Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Lack of posts
Sorry-- next two albums coming soon. Just in the middle of moving and unpacking. It's a good thing.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Best Artists (To Run To)
I hesitate to name many full-length albums to run to--agree with Megan's comment that mixes are normally best--particularly after Chris outed the Killers' Hot Fuss. That being said, at the moment I've been listening to Kanye's latest, greatest, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. It would lose points in the important category of consistent beat despite beautifully...dark lulls, but if you don't mind skipping tracks (or just deleting the slow ones from your queue), it's fine.
In any event, among modern artists, Kanye has some good stuff to work with. I think Lady Gaga is probably the most consistent contemporary singer to run to. Other artists on my recent running playlist:
Blink-182
Arcade Fire
Daft Punk
Jay-Z
The Cars
Outkast
Led Zeppelin
The Ting Tings
Electric Light Orchestra
Michael Jackson
LCD Soundsystem
This site may be of interest while we're on this topic: http://jogtunes.com/
Best Album #3: The Killers, Hot Fuss
Okay kiddos, let's get started. My first "great" running album is Hot Fuss by the Killers. Here are the stats as taken from Wikipedia.
Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" Flowers, Stoermer 4:04
2. "Mr. Brightside" Flowers, Keuning 3:42
3. "Smile Like You Mean It" Flowers, Stoermer 3:54
4. "Somebody Told Me" Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer, Vannucci 3:17
5. "All These Things That I've Done" Flowers 5:01
6. "Andy, You're a Star" Flowers 3:14
7. "On Top" Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer, Vannucci 4:18
8. "Change Your Mind" Flowers, Keuning 3:11
9. "Believe Me Natalie" Flowers, Vannucci 5:05
10. "Midnight Show" Flowers, Stoermer 4:02
11. "Everything Will Be Alright" Flowers 5:45
Total time: 45:39 -- Perfect for a 4-5 mile run.
Lotta great songs on there. For starters, you have the radio hits: "somebody told me," and "smile like you mean it..." both which will really get your arms pumping and legs floating across the pavement. But my favorite running song on the album...despite a REALLY slow start...is "All these things that I've done," which has the bridge section of "I've got soul, but I"m not a soldier..." very fun tune and great beat once it picks up.
Da criteria:
1) Has GREAT first song to get you psyched to run
When you click play on the album, you'll get the siren like thing and the helicopter thumps-- you get pumped. Jenny WAS a friend of yours! SO GET GOING! Rating: A-
2) Good, consistent beats
Really, I don't think you have to skip a song because it's too slow... Rating B+
Not all songs sound the same
Nothing really to say here. I guess you can say the songs are a bit too similar, but there is some serious variation, too... Rating: B+
4) Walks the fine line of "I'm embarrassed to listen to this" and "I'm proud I'm rocking this"
It's no longer "cool" to like the Killers, but I still think they're a solid band. I'll give them an A- here.
5) Has many shifts in songs-- mini explosions of excitement
As previously noted, good amount of this. Rating A-
6) Can be listened to over and over...
Arguably the album's best asset. Tough to get tired of this sucker. Rating: A
7) Songs are not too long, not too short
Shortest song, 3:11 ; longest, 5:45. Great lengths. Rating: A
Sombody told me, that you wrote a blog post, that looked like a blog post, that I wrote in February of last year...IT'S NOT CONFIDENTIAL, I'VE GOT POTENTIAL!
Sigh.
Title Writer(s) Length
1. "Jenny Was a Friend of Mine" Flowers, Stoermer 4:04
2. "Mr. Brightside" Flowers, Keuning 3:42
3. "Smile Like You Mean It" Flowers, Stoermer 3:54
4. "Somebody Told Me" Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer, Vannucci 3:17
5. "All These Things That I've Done" Flowers 5:01
6. "Andy, You're a Star" Flowers 3:14
7. "On Top" Flowers, Keuning, Stoermer, Vannucci 4:18
8. "Change Your Mind" Flowers, Keuning 3:11
9. "Believe Me Natalie" Flowers, Vannucci 5:05
10. "Midnight Show" Flowers, Stoermer 4:02
11. "Everything Will Be Alright" Flowers 5:45
Total time: 45:39 -- Perfect for a 4-5 mile run.
