Crush It: Why I ran maybe a little too fast this morning

I'm bad at technology. Don't believe me? I still own 2 VCRs in working condition and yes, I use them. Before I bought myself a Garmin for Christmas one year, every piece of cool equipment that I own had been given to me as a gift. You name it: walkman, stereo, portable CD player, programmable thermostat for my house, cell phone, DVD player, mp3 player, ipod, blackberry, all of it. It's not that I don't like that stuff, it's just that whatever I was using before it wasn't broken and I didn't have the brainpower or desire to learn something new. (I might also have a problem with change, but that's a bit of a different topic.)

I think one of the main problems with receiving a shiny new piece of technology is that you now have to learn how to use it. I'm a read the owner's manual before you start pushing buttons kind of person and let's face it, that's work. For someone with strict rules about when work is and isn't allowed (I, for example, don't do math after 5pm) that's just a huge pain in the ass, and yet another reason why I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" philosophy.

Despite knowing exactly where the owner's manual for my Garmin IS, I still have yet to program that wonderful little computer to recognize my different bikes with their different wheel sizes, I don't know how to use the "virtual partner" which would be INCREDIBLY helpful to my "gooutreallyfastandhopenottodie" running style of late and I for some reason have yet to set up the fairly simple auto pause feature, which pauses the workout when you - you guessed it - pause, so the watch keeps recording my run or bike while I'm stopped at a stoplight. Not all that incredibly helpful.

But that's just data. One of the fun things about running is listening to whatever songs you are loving at the moment. Listening to Eminem while driving is fun, but you can't always go the speed that the music dictates, or the city would resemble a bumper cars ride at a fair and not a city street. WOMP! OH, my bad! I'm listening to "Till I Collapse" and it was a fast part!

The problem with this is of course that downloading songs requires work, which I try to avoid at all costs, especially after 5pm, math or no math. Enter Rock My Run.


rockmyrun.com

I found them on twitter (@RockMyRun). They make running mixes with fast songs. It requires no thought. Imagine! One hour of pumped up running tunes done for you. I was beyond excited. I found it a few months ago and have been trying out the mixes during my runs. I can't even describe how happy they made me. Fast beat? Check. Music I like? Check. Easy to download and drag over to iTunes? Check.

The only complaint I might have is that I can't listen to the fast mixes during my easy runs or I end up at race pace instead of recovery pace, but really though, that's more user error than anything they've done wrong.

Want to try a mix? I might be a little biased because I helped behind the scenes on this one, but my current favorite, the one I ran maybe a little too fast to this morning is Crush It.

There's some Eminem of course, but there's also some Corey Heart (no I'm not kidding), some Flo-Rida, some Queen, some Rage Against the Machine, and some Florence and the Machine to kick it off. It's one of the best mixes I've heard in a while, (it's getting great reviews!) and I'd be selfish if I didn't share it.

So, go. Download. Drag. Play. Run. Just don't start out too fast or you'll be mad at yourself later when you upload your data.