I love U2. Have loved them ever since 7th grade and the YMCA dance during which the first heart-thumping beats of With or Without You left me breathlessly hoping against all hope that M.P. would actually ask me to dance. Music is memorable.
But if I have to hear Beautiful Day one more time on a run, I may just blow up.
It’s my own fault. I’m too lazy to clean up my playlist. Or, I should say, retire those songs that drive me pretty much bananas at this point. Every now and again I’ll get in a must-get-new-songs frenzy and download a bunch. Having an iPhone helps tremendously, since iTunes is right there at my fingertips. Pandora radio also is awesome because it reminds me of songs I’d forgotten, like MJ’s “The Way You Make Me Feel,” Janet Jackson’s “Escapade,” Madonna’s “Holiday,” Bobby Brown’s “Every Little Step” and Prince’s “Kiss.” Oh, and A-Ha’s “Take On Me.” (yeah, I was on an ’80s kick when I downloaded those.) But no matter how many new songs I get, somehow those tried-and-true ones find their way back onto my go-to playlist. Guess I’m a creature of habit.
So I also recently took a break from using my iPhone on runs — it can feel a bit bulky in my armband and I needed to stop worrying so much about how fast and far I was going, much as I do like iMapMyRun — and returned to my tiny, trusty iPod Shuffle. That was fun, re-visiting songs I once ran to endlessly but hadn’t heard in at least eight months. That helped break the monotony.
And, sometimes I just run without music, which can be rather nice. I actually started out running never, ever listening to tunes. I ran by myself, just trying so hard to make it at least a block without stopping. Music would have distracted me too much, I think. Then I was running with a group of 4-5 women, and the lively conversation kept me moving (i.e. trying to keep up). It was only later that I started to run to music, borrowing a girlfriend’s iPod and finding myself so, so thrilled that at a hill Marky Mark’s “Good Vibrations” came blasting into my ears.
Still, music does get me moving, and I do want to move beyond the same old, same old songs. Also, a friend recently asked me what I run to, which helped inspire this post. I’d love to hear what’s on your running playlist. Here’s what’s on mine currently:
* I Gotta Feeling — Black Eyed Peas
* Let’s Get it Started — Black Eyed Peas
* Lose Yourself — Eminem
* Viva la Vida — Coldplay
* Every Little Step — Bobby Brown
* The Way You Make Me Feel — Michael Jackson
* Holiday — Madonna
* Esapade — Janet Jackson
* Kiss — Primce
* Take on Me — A-Ha
* Umbrella — Rhianna
* Say It Right — Nelly Furtado
* 1979 — Smashing Pumpkins
* Long Way Home — Supertramp (takes me back to childhood)
* Heartbreak Warfare — John Mayer (saw him in concert earlier this year, really dig his music)
* Whiter Shade of Pale — Annie Lennox (these kind of mellower songs keep me in the zone)
* Jai ho — From the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack
* What Goes Around — Justin Timberlake
* Breathe In, Breathe Out — Mat Kearney
* Waiting, Wishing — Jack Johnson (love, love, love Jack Johnson)
* These are Days — Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs
* Bittersweet Symphony — The Verve
* Poker Face — Lady Gaga (my 4-year-old used to sing these lyrics – I know, bad mom I am — so this song makes me smile thinking of that)
* Move Along — All-American Rejects
