Running Update and Playlist Addendum

[grandmoffdavid.livejournal.com]

I ran for 2 hours, 37 minutes, and 24 seconds--Somewhere between 12 and 13 miles I'm guessing. Clearly my longest run ever. Let me just say this one time for the record, "Oh my God! The chaffing, the unspeakable chaffing!" We will now never speak of that again.

From the start I felt pretty crappy today. The aches and pains went away after the first lap, but kept showing up briefly later. My digestive tract was misbehaving and again, we'll say no more about that. Oh, also, even though I got up early and started running earlier than I have been it was still 90 degrees out by the time I finished the run.

Having said that, there was really no part of the run where I thought I wasn't going to be able to finish it. Of course, after the fifth lap I wasn't thinking much of anything. I sang along with Always Look on the Bright Side of Life when it came up. Which brings me to another point. I may have miscalculated the length of my half marathon playlist.

Man With the Hex came on as I was finishing my 10th lap, which was about a mile sooner than it should have. Don't get me wrong, after running for a couple hours when that song comes on my entire body gets all tingly and my speed picks up involuntarily. I just need to add a couple extra songs to the mix to make sure I don't run out during the race. That being said, I am officially adding You Look Better When I'm Drunk by the White Tie Affair and Baby Got Back by Sir Mix-a-lot to the list.

I've lost my train of thought. Anyway, 12 mile run, check. Tomorrow I go tell my doctor, "um, so I'm training for this half marathon..." (I've spoken with other doctors about it, including an orthopedist, sports medicine doctor, and respiratory surgeon, I just haven't had an appointment with my primary physician since I decided to do this, and it just never occurred to me that she should probably know.)

Comments

[deirdremoon.livejournal.com]

Congrats on the major milestone!

How do you choose your songs? Mood, tempo you'll be running, imagery?

I was in a spinning class once (just once) where the teacher had an uncanny knack for picking songs that were juuuuust a hair faster than I would have gone on my own, and eventually my hindbrain would speed up to that tempo just to sync with the music. Crafty.

[grandmoffdavid.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

Since I was choosing so many songs for this one (around 3 hours of music) I mostly went by tempo. I scheduled a mental breakdown (i.e. silly songs) around mile 9 and put the Disney songs in mile 2-3 when I'm running through the parks, but in general I just chose up-tempo songs that I happened to like.

Imagery wasn't a huge deciding factor, since I don't have much brain when I'm running that far. For some reason I have a strong mental image associated with a few songs (Naturally is one) that may or may not have anything to do with the song, but which I can't help but think of when I hear them. There are also a few songs that I have associated with a game that random_girl will never let me run, and so when they come on I distract myself by plotting that game. Distraction is a huge factor.

I also tried to put songs that really stir me at key points. I wasn't kidding when I mentioned that The Man With the Hex (by the Atomic Fireballs) sent shivers up my spine--there's a reason I want it playing when I'm spurring myself towards the finish. Rock Opera For Saving the World, He's a Pirate, and Final Combat are other examples of the kind of songs that give me tingles up the spine. As I'm sure you know, after a few miles you really need stuff that grabs you by the lizard brain, shakes you, and shouts, "Fuck this, you aren't done yet!"

[deirdremoon.livejournal.com]

after a few miles you really need stuff that grabs you by the lizard brain, shakes you, and shouts, "Fuck this, you aren't done yet!"

LOL... Yeah, I grok. :)