Running Shorts

"Bloodbuzz Ohio" by The National So this one definitely wins the coolest title award.  I mean, it's no surprise really...Ohio is the coolest state. But anyway, I guess I like this song, though I have no idea what it's about.  But that doesn't really matter, because Ohio's just that awesome.  Way cooler than Indiana for sure.

"Hey Leonardo (She Like Me for Me)" by Blessid Union of Souls So this song choice is a bit of a stretch, but a) I think it's kinda clever; and b) come on, it's North Dakota.  Anyway, the lyric is: "Or that guy who played in Fargo / I think his name is Steve." The lyric is referencing a movie (which I've never seen) about a city (but not the capital city) in the state of North Dakota.  How's that for a connection? I know the song has nothing to do with North Dakota, but since it mentions a movie about a city in the state...close enough. Count it.

"Wagon Wheel" by Old Crow Medicine Show Sorry it's been a while (again...).  So seeing that this is one of the best songs on the list, I don't think I'll write too much.

"Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z + Alicia Keys The hipster in me wishes New York's song could have been a much more original/obscure one.  But really, I think this is the best New York song...and there are a lot of them to choose from. None of the other New York songs are as much of an anthem as this one (sorry Frank Sinatra).  Even if you've never been to New York, I think it still makes you nostalgic/reminiscent for the New York we see on TV and movies all the time. Also, another funny observation: this (and all the other NY songs) are about the city...never mind that there's a whole giant state too.  Yeah that's about right.

"Albuquerque" by Weird Al Yankovic I was originally going to do a Johnny Cash song for New Mexico, but then I thought, What's more timeless, more classic, more uniquely American than Weird Al?  So I decided to flash back to elementary school, when Weird Al was the coolest thing next to Pokemon cards and Beanie Babies.  In fact, this song may be the reason I've never tried and never plan on trying sauerkraut. Although (I have to admit sheepishly), does this even count as a song?  It probably falls more under the insane monologue genre.  But in any case, it's about New Mexico...and I guess that's what counts.

"The Patient Ferris Wheel" by the Gaslight Anthem Jersey's song had to be one of two things: either super Guido, or Bruce Springsteen/the Gaslight Anthem.  I decided to go with the latter, since the first one sucks. The Gaslight Anthem really is Springsteen-esque...gritty, working class, greaser-like rock.  It's totally just a stereotype, but at least this stereotype makes for some real good Jersey music.

"New Hampshire" by Matt Pond PA This is definitely another one of the songs that I googled.  I don't really know if I like it or not; I was just happy to actually find a song about New Hampshire.

Remember that marathon I ran a month ago?  Yeah probably not, since I've been so bad about the blog since then.  So to catch back up: I ran a marathon a month ago.  I said I was going to recap it on here.  I did not.  So this is that (way late) recap. First of all, Chicago is crazy.  Walking down Michigan Ave to the start corrals was unreal.  I don't think I've ever seen so many people in my life...and they were all there to run! I was so nervous in the morning that I only ate 3/4 of a Powerbar.  That was mistake #1. I was in the Elite Development Corral, which is for people trying to run sub 2:30 (spoiler alert: I wasn't even close).  We got to start right behind the elite field, which was incredible.  I was so close I could've given Ryan Hall a high-five, as some of the Elite Development runner did. I started out the first 10 miles at about 5:10-5:15 pace.  That was mistake #2.  In my defense, I didn't see any splits ...

"Sin City" by Limbeck I've been pretty bad about posting the last month or so.  My bad. Anyway, I guess I'll pick up where I left off.  I was gonna use Elvis's "Viva Las Vegas" until Viagra ruined the song.  And I do kinda feel bad about using the same band twice, but oh well.  Give me a break, I'm just getting back into this.

"You and I" by Lady Gaga I guess I should call no homo... But anyway, originally Nebraska was going to be a Counting Crows song, "Omaha".  But then Gaga released this one.  And yes, I know that technically the "Nebraska" she is referring to is a guy and not the state, but come...they have the same name so I guess it still counts.

