Sweat: Playlist roundup! Including the newest one!

This post will be useful for approximately 0.1% of the people who read this blog.  It will be a source of entertainment or ridicule for the rest.  I've got a round up of some of my favorite playlists.  They are all really great.  And all pretty special.  They may make you go like this!

Or [probably] like this:

But regardless, they're fun.  Feel free to click (they are all old blog posts where I shared the playlist at the bottom) and pilfer what works for you.  What works for me:

For a 5K - all fast cadence songs with 160-180 bpm

For any longer distance running - a mix of slow and fast songs

I'll also share my newest playlist, which I used at the NJ State Marathon (with my comments after certain songs in red italics).  Even though that race wasn't the best, the playlist was.  Also, excitement: in just three little weeks, some of my besties and I are going to the BARRY MANILOW CONCERT OH MY GOD ALL CAPS ALL CAPS EXCITEMENT WITH SEQUINS!  I'm pretty sure I'm going to live blog the hell out of it.  !!!!!  

!!!

Onto the playlists.   

Fast 5K Playlist

Another Bad Playlist

Austin Yee Haw! Half Marathon Playlist

BQ! Steamtown Playlist

Philadelphia Marathon 2013!

Pretty Awesome Songs That Are Awesome

Rainbows! Unicorns! <-- that's the title of the playlist.

1812 Overture (Finale)  I'm telling you - it will inspire you. Put it on your playlist!

All Night Long (Lionel Richie)

All Out of Love (Air Supply)

Always On My Mind (Elvis Presley)

America (Neil Diamond)

Annie's Song (John Denver)

Apache (The Sugarhill Gang)

Baby, Now That I've Found You (The Foundations)

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown  (Jim Croce)

Black Water (The Doobie Brothers)

Brandy (Looking Glass)

Break My Stride (Matthew Wilder)

Bridge Over Troubled Water (Elvis Presley)

Can I Get A... (Jay Z)

Can't Hold Us (feat. Ray Dalton) (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)

Carry On (Fun.)

Count On Me (Jefferson Starship) I heard this at the end of the movie The Family Stone. I love it. It makes me cry but that's OK.

Different Drum (The Stone Poneys)

Do You Hear the People Sing? (Les Misérables Original London Cast) 

Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Elton John & Kiki Dee)

Double Dutch Bus (Frankie Smith)

Down (feat. Lil Wayne) (Jay Sean)

Eye of the Tiger (Survivor)

Feels So Good (Chuck Mangione) I hit this sucker three times at the end of NJ Marathon.  It's that awesome.

Flashdance...What a Feeling (Irene Cara)

Freedom Street (Ken Boothe)

The Gambler (Kenny Rogers )

Go Your Own Way (Fleetwood Mac)

Hard Knock Life (JAY Z)

Here I Go Again (Whitesnake)

Hold On (Wilson Phillips)

Hopelessly Devoted to You (Olivia Newton-John) I defy you to not bust out into song with this one.

I Am...I Said (Neil Diamond)

I Got a Name (Jim Croce)

(I've Had) The Time of My Life (Bill Medley & Jennifer Warnes) Nobody puts Baby in the corner!

If You Could Read My Mind (Ela Wardi)

If You Leave Me Now (Chicago)

It Takes Two (Rob Base & DJ EZ)

It's My Turn (Diana Ross)

It's Not Unusual (Tom Jones)

Let It Go (Demi Lovato)

Let's Hang On (The Four Seasons)

Like a Prayer (Madonna )

Livin' On a Prayer (Bon Jovi)

Lotta Love (Nicolette Larson)

Move Bitch (Disturbing tha Peace)

My Life (Billy Joel)

Never Can Say Goodbye  (Jackson 5)

Never Knew Love Like This Before (Stephanie Mills)

Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now (Starship)

Our House (Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)

Party In the U.S.A. (Miley Cyrus)

Penny Lane (The Beatles)

Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John)

Shake It Off (Taylor Swift)

Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) (Beyoncé)

Sister Christian (Night Ranger)

Sloop John B (The Beach Boys)

Southern Cross (Jimmy Buffett)

St Elmo's Fire (John Parr)

Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley)

Take Me Home, Country Roads (John Denver) The song that reminds me most of home ... even though I'm from South Jersey and not West Virginia

Take On Me (a-ha)

Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics)

The Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles) This song is the only exception to the NO CLOWN rule I have

Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe It or Not) (Joey Scarbury) A now-staple on every playlist. 

