Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here!

Okay, since my running music playlist is rather eclectic and expansive this will probably be a multi part series on my playlist, because like every good pretentious music snob (aka: every college student) my music choices are smart and IMPORTANT and YOU will be a better person because I have taken the time to introduce you to what I like. You’re welcome.

I have also decided to limit each post to easily-digestible segments of ten songs and I’ll pretend to have some sort of overreaching theme for why I picked these particular ones.

Today’s edition is …. Newest additions!

These aren’t even necessarily new songs, or even new songs to me, they are songs that have been recently added to my playlist. As a side note, my playlists as always titled RFYL, which means Run For Your Life, which represents for a promise and a threat to me! And when I have a themed playlist, such as a Disney running playlist, it is titled DRFYL. See what I did there?

Okay, so the 10 most recent additions to my playlist are:

1. The Phoenix, Fall Out Boy

The very first lyrics in this song are, “Put on your war paint!” And when the beat starts I feel like I am getting ready for battle and can kick everyone’s ass. I also personally feel an affiliation to the phoenix and rising from the ashes because every longer than ever before run I do, I feel like I reclaiming something I once was yet also being better than before.

2. Step in Time, Mousercise

This song was a compromise because I had wanted to original version from the Mary Poppins soundtrack, but it is over 8 minutes long and there are a lot of “dead” spaces (for lack of a better description, where you are waiting for the music to build which is fine for a car ride, but when you are counting on the music to explode with energy it can feel interminable. The Mousercise version is a tight less than two minutes ball of fun, plus it has the added bonus of reminding me when I was six years old running around the house with my sisters dancing to it.

3. Rewrite this Story, SMASH cast

This was an experiment in not having a song that has a fast tempo but I really, really like on the playlist. This song has such tight harmonies that I get goosebumps when it reaches its fever pitch.

4. Cups (radio version), Anna Kendrick

Just because I really like this song 🙂

5. Can’t Hold Us, Macklemore

There’s just something about songs that make you feel like you can do anything! And they lyrics are cheeky, “Give a little speed to a great white on Shark Week” always makes me smile, because like any good student of Liz Lemon and 30 Rock, I do try to live every week like it’s Shark Week. AND he references Plinko! The song is amazing. Macklemore is amazing.

6. Thrift Shop, Macklemore

This one of those rare songs that I feel the explicit version is the only one worth listening to. That also makes in a RFYL playlist exclusive in my life because that’s the only time I will never have kids with me and can revel in the R rated lyrics. As a former Sailor, I have developed a real appreciation for when curse words are used with purpose and great affect and this song turns swearing into a word-smithing art form. Plus, have you seen the music video to this song? It is hilarious! It seems like a Weird Al version of a song, but it’s not- it’s the original. I actually didn’t really care for the song until I saw the music video, and then I realized the spirit in which the song was performed and totally got it.

7. Birdhouse in Your Soul, They Might be Giants

One of those songs I can’t believe took me this long to add to my RFYL. As an eighth grader, They Might be Giants were the band de jour, although it was the Mmmm Mmmmm Mmmmm song that was most popular. But this song is funny. And Tiny Toons had music videos of Particle Man and Istanbul. Which I am now realizing I don’t have either one in my playlist. That’s going to have to be remedied!

8. Let’s Go to the Mall, Robin Sparkles

I DARE you to listen to this song and not smile. Separating it from the whole HIMYM aspect of it (if such a thing is possible) makes the song extremely confusing, but, well, I have the point of reference so I can laugh when I listen to it. And it is not vocally demanding, so it is very easy to sing along to when you are almost out of breath- expect that giggle takes a surprising amount of energy to get out!

9. Little Wonders, Rob Thomas

Another song I added just because it means a lot to me. I’m not going to go into details about why this song and the movie it’s from, Meet the Robinsons, literally changed my life when I saw them because it’s not really for random public consumption. But if you are ever in town and want to buy me a drink, I’ll share my story. But even without all of that, God, I love these lyrics. I love how in life you never know which flashes of everyday are going to be seared into memory that they can be perfectly recalled forever.

