Taco Tunesday – Livestrong Marathon Playlist

No taco run this morning.  I can hardly even stand up!  But there will definitely be some breakfast tacos anyway…..!

Yesterday I wrote about the first half of my third marathon, and I plan to follow up with the second half this morning so hang tight!  First, I wanted to share some of the songs that got me through some pivotal points in the marathon.

I’ve written that sometimes I don’t use music and sometimes I do.  I chose to run the marathon with music, not knowing if Erin would be with me the entire time, and recognizing I’d probably need some lyrical pushes throughout the 26.2 miles.

I really enjoyed having musical company and I think my fellow runners really enjoyed when I felt inspired enough to belt out a chorus or fist pump and even raise the roof sometimes.  Anything to keep moving!

Next to Me – Emeli Sande

Where did this chick come from?!  I’m not sure how I stumbled across this tune on iTunes but I love it.  She’s got a great voice and the drums were a perfect pace setter.  Definitely threw a few fist pumps on this one 🙂

Battle Scars – Lupe Fiasco ft. Guy Sebastian

Perfect cadence for moving up the hills.  Quick, small steps.  Powerful back beat for powerful legs (hopefully anyway 😉 ).

These battle scars don’t look like they’re fadin’…..A tribute to those with cancer scars – wear ’em proud!

Lover of the Light – Mumford and Suns

So watch me as I glide….Perfect for a happy beat to remind me that I’m out here for fun, gliding along.

Call me Maybe – Carly Rae Jepsen

Yep, I put this song on the playlist.  I hate this song.  But Pops suggested it and that I think of the Olympic swim team.  It was so effective at boosting my mood in the back miles I played it twice!  Don’t even wanna think about how much energy was lost dancing along…..

Hall of Fame – The Script ft. will.i.am

You can throw your hands up, you can beat the clock….That’s all I wanted.  Motivating song for sure.  Took some time to reflect on the runs that got me to the 26.2 – treadmills, long taco courses, Rogue 30k.

Restless Heart – Matt Hires

This was the free download last week, and turns out I really like it!  It’s a fun song.

Anything Could Happen – Ellie Goulding Flinch Remix

Erin suggested this one to me and I’m so glad she did.  Came up in the mix on the long straight Great Northern Road and gave some new energy to my pained legs.

Marching On – One Republic ft. Timbaland

So many hills we had to climb……but we kept slowly marching on.  Enough said.

Check some of those new tunes out – thanks everyone for the suggestions!  Keep an eye out for the second half of the race (for those tracking me, it’s proof I finished and didn’t fall down at mile 20!)

Taco Tunesday – Running Up That Hill

Good morning!  Despite a late night getting the apartment ready for our first houseguest today (best friend and basically my twin from high school), I was up at 5:30 to meet friends at the taco run.  I ran with Madeline most of the time at a pretty easy pace for the 7.3 miles.  We discussed cutting it short at the 4.5 mile bridge (her legs were tired from a long run Sunday, and I’m having gastrointestinal issues, probably related to some dairy I had over the weekend…) but pushed on to the 7.3.  We ultimately decided that we got up early and had already invested the 4 miles, what was 3 more?  And we were glad to have finished the long route 🙂

I also need to tell you about Sunday’s long run.  I met Madeline again, and Tiffany and Brandon to run the second half of the Livestrong Marathon Route.  I’m pretty familiar with the first half because I ran it last year and have done a few training runs on it this year.  However I wasn’t sure I had any familiarity with the second half, also rumored to be the hillier half.  So we organized a point to point 14.2 mile route to check out those hills.  There were definitely some rollers that were tough at 3 miles in, and will certainly be tough when they appear at 16ish miles…..but that’s all part of the challenge 🙂

Did them.

In honor of Sunday’s run, and the upcoming marathon (12 days…OMG!) today’s song is an appropriate hill anthem.  Aside from the lyrics, the music goes great with a steady-state hill climb kind of cadence.  Each beat just pushes you to the next step on the incline.

Running Up That Hill – Placebo.

I’d be running up that road, running up that hill, running up that building…

Happy Tuesday!  (Don’t forget those new and/or resolved resolutions!)

Taco Tunesday (that almost wasn’t!) – Anna Sun

I almost didn’t make it this morning!  A combination of restless night, a dehydration headache and a little bit of lazy almost kept me in bed.  But I knew I’d feel better if I went, plus I had a few people expecting me to be there (that always helps!).  Oh, and the tacos!

It’s warm here – was 72 when I left the apartment and plenty sticky but I’m hopeful there’s a cooldown in the near future…..or at least in 19 days for approximately four hours in the morning 😉  The run wasn’t too bad either (just as I knew would happen when we got started).  I opted for the long course of 7.3 miles and ended it with a pretty strong kick to the finish!  My knees were a little sore around mile 4 but calmed down eventually.  Feelin’ good (just need to drink a lot of water today)!

Anna Sun – Walk the Moon

This song popped up last night while I was preparing a presentation for class today.  I listened to the live KGSR radio studio version which I like a little bit better but the music video was fun to watch too!  It’s a great running song and the video makes me want to paint my face and dance around in a bright field of yellow (anyone else?!).

Have a great day y’all!