As you may already know, I have been training for the Eau Claire Half Marathon on May 1st.  As I write this, it is only 43 days away!  I am a little more than halfway through my training plan and for the most part it’s going really well.  Fitting in the Thursday night run has been hard.  After four full work days, the energy levels for that run are low. I’m happy to report that my long runs have gone well and so far I don’t feel too tired or sore.  I have made it up to seven miles, which makes me about 50% sure I can run a half marathon.

The biggest challenge of longer runs is literally how long they take!  I need to be entertained in order to run for an hour and a half (and it’s closer to three before I am all done!)  Thankfully we have had an early spring and I have been able to do the last few long runs outside.  Running more than four or five miles on the treadmill, even with my favorite shows on the DVR is hard.  I get distracted easily by other things I need to do in the house.

For my outdoor runs I turn to music.  I use Pandora because it’s free and easy, but the occasional slow song that pops up in what seems like your hardest mile is tough.  My favorite Pandora channel during runs is “Country Fitness.”  Recently I have been creating a playlist on my phone using the library database Freegal.  Freegal allows Eau Claire library patrons to download five songs a week and/or stream music for three hours a day.

I have been scanning the internet looking for the best songs for running.  Runner’s World created a Best 32 Running Songs list, which readers submitted and voted on.  The top three songs were Lose Yourself by Enimen, Thunderstruck by AC/DC and Eye of the Tiger by Survivor.  I found Eye of the Tiger on Freegal.  Other songs on the list that I found on Freegal were Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen and Happy by Pharrell Williams.  My personal favorite running songs from Freegal include Fight Song by Rachel Platten and Stronger by Kelly Clarkson.

I am confident that with help from Freegal I can put together a great half marathon running playlist and complete the race!

What songs inspire you?