Apparently there are some rare species of runners who survive—and even thrive!—without listening to music when they run. I haven’t seen too many of these in the wild, but I’ve been assured they exist. I myself most emphatically do NOT belong to this group. When I drowned my ipod in a rainstorm earlier this year, it was all I could do to keep running back to the car and not fling myself into the nearest puddle in solidarity.
Running and music are inextricably linked for me. I first started running when I was living abroad and I had only a cheap walkman (walkman! I’m old) and a half-dozen tapes (tapes!) with me. I just about wore out those tapes running in slow circles around the park. To this day, I get chills when I hear U2’s Elevation album because I so clearly remember those months when I was first teaching myself to run a mile, two miles, three miles, without stopping.
So even though I respect people who run with just their thoughts and the music of their breaths, I don’t think I could ever be one of them. (In fact, I’ve stopped doing the Death Valley Marathon because they have a strict no-earphones policy and I just can’t get behind that.) One of the things I look forward to the most is putting new music or podcasts on my player, and having uninterrupted time to digest the words or songs on my run.
Here are a few music podcasts and collections that I’ve been enjoying, ranked in order from least to most embarrassing.
Indie Soup Runner
Website: http://indiesouprunner.com/ (Also available as a free download on itunes)
What it is: Hour-long mixes of indie/alternative songs
Best if you like: quirky uptempo jams; discovering new indie music
Why I love it: I’ve found so many great new bands and songs by listening to these podcasts! Where else can you hear Belle & Sebastian, Neon Indian, Blitzen Trappen, The Mountain Goats, etc, all together in one upbeat mix meant for running? I don’t always love every song, but there are enough gems in these mixes to keep me coming back for more. I also love the format: each song is kept pretty much intact (although they do fade into each other to keep momentum going.) I’ve never been a big fan of Girl Talk or DJ Earworm because I like to hear more than just a line or two from individual songs. The hour-long length, too, is perfect for my standard morning run. I always look forward to a run when I have a new Indie Soup Runner podcast to check out.
Favorite episodes: Way too many! A few favorites are the Swedish Invasion mix, Americana mix, and the best of 2009 mix.
The Smash Mix
Website: http://www.thesmashmix.com/
What it is: 20-minute long mixes of indie/alternative songs
Best if you like: indie artists like Shiny Toy Guns, Klaxons, Arctic Monkeys…circa 2008
Why I love it: Okay, this is a weird one to include, because the website hasn’t been updated in two and a half years. (Told you I was old!) The guy who made the mixes, DJ Paul V, used to DJ at an LA radio station called Indie 103.1, and once a week he would play one of these 20-minute mixes that mashed up about a dozen indie hits, both new releases and classics. Sadly, Indie 103.1 went off the air and the Smash Mix was no more—but they’re still available for download from the website, and honestly, sometimes they still find their way onto my running playlists. He doesn’t include full songs, but you usually get at least a minute or two of each, and there are some fun mash-ups like Bloc Party’s “Hunting for Witches” set to Coldplay’s “In My Place.” (Yeah, you remember those sweet sweet 2008 tunes?)
Favorite episodes: #168 (for the Klaxons’ cover of “No Diggity” and the Manic Street Preachers’ cover of “Umbrella”), #149 (love the Soulja Boy/Go-Gos mashup…not even kidding about that), and #140 (check out “Robot High School”)
Bootie Mashup
Website: http://bootiemashup.com/blog/
What it is: A collection of mashups available for individual download, or grouped in “best-of” giant download sets
Best if you like: pop music mashups and shaking your bootie to club hits
Why I love it: I recommend this and the next website only if you have a strong stomach for pop music. I tend to be more of an indie kid but sometimes you need mindless lyrics and party beats when you run! This blog, run by two master mashup DJs, compiles the best mashups from them and other DJs and offers them for listening & download. There are some crazy combinations (“The Power of Creep”—Celine Dion vs Radiohead??) but also some really fun ones, and if you can’t listen to embarrassing music when you run by yourself, when can you?
Favorite songs: “Word Up This Way” (Lady Gaga vs. Korn vs Cameo) Korn covering Cameo’s “Word Up,” set to Lady Gaga?! It sounds dreadful but seriously, it is so fun. Probably my favorite song to run to right now. You haven’t lived until you’ve heard Korn sing “All you sucker DJs who think you’re fly” while Lady Gaga beats thump in the background.
