Workout Remix

Lent has arrived. Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, and boy was that the truth. Holy moly. One and a half paczki and three cookies later, here I sit displaying my Catholicism via ashes on my forehead. Feelin’ good.

Speaking of eating more sweets than my body can handle, I believe I promised a workout playlist last week. Keep in mind that these are songs that keep me pumped up as I run, and I understand that some of them will seem weird. However, I urge you to give them a chance.

Before I dive straight into that, I’ll share a little more about my life. This morning was excellent. I woke up at 6:00 a.m., and I got ready to walk to the train station to meet with Mary Ellen, a staff person and friend from Interfaith Youth Core. She speaks Italian wonderfully, and we both wanted to brush up and converse—so we did! We met at the French Market downtown, it was a delightful time. My Italian-speaking has gotten so rusty. Yikes. In any case, it was a lovely way to start the day. If anyone around Dominican wanted to speak Italian, I would love it. After this morning, I discovered that I need to speak it more often.

Okay, now for the playlist…

Arcade Fire-Ready to Start
This is a great song to begin your workout. Not only does it pump me up with its melodies, but the lyrics literally beckon me to start, as well. How can you beat it?

Beyonce-Countdown
This little number is still in the realm of normalcy. This is right when I finish warming up, and I need to amp up the intensity. It has a nice pulse to move to, and it sounds so fierce!

Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers – Why do Fools Fall in Love
Okay, we have no left the realm of normalcy. I would have never thought that this would be good to run to, but one day it just popped up on my iPod, and I gotta tell ya—I didn’t hate it. It’s fun, it’s energetic and it’s something different. It makes running seem like a pleasure (which, for some, it might be anyways).

M83 – Midnight City
Change of pace from the last tune. Yes, this is a song used in a Victoria’s Secret commercial. It is nonetheless catchy in its own unique way, though. I think this is another one with a nice pulse.

Britney Spears – Trip to Your Heart
What? You listen to Britney Spears, Hannah?! Absolutely, I do. This is the song I play when I start to become annoyed with the fact that I’m still moving, and it’s becoming monotonous. I need something to inspire me. This does the trick. It makes me up my speed every time.

St. Vincent – Cruel
I don’t know how many people would dig this, but I love this girl. This song has a great beat, and it’s musically interesting, it helps me shift my attention from the fact that, at this point, I’m probably starting to lose steam.

Robyn – Call Your Girlfriend
This is the song that milks one last push before I start thinking about winding down. About this time, I’ve been on the ol’ treadmill or hittin’ the ol’ asphalt for about 25 minutes or so. This helps me push through to the end. Also, the music video I’ve linked is funny. During a late night writing session, a writer for SNL mimicked Robyn’s dance moves in her video, and there’s a split screen comparison. Pretty funny.

The Shins – New Slang
All right, the workout is winding down. I’m still jogging, but slower. I’m starting to run through my post-workout schedule in my head as my session comes to a close.

The Middle East – Blood
The time has come. I lightly jog for part of this song, then slow it down to a brisk walk on the last part. My workout has come to a close.

About these ads