"Helena Beat" by Foster the People So I have no idea if this song is even about Montana.  But Helena is the capital of Montana, and the title is the same word.  Count it. I was bad about posting this weekend since it was the marathon weekend.  I'll definitely try to get back on top of the list regularly.  Also, a marathon update is coming soon (although if you're dying to know, I basically wrote a novel about it on running2win).

The language of training for a marathon is one big double entendre.  There's really no flattering way to talk about it.  It's even worse than the typical running stuff about "long and hard", etc.  Here are two of my worst during this training period. (On practicing drinking from a water bottle while running): "I feel like I'm getting it all over my face instead of in my mouth." (On practicing taking a gel pack while running): "It's not the taste so much as the consistency.  It just sat in my mouth and I had a real hard time swallowing it." Yeah, it's bad. But what else am I supposed to say?  There's no other way to word it to avoid the double entendre!

"St. Louis Blues" by Louis Prima It was surprisingly hard to find a song for Missouri.  There's gotta be some that are more popular that I know of, but oh well.  That said, it's fitting that Missouri's song is blues, since St. Louis was one of the pioneering cities for blues. Anyway, Louis Prima is the man.  Pretty jazzy, but also pretty good.  So not exactly what I was looking for, but it still works.

"Black Water" by the Doobie Brothers Probably my favorite Doobie Brothers song, just some real chill southern rock. I think pretty much every song that mentions Mississippi (including this one) is probably referring to the river, not the state, but you know...details details.  They both have the same name so it counts for the state too.

"Home (Is Where the Van Is)" by Limbeck ...Aaaannndd we're back on track.  Glad I remember the alphabet from first grade. Anyway, this song popped up a bunch on my Pandora, and they mention Minneapolis so it counts.  Not much else to say...there might be another song or two from this band, but I'm going to try to avoid repeating them.  So we'll see.

"Dirty Water" by the Standells This one's a real deep cut, some classic '60s garage rock...so of course I like it.  There were definitely other Boston (is there really anything else in Massachusetts?) songs -- Augustana and Dropkick Murphy's come to mind -- but out of them all this is may favorite. Maybe I just like to think I know what I'm talking about (even though I definitely don't), and having an obscure '60s song makes me feel that way.  And besides, the best decade for music?  The 1960s.  Just sayin'.

"Pretty Girl from Annapolis" by the Avett Brothers Let me first just say that it's official: I am an idiot.  I can't even put the states in alphabetical order.  I totally jumped the gun on Michigan, skipping Maryland and Massachusetts.  Well that's embarrassing... And as for the song: crab cakes and football; that's what Maryland does! And pretty songs too, apparently.  I don't listen to the Avett Brothers as much as I should, but I hear they're pretty decent.  (Pun intended.  Sorry Joe Ryan) So the goal for the rest of the list: stop being stupid and learn how to put things in alphabetical order.

"All Summer Long" by Kid Rock I'm shamelessly putting this song on here.  I actually do like it. I mean, it does take samples from two great songs about places.  The one, "Sweet Home Alabama," is already on this list.  And the other, "Werewolves of London," is just an awesome song.  So by default, I can't resist this song.

"Going to Maine" by the Mountain Goats So for today's song, let's go to Maine. This is a completely random song and I'm not going to pretend like I knew of it before starting this list.  I think is another one of the songs found via and iTunes search for the state name. But I can't believe we're already in the M's!  That said, there are still like 30 more states to go...

"Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry Ok, so this is one of my all-time favorite songs.  That's probably kinda lame, but it's true. Honorable mention goes to The Animals "House of the Rising Sun."

"I Am A Man of Constant Sorrow" by the Soggy Bottom Boys Of course the Bluegrass State's song is bluegrass.  And go figure, the star of the movie (George Clooney) is from Kentucky. But in all fairness, Kentucky's song is one of my favorites on this list.  I wish I could make fun of Kentucky on here just as much as we used to on the team, but I can't.  This is a really sweet song.  Plus it's a good movie, too.

It will kill your feet.  I mean, unless you like the hobbit look, that is. I have scars on my heels and pinky toe where they got ripped up in the LunaRacers.  I have old blisters just about everywhere you can have a blister.  Of my 10 toenails, 5 are dead.  And I'm pretty sure one's about to fall off. Good thing it's fall, because I don't think I'll be wearing sandals anytime soon. But on the plus side, I do have a great sock tan.