Tomorrow (Andrea McArdle) yes. from Annie.

Touch Me In the Morning (Diana Ross)

Waiting for a Star to Fall (Boy Meets Girl)

We Built This City / We’re Not Gonna Take It (Russell Brand & Catherine Zeta-Jones: Rock of Ages (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))

What a Fool Believes (The Doobie Brothers)

Wherever You Will Go (The Callin: Love Actually (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack))

While You See a Chance (Steve Winwood) Fist pump to the sky when this comes on.

With Your Love (Jefferson Starship)

Woman In Love (Barbra Streisand)  This is also a new staple. Add it to your list. Go for it. 

Working My Way Back to You (Spinners)

You Can Do It  (Ice Cube)

You May Be Right (Billy Joel)

You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)

Enjoy.

New Blog! New Playlist! Also 2015 Training Week 11!

So many exclamation points!

!!

So, you have probably realized that my blog was completely revamped recently.  I cannot tell you how excited I am about this.  I'll post a little more detail later on, but suffice it to say, I am super excited with the final results.  :)

Week 11 of training was a challenge because of work travel.  I had a conference in New Orleans, and between long travel days and one very long night (umm, actually only 12:30 but c'mon), it was hard to make room for the workouts.  I capped the week off with a brand new playlist, which I'll share at the bottom of this post, and a fantastic, confidence boosting long run of 18 miles.  Ready for details? Oh I know that you are.

Week 11 [March 9-March 15] 4:32:32 hours

swam: x

biked: 30 minutes (on trainer)

ran:  4:02:32 hours (27.8 miles)

Monday:  rest day

Tuesday:  walk/run track/speedwork

Wednesday: track/speedwork rest day -- travel

Thursday:  walk/run easy endurance run hotel treadmill

Friday:  easy endurance run rest day -- recovery and travel

Saturday: walk/run bike

Sunday:  18 mile long run

Yah.  So as you can see, I had to move things around quite a bit.  Only two workouts (and one was a rest day) stayed put.

Monday I rested.  After my 17 mile run, I felt I deserved it.

Tuesday was supposed to be a walk/run but I knew I would have trouble doing my speedwork any other day that week with all the travel and work, so I opted to do the speedwork on this day.  I also discovered the indoor track at the YMCA. Why ... WHY ... haven't I done this before? It was so much better than running on the treadmill!  The track is 1/11th of a mile, but for my purposes (and because I am *terrible* at math), I went with 1/10th of a mile.  The workout was:

10 minute easy + 5 x 30 seconds progressive pick-ups with 30 seconds walk recovery + 6 x 3/4 mile at alternating 7:20 and 7:40 pace with 1 minute walk and 1 minute easy run recovery + 5 minute easy run recovery.

This was a hard workout but a good one.  Did it.  Felt pretty good about it  Yay.

Wednesday I had to rest.  I had to get up at 4:00 am to get my flight, traveled all morning, arrived in NOLA, then went to a conference, then happy hour, then business dinner, then crashed very hard in the hotel bed.   A workout was darn near impossible.

Thursday morning, I ran on the hotel treadmill: 10 minute walk and then 30 minute run.  Perfect.  Thursday afternoon, I carbo loaded some beignets and coffee at Cafe du Monde.  Here is what happened:

  

If you've never had a beignet, first you must.  Second, they are like donut/funnel cake things and are amazing.  So good.  

Thursday night was busy with more business dinners and then an evening on Bourbon Street. Here are Amy and me on a balcony of the Bourbon Cowboy bar with Bourbon Street over our shoulders.

Friday.  LOL.  There was no way I was getting on a treadmill.  See above re: Bourbon Street.  I had work in the morning and then travel all late afternoon and evening.  A rest day was a necessity.

Saturday's workout was impossible timing-wise. The best I could do was 30 minutes on the bike.  Better than nothing.

