PUBLISHED 11/01/2005
Obviously the choice of what to listen to when you run is a personal one. Two things to keep in mind, however: Just because you like a certain song doesn't necessarily mean you'll like running to it. It's something you'll have to road test. And while speed metal and punk rock may give you an added oomph, the intensity of the music is going to be hard to match in the long haul. Pace your running mix with warmup tunes, getting-in-the-groove tunes, tempo-changing tunes for interval training, and cooldown tunes. I keep different running-specific mixes on my iPod and tweak them to avoid listening to the same stuff too often.
"Surfing on a Rocket," Air: Good warmup for a long-distance groove.
"Take California," Propellerheads
"Run," Snow Patrol
"Sister Anne," MC5: Kicks out the jams, for over seven minutes.
"Politik" and "The Scientist," Coldplay: P. Diddy's choice, but it works for me too.
"It's a Fast-Driving Rave-Up With The Dandy Warhols Sixteen Minutes," The Dandy Warhols. Passes like six.
"When the Levee Breaks," Led Zeppelin: "Don't it make you feel bad when you're tryin' to find your way home and you don't know which way to go?" 'Nuff said.
"Champagne Supernova," Oasis
"This Is The Last Time," Keane
"The National Anthem," Radiohead
"Shoot Speed/Kill Light," Primal Scream
"Diamond Dogs," David Bowie: This song has accompanied me on Walkman, Discman, and three different MP3 players.
"Olsen Olsen," Sigur Ros: An Icelandic band and my favorite for a deeply meditative run.
"Music For Airports," Brian Eno: Background music for living your life.
