Sometimes I feel like runners feel like they have to sacrifice a social life while training for a race. While it does take making some sacrifices, I am a big believer that it should not conpletely take over your life. Running keeps me structured and Labor Day weekend was an example of this. 

That weekend I decided to put together a little photo blog that somewhat captured my weekend.

This is also not a lecture or judgment on those who do give up a social life. I definitely understand that as well. I hope you all enjoy it. It was a tiring, fun weekend. We will start on Friday night. 

I film games for the football team at the high school I work at part time. The game started at 1 p.m., but I got asked to be there at 10 a.m. to help out. If I wanted to get my run in, I needed to stay in and attempt to get to bed at a decent hour. This a decent hour, right? 

Flash forward to:

Blah! Morning runs are the worst, but  I would hate to miss out on a run more.  I managed to get a warm-up in and then I finally headed out around 6:30 a.m. The positive of morning runs is that it I am done and do not have to worry about a run later. I knew I had to leave by this time to get my it in. 

                 The sweaty aftermath 

I showered, got a quick bite to eat and headed to my next stop. I had some issues that led to me leaving later than I wanted to. That frustrated me because I hate being late. It stresses me out. 

I had some time to get a workout in before the game, so I did that and stretched afterwards. Eventually, the football game started and I took my post in the lift. 

The game ended a little after 3:30 p.m. and I rushed out of there to meet a friend who I was attending a wedding with. I got dressed in my dad's car on the way there because traffic stunk on Saturday. I failed to get pictures at the wedding, but I had a good time. 

               That says 12:29 a.m.

I could have gone out after the wedding, but I was wiped and knew I had a run to get in Sunday. I also knew that I could and would have some fun on Sunday. 

Once I made it out of bed, I ran to a bar to hang out with a friend for a while. This was a brutal run. A combination of the heat and my dead legs did not help.  I left the bar, got something to eat, and headed to my friends for a fantasy football draft.  

            The spread at the draft!

Like I said, Sunday was hot. As much as my friends know I like to run everywhere, I did not want to be completely sweaty. These are my on the go essentials. The power shower wipes are great and I felt good after using them.

That is just a sample of my Labor Day weekend. It is definitely possible to train for a race and have a social life. It also helps to have friends and family who understand your crazy running goals and support them. In conclusion, it is important to go after your running goals, but do not get completely sucked in.