Titus Jones
Website: http://www.titusjones.com/download/
What it is: Pop mashup masterpieces, with 3-6 songs used per mashup
Best if you like: Sickly-sweet radio pop, and lots of it
Why I love it: I don’t know how this works, but somehow Titus Jones’s mixes make me like listening to music I never would be able to stand otherwise. They’re infectious. He also breaks my rule about playing only snippets of songs—even though he’ll pick and choose a line here or a chorus there to feature, the songs are always recognizable and I never feel cheated out of wanting to hear more of one particular song. He does a great job of crafting entirely new songs from the sum of their parts—he’ll work the melodies and lyrics of half a dozen songs together to craft an entirely different message. You’ll probably still hate it if you can’t stand Katy Perry or Ke$ha or other pop darlings, but if some of that stuff is your guilty pleasure, check him out.
Favorite songs: “College is Crazy” (background mashup of Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love”,” Gnarls Barkley “Crazy,” and Britney Spears “Crazy” with Asher Roth’s “I Love College” on top…hilarious), “Imma Stop Loving Drugs” (Ke$ha vs Glee vs La Roux vs Black Eyed Peas vs Iglu & Hartley.)
Okay, I showed you mine, now spill. What do you love to listen to on your runs? What songs/artists/podcasts should I check out. And if you’re not a music person—how do you do it?!
i’m torn completely down the middle on this topic. the side of me that says, no, don’t run with music. listen to your feet. listen for heel scraping, for any kind of uneven gait; and also listen for the mountain bikers who are inches away from obliterating you. that side says music is distracting, maybe a little dangerous.
however, the other side, the side that wears the crazy arm sleeves, thinks the wu tang clan never gets old during a long run–great hip hop mixed with vaudevillian stand up. ODB alone entertains me for hours. “her weave like palm trees, i went coconuts.” kanye west also serves this same entertainment/musical motivation. just a couple days ago i was running while listening to kanye and i heard this line: “she’s got a light-skinned friend looks like michael jackson. got a dark-skinned friend looks like michael jackson.” i actually stopped running, paused my garmin, and snickered for around five minutes.
the other confession i’ll make is that i run with an mp3 player that’s the size of george castanza’s wallet and weighs more than a water bottle. i can’t get rid of it. it’s got a 26-hr battery and i’ve had it forever. i might as well be running while towing a record player in a red wagon. i’m sure i could find a tiny ipod, but i really enjoy–as cheesy as it sounds–the soul-satisfying act of listening to myself during a run and doing the continual self-diagnostics. i know you’re probably laughing at me through your ear buds as we speak, but, i will say this; i’m not set in my ways. i can be persuaded. i’d actually like to hear from more runners on this topic of how music enhances a run, and, if they listen to music, how they pay attention to those little diagnostic tests which i think we can both agree are vital in any kind of long distance running.
I definitely agree with your points about safety–I’ve been surprised more than once by bikers (and even other runners) coming around sharp turns in the trail and I know I need to do a better job of being aware of my surroundings when running with music.
And part of me also agrees with your point about being more in tune with the body when not listening to music. But I think for me, half of the point of listening to music (or podcasts, or heck, even talking with friends when running) is to NOT listen to my body. Tell me if your experience contradicts this, but for me, during really long runs, my body goes through phases, and there are definite low points where it’s begging to stop and just sit or lay down on the trail. If I didn’t have music to distract me and motivate me during those low points, I’m sure I would be much more likely to slow down or stop, just because there was no stronger voice in my head telling me to keep going. Maybe then the argument is that I need more willpower–can’t really disagree with that. But until I reach that stage, music is my crutch and I’ll happily accept it.
Of course, sometimes things are seriously wrong with the body, and those times we DO need to listen. But I don’t think I’ve ever been so distracted by music that I’ve ignored real physical symptoms.
I remember you talking about your giant, uncool mp3 player! I think it deserves its own post on your blog. And perhaps a name? Although “George Costanza’s Wallet” does have a nice ring to it.
I’m in the same boat, Liz – I HAVE to have music while running.
I can relate a little to your sad iPod drowning experience. That time I ran the St. George Marathon in the rain, my iPod got too wet in my armband around mile 13. I had half to go and felt the panic set in. Luckily some TLC involving paper towels and clipping the iPod in a more covered spot helped revive it, or I just might have dropped out!
Anyway, the sound of my feet hitting the ground is boring, boring, boring, so I have to drown it out. Thanks for the tips for new downloads – I love new ways to spice up a run! I’m totally embarrassed by about half of the music I run to, but life is all about guilty pleasures!
Thanks Heather! Let me know if you find anything you like in these suggestions! I don’t think there’s any LUDACRIS in any of the mixes, but I could be wrong. 🙂 And I’m always up for new running tunes, guilty pleasure or otherwise.