Old School, with a Kick: My New Running Playlist

One more exam done, which means just one more to go!  When I finished my test this morning, I was so excited I was practically vibrating.  I knew that I was going to have a hard time getting down to the business of studying, so per the plan I laid out yesterday, I went for a run.

It was not a great run, or even a good run.  It was one of those runs that just feels awkward the whole darn time, where you never feel like your legs find their stride, where you Just. Feel. Slo-o-o-w.  I started out by forgetting to turn on my Garmin, so I ran probably about a km without having it on.  Then, per the Jeff Galloway Disneyland Half Marathon training plan that I’m following (adapting is probably more accurate), I was supposed to run an easy warm up and then what the plan calls a “Magic Mile, ” which you’re supposed to try to beat the following week, and then again the following week, and so on.  (Note that the 30 min runs they list are supposed to be 45 min.)  I pushed a little hard, felt gross, and decided I’d better do a little walking.  I ended up running it in 12:52, which is INSANELY slow, even for me, but my heart rate was just so high during the whole run, there was really no running it any faster.  And, to top it all off, my knee was twinge-y at the end.

So those are the kinda disappointing parts of today’s run.  On the other hand, it was sunny, relatively warm (but not too warm), and I was loving my playlist.  For your listening pleasure, here it is, my “Old School, with a Kick” playlist:

You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon Jovi

Talk Dirty to Me – Poison

Here I Go Again – Whitesnake

Fishin’ in the Dark – The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

My Maria – Brooks & Dunn

Airplanes (feat. Hayley Williams of Paramore) – B.o.B

Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana

Devil Inside – INXS

Africa – Toto

Are You Gonna Go My Way – Lenny Kravitz

Hole Hearted – Extreme

Hot Tottie (feat. Jay-Z) – Usher

Desire – U2

Kickstart My Heart – Mötley Crüe

The “old school” part is pretty obvious, but the “kick” part of the title refers to the fact that every few songs is one with a rhythm of 90bpm, which is aimed at keeping my stride rate right around the “ideal” 180 per minute.  Every song on this list is on here because it has some sort of pleasant memory associated with it.  Smells like Teen Spirit = staying out late with friends and partying in high school.  My Maria = dating my (now) husband and hanging out.  Desire = hanging out in my room, reading, listening to music as a teen.  Africa = enjoying some barbecued sausages, chatting with a friend of ours about how he had attended a Toto concert in South Africa, while we were sitting outside our rented cabin in Kruger National Park, listening to the lions on the other side of the electrified fence.  You get the idea.

Kruger National Park, circa 2003. My husband and I are in the middle.

Now that I’ve taken a short stroll down memory lane, I guess it’s time to get to what I’ve been trying to avoid, which is studying.

Do you have any favourite songs that always bring up good memories when you hear them?