There’s one more race-related post.  Other than “Why the hell do you pay a hundred bones to drag your scrawny carcass down two-lane highways for 26 POINT TWO miles?”, the other question that frequently lands in my inbox or Direct Message pile is “How do you stay motivated?”. The answer for my workouts is the same for my weekdays: with music.

So—submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society—here are the most played songs on my various running playlists.

Things to Get You Pumped and/or Ensure You’ll Wear Yourself Out Before You’re Halfway Finished:
Jimmy Eat World- “Pain”
Social Distortion- “Far Behind”

Things For That One Mile When You Try to Pace Yourself:
The Decemberists- “Perfect Crime”

Things With Appropriate Titles:
Hot Hot Heat- “Give Up?”
Kanye West- “Stronger”
Ryan Adams- “Note to Self: Don’t Die”
Modern Lovers- “Roadrunner”

Things With Inappropriate Titles:
Jim Carroll- “People Who Died”
Plus 44- “When Your Heart Stops Beating”

Clearance Rack Indie Rock From Last Season (or the Season Before):
Shiny Toy Guns- “You Are the One”
Shout Out Louds- “100 Degrees”
Modest Mouse- “Dashboard”
Doves- “Black & White Town”
Bloc Party- “Banquet”
Black Kids- “Hit the Heartbrakes”

New-ish Indie Rock:
Empire of the Sun- “Standing on the Shore”
Evil Nine- “They Live”
The Gaslight Anthem- “Great Expectations”
The Killers- “Losing Touch”

Absolute Crap I Can’t Imagine Listening to At Any Other Time Unless I Become a Serial Killer or Buy a Camaro:
Finger Eleven- “Paralyzer”
Powerman 5000- “When Worlds Collide”

Things From 106.5 THE END or Any Other Hard Rock Station That Has Ever Sponsored A ToughMan Contest:
Foo Fighters- “The Pretender”
Metallica- “King Nothing”
Motley Crue- “Saints of Los Angeles”
NIN- “The Hand that Feeds”
Danzig- “Mother”
Ozzy Osbourne- “Crazy Train”
Rammstein- “Du Hast”

Things I Would Also Dance to If I Worked at the GutterBallz Strip Club ‘n’ Bowling Alley:
Sweet- “Fox On the Run”

Things I Like Even When I Don’t Have a Number Pinned to My Shirt:
Bob Mould- “See a Little Light”
Buzzcocks- “Ever Fallen in Love?”
New York Dolls- “Personality Crisis”
Graham Coxon- “Standing on My Own Again”
The Jam- “Town Called Malice”

Because You Knew He’d Be On This List Somewhere:
Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians- “Brenda’s Iron Sledge”

Because Race Day is An Excellent Time to Reflect on Your Failed Relationships:
The dB’s- “Black & White”

Because You Heard It In a Nike Commercial and HAD TO HAVE For Yourself:
Saul Williams- “List of Demands (Reparations)”

Things That Are Hilarious Because Dirty Hot Sex Is The Last Thing You’ll Be Having, Since You’re Most Likely Covered With a Sheen of Sweat, Spit, and the Gatorade That Somehow Missed Your Wide Open Gob:
Pepper- “Give It Up” 

Things That Aren’t True Unless the Pre-Run Donut You Ate Was Actually Filled with Devil:
INXS- “Devil Inside”

Things From the Shaun of the Dead Soundtrack That Always Make You Have an Internal Debate About Whether You’d Rather Be Fighting Zombies or Finishing This Race:
Queen- “Don’t Stop Me Now”

What the Fuck?:
Rod Stewart- “Young Turks”