10K Playlist

I am one of those runners.
You know, the ones with the headphones. The ones who are not taken seriously because they listen to music while running by the other, more serious, non-headphoned runners.

At the start of the Atlanta marathon last year, while I stretched pre-race in front of the sole heater, I received a great deal of marathon advice from 2 very enthusiastic Atlanta marathon veterans. One had never broken 4 hours at Atlanta and this was his 5th Atlanta and 15th marathon. The other was a 30+ marathoner who regularly ran a 3:30 marathon. So one faster and one slower but both more experienced and older than me.

They queried me about my rhinestone sunglasses, training regime, mileage, taper, injuries, experience, times etc etc. And then warned me to just "hope for finishing" and scrap the 4 hour goal. They cautioned me that I should be worried if I see the cone guy.
"It's all over if you see him," one said.
"Try to catch a ride with him and just go home and enjoy your turkey," the other added.
Finishing, they concurred, should be my only goal--nothing else.

I was feeling pretty confident about the race til I started talking to them.

The banter was friendly til they spied my ipod. They both recoiled, rolled their eyes and then one of them said to me, quite smugly, that "listening to music while you run gives you a false sense of pace."

Huh?
Whatever the fuck that means. I am still trying to figure that one out. I mean after the race-- when all is run and done-- your pace is whatever your pace was. Who cares if you thought you were going faster than you really were?

At any rate, I responded with: "Sense of pace, sense of smace--All I know is that I did a 21 mile training run without my tunes and then the following week did the same run again with my tunes and ran it 30 minutes faster. Your pace is your pace. And mine is faster with music."

With that I left for the start. I lost the slower one around the first mile and never saw him again. The 3:30 guy I had in my sight til around the half point and then I didn't seem him again til the finish. He did a 3:30, I did a 4:08. Not too bad for a first marathon-- or for having a false sense of pace.

And now, I no longer have to worry about having a false sense of pace. I have a new running partner. He is sexy as hell and fits firmly on my wrist. Actually, he takes up my whole wrist and covers half of my forearm. His name is Garmin, Garmin Forerunner 201 and he motivates the hell out of me and pisses me off all at the same time. Like any good, lover, er,I mean, running partner should.

So, at the Peachtree next Tuesday I will be the uberwired girl in the red hot shorts and blue visor with her ipod strapped firmly on her bicep, her lover on her wrist and her celly on her hip.

And this is the music that will hopefully take me over those 6 hot and hilly miles at a sub 8 minute pace:

Two Step by Dave Matthews
Blue Monday by New Order
Save it For Later by English Beat
Where You Come From by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Starry Eyed Surprise by Paul Oakenfeld
The Body of an American by The Pogues
Jump Around by House of Pain
Sleep Now in the Fire by Rage Against the Machine
Where's Your Head At by Basment Jaxx
Hung Up by Madonna
The Sikbed of Cuchulainn by The Pogues

The playlist is optimistically 47 minutes flat. The goal here is to beat the list, you know, since I am obviously not going to beat the Kenyans-- or anyone else for that matter. Gotta compete against something. I mean it is a race afterall.

If anyone else wants to post their favorite running playlist or also have one for the Peachtree I'd love to hear it.