Music on the Run

When the running gets tough, the tough listen to power music. The tunes you put into your ipod or mp3 player play a vital part in motivating you to run longer in training run, faster in a race, or simply keep you from hanging in the towel before you even break a sweat. Conversely, choosing the wrong songs (think “How Deep Is Your Love”) may make you fall in love with your fellow runner (make sure you’re running alongside one of the opposite sex then) but it may slow you down to a screeching halt long before you reach the 1km mark. So, people, take the time out to plan, prepare, edit, and re-edit your playlist before going on a run, moreso if it’s a serious race.

During my early days as a runner, all I had to carry my tunes was my hubby’s ipod video. Oh, I pity myself for what I used to put myself through. There were three tedious steps before a run: First, make sure ipod is firmly in place in its case. Second, grip ipod tightly with one hand (my husband’s parting words: “Care for it as you would my heart.”) Third, wrap it’s long cords thrice around my wrist. Now, if I needed to adjust the volume (which was almost every other song), I would have to go back to step one through three again, which would only be easy if I was doing all this with my feet up on a lazyboy at home—not running on a busy street! There was a time when I literally bumped a parked car while making the music louder! I repeat, I was the one who bumped a non-moving car, not the other way around.

So, on my birthday almost two months ago, I received a scintillating new blue ipod Shuffle with matching Marware arm/wristband from the hubby.

– Meet my best friend during solo runs –

Had I received this during my pre-running days, I would’ve bartered the ipod for a small wacom tablet, but as you’ve seen how running has changed me, I accepted the gift with open arms—err ears. The ipod became my new best friend on solo runs egging me to run just a bit longer for the most frivolous reasons like “So you can hear the end of this song” or “So you can hear the next song” or “So you can hear even more songs.” Well, who cares if I was fooled by my ipod, at least I got the miles in.

Since I only use my ipod for running, I only loaded workout songs. For others, that would mean ear-piercing, sweat-inducing, heart-pumping beats that keep your blood pressure way above normal during the entire run. My definition of workout songs are those that keep me happy and energetic throughout the entire session. You can listen to a preview of my top favorites over here.

I’m all for little surprises during my runs, so instead of listening to a particular playlist, I keep the shuffle button on and enjoy bits of hed kandi music that pops up every so often to speed up my tempo. I also loaded a few tunes from Fitpod, which is great because it provides the beats per minute of the song to match your workout intensity. My entire shuffle is filled with power music except for two cool down songs: “Fix You” by Cold Play and “Indigo Daisies” by Desiree. Aaah, I’m feeling relaxed already.

So, what are you waiting for? Load up on workout music and get running. Oh, one last thing, please resist the urge to do a karaoke run (TBR definition: singing out loud while running). While it may be good for the lungs, it will definitely kill your social life in the running world.