10. All These Things I’ve Done, The Killers

While it’s not the most bouncy, peppy song of the Killer, which is why it so long to be added to the playlist, for heaven’s sake, the very first lyrics are, “When there’s nowhere else to run …” And it has a great build. You can’t help but build up speed as the song carries on.

So what about you? What are your recent finds for good songs to run to? Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments. I am on the hunt for new songs not that I have to make my playlist twice as long to last through a marathon!

BTW, my run this weekend is 15 miles, which will be the first time I have gone a distance beyond the half marathon. Cheers!

We’re all a little mad here.

Okay, I downloaded the wordpress app. What commitment! Is will be a short trying it out app post, because if this thing crashes I don’t want to feel like I wasted a bunch of time.
Today I got a Clif sample box in the mail. It has some quality stuff in it and I wish I knew what I did to get on their radar! Was it because of the running store I bought shoes at? Does the Dallas Marathon hook everyone up (or sell our info- I prefer the more optimistic way if looking at it)? No, I think I made it on their radar of a hard core runner and blogger when my blog blew up yesterday when and entire 12 people viewed it! Boy, do I wield some virtual power and I’m sure Clif wanted to get on my good side 😛

There and Back Again, Part 2

So race day I woke up and did my standard breakfast of peanut butter toast and got in the car. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! Those tropical storms brought cooler temperatures in their wake and it was under 80 degrees at 6 am for the first time since, like, April. It was excellent September Texas weather. I made it to the race without getting lost or anything, so I was already feeling pretty awesome walking to the start line.

This is a very small race. Like under 500 finishers, so there aren’t corrals or anything. I lined up at the back since my ass is slow and I didn’t want anyone faster than me to have to expend energy running around my fat ass. The race started and I was booking it. I mean, I was passing people and flying though. Which was STUPID. In distance running, negative splits are always desirable, where you run the last half of the race faster than the first half. The theory is that you don’t waste all your energy at the beginning and crap out and hit the wall halfway through because you used all your energy in the first half when you still have miles to go. Now, I was going too fast and I knew I was going too fast to the point where I was actually saying out loud, “Megan, don’t be stupid. You know this is too fast.” But I didn’t slow down. You know why? because I was getting cocky. In the past year my running has improved dramatically. With every pound lost I can run just that much faster and that much longer, and as I was running this half I knew it was too fast, but this stupid voice in my head, the one that ironically is usually telling me I can’t do this, was all, “Hey, maybe you’ve been holding yourself back all this time. Maybe this is how fast you are supposed to go now.”

Yeah. Right.

So I didn’t slow down because I guess I thought the magic of the day would make me go faster than I ever have before for the longest distance I have ever made my body go. So it wasn’t really a shock when around mile 7 I started           to                get            realllllly         tired. And for the rest of the race I was scrambling to pull energy out of any place in my body I could imagine it hiding. The last half sucked. I just wanted to be done more than anything in the world so I kept putting one foot in front of the other and made it to the finish line.

Now, this was my third half marathon. I got choked up crossing the finish line on the first one, and was in some sort of emotional void for the second one, so I was totally shocked when I started to cry with one third of a mile left. Not the this is hard and I’m a baby wah wah wah crying, but the swell of pride overload that you emotions come out of your eyes crying. WTF?

Remember how I said I liked the race logo? Well, as a finisher the medal and the medal’s ribbon both had the logo AND they gave finishers “Love the Half” socks, which is way cool. Plus the shirt you get for signing up. So I did get some cool swag.

Now, two things were very different from this finish from when I did it a year ago. Last year I finished in 3 hours and 23 minutes. I puked my guts out at the end and had someone take my finisher medal picture. In front of the port a potties. Lovely.

This year I finished in 2 hours and 49 minutes. When I was done my major thought was, “Not in front of the port a potties!” Lol. No one offered to take my picture so it’s one of those dumb selfies where you can see my eyes looking at myself instead of the camera.

Facepalm.

Anyway, it is certainly a PR for me for time. But I’m not thrilled with the race because I race it so stupidly. However, I am glad that I did this not instead of at the full marathon because hopefully I will carry this lesson forward and run a smarter race when it actually will matter.