"hit the ground runnin'"

So today was the 20k I'd mentioned earlier. Overall it went fine. The good news is that a few days before the race, they loosened up their no headphone policy. Rather than being "prohibited," they were "strongly discouraged." Score! I will say that this race confirmed my initial thoughts on the headphone ban at races. At an appropriate volume level, it isn't going to cause any problems. And when I came upon people with megaphones, I took off an earphone. It's really pretty simple.

I meant to make a playlist for the occasion, but what time I would have devoted to that has been going into another dance mix (which is pretty hot, I might add). But here were my 'of-the-moment' choices:



It was early, and I wasn't quite in the mood for anything too heavy just yet. I do enjoy running with Common - he's quite a motivational fellow. I would rather have listened to Be, but I just spun that the other day. Finding Forever is still great anyhow (and coincidentally what I listened to on my first (and thusfar only) 10k last year).




Okay, so after Common I **was** ready for something in-your-face. Raw Power is potentially my favorite Stooges album (though it's always a tossup with Funhouse), and also makes me feel like I can destroy the world. It did the trick. Towards the end of the album was when I started to feel the strain. Hearing "Death Trip" at that moment was slightly ironic.

After that I needed a pick-me-up. I was starting to feel it physically and emotionally. So I just went to my fallback "make Gonzo happy" song:



After that, my thoughts were "What do I need to take me to the finish?" After a minute's thought, the answer became obvious:



And only some very specific songs - "And the Cradle Will Rock," "Everybody Wants Some" (twice) and this one, also twice, which is perhaps my favorite VH song for running:



I don't think I could have done it without music.