So I mentioned a few days ago about the Hudepohl 14K that was last Saturday.  I ran it, and it was a sweet race, definitely a fun one.  That said, I didn't do as well as I wanted to. Freaking Kenyans. As it turns out, marathon training has me really aerobically fit, but anything faster than that and my legs just won't respond.  It sounds weird to say that and 8+ miles race is too short, but that's how it was.  I just haven't done any work at sub-5 pace, which is fine for the marathon but not for a 14K. So I got 10th.  But at least I was the 4th American.  Though, I did want top 5, and marathon training is no excuse. I didn't get as much money as I wanted, but at least I think I got some? But the real good news: I also got beer.  14 beers, to be specific. The race bib came with two tear-away tickets for free beer.  And I got a 12 pack of Hudy for top 3 in my age group!  Free beer for running race?  Yes please. So I guess the...

"Kansas City / Hey Hey Hey Hey" by the Beatles What playlist would be complete without a song from the Beatles?  Maybe they're not the best band ever (that's totally the Rolling Stones), but they're definitely the most influential. Anyway, they have so many songs that I'd never even heard this one until iTunes finally got the Beatles.  I guess I owe a thank you to dead Michael Jackson (too soon?). So they say Kansas is a pretty boring state.  Well this song begs to differ.

"Iowa" by Balance Problems I just realized I've been really slacking on the blog in general and on the 50 states challenge.  So I need to get back on the whole posting regularly thing. Anyway, this is another one of those song that I think I found by just searching "iowa" in iTunes.  I guess it could be worse.  At least it's not as bad as driving through Iowa.  (Actually, I shouldn't say that...I've driven through Iowa a couple times and it's really not that bad; kinda scenic rolling hills)

It's been a while since I've posted on here...and it's been even longer since I posted anything about running. So this Saturday I'm running the Hudepohl 14k in Over-the-Rhine.  I haven't raced in what feels like forever, so needless to say I'm pretty pumped.  I just got new flats (since the LunaRacers were a disaster...now I'm rocking the Asics Gel-DS Racer) which I can't wait to try out.  I also ordered a singlet online and hope that comes in...if not I guess I'll just wear an old X uni. There's also prize money there.  They pay 3 deep for top Cincinnati finishers, 3 deep for top Ohio finishers, and 5 deep overall.  Being able to run for money and accept it is probably the best thing about not being in college anymore.  Now that's a real incentive to run fast (eh feck). Also on the website, to all those who finish in the money and are 21+ is a "beverage" prize.  That's all they say about that.  Let's be honest; that...

"Mary Jane's Last Dance" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers I hate that I love Indiana's song. I wish I could say Ohio's song is gonna kick Indiana's ass. I'd love for Indiana's song to be as lame as the state itself. But it sure is hard to beat Tom Petty.

"Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens Illinois was another one of those states that had a lot of songs to choose from.  But unlike New York and California, it wasn't hard to pick one; it had to be this. Other potential choices included Kanye West, Ben Folds, Eric Clapton, Rhett Miller...and lots of others that I'm forgetting right now.  But it really was no contest.  This one really is the best Illinois song. And plus, the song had to be about Chicago for two reasons.  On the one hand, I'm running the marathon there in less than a month.  So I wanted to give a shout-out to the marathon city.  And on the other hand, is there really anything else in Illinois?  (Sorry Smooth)

So I realized that this is supposed to be a running blog and there aren't any recent posts about running.  My bad... So I guess the big news recently is that I'm officially in the Chicago marathon Elite Development race.  That's a huge relief to be officially in it.  It's also pretty nerve-racking...I've never done a marathon and I have no idea what to expect.  Not to mention that the entire race will be packed sidewalk-to-sidewalk with spectators.  I mean, if I need to drop out, where am I supposed to step off the course? I shouldn't think like that; I'm not gonna drop out. But yeah, should be crazy...it all got very real this week. So anyway, I'll try to post about running/training/racing on here more often.  I'll probably also make a tab about Chicago with more info or something.

