Taken with my crappy camera phone

Here's what Dave Grohl looks like rocking out.

My seats weren’t great and neither is my camera phone. So I’m borrowing a few shots taken by Ron, the @PunkRockRunner on twitter who does an awesome & hilarious blog called the Punk Rock Tri Guy. Those were taken someplace in California a couple months ago.

For the Love of Foo Fighters Running Playlist

Song title – Album title
1. All My Life – One By One
2. The Pretender – Echoes, Silence, Patience And Grace
3. Bridge Burning – Wasting Light
4. A Matter of Time – Wasting Light
5. Monkey Wrench – The Colour And The Shape
6. Come Back – One By One
7. No Way Back – In Your Honor
8. Good Grief – Foo Fighters
9. Next Year – There Is Nothing Left To Lose

The full list is available on Jog.fm here:
http://jog.fm/_pdzr
Ignore the pace per mile on jog.fm. Runners striving for efficient leg turnover can comfortably maintain the high tempos at any pace. Read more about it in my article on 180 bpm Cadence. The problem with trying to put together a playlist based on one band is that many of their best songs do not conform to this cadence. So, I made exception to my usual standard of nothing lower than 175 bpm (or 88 bpm) but was able to keep it mostly above 170 bpm and still get some great songs in.

The workout the playlist inspired was a tempo run. Meaning, rather than doing speed intervals and rests the idea is to try to run at a comfortably hard pace for the whole duration of the playlist. Since the first song had a slower tempo I used it as my warm-up and the last song has a slower feel so that was my cool down. Ideally you want to progressively increase your speed as you go, but all runners know that is very difficult. I imagined Dave and the Foo Fighters rocking for 3 hours and not slacking on the energy level from start to finish and it really got me going.

6 Minute Reps Behind Brian Eno

A lot of my speed intervals lately have been relatively short, so today I wanted to do something that sustained the speed a bit longer. Therefore I put roughly 6 min of songs for the “speed” intervals with a song in between as rest.

You can find the complete playlist on jog.fm
http://jog.fm/users/lady_southpaw/workout-playlists/6-min-repeats

1. “Lost Souls” by the Doves
I love this Brit Rock band. They are post Oasis, Radiohead contemporaries and their songs tend to be equally depressing and anthemic. This is intended to be the warm-up so take it easy in all of it melancholic glory. The bpm clocks in at 92 so keep the form and stride very tight and short. I started off at a 6.0 on the treadmill and cranked it up to a 6.7 (9 min mile pace) when I started feeling warmed up.

2. “Brian Eno” by MGMT
This was a new addition to my running roster and a new favorite! It’s very even and comfortable for keeping a nice even pace. This is still part of the warm-up and I kept this at a consistent 9 min mile pace.

3. “The Distance” by Cake
Now the speed begins! This is a running music classic. It’s a perfect tempo at 90 (which easily doubles under your feet to 180.) Jog.fm has it as 91, but that 1bpm really doesn’t make a noticeable difference. The theme behind the song is also great. I did this one at a 8:13 min/mile pace (7.3) today. I was going for more of a “tempo” run. I would recommend cranking it up to whatever feels “comfortably hard.”

4. “No Way Back” by the Foo Fighters
I’m getting amped up about the Foo Fighters coming to Madison Square Garden soon. They make some awesome music for working out. I pumped this up to an 8 min/mile pace (7.5)

5. “Scar Tissue” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
This is the first “rest” song. I took it down to 6.0 and then back up to 6.7 as I recovered. I have this one on my iTunes, unfortunately Rhapsody doesn’t have Chili Peppers (one of the few major label hold-outs) so if you’re streaming you may need to substitute something else here.

6. “Black Math” by the White Stripes
The White Stripes kick off the second speed interval. Jog.fm has this song at 176 bpm but it feels pretty close to 180 to me. There are a few slightly irregular but overall it’s a great rocking song for some speed.