Lotta great songs on there. For starters, you have the radio hits: "somebody told me," and "smile like you mean it..." both which will really get your arms pumping and legs floating across the pavement. But my favorite running song on the album...despite a REALLY slow start...is "All these things that I've done," which has the bridge section of "I've got soul, but I"m not a soldier..." very fun tune and great beat once it picks up.
Da criteria:
1) Has GREAT first song to get you psyched to run
When you click play on the album, you'll get the siren like thing and the helicopter thumps-- you get pumped. Jenny WAS a friend of yours! SO GET GOING! Rating: A-
2) Good, consistent beats
Really, I don't think you have to skip a song because it's too slow... Rating B+
Not all songs sound the same
Nothing really to say here. I guess you can say the songs are a bit too similar, but there is some serious variation, too... Rating: B+
4) Walks the fine line of "I'm embarrassed to listen to this" and "I'm proud I'm rocking this"
It's no longer "cool" to like the Killers, but I still think they're a solid band. I'll give them an A- here.
5) Has many shifts in songs-- mini explosions of excitement
As previously noted, good amount of this. Rating A-
6) Can be listened to over and over...
Arguably the album's best asset. Tough to get tired of this sucker. Rating: A
7) Songs are not too long, not too short
Shortest song, 3:11 ; longest, 5:45. Great lengths. Rating: A
Sombody told me, that you wrote a blog post, that looked like a blog post, that I wrote in February of last year...IT'S NOT CONFIDENTIAL, I'VE GOT POTENTIAL!
Sigh.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
The best albums of all time (to run to)
I'm hoping this will spark a bit of a debate. Running music is a bit of a polarizing topic, and given that I've been running to the sound of silence (and I don't mean simon and garfunkel) for the last few months, I am not as attached to it as some folks.
That said-- a good beat can be be the difference between a good and a bad run. And back when I was running longer distance (training for the 2006 Brooklyn Half Marathon), I noticed that songs were the most consistent way to get a "runner's high." Let's debate if those exist another time-- for now, they do. Deal with it.
I think the best running songs consistently have one thing: a beat that is in time with the landing of your feet-- and hopefully one that pushes you to run just a tid-bit faster.
But making a running mix is really overrated. You spend way too much time crafting it like you're putting on a party-- and then what? You get bored on listen 3. Eventually, you get lazy and start playing albums instead. Don't lie-- you've been there.
SO. I've decided to give you a top 3 "run-to" albums of all time (with commentary). Here are my criteria:
1) Has GREAT first song to get you psyched to run
2) Good, consistent beats
3) Not all songs sound the same
4) Walks the fine line of "I'm embarrassed to listen to this" and "I'm proud I'm rocking this"
5) Has many shifts in songs-- mini explosions of excitement
6) Can be listened to over and over...
7) Songs are not too long, not too short
Stay tuned for the first album tomorrow.
That said-- a good beat can be be the difference between a good and a bad run. And back when I was running longer distance (training for the 2006 Brooklyn Half Marathon), I noticed that songs were the most consistent way to get a "runner's high." Let's debate if those exist another time-- for now, they do. Deal with it.
I think the best running songs consistently have one thing: a beat that is in time with the landing of your feet-- and hopefully one that pushes you to run just a tid-bit faster.
But making a running mix is really overrated. You spend way too much time crafting it like you're putting on a party-- and then what? You get bored on listen 3. Eventually, you get lazy and start playing albums instead. Don't lie-- you've been there.
SO. I've decided to give you a top 3 "run-to" albums of all time (with commentary). Here are my criteria:
1) Has GREAT first song to get you psyched to run
2) Good, consistent beats
3) Not all songs sound the same
4) Walks the fine line of "I'm embarrassed to listen to this" and "I'm proud I'm rocking this"
5) Has many shifts in songs-- mini explosions of excitement
6) Can be listened to over and over...
