We Be Jammin...

For my third Half Marathon on January 11 - the Citrus Heritage Run in Riverside, CA - I knew that music was going to be a HUGE aspect to my running endurance and strategy. When I ran my first half marathon in November 2010 I didn't really know what to expect. I had been training with some basic music podcasts that primarily consisted of snippets of popular songs or house-type music; which was working great for the training runs! Without having songs played in their entirety I was able to just get somewhat lost in the beat without boredom. But oh goodness...once I got to the race environment it was a very different story!!

Source

That half marathon consisted of about 6.5 miles of absolutely NOTHING entertaining - it was down a paved bike path that ran parallel to a dry riverbed. So it was 6.5 miles of dirt, shrubs, the other occasional runner, and a far away view of cars on a freeway. And that was it. Well, that and the hot, dry wind pelting me with sand from that dry riverbed. It was during that time of my own personal Exodus that I realized that the type of music that had been so helpful to me on my training runs was going to kill me drive me crazy now. I actually turned it off because it was just too much thumping in my head.

So I learned the really hard way how important music can be when it is playing in your head for several hours of what may, or may not, be excruciating pain and suffering. Okay, I'm just a *tad* overly dramatic. So when I built my Tinkerbell playlist in January 2012 I knew I wanted something that would keep me going if the going got tough. And I had a pretty good playlist then too and it made a world of difference.

Finally, it was time to build my Citrus playlist and I knew that there were going to be some perennial favorites on there, but that I also wanted to "juice" it up a bit (haha - punny, punny!) and add some new music. And I have to say that I absolutely LOVED my Citrus Playlist! So without further ado, here it is!

• Pompeii by Bastille
• Should Be Higher by Depeche Mode
• The One That Got Away by The Civil Wars
• Team by Lorde
• Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO
• Madness by Muse (one of my more recent favorites!)
• Conquistador by 30 Seconds to Mars
• All My Life by the Foo Fighters (an always on my playlists fave)
• Shake the Disease by Depeche Mode
• Timber by Pitbull featuring Ke$ha (a new favorite just added - love the harmonica as it reminds me of my Grandpa)
• If I Lose Myself by OneRepublic
• In the Mood by the Glenn Miller Orchestra (yes, this is old-time big band and it NEVER fails to get me wanting to dance in the streets even though I do not know Swing Dance at all...)
• One by Metallica
• Lose Yourself by Eminem
• I'm Shipping up to Boston by Dropkick Murphys (another perennial playlist fave)
• I Can Transform Ya by Chris Brown feat. Lil Wayne
• It's Time by Imagine Dragons
• We Won't Give Up by The Afters
• Let's Dance by Vanessa Hudgens (a guilty pleasure)
• I Lived by OneRepublic (THIS song right here gave me the BIGGEST kick in the pants during the race...I sang out loud and just realized that I LIVED! This is a definite keeper and will make return visits forever)
• The Rockafeller Skank by Fatboy Slim
• Shake it Out by Florence + the Machine
• My Songs Know What you Did...by Fall Out Boy (a most definite new favorite!)
• Right Now by Van Halen
• Barton Hollow by The Civil Wars
• Who's Going to Save the World by Swiss House Mafia
• Miss Jackson by Panic! at the Disco (another new add that I like a whole lot)
• Demons by Imagine Dragons (this is also a new add that is a keeper for sure!)
• Walking on Air by Kerli
• I Will Wait by Mumford & Sons
• Girl on Fire by Alicia Keys (how could I not have this song on there?)
• The Seven Deadly Sins by Flogging Molly
• On to the Next One by Jay-Z featuring Swizz Beats (a definite favorite, but explicit so be warned!)
• The Sinner in Me by Depeche Mode
• Called Out in the Dark by Snow Patrol (not a typical running song, but it really got me focused so it will most likely remain on the playlist for some time...)
• Like a G6 by Far East Movement
• Ni**as in Paris by Jay-Z and Kanye West
• Up in the Air by 30 Seconds to Mars
• Roar by Katy Perry (another one of those that I just had to include...definitely a keeper!)
• Sound of Madness by Shinedown
• The Truth About Love by P!nk
• Don't Stop Believin' by Journey
• Soothe My Soul by Depeche Mode
• Learning to Fly by Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
• Give me Everything by Pitbull

And there you have it! You can see that there are several artists that are obvious favorites as they make multiple appearances: Depeche Mode, The Civil Wars, OneRepublic, 30 Seconds to Mars. And they are bands that just NEVER seem to let me down. I had some new additions and was happy for every single one of them: Roar, Girl on Fire, My Songs Know..., Demons, Timber, Miss Jackson. There were some that usually really give me a boost that I wasn't quite feeling this time so I may need to retire them for a bit: Party Rock Anthem, Walking on Air, Sound of Madness, Like a G6. But all in all I have to say that my playlist was pretty close to perfect for me.

So your turn - what are some of your current, or always reliable, favorites for your activity of choice?