"Idaho" by Train So this is one of the songs I found by searching for the state in iTunes.  That's not cheating, is it? And so when I saw/heard this song, I was like, H ey, I've heard of Train before ... and I didn't know they had a song for Idaho!  Score! And that's all I have to say about that...

"Hawaii Aloha" by The Strokes Ok so I'm real sorry about the lack of posts recently.  I don't even know if anyone reads this, but still...it turns out that working one and a half jobs and running 100 miles a week takes up a lot of time.  Who knew? Anyway, you also might be surprised how hard it was for me to find a song about Hawaii.  There's one Elvis song, but I wanted one a little less cliche than that.  So I found this song via Google, and it's okay I guess.  I'm not a huge Strokes fan, but I do like some of their stuff. There's a lot of Hawaiian-style songs, but not as many songs about Hawaii.  I guess people are either too busy doing cool Hawaii stuff or doing nothing (which probably also counts as cool Hawaiian stuff) to write songs.  That's just my theory, anyway. Besides, if I was in Hawaii, I wouldn't be writing a song about it.  I'd be committing felonies at Diamond Head. ...oh wait, that already happened?

"The Devil Went Down to Georgia" by the Charlie Daniels Band So for today's song we're going just north of yesterday's and yet somehow at the same time a whole lot more South.  It's fitting too, since I'm watching the Boise State-Georgia game (go Broncos, btdubs). I know I know, real original song choice.  But you gotta admit it's a sweet song.  And it was one of the catalysts (good word, huh?) for starting this playlist, so it wins out by default. 

"Miami" by Will Smith No Flo Rida for the Florida song.  Nope, instead we're flashing back to elementary school. There's probably plenty of better songs I could've done for this state.  But come on, the cheese factor was just too high to pass up.  Nineties nostalgia at its finest.

But does the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial remind anyone else of Han Solo frozen in carbonite? I mean, they're not exactly the same, but come on...there are definitely some similarities there, right?

"Delaware Slide" by George Thorogood and the Destroyers So I don't think it was too much of a secret that I was scrambling for a Delaware song.  Well, I found one, and it didn't actually take that long.  I don't know why I didn't have one before... And as an added bonus, I enjoy this song.  It's just some old fashioned blues rock.  Nothin' more A-murrican than that (except for the British bands that brought it back to America in the 1960s.  But that's another story...) But anyway, I'm pumped that I found another song I didn't have...and a good one, to boot.

"Kylie From Connecticut" by Ben Folds Meh, not a huge fan of this song.  I do like Ben Folds, but this one just doesn't do too much for me.  But hey, it works for Connecticut, and that's what counts. Fair warning: I'm still searching for a good next song, so I may be shamelessly skipping a day.  I know that probably makes me a horrible person, but oh well.

"Colorado Sunrise" by 3OH!3 Ok, so I know what you're thinking.  Isn't there a better Colorado song by some guy who's got the same name as the state's capitol city? (Thanks Nester) Unfortunately, I'm using a different John Denver song for another state that I thought was a lot more obscure song-wise than Colorado.  ( I wonder what song that could possibly be...) And I wanted to try to stay away from using the same artist multiple times (which, I have to admit, I have failed on a few times), so I decided to go with this one instead. I'm not a huge 3OH!3 fan, and I think this song's just okay, but hey, it works for Colorado. Sorry for skipping yesterday, but I don't feel like posting double today to make up for it.  And the reason for the laziness is that I still don't have a song for Delaware, so I'm putting that off as along as possible.

I bought a pair of Lunaracers the other day.  Typically, they're a grey upper with neon yellow soles and laces and a blue Nike swoosh.  Mine also have some red in them.  Here's why: So I had a workout this weekend, basically it was a simulated half marathon at goal marathon pace.  So I figured it would be good to break in the flats on a workout like this. Usually I race without socks, so again I thought that's what I'd try today.  I don't know what people normally do in the marathon, but I figured it'd be best to test it out in a workout before racing.  Turns out it was a good decision in the long run (bad pun...) but a terrible one for the workout. Really, I didn't notice too much until I finished.  I could tell the heel and pinky toe on my right foot had been rubbing the whole time, which bugged me a little but definitely not enough to stop.  Then I took my flats off...and they were very very red.  Then I noticed my feet were a...