Sunday.  Oh Sunday! Glorious long run Sunday!  First, it was upper 30s.  I wore short sleeves, arm warmers, capris and a smile!

No hat! No gloves! No ear warmer! No tights!  No ice or snow on the route.  It felt so so so good just to run and enjoy and not have to contend with conditions!  

The run was an 18 miles with 8 at race pace (8:15-8:25).  The workout was 8 miles at 9:05-9:30 pace, 8 miles at 8:15-8:25 pace, 2 miles at 9:15-9:45 pace.  

Here are my paces:  

Miles 1-8:

mile 1 -- 8:57

mile 2 -- 9:04

mile 3 -- 9:08

mile 4 -- 9:04

mile 5 -- 9:17

mile 6 -- 9:29

mile 7 -- 9:12

mile 8 -- 9:09

These miles felt good.  I had to consciously slow myself down.  Especially since I knew I had 8 miles of hard work ahead of me.  As for the next 8 miles ... I crushed them.  

mile 9 -- 8:22

mile 10 -- 7:51

mile 11 -- 8:03

mile 12 -- 8:09

mile 13 -- 8:11

mile 14 -- 8:11

mile 15 -- 8:14

mile 16 -- 8:12

I tried to maintain a steady, even pace (pretending I was actually racing and had to hold it for a full marathon) for these miles.  Except for mile 10 where I apparently lost my mind and ran a 7:51, I succeeded and was even a little faster than I should have been. 

Miles 17-18

mile 17 -- 9:06

mile 18 -- 9:20

I finished nice and strong. My final mile is up a pretty punishing hill home, so that one is always a bit slow.  Especially with 17 3/4 miles in the tank.  And if a great happy run wasn't enough to make me happy and dance a joyful little jig, this was waiting for me when I walked in the door:

My kind friend/coworker came through like a champ and watched the kids for me while I ran.  Molly loves when he does because he bakes with her ... and today she wanted to bake me a cake.  She insisted on all of the decorations and the message.  Cake is amazing.  

I was also feeling the need for a new playlist, so I created one the night before my run. As always, because I have no shame and because I know I have some kindred out there somewhere who actually appreciate and will copy the list, I will share it with you.  

Have a great week!


"Another Bad Playlist"

A Horse With No Name (America)
All Out of Love (Air Supply)
All Through the Night (Cyndi Lauper)
Always On My Mind (Elvis Presley)
America (Simon & Garfunkel )
Annie's Song (John Denver)
Another Night (Real McCoy)
Any Way You Want It (Mary J. Blige, Constantine Maroulis & Julianne Hough) Rock of Ages Soundtrack
Baby, Now That I've Found You (The Foundations)
Baby, What a Big Surprise (Chicago)
Be My Baby (The Ronettes)
Call Me Maybe (Carly Rae Jepsen)
Can I Get A... (JAY Z)
Can't Deny It (feat. Nate Dogg) (Fabolous)
Can't Help Falling In Love (Elvis Presley)
Can't Smile Without You (Barry Manilow)
Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia) (Us3)
Carefree Highway (Gordon Lightfoot)
Centerfold (The J. Geils Band)
Dance With Me (Orleans)
Danny's Song (Kenny Loggins)
Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? (Chicago)
Down (feat. Lil Wayne) (Jay Sean )
Even the Nights Are Better (Air Supply)
Faithfull (Journey)
Fantastic Voyage (Coolio)
Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) (ABBA)
Hard Knock Life (JAY Z)
Hard to Say I'm Sorry / Get Away (Chicago)
Heaven is a Place on Earth (Belinda Carlisle)
Hello Again (Neil Diamond)
Hypnotize (The Notorious B.I.G.)
I Can't Go for That (No Can Do) (Daryl Hall & John Oates)
Ice Ice Baby (Vanilla Ice)
If You Leave Me Now (Chicago)
Inside Out (Eve 6)
It Takes Two (Rob Base & DJ EZ Rock )
It's My Turn (Diana Ross)
Knowing Me, Knowing You (ABBA)
Lady (feat. Kenny Rogers) (Lionel Richie)
Lotta Love (Nicolette Larson )
Mamma Mia (ABBA)
Manic Monday (The Bangles)
Morning Train (Nine to Five) (Sheena Eason)
Open Arms (Journey)
(Our Love) Don't Throw It All Away (Andy Gibb)
Philadelphia Freedom (Elton John)
Regulate (Nate Dogg & Warren G)
S.O.S. (ABBA)
Sad Eyes (Robert John)
Still (The Commodores)
Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns N' Roses)
The Tears of a Clown (Smokey Robinson & The Miracles)
Total Eclipse of the Heart (Bonnie Tyler)
Touch Me In the Morning (Diana Ross)
True Colors (Cyndi Lauper)
Waiting for a Star to Fall (Boy Meets Girl)
We Built This City / We’re Not Gonna Take It (Russell Brand & Catherine Zeta-Jones) Rock of Ages Soundtrack
What Kind of Fool (Duet With Barry Gibb) (Barbra Streisand)
Wherever You Will Go (The Calling)
Windy (The Association)
With Your Love (Jefferson Starship)
Work It (Missy Elliott)
You Shook Me All Night Long (AC/DC)