7. “American Idiot” by Green Day
This is one of my favorite songs for cranking up the speed. I ran the 8:13 min pace for “Black Math” then when I got to American idiot I cranked it up to an 8 min pace, 7.5 on the treadmill and then up again to 7.7, a 7:50 min pace, before the end of the song.

8. “Hurt Like Mine” by Black Keys
The Black Keys have been blowing up the last couple years. I saw them at Bonnaroo last spring and they were fantastic. This is my first attempt at fitting them into a playlist. This song is nice for a cool rest.

9. “Pinhead” by the Ramones
I’ve been obsessed with the Ramones lately, this is the first song in my Ramones block. Since the songs are short, I could fit 3 songs into a 6-ish min rep. I decided to up the anti and start on 7.5, the 8 min pace.

10. “Cretin Hop” by the Ramones
Both “Pinhead” and “Cretin Hop” have counting sections within the songs. These are fun points to really sync up and get your steps right on beat. I pumped this up to a 7.8, a 7:42 pace.

11. “Judy is a Punk” by the Ramones
By the end of the “Cretin Hop” I seriously considered taking a break because I was pushing a bit too hard. However, when Judy came on I decided to push through it, I even managed to increase it to my original plan on ending on 8.0, a 7:30 min/mile pace. As soon as this 1 minute 33 second song came to an end I was cooked! I had to bring it down to a walk and get a heart rate before continuing to the cool down. *Note this song is not 108 bpm as it appears in the jog.fm playlist. I tapped it out to a perfect 90/180 bpm.

12. “Cloudy” by Simon and Garfunkle
This is an old favorite song. When I was analyzing my iTunes library I was surprised to find it at a 92 bpm tempo. It is perfect to chill out as a cool down song.

According to my treadmill I did 4.5 mile in 39:30. However, who knows how accurate treadmills really are. I included my paces more as a guide to changes in effort level. Take all actual numbers with a grain of salt, this workout can be done at any pace by adjusting the pace faster or slower. The tempo of the songs is good for synchronizing steps which stay the same regardless of pace. Ignore the paces on Jog.fm. According to their data you should be at around a 7 min pace to run 90 bpm, but this is just not true. You can run 180 bpm at a slow pace, it just means your stride will be very short.

The New York Road Runners’ Entertainment Website for the marathon went live with a guide to all 130 bands, the most ever, and where they will be located.

Check it out at: http://entertainment.ingnycmarathon.org/

Our band will be located between miles 11 and 12 on Bedford Ave and North 10th street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. If you want to stop by and cheer the runners the band will be playing between approximately 10 am and 2 pm.

If you’re running the race be sure to wave and show us some love!

The Lady Southpaw Band will be on Bedford Ave and North 10th St

If you are looking to refresh your old playlists or make long run, marathon or half marathon race playlists this will be a good resource for finding new running music.

I’m starting by posting songs in my and my boyfriend’s iTunes libraries but I will be adding to the lists frequently so rather than list them all in the blog post check by clicking the links to see what’s new.

These Running Songs:

1. Are at or around a 180 bpm cadence or tempo. Some of them maybe a little over or a little under but they are all in the neighborhood.
2. Have a rhythm and driving force that makes for great running music.
3. Have been tested and approved by Lady Southpaw
4. Tend to have a rock aesthetic… that’s just what I like! Hip hop and electronica are also really good for running and I have incorporated a few different genres but this list will be best for people looking for rock and roll running playlists.

How This Running Playlist was Created

My boyfriend and I each have thousands and thousands of songs on our computers. I ran a cadence app over all of them to find out which ones were either around 90 bpm or around 180 bpm. Then I tested all of those to make sure that the app was correct and to make sure the songs felt right for running. That left only 99 songs! Then thanks to various DRM and distribution restrictions not all of them could be posted. Good running music is not easy to come by. Thanks to new platforms allowing you to stream music I will be testing 1,000s more songs in the coming months and adding them as well.

The 180 bpm Running Song Archive

Rhapsody Running Songs

I confess, I am a pretty committed Rhapsody user and have been for nearly 5 years. As a result, a lot of the music I know I don’t actually own. So I already have lots of ideas of things to test. Rhapsody is my favorite of all the platforms because it’s the one I use the most so I’m the most comfortable finding my way around it. Still I was only able to get 80+ songs in my initial posting.