"California Girls" by the Beach Boys Aren't you lucky, dear reader; you get two for one today!  (mostly because I was lazy and missed Friday...) But anyway, California is one of those states where there are so many songs it's hard to pick just one.  That's why I decided to go with the original California song.  None of this "California Gurls" Katy Perry shit.  I mean, come on, who doesn't like the Beach Boys?  They're California in a band. By the way, honorable mention for California goes to Train's "Save Me, San Francisco."  Gotta rep NorCal.  I'm sure all of us NorCal boys (Matt Riley, Joe Ryan, myself) would approve (I hope...).

"Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros "Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my ma and pa..."  Count it for state #4. So I guess this could have worked for Alabama, too...but I already had one for it, so I decided to use this song for a state I didn't have. Also, I dare you to listen to this song and not smile.

"Arizona" by Kings of Leon This song's definitely better than the last one.  This one came up on my Pandora a couple times and I think it's a pretty cool song.  I have no idea what it's about, no idea why it's called "Arizona;" I just think the guitar riff is sweet.

"Alaska" by Sky Sailing I should call no homo on this one. It's the Owl City guy, but just a different name I guess.  I dunno.  It was all over the iTunes store last summer when I started putting this thing together. Joe Ryan first showed me Owl City, and it was pretty cool...until "Fireflies" was on the radio non-stop.  That kinda killed it.  Although, there may or may not be another Owl City song later... The next song/state is gonna be better, I promise.

"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd Ok, so I promise that not all the songs will be as cliche as this first one.  But come on...in my defense, this is an awesome song.  Anyone who claims to dislike this song clearly has no taste. I've never been to Alabama and can't say that I ever plan on going, but the sweet thing about this song is that it somehow still manages to make you feel nostalgic for the state (even for those, like me, who've never been).  But anyway, I like this song and it's about a state, so...chalk it. Only 49 more to go!  Coming tomorrow: Alaska.  (Oh and did I mention I'm doing this alphabetically instead of geographically?  I guess I just did...)

Hey blogosphere, Check out the 50 States Song Challenge page to see what it's all about.  I'm gonna be posting it on here and it's gonna be awesome. Ok so I'm probably over-selling this thing, but I'm bored.  Humor me.

I ran 21 miles on Saturday. It wasn't rewarding.  I'm not glad I did it.  I do not feel like a badass.  Mostly, I just felt like lying face-down in bed all day. It was a humbling experience.  I'd say I'm the most humble person I know.  (That's supposed to be a joke) But here's what made it fun: I went into the run expecting about 12 miles.  Oh wait, nevermind...switch those two digits.  For some reason I thought I was doing 2 by 3 mile; not an easy workout by any means, but definitely something I could handle.  What I was actually supposed to do (and eventually did) was a 3 mile at tempo, a 2 mile at tempo, an hour run, and then another 3 mile at tempo.  Add in warm up, a very brief cool down, and a mile between the first two tempos and you get 21.  Blackjack. I felt like ugh during that last 3 mile tempo.  I ran close to a minute slower than the first.  It wasn't even tempo pace anymore -- it was dear-god-please-l...

Oh, I also thought of something else that's totally unrelated to getting a job: I bought an Iron Gym the oth er day. The same one from those cheesy commercials. With that and my dad's Perfect Push-Ups, I'm gonna get swoll. Take that, Cory.

(That's called "litotes," by the way.  It's a literary double negative that's supposed to make me sound smart.  But I think it makes me sound pretentious...or just stupid.  Thank you high school junior English -- it's only been 6 (?) years, and that's probalbly the first of those useless literary devices I've ever used, after we spent months learning them.  I mean, seriously...synecdoche?  Polysyndeton?  Caesura?  When am I ever going to need to know that those are?) But that small rant aside, brace yourself, reader (all 3 of you...): I got a job. It's true. That makes me like Pinnochio...not a liar, but a real boy (man?  Debatable). But anyway, it's for this small internet company called