7) Songs are not too long, not too short
Stay tuned for the first album tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Hello, Abridged Running History, Upcoming Posts
Good morning, folks. Chris, thanks for the...kind introduction. In terms of hand-eye coordination, my guess is Chris is more of a "natural" athlete than I am, but my long chicken legs do give me an advantage in distance running. We'll see how each of us does about a year from now.
The only thing more boring than training for a marathon has to be reading about training for a marathon, so I'll do my best to entertain over the coming months. For those who don't know me, I'm one of Chris's old college friends/running buddies. I moved to Washington, DC four months ago to attend graduate school after spending five years in New York.
One of the defining characteristics of my various homes over the past 10 years has been my running route. In college, there was the Charles River, which I always romanticized as the perfect spot. After graduation I spent a year in China, mostly in Beijing. While that city has many strengths, air quality is not among them. To keep up my running, I hit the dreaded treadmill in the glocal Bally's gym, accepting the near-constant ogling from curious Chinese gym rats/gym attendants who had apparently never seen someone run faster than 6 mph.
I then moved to New York a year and a half after having last run outside. I continued hitting the treadmill, paying $80/month for the privilege, until realizing the East River path was only a few blocks away. For the next few years, I dodged adventurous fishermen (do they eat those?), amateur tuba players, homeless people, and New School potheads on jogs through the dystopian Lower East Side industrial landscape. If they haven't filmed a climactic Batman battle scene there, they should. I wouldn't have gotten into these runs without a little help from friends Brian and Alex, the latter of whom most of you should know.
Today, I live in Kalorama Heights, Washington, DC, two blocks from Rock Creek Park. Man do I love this park. Beautiful rolling wooded paths hugging the Creek and cutting under grand bridges and arches. DC loses to New York in many categories, but not outdoor sports. The running and biking scenes here are legit.
So, that's the running path that has gotten me here. In upcoming posts I hope to share my thoughts on cold weather running, marathon motivation techniques, PEDs, and more. For now, it's time to study...
Chiropractic, Messenger Bags, and Running
Are they witch doctors? Maybe. I'm not sure. But I had been to the doctor multiple times for neck stiffness and pain, lower back pain, and rib pain on my right side...and nothing was diagnosed or helping. I was starting to fear that I had a running injury that was coming from the intense schedule that I was trying to keep up. Panic was setting in and the pain started fanning out.
(SIDE NOTE-- Go ahead and block WebMD. What a terrible site. Your nose is running? Well, you may have a cold-- or you may have liver failure. Pain in the base of your foot? That must be grustepahiejapia. It has a 97.3% mortality rate...)
The strange thing is that running was my greatest relief. I could be in a tremendous amount of pain, but if I got into a jog, after 3-5 minutes, I'd feel fine.
A friend told me he had had similar symptoms after carrying around a heavy messenger bag for a while. I did the math-- from school and tutoring, I'd been carrying a 30-40 lbs messenger bag on one side for the better part of a year and a half.
So for the last 2 weeks, I've been seeing a chiropractor. The jury's out on if he can help me, but he claims I have scar tissue along the right side of my spine and behind my right shoulder. I've been 3 times-- go again today for number 4.
Initial review:
1. I don't like the strange neck twisty/spine cracking thing he does. I did some asking around, it seems like they do that for all problems. Why? To convince us they know how to do cool stuff? What does it actually do? Just about everybody else I have asked LOVES this motion-- I think you're all on drugs.
2. I do like that he knows the spots that are hurting me without my needing to tell him. Makes me feel like he understands something that I don't.
3. I'm not sure if a massage would be a better means of treating me. For the moment, I think the answer is no? Stay classy San Diego?
(SIDE NOTE-- Go ahead and block WebMD. What a terrible site. Your nose is running? Well, you may have a cold-- or you may have liver failure. Pain in the base of your foot? That must be grustepahiejapia. It has a 97.3% mortality rate...)