Rhapsody allows you to test and buy songs without being a member. It’s very ad heavy when you’re not a member but that goes away if you create an account. They offer a 30 day free trial which is well worth it, just make sure to cancel if you don’t want to become a member because they will charge your credit card. The price levels are $9.99 and $14.99 per month depending on how many mobile devices you want to activate. You get access to millions of songs without having to download anything to your computer meaning you can log in anywhere (that’s my favorite part!) It’s also really easy to use.

Link to 180 bpm Running Songs on Rhapsody

Spotify Running Songs

Spotify is the new kid on the block and I’m still kicking its tires. You can do a free version without any mobile devices. It is super integrated with Facebook, which is both convenient and a little annoying because almost everything you do gets posted to your profile. Although It is fun to stalk your friends’ publicly posted playlists. The thing I don’t like about it is that you have to download the software to your computer in order to use it, which makes it harder to stream from your work computer for example. Although because of that you can incorporate the music on your hard drive so I was able to post most of the songs from my iTunes playlist. I’m not sure if other people stream the ones only available on my hard drive or not, I would guess not. It doesn’t seem “cloudy” enough. Also, non-members would have to create an account and download the software to test any of them. That’s good for business and annoying for people.

Link to 180 bpm Running Songs on Spotify

iTunes Running Songs

Then there is the classic iTunes. Sadly, I was only able to post 45 of the songs on my playlist thanks to DRM and their availability in the iTunes Store! The other big downer is that they now require you to publish playlists through Ping, their horrific social network. I’m pretty sure Steve Jobs was not very involved in the user experience of this network because it does not hold up to Apple’s standards of elegant design, ease of use or function. I find it frustrating, not the least because it doesn’t make that many songs available for playlists.

Link to 180 bpm Running Songs on iTunes

Google Music is in Beta right now, and I’m itching to test that! Hopefully there will be a Google version of the playlist soon.

Logistics

Overall they left a great impression. I had a fun day. As an inaugural event there are probably some things they need to work through, as it is a new distance for them in a new city.

For a 10K it had a pretty steep registration price, but the earlier you entered the lower it was, plus they ran a few early bird promotions so register early. For the most part it was very organized and clear what you were supposed to do and where you were supposed to go. The moments that were overwhelming were times everyone had to do something at once like pick up numbers. The “Super Runner Shop” near Time Square had a line down the block for pick-up and I had a friend who said they had run out of shirts by the time she got there. The shirt/bag pick-up line at the post race festival stretched across the entire grounds.

The worst was “gear check.” As I approached the pick-up after the race it looked like everything was under control. It was the standard tactic of different trucks designated by runner’s last name carrying bags from the start to the finish line. Unfortunately as more people showed up it was clear that it was actually a complete shit show. They had basically piled the bags in the back in no discernible order, and 9 out of 10 bags were the ones given to us by race so they couldn’t be easily identified from far away. It seems clear now that they should have organized the bags within the truck so that the volunteers could easily find the bag when the participant came to retrieve it. Hopefully they also came to this conclusion.

Nike tried to pull off a similar race in Prospect Park in 2009 and their bag check situation went even more poorly.

The t-shirt for the RnR event is pretty decent. It is a black tech shirt with the Manhattan bridge. They came in all men’s sizes so they’re huge but at least it’s not white so I’ll probably wear it. The medal is a huge chunk of hardware with sparkles! That I like, although I feel like I hardly earned it for a 10K.

A++ for the porta johns. It’s very rare to have a race in NY where you don’t have to wait in line at least 5 min to pee before a race!

My Race

The race itself went all right for me. I didn’t do it with any visions of glory. I haven’t been racing much this year so a PR did not seem to be in my destiny. Also I stuck my phone in the back pocket of my tights and I was afraid it was going to fly out as soon as I started running. I pulled over by a porta john and used a safety pin to close it and while I was there I used the john. Anyway, that’s my other excuse for not running a super fast race, but whatever that wasn’t really my objective. I felt good at the end of it. It was a 55:31, 8:57 pace. I would’ve liked to have been closer to a 8 min pace but if I deducted the time from my stop I was probably running more in the 8:40s.

