For four of my eight marathons, I've had the good fortune of training with one of my closest friends who, like myself, is an avid runner. Much to my dismay, the majority of training for my next marathon, which will be Boston in April, has been a solo effort. Like me, my RB (running buddy) is a mom who is always on the go, literally. Unlike me, she has three kids (as opposed to my 2), all three of them play hockey, and she has a relatively new "part-time" job that seems more like a full time job. Bottom line...at the moment, her life is nuts and running, and more specifically racing, has had to take a back seat to everything else. It happens. I've been there myself. But, having gone through the last three months of training on my own, aside from a few long runs and some recovery runs, which she has thankfully joined me on, I now realize how much I appreciate having her with me on these somewhat psychotic journeys. Having a running wingman for marathon training is huge. You don't just run together. You laugh, cry, complain, obsess, worry, doubt, and breathe together for four long, often painful and exhausting months. This support has pulled me through hundreds of workouts of all kinds. Literally. Like, "there is no way I would have finished without her" pulled me through. Since January, music has been my new sidekick. My marathon playlist has 136 songs on it (8 hours and 42 minutes). That's a lot of freakin' music. And yet, when some of my runs are 2-3 hours long and I'm running 5 days a week, this playlist repeats itself more frequently than I'd like it to. This is a long winded way of telling you that despite being a music junkie who is inspired by music daily, my running playlist, all 8 hours of it, is getting a little stale. Thankfully, I have other resources to tap into when this situation arises. Enter my friend, and fellow runner, Nicole Devine; perhaps the only other person I know who is as into music as I am, maybe more. Yesterday I sent her a note, or rather, a plea, to help me out by sending me her current favorites. I told her I had a race this Sunday and I was desperate. As I'd hoped, she pulled through for me in spades. Within minutes, she had posted a Spotify playlist with 50+ songs on it, many of them, both the bands and the songs, totally new to me. I was like a kid in a candy store; glued to my computer as I explored, listened, and decided which ones I would add to my various running playlists. It was like opening a hypothetical box of joy. Total awesomeness. Personally, I like to give more than I like to receive, so clearly I want to share this box of joy with you, or at least some of it. I highly encourage you to pass it on, as music is truly the gift that keeps on giving. Nicole...I owe you. Big time. KH, I do love music, but I will always prefer to run with you over a good playlist. Many thanks to both of you for supporting me and my crazy habits.
Listen to these: (& then share them)*
Cruel City - Augustines (This whole album is worth a listen) &
Artiface - SOHN
Glitter & Gold - Fire In The Hamptons
High - Sun City
No Gold - Norma Jean Martine
*NOTE: You can listen to all of these gems on Spotify (need an account) & some of them on Soundcloud (don't need an account).
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