Head coaches in the NFL often “script” the first dozen or so offensive plays of a game. They do this to set the tone and pace of the game, and to try to get their players to understand that they want to dictate how the game will go. With that in mind I have “scripted” the first 3+ hours of the music I’ll hear on my iPod during Sunday’s LA Marathon.
For more than two years now I’ve been aggregating my favorite “running” songs into a discrete playlist specifically geared towards keeping me motivated and moving towards that 26.2 mi marker. Any time I see a song in my 9900+ track iTunes library rated with only one star, I know it means one of two things. Either it’s a crap song that needs to be deleted, or it’s a song that I one-starred while running because I wanted to save it to my special cardio playlist. It’s my own little iTunes lifehack.
Here is what will be the soundtrack to my run on Sunday. If you’re building your own playlist for a long run, any one of these is a great background to help you overcome heart-pumping exhaustion. This is more or less the order I’ll be playing them, too. So if you happen to see me on TV Sunday, you can estimate what is driving me through the streets of Los Angeles …
- Mrs. Robinson [Theme from The Graduate] – Simon & Garfunkel
I have been listening to this song to start running since I got my first iPod. - Boulevard of Broken Dreams – Green Day
- Great American Sharpshooter – Less Than Jake
- Out in the Cold – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
- Salty Coffee – The Usuals
- I’m Looking Through You – The Beatles
- Blue Monday – Orgy
- I Try to Think About Elvis – Patty Loveless
Or, rather, I try to think about anything other than the fact that I probably have twenty miles to go. - Callin’ Baton Rouge – Garth Brooks
- Light of Day (live) – Bruce Springsteen
- Nothin’ But the Taillights – Clint Black
- From a Buick 6 – Bob Dylan
- Hit the Road Jack – Ray Charles
The tempo of this classic is excellent for a long run. - I’ve Been Everywhere – Johnny Cash
- The King of Bedside Manor – Barenaked Ladies
- Never Going Back to New Jersey – Less Than Jake
- dire – becky
- Duel of the Fates – John Williams
Here’s one that just builds and builds. By the time it’s over I’ll be sprinting. - Boulevard of Broken Dreams (live) (SNL version) – Green Day
- The Dirty Glass – Dropkick Murphys
- Two Way Action – Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire
- C’mon C’mon – The Von Bondies
- Big Brown Eyes – Old 97’s
- Somebody Told Me – The Killers
- …Baby One More Time – Britney Spears
Laugh all you want; this is an awesome running song. - Debaser – Pixies
- We Care a Lot – Faith No More
- Mr. Chainsaw – Alkaline Trio
- Anthem – blink-182
- A Hazy Shade of Winter – Simon & Garfunkel
- Scott Farcas Takes It on the Chin – Less Than Jake
- Get Free – The Vines
- Jesus Walks – Kanye West
- My Friend Peter – Alkaline Trio
- Shoplifter – Green Day
- Monkey Wrench – Foo Fighters
- Desdemona – Rebecca Lord
- Alcohol – Barenaked Ladies
- ‘Till I Collapse – Eminem
- U-Mass – Pixies
- Tear You Apart – She Wants Revenge
- Mr. Brightside – The Killers
- Bye Bye Love – Simon & Garfunkel
- No Sleep Tonight – The Faders
- Wake Up – Rage Against the Machine
- Wonderful Night (feat Lateef) – Fatboy Slim
- Crazy People – Rehab
- Fight for Your Right – Beastie Boys
- Jammin’ Me – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
- Letterbomb – Green Day
- Hell – Squirrel Nut Zippers
- Remember the Name – Fort Minor
- Give the Po’ Man a Break – Fatboy Slim
- Surrendering – Alanis Morissette
- (Don’t Fear) The Reaper – Blue Öyster Cult
- Mutt – blink-182
- She’s A Rebel – Green Day
- I Predict a Riot – Kaiser Chiefs
- Celebrity Skin – Hole
- End of the Line – The Traveling Wilburys
I know by this point I’ll be desperate to finish and this is a great track about getting to the end of things … - New Way Home – Foo Fighters
This is the song that I play when I am starting to really lose it. Towards the end of the song it just gets faster and faster and I can’t help but start running to match it.
Awesome playlist, I’m going to cherry pick several songs, thx!