The strange thing is that running was my greatest relief. I could be in a tremendous amount of pain, but if I got into a jog, after 3-5 minutes, I'd feel fine.
A friend told me he had had similar symptoms after carrying around a heavy messenger bag for a while. I did the math-- from school and tutoring, I'd been carrying a 30-40 lbs messenger bag on one side for the better part of a year and a half.
So for the last 2 weeks, I've been seeing a chiropractor. The jury's out on if he can help me, but he claims I have scar tissue along the right side of my spine and behind my right shoulder. I've been 3 times-- go again today for number 4.
Initial review:
1. I don't like the strange neck twisty/spine cracking thing he does. I did some asking around, it seems like they do that for all problems. Why? To convince us they know how to do cool stuff? What does it actually do? Just about everybody else I have asked LOVES this motion-- I think you're all on drugs.
2. I do like that he knows the spots that are hurting me without my needing to tell him. Makes me feel like he understands something that I don't.
3. I'm not sure if a massage would be a better means of treating me. For the moment, I think the answer is no? Stay classy San Diego?
Friday, December 3, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Feaster Five, and Sean
The holiday was great-- ran 5 consecutive days, felt like I earned my meals. Let me catch you up:
On the morning of Thankgiving, my brother J, sister K, cousin H, Dad, and sister-in law J and I all did our best running marshmallow impressions. It was my 10th race of the calendar year; my first out of the empire state. Clearly when you do a holiday run, it changes the population that shows up-- a lot of "I'm not a runner, but I'm doing this for the fun of it (or because my family peer pressured me into it)..." Anyway-- in all NYRR races I have never finished in the top half. At the Feaster Five-- my 8:39 mile pace was good for 600th place...out of 9,000 people. And I won a PIE. That's right. For finishing in 600th place, I won an apple pie! Do you know what the guy who finished in 8,000th place got? A pie! Okay. We all got pie. Dang it.
Massholes, you sure do know how to make me feel like an athlete. And for that, I thank you.
Other family highlights: sister K beat her goal time by 1:30. That's SICK. And papa bear impressed us all by actually running-- and finishing-- in good time. Good show by all. Feaster Five-- love ya, see you next year.
In a couple of days...no pressure here Sean...Endorphus will have a second writer. I'm going to maintain writing roughly 2x per week, but I've invited my friend Sean, who is training for the Marine Corps marathon, to write as well. He's a jerk and he's really boring so you won't enjoy hearing from him. Just kidding-- Sean is more of a natural athlete than me-- but he's no Carl Lewis, either. He'll be adding his two cents on training and the every man experience.
Hope your Thanksgivings were wonderful. Stay warm.
On the morning of Thankgiving, my brother J, sister K, cousin H, Dad, and sister-in law J and I all did our best running marshmallow impressions. It was my 10th race of the calendar year; my first out of the empire state. Clearly when you do a holiday run, it changes the population that shows up-- a lot of "I'm not a runner, but I'm doing this for the fun of it (or because my family peer pressured me into it)..." Anyway-- in all NYRR races I have never finished in the top half. At the Feaster Five-- my 8:39 mile pace was good for 600th place...out of 9,000 people. And I won a PIE. That's right. For finishing in 600th place, I won an apple pie! Do you know what the guy who finished in 8,000th place got? A pie! Okay. We all got pie. Dang it.
Massholes, you sure do know how to make me feel like an athlete. And for that, I thank you.
Other family highlights: sister K beat her goal time by 1:30. That's SICK. And papa bear impressed us all by actually running-- and finishing-- in good time. Good show by all. Feaster Five-- love ya, see you next year.
In a couple of days...no pressure here Sean...Endorphus will have a second writer. I'm going to maintain writing roughly 2x per week, but I've invited my friend Sean, who is training for the Marine Corps marathon, to write as well. He's a jerk and he's really boring so you won't enjoy hearing from him. Just kidding-- Sean is more of a natural athlete than me-- but he's no Carl Lewis, either. He'll be adding his two cents on training and the every man experience.
Hope your Thanksgivings were wonderful. Stay warm.
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