2015 Training Recap: Weeks 7-8 & Bonus! Austin Half Playlist!

Two weeks of training in two very different climates.  Week 7 was all about easy tapering before my Austin Half Marathon, with a handful of workouts in super warm, super sunny Texas.  Week 8 was back at it here at home in the cold, the snow, the ice and the wind.  Winter please go away.  

Week 7 (Feb. 9-Feb. 15):  3:55:54 hours

Swim: 0 hours/0 yards

Bike: 30 minutes (trainer)

Run: 3:25:54 hours/23 miles

Workouts

Monday:  rest day

Tuesday:  easy bike

Wednesday:  speedwork (treadmill)

Thursday:  rest day

Friday:  easy 3 mile run

Saturday:  walk/run

Sunday:  Austin Half Marathon

There's not much to say about week 7 - it was a lot of rest in anticipation of a hard race on Sunday.  Lots of rest, lots of easy runs and bikes.  Even my speedwork on Wednesday wasn't bad and was pretty short.  The best were my workouts in Texas.  My Friday easy 3 mile run was in 65 degree sun. I was kinda happy and took this Gloaty McGloaterson picture for my friends in PA who were freezing in sub-zero temps.  

Annnnnnnd then karma gave me a big ol' womp womp with a disappointing and hard-fought race on Sunday.  Still ... worth it.

Week 8 (Feb. 16-Feb. 22):  4:25:21 hours

Swim: 0 hours/0 yards

Bike: 1:15 hours (trainer)

Run: 3:10:21 hours/19.6 miles

Workouts

Monday:  rest day

Tuesday:  easy bike

Wednesday:  walk/run

Thursday:  easy run

Friday:  rest day

Saturday:  walk/run biked instead

Sunday:  long run: 17 miles - did 13.25 instead ON THE TREADMILL

So, yeah, welcome home to cold.  And then snow! A snow day!  And then ice!  And cold!  And all of those things!  I was able to do a bike at home on Tuesday (snow day), which was fine.  Wednesday I had a walk/run and I was not going to do it on the treadmill.  I went to a park near the kids' school and wore my Yak Tracks.  It was a 10 minute walk with a 30 minute easy run. Contrast the above McGloaterson photo with McSnowerson.  

Still ... better than the treadmill!

I wonder what the cars passing by were thinking as I snapped these shots.  

Thursday was an easy run, which, given the time of day that I had to run and the extreme sub-arctic cold, I opted to do on the treadmill.  Friday was a rest day - woo hoo.  Saturday was supposed to be another walk/run, but I couldn't fit in a trip to the gym, so I opted for a longer bike ride instead: 45 minutes on the trainer.  Not too shabby.  

Sunday.  Did you read the all caps?  Yes.  I did 2 full hours (13.25 miles) on the em eff treadmill.  I didn't die, but I will tell you that if I had run literally one more second, I would have turned into the hulk, raised that treadmill over my head, and thrown it out the window of the gym.  And then jumped out the window and destroyed it with a baseball bat.  So, I had to do the treadmill because on Saturday we got a lot of snow.  And then rain.  Which turned the snow to slushy ice.  Sunday morning had terrible conditions, and I absolutely had to run early.  Treadmill it was.  I can't get Pollyanna about this run.  It was not fun and kind of terrible, but I did it.  I was supposed to do 17 miles, but that was not happening. Hopefully 13.25 is good enough.  

