LB's Playlist

As mentioned in a previous post, I swapped playlists with Kerrie T. If you haven't read that post, go to it here.

Anyway, she was a real good sport about going through with my lame idea (I've now reverted from it being a good idea, to lame, to good, back to lame) and taking part in this.

We're each going to run at least an hour to each others' playlist. In fact, she might have run hers already.

Now, as I mentioned before, the playlist I sent to her are songs that I like. They may or may not be songs that Kerrie likes. I'm not sure what she likes to run to, but I know it's not stuff that I like to run to. I'll find out soon enough.

I made this playlist special for the swap. It's not a playlist I've used before, but man, I would love to run to this!! Of course, right? It's loaded with my favorite running songs after all.

So what's the deal with my playlist?

Here's my Ultimate Playlist.

Winner's Blues - Sonic Youth

This was song number one on my entire Ragnar Relay journey. Just listening to the first few beats of Winner's Blues puts me right back in Middle of Nowhere, Nevada, just me, nightfall, and a two-lane paved road for 7.1 miles. It was a surreal moment as Ragnar had finally arrived. I felt a little bit lonely just because I'd been with my team nonstop for about 10 hours at that point and now I was on my own, and this song is kind of slow and totally brought that lonely feeling to life. But that moment quickly passed, and this song really helped me relax and focus.

For Reasons Unknown - The Killers
Rebels of the Sacred Heart - Flogging Molly
I Would Die 4 U - Prince

All just upbeat songs that really help me get into the rhythm I am looking for early on in runs. As for Prince, I liked his music and everything but never considered myself a big fan, and even now I'm not necessarily a huge fan, but I was flying home once from some far-off locale and the songs playing over and over again on the airplane was Prince's Greatest Hits. I realized then that it was pretty cool. About a week later, I bought the CD.

Dreaming - OMD

This song reminds me of when I was about 12 and we moved away from where I'd grown up, and I was sad; although it's enjoyable to listen to now, of course.

Shadowplay - The Killers

Another upbeat song that I really enjoy

Swagger - Flogging Molly

This song kicked off my first-ever race as it was the first song I heard during the 2008 Fontana Days 5K

Self-Obsessed And Sexxee - Sonic Youth

Okay, a bit of a confession. First, here's the chorus to this song:

Schizo action baby, create a scene
And I'm the type of guy to boost your self-esteem
Party all night 'cause it's you, you, you every day
Self-obsessed and sexy, all the way

I like to listen to this song at the gym, on the treadmill and we have mirrors in front of the 'mills. So the part where he says "I'm the type of guy" I point to myself with my thumb. And then the part where he says "it's you, you, you" I'll point to the mirror with my index finger.

What? Why are you laughing?

I do it incognito, of course. I don't go all crazy singing along, because people might think I'm nuts.

All These Things That I've Done - The Killers

I like the rhythm, and the song's about five minutes long so it helps me get a good chunk of a mile done or gets me over to the next mile.

Highwayman - Johnny Cash

One of my favorite running songs. This one brings back memories of the time I ran to and over the Glen Canyon Dam in Arizona. Well, it brings back a lot of memories but this one in particular.

For Whom The Bell Tolls - Metallica
Thunder Kiss '65 - White Zombie

Just great, kick-ass songs.

Orion - Metallica

An eight-minute long instrumental. I remember the moment when I realized that I really liked that song. It was during one of my first long runs, might have been my first 10-miler, and I liked the flow of the song, how it just let me relax and let me get into a groove. This is bar-none, hands-down my favorite running song.

Damage Inc. - Metallica

Now, after Orion on the Master of Puppets CD is this one and it just kind of goes naturally with Orion. This one is 5 minutes, 30 seconds long and all but about 1:10 of it is just hard. This one gets my blood flowing and helps me hit top speed. That's a good thing when I'm running, but when I'm driving... well, I don't listen to it much except for when I run. This song played through my ears as I crossed the finish line during last year's Run Through Redlands, the Mission Inn 10K and the Loper Classic 15K. The first one was just coincidence, just so happened to play. Then, I set up the other two race playlists so that song would help me around the finish - with Orion playing before. I heard those two around Miles 24 and 25 at Surf City.

Muzzle - Smashing Pumpkins

A relaxing song to close out this playlist.

I had a hard time limiting my playlist to an hour. There are other songs that I really love to listen to when I run, other groups not included on here that I've run to many times before. I guess I put some thought into my music, maybe more than is necessary. I don't know, I just figure that if I'm going to take the time to run to some tunes, I want to put some thought into them and pick ones that will actually help me on the road, the 'mill or in the race.

So maybe if this catches on I could compile another playlist of special songs to another brave and game runner.Then again, I haven't yet received my playlist and I'm expecting the worst and hoping for the best.