tilly_stratford | Have to keep moving on

The age-old adage goes "The thing about running is: Nobody else gives a shit about running." Cardio, it seems, is something my more active friends subject themselves to in order to become better at some other athletic activity (lifting, skiing, handball, dancing). Me, I just want to be a runner.

(I call what I do running; It's really jog-walk cycles, as per my couch-to-5k programme's instructions). I'm still a far cry from the sleek, gazelle-like runners I pass on my route, but comparing my aerobic base to what it was a year ago I really have made progress, and I'm pretty proud of myself.

Anyway, nobody but runners give a shit about running. I've started becoming unusually interested in other runners' habits and techniques and diet. I particularly enjoy learning what music other people run to -- it's hardly ever music I'd put on my running playlist, but I find it fascinating anyway.

So hey, here's some songs I friggin' love running to right now.

MAN UP by The Blue Van

We don't need ropes to climb the walls anymore
My mind is stronger than it was before
Man up!

I spend a LOT of time getting ready for a run (Norwegian winters warrant a lot of layers), so I listen to this song to get pumped up as I'm preparing (even if I've never been fond of the expression "to man up").

FASTER by Janelle Monáe

You, you, you're a jet; A flying gun
You kill me softly with your sun
You melt, melt my wings and call it fun
I should run

I love the energy in Janelle Monáe's songs, it's infectious. 'Faster' is hardly a happy life-affirming song but it helps me speed up.

CITY ESCAPE by Jun Senoue

Rolling around at the speed of sound
Got places to go, gotta follow my rainbow
Can't stick around, have to keep moving on
Guess what lies ahead? Only one way to find out

This is by FAR the most embarrassing song in my playlist. See, it's from a Sonic game (which I guess explains the "rolling around at the speed of sound" part). A Sonic game I haven't even played. But it's still a really motivating song!

ARE YOU GONNA BE MY GIRL by Jet

One, two, three, take my hand and come with me
Girl you look so fine that I really wanna make you mine

Speeding down the road or trail with this blasting makes you feel pretty hardcore. I just need to remember not to sing along.

CLIFFS OF DOVER, Eric Johnson

[Instrumental]

The beat in this song (once it gets going) is how fast my pace SHOULD be. If I'm lucky the shuffle queue plays it early in my run, when I've still got some energy. It's really helped me power on longer than I've been able to before (plus it's a really really great song).

VIOLENT LOVE by Oingo Boingo

I don't want to seem frantic
I don't want to cramp your style
You're driving me into a panic
You just wanna drive me, drive me,
drive me, drive me, drive me wild

Yeah, this beat is what pace I usually run at. Kinda slow, but at least today I managed to continuously run through all of this song's two and a half minutes without slowing down!

YOU TAKE ME WAY UP by Pinkzebra