I abhor running, but I know it's extremely effective. I'll dislike it less as I do it more and it becomes more of a steady pace for me. But I've not been running consistently for about the past five years, so it's really tough right now. I can elliptical on level 12 for over an hour easy, but running is a whole different animal in cardio world. Even though I have this love-hate relationship with running, I have discovered there are things I can do to numb the pain and make it bearable or even somewhat enjoyable!
As usual for me, the media at my disposal captures my mind and overrules any physical pain I would normally feel. :o) In other words, I realized this morning how significant it is for me to have great running music. Back when I used to run before, I'd run to the entire Linkin Park Hybrid Theory CD on my lovely discman, which would skip a lot and annoy me, but it was still better than silence. So, the past few times I've been running I've been listening to whatever I feel like amongst my favorite playlists or albums on my iPod. I've been running to Red or Switchfoot's Oh! Gravity. I even have a playlist with all sorts of loud, fast music called "Loud Workout Music" that I've tried a few times. These were okay, but not as good as the ol' LP pace I used to keep. So, last weekend when I ran, I put my Linkin Park playlist on shuffle songs (my default iPod setting). That was better, but still not quite the best. So, this morning, I listened to old school Hybrid Theory straight through, and it was an amazing difference. It felt like the old days with the good pace.
Even if you're not used to a specific album or playlist to help you keep pace, you still have lots of options for great running music these days. There are iMix playlists people have created in iTunes that you can download that have tracks with all the same BPM so you can keep a steady pace. A couple of people have even created free podcasts with mixes that keep a steady BPM for an hour. So, if you want to run an 8-minute mile (a pipe dream for me, but realistic or slow for most runners), the music will help you keep that pace. Or, even if you're a walker, there are similar tracks for you. I love technology that helps like this. To find this good stuff, just go to the Podcast directory on iTunes and do a search for running music, or something like that. You'll hit jackpot!
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I used to run cross country with a guy named Mike Ellison. He was very funny but had a predilection towards public nudity – which was made even stranger by the fact that he was about 6’4” and had a strangely shaped sternum that looked like the bow of a ship….Anyway, he felt strongly that for every race that you run (of varying pace), there was a perfect song whose beat and energy would give you a superhero-like increase in speed. Mike thought it must be “Werewolf in London”. Kai thought it was “Eye of the Tiger” (though he thought it only worked if you also watched Rocky 4 pre-race). Another thought it was “Come on Eileen” by Dexies Midnight Runners.
It turned out that all three worked. Mike ran his best race with “Werewolf” and we won state at CC after watching Rocky 4 and listing to a tape with “Come on Eileen” back-to-back on both sides.
Just a weird note about an issue about which I am strangly well versed.
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