wnyc.org / 93.9fm / am 820

I make mixes for my own runs, and also for yoga strength training classes. If you are looking for 1 hour sets in the 126-130 bpm range, you can check out my Facebook page (Alex Jarvis in Minneapolis) or soundcloud.com (alexjarvis). I put up a new one every week. If you want custom ones, I can do those too. Just send me a note. I have to advise, I work exclusively with techno and house music.

When I exercise, whether at the gymnasium or when I run around the Cemetery near my home, I find the accompaniment of high pounding African music a source of motivation, I similarly use Hip Hop and Jamaican dancehall/reggae good for running or “dancing” in the street (sidewalks)

I think there is research to support the benefits imbued in adding music to exercise routines… I actually have so much fun, listening to favorite dance music while in the gym or running. The only challenge is keeping the headphones in the ears continuously during the run, particularly after getting moist/wet ears from the perspirations/sweats. I have tried different contraptions to hold my headphones in ear plugged position and it is an impossibility, with almost every manufacturer of headphone product.

I just spent more than $300 on different earphones… Bose, Sony, Etymotic etc and Etymotic is best comparatively, as it has deep in the ear plastic filter insertion... Made in Chicago.

All said, I have lost lots of pounds, motivated, encouraged and inspired by my African music exercise favorite inside iPod… God bless Apple for iPods!

Paul I. Adujie
Most sincerely,
New York, United States

I have mixed feelings about running with an iPod. I am all for it if that means getting more people moving and off the couch. In this day in age when everyone is into technology, gadgets and being connected, it's a great tool to get beginners out there.

However, I have a rule. I only wear one earbud so that I can still hear people, traffic and birds. It's not super loud. I only wear it if I'm running alone and I'm in the mood for music or a podcast. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the peace and quiet of a meditative mind.

During a group run, it is rude to wear the earbuds unless you all agree it's okay. During a marathon, I do not turn it on until mile 22 and it is a tool I use to get me to the finish line if needed (I've run 39 marathons). Some people definitely do not practice safe iPod running. They have earbuds on both ears and blast it.

Music is not the only thing I listed to when I am running. There are some great podcasts out there. My favorite is www.steverunner.com We need to have a happy medium where we can have the best of both worlds. Practice safe running!

I have mixed feelings about running with an iPod. I am all for it if that means getting more people moving and off the couch. In this day in age when everyone is into technology, gadgets and being connected, it's a great tool to get beginners out there.

However, I have a rule. I only wear one earbud so that I can still hear people, traffic and birds. It's not super loud. I only wear it if I'm running alone and I'm in the mood for music or a podcast. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the peace and quiet of a meditative mind.

During a group run, it is rude to wear the earbuds unless you all agree it's okay. During a marathon, I do not turn it on until mile 22 and it is a tool I use to get me to the finish line if needed (I've run 39 marathons). Some people definitely do not practice safe iPod running. They have earbuds on both ears and blast it.

Music is not the only thing I listed to when I am running. There are some great podcasts out there. My favorite is www.steverunner.com We need to have a happy medium where we can have the best of both worlds. Practice safe running!

When I run to music, it's usually melodic punk and hardcore. Especially Bad Religion, Pennywise, and No Use For A Name. I never get tired of running to the same music, and a playlist of 5 or 6 songs usually is set to repeat.

Almost as important as the beats per minute is a happy tune. The Strokes and that exercise-minded band They Might Be Giants make it to my playlist quite often.

As for the headphone ban during races, I think it should be individual preference. Just like you shouldn't have to protect people who want to walk into traffic while talking on a cell phone. I choose to enjoy the event of the day without the distraction of my music.

My husband and I run five miles regularly for health and for fun. We don't use headphones. We use our minds. I use reggae songs with regular and steady beats. Depending on how I'm doing I speed up or slow down the tunes in my mind. It works great for me. It would be interesting to see if it would continue to work for longer distances.

... and it is emblematic of how so many members of our society need to be constantly "entertained." God-forbid they are left to their own thoughts for a half-hour or more...

I don't run with headphones. I like to hear what's going on around me. I notice that the other runners with headphones are not as likely to acknowledge a friendly wave from a fellow runner.

Im a 21 year veteran of the NYC Marathon. I would like to add my $2 worth. I tried running with my i pod in training and find it completely distracting and disengaging from what I am attempting to be doing at hand. Embrace the pain, embrace the runners high. The i phone and i pod only attempt to do what we are all trying to do of late: namely to forget what we are doing at the moment via unnecessary distractions. I know this sounds awfully Zen like but for me I run to challenge myself, my body and my mind. All an I phone will do will be to impoverish that experience. Leave them home. Embrace the smog, enjoy the pain and when it comes time for the marathon itself cheer on the fans as they cheer you on.
Go NYC.

I was running while most of your guests were still riding in their baby carriages

As I listen to your show I am updating my itunes podlist for my treadmill workout. I walk now rather than run, but for me ... I am still in the race!!!

BPM isn't as important to me as content..I have special mixes for trail running and night running. For trails, Nick Cave seems to work and for night, Bruce Springsteen. Good artists for all around are Red Hot Chili Peppers (esp Venice Queen, Snow, and Other Side) and Garbage (esp. Push it, Vow, and Number 1 Crush). Both RHCP and Garbage capture the pleasure of pain that works for running songs.

I'm no runner..
but the one winter morning I did run a few miles..a few years ago..the song In Particular by blond redhead was on as I was shooting across Prospect park with a cold wind blasting at me.

I never understood how people run to music. Seems to me, that way too often, the beat is either too slow or too fast.

Besides that, there is another unrelated reason not to listen to music when running. For me, running is a chance to be in my own mind -- a form of mediation. A time to just to get away from the artificial sensory input.