Up this week - more miles, and I really want to get in a swim.  I have the Ambler Frostbite Five Miler, which I've run (and managed to PR) every year for awhile now.  This year, coach has me running a little 11 mile warm up beforehand ... so I am not sure about a PR.  My eye is on the prize, which is the NJ State Marathon in late April and the Love Run Half in late March.  

Bonus!  Bonus!   I made a new playlist for the Austin Half Marathon and I'm going to share it with you.  I feel that the city of Austin might ask me to remove its name from the playlist because a cool music town like Austin will not want itself associated with the below, but it will kindly have to get over itself.  

The Austin Half was such a brutal race and I was so out of it, that I only remember one -- yes one -- song from that playlist for the entire 13.1 miles.  That song, my friends, was Neil Diamond's They're Coming to America.  It was around mile 6 and I remember thinking "Ok ... this is it.  This song is going to change this whole race for me. This is the moment." Sadly that did not happen.  I listened to this playlist on my treadmill long run and really enjoyed it!  It was as though I had never heard it before.  Ha.  Enjoy.  You're welcome in advance.  Comments in bold italics where needed.  

1812 Overture (Finale) (Charles Gerhardt & London Philharmonic Orchestra)  I defy you to hear this song and not pick up your pace.  I also defy you to not do the cymbals in the air at the appropriate place in the song.  

All Through the Night (Cyndi Lauper)

America (Neil Diamond)

Annie's Song (John Denver)

Apache (Sugarhill Gang)

Around the Way Girl (LL Cool J)

Baby, What a Big Surprise (Chicago)

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Jim Croce )

Brandy (Looking Glass)

Break My Stride (Matthew Wilder)

Can't Hold Us (Macklemore & Ryan Lewis)

Carefree Highway (Gordon Lightfoot)

Count On Me (Jefferson Starship)

Different Drum (The Stone Poneys)

Do You Hear the People Sing? (Les Misérables Original London Cast)

Double Dutch Bus (Frankie Smith) this song reminds me of roller skating as a kid. I start to shuffle when I hear it. 

Emotion (Samantha Sang)

Feels So Good  (Chuck Mangione) I LOVE THIS SONG. My sister and I grew up dancing to it. It's fun to run to.

Get Closer (Seals & Crofts)

Guilty (Duet With Barry Gibb) (Barbra Streisand)

Hello (Lionel Richie) Not a typo.  This song is really on here.  

I Can't Hold Back (Survivor)

I Got a Name (Jim Croce)

If You Could Read My Mind (Ela Wardi)

If You Leave Me Now (Chicago)

It's My Turn (Diana Ross)

Just Remember I Love You (Firefall)

Knowing Me, Knowing You (ABBA)

Let It Go (Demi Lovato)

Long Long Time (Linda Ronstadt)

More Than a Woman (Bee Gees)

One Moment In Time (Whitney Houston)

Party In the U.S.A. (Miley Cyrus)

Penny Lane (The Beatles)

Selling the Drama (Live)

Shadows of the Night (Pat Benatar )

Shake It Off (Taylor Swift)

Sloop John B (The Beach Boys)

Solitary Man (Neil Diamond)

Sundown (Gordon Lightfoot)

Take a Chance On Me (ABBA)

Talking In Your Sleep (The Romantics)

Theme from "Greatest American Hero" (Believe It or Not) (Joey Scarbury)

Truly (Lionel Richie) See above. Not a typo either.

You Are the Woman (Firefall ) 

You Can Do It  (Ice Cube) I imagine I'm in the movie "Save the Last Dance" when it comes on. You're the Only Woman (Ambrosia)

Pretty sure that only on my playlist can Ice Cube, Lionel Richie, Barry Gibb, ABBA, Gordon Lightfoot and the 1812 Overture peacefully coexist.  

Have a great week! 

See you swoon,