A Mix to Get Motivated

It’s almost Tuesday and that means it’s time for one of my favorite link-ups! As you may or may not know, Jen at My Skewed View hosts Twisted MixTape Tuesday encouraging you to bring out your inner DJ and share your playlists with the world! Or, at the very least, the other link-ers.

Jen, you had me at hello! Loving music the way I do – this is the perfect thing for me to do on any given Tuesday.

This week’s theme is A Mix to Get Motivated. Whether it’s to workout, write or just get out of bed.

For me, I need to get motivated to work out again. You would never know it now, but I really used to LOVE working out. In Charlotte, I’d get up and drive 25 minutes to a 6AM Saturday class just because I loved it (the class) so much and I also ran regularly with a couple of friends, including many times before or after that class.

That’s not exactly the case anymore when I can’t even make it to my “formal living room” to hop on the treadmill in there. And clearly that room is not so formal, practical yes, but not formal.

So to motivate myself I’ve created a playlist of songs I can only listen to when I’m running/walking. If I listen to the playlist any other time, I feel guilty – because I know why I made it and what I’m not doing. Also, I don’t want to get sick of that playlist before I actually use it appropriately. No one can beat me at my own mind games, by the way!

So here goes, A Mix to Get Motivated:

Copperhead Road, Steve Earle

My warm up song. The first two minutes thirty seconds are a perfect walking (oh my goodness I doooonnnn’tttt want to do this) pace. Then when he kicks into gear I’m ready to run. The pace is perfect for my run and is a great way to start.

 

Church, T-Pain featuring Teddy Verseti

This is a weird song to follow-up Copperhead Road with but I cannot not run to it. It keeps me going fast (or faster than I would otherwise.) If you are sensitive to harsh language this song is not for you but there is an edited version available (the video here is edited.)

 

Wavin’ Flag, K’naan

This slows it down a little from T-Pain but it’s a good middle song with an easy pace.

 

Lose Yourself, Eminem

I can’t run to the beat of this song but, as with Wavin’ Flag, it’s great for the middle of a run when I need some push and because at this point in my run I’m probably as angry as Marshall is.

 

One Foot, Fun.

Kind of self explanatory, “put one foot in front of the other one, oh oh oh, I don’t need a new love or a new life, just a better place to die.” Because, let’s face it, if I’m running I’m pretty much feeling like I’m going to bite it at any given moment. And I don’t want to be ten miles blocks (who am I kidding) from home if I do. That’s motivation to get home if ever there was some.

 

Bonus song:

Jane Says (Live), Jane’s Addiction

This song is perfect for the start, end or middle of my run. I love it so much I could probably put it in 3 times to hear it at each point to get or keep me moving. The pace is perfect the whole way through the song. I always thought it was 9 minutes long, apparently because I was running it just felt that long, but its actually only 6 minutes. A really fabulous 6 minutes. Running or not.

 

What songs get you motivated? What’s your favorite song to run to? Do you match the pace or do you just go for upbeat? I’d love to hear what your choices are!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Stephanie