I enjoy watching the world go by and listening to the ambient sounds.

Which is why, I guess, that I detest the gyms. Too much noise, too much light, too much input and just too much.

Dropkick Murphy's without a doubt. The intensity of their music translates well when running.

Dropkick Murphy's without a doubt. The intensity of their music translates well when running.

Ironically, the best playlists are still "albums". Any album by DOVES is great for slow or fast runs. Dark Side of the Moon is great for long runs. It's always useful to throw on a CLASH or Red Hot Chili Peppers song when you're feeling tired (mentally or physically) during a run.

I also listen to Bernard Hermann
"soundtracks" on long runs.

One other thought on NOT using an iPod: Sing to yourself. I sing loops of "Born to Run" and "Thunder Road" to myself. Works like a charm to distract and motivate me. When I get tired of singing, I recite the Gettysburg Address.

Daft Punk is awesome for working out and running.

When I used to run cross country years ago, one of my partners and I used to sing I want a hippopotamus for christmas which always got us over our wall.

This morning I was walking in front of a group of teenagers in the park for a workout, they were walking and preparing to start jogging, one observed that they needed a bit of inspiration so, they started singing "The Final Countdown" I wonder about groups of people listening to the same music while running, or singing?

My wife has recently started running. Her band of choice is AC/DC.

I created a playlist (see below) when I first got started training. I chose songs with motivating messages or fun beats. Then I realized I wasn't getting the full mental benefit--the zone out--if I was listening to music.

More to the point: you don't listen to music during races. I've done a couple of marathons and half marathons. You've got to learn to keep yourself company and keep your head together. That said, my first marathon at the 20-mile mark, someone was blaring Journey's Don't Stop Believing. It was the right song at the right time.

U.N.I.T.Y. (There's nothing like Queen Latifah: "Who you calling a bitch?")
Soldier's Dance
Ladies First
I Will Survive
Higher Ground
I Am Woman
Ain't Nobody
You Can Get it If You Really Want
Boogie Wonderland
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
One Love/Get Ready
You Sexy Thing
Cast Your Fate to the Wind
Stop Your Fussin'
Because You're Beautiful
Love's Glory (stretching to Patti Scialfa)

You can create a Smart Playlist in Itunes that filters the BPM. No need for another program.

It is critically important to know that doing aerobic exercise with music playing in your ears can cause serious and permanent hearing loss. This is because "aerobic activites force the body to divert blood from the ears to the legs, arm and heart. This abnormal blood flow makes the hair cells in the cochlea more vulnerable to loud music." (from THE POWER OF SOUND by Joshua Leeds, p. 130). Music can be incredibly helpful in exercising, but it must be at a low enough volume to avoid hearing loss, and the headphones have to be of a type that allow safe listening. Hearing loss can also be an issue in clubs, where a nationwide survey found "noise levels in 60% of those clubs to exceed 110 decibels, or the equivalent of a chain saw." (Id.)

Personally, I find running to music too "distracting". Maybe it's just me but when I'm out running it's one of few times I can focus on myself, as well as take in the unfiltered world around me.

Music while running gives the workout a surreal effect. I suppose for some that's the point, but I enjoy the rhythm of my feet hitting the road.

Finally, there's the safety and anti-social issues. I just don't see how 30 - 90+ minutes without an iPod is expecting too much. What's the point of going out in public only to put yourself in a bubble?

Robert [8] -- We'll be talking about racing rules about headphones in a moment (and related safety issues.) Does anyone else run "sans headphones"? Why?

In the rural areas we have lawn mowing mixes. My favorite is Barbra Streisand's "Don't Rain on My Parade". It gets me pumped and the lawn cut.

Best “playlist” is giving up headphones entirely, which I did after a terrifying, close call with a fast-moving car in Prospect Park because I wasn’t paying attention. They can kill you. Really. Pay attention to the world, runners. Listen to your body, the birds, and your own thoughts. Not only is it safer, you will run better, too.

My playlist has a couple hundred songs on it, and I just put it on random play, so that I don't get sick of hearing the same ones over and over. At the same time, I have had a Pavlovian response when I hear one of my "running" songs at home or at a friend's house or something, and my body brain starts telling my body that I should be running!

I use different tempos for speed workouts (tempo runs and fartleks) and consistant tempos for long slow runs. But two songs make the all star roster - "No one said it would be easy" by Cloud Cult and "Keep runnin' up that hill" by Deerhoof.
Cheesy? - maybe. Apt? - indubitably!

Hey folks -- I'll be reading your comments during the show today. JTA from Brooklyn [3] makes a good point: How do you cultivate a road-ready playlist that can be played repeatedly ... BUT not get sick of it? How long before you retire a good running song?

I like changing the mood in my running mix. When the style of music changes, it serves as a new source of motivation. I also am borderless about the styles of music for the running mix: fast bluegrass numbers mixed with Iron Maiden (Run to the Hills!), Metallica, Britney Spears, Ministry, Justin Timberlake, Scissor Sisters, Skinny Puppy...it's all working for me!

The Strokes is still the perfect running music. It's got a steady energy but is never too over-hyped. Also - and this is a key criteria - they're not good enough that I would care about getting sick of them and ruining the music by working out to it.

Mort from TiBeCa knows what he's talking about. Here are some others, all around 160 BPM: Take on Me, A Ha; This is A Song, Magic Numbers; Brother Lee, Citizen Cope; Whip It, Devo; Jigsaw Falling into Place, Radiohead; Sly, The Cat Empire; Campus and Walcott, both by Vampire Weekend; Sex on Fire, Kings of Leon.
But you should run to music ONLY on a track or treadmill, because running to music on the street is dangerous.
Steve

"Maniac" by Michael Sembello is the ultimate song for running, both in terms of BPM and lyrical content!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsJukf6_B4s