The Rock ‘N’ Roll

Anyway, let’s get down to the real business. The music. That’s why I was there. They played a canned version of the national anthem, which I was surprised by. People pretty much talked through it and ignored it. I’ve never seen that before. There’s usually some poor soul out there singing it a cappella. I like that better because you definitely feel the impact more. In NYC there are probably thousands of singers, they couldn’t find one to do the national anthem?

The announcers were ladies. That, I liked. It made me realize how male dominated that role is in New York because it’s almost always a man. For the on course music it was all DJs. I was a bit disappointed by that as soon as I saw it. I wanted live bands! I guess since it’s a much smaller race it was probably easier to book DJs. None of the descriptions sited them as having much running or sporting event experience.

The DJs were OK. I noticed going up the north hill that the DJ had a metronome going so I was very curious what guidance they were given as far as tempo and what he was trying for. Nothing felt horribly off. There was one song a couple miles from the end of the race that I felt like was bringing me down but I didn’t recognize it. That was probably the toughest part of the race, right after the second north hill loop before the end really felt near. Whatever went there would have to be really good to have a positive impact. I was glad they didn’t play all club music. There was a pretty good mix of things. I tapped out a few of the songs for tempo that I could remember when I got home. Some of them were off the 180 bpm cadence, but nothing felt too terrible at the time so maybe the DJs could speed them up a bit.

There was one band afterwards, The Postelles. I liked them; they were fun. It seemed like a pretty tough gig since they didn’t have a lot of name recognition despite the fact they’re a local band. Probably only a few dozen runners gathered around to check them out. They made sure to let us know they were based in NYC but quick to note they were Manhattanites. This was after Marty Markowitz proclaimed that Brooklyn was named the coolest city on the planet in GQ Magazine at the start of the race. They also referred to the race as a marathon at one point which I found a bit irritating.

So, Competitor Network (the company that organizes this series), this is why I think the Lady Southpaw band would be fabulous playing at this event next year. The content of our music is specific to running. The Postelles played a song about running red lights and that got one of the biggest response because the chorus was all about “running.” Also, we throw in a ton of covers so there will be songs people recognize. If you get a big name for the after party next year we’d be happy to open for them, or play on the course. Anyway, I just had to throw that in there.

Great day! It was nice to run into some friends and the weather was perfect!

Check out the new site:

The home page is www.ladysouthpaw.com

About -
Read about the origin of “Lady Southpaw” and the band

Events –
This page will be updated with events as they come. Right now we are ramping up to play alongside the New York City Marathon course. Look for a blog post on that soon!

Running Music –
This is an article about the concept of “Running Music.” It is something I’m really passionate about. Running music isn’t be just any music you’ve got on your iPod anymore. It has the potential to really tap into your brain and enhance your whole experience if you choose it wisely.

180 bpm Cadence –
Following some of the more artistic and philosophical reasoning behind running music, this article on cadence is more about the functional aspects and how training with properly timed music can actually affect your running biomechanics.

Songs for Running –
This is a quick description of my EP available on iTunes, Amazon, Napster, emusic, Rhapsody and Spotify.

Strides –
This page describes the full strides workout I did in collaboration with Jonathan Jones on HellaSound.com

Running Rocks Blog –
Going forward this will be an archive of the new blog. Welcome to the introductory post. The old version on the blog can be found on blogspot.

Soon, I will be previewing events, song releases, and sharing relevant running music news including race reports and music reviews from a runner’s perspective.

A new exciting feature of the blog will be an archive of running approved songs and playlists. I will be posting what I have so far from my personal iTunes library for running and building from there. I will also be sharing my playlists with built-in workouts. This should be a useful feature for runners who are always on the search for new music to listen to.

Check back soon and let me know if there are particular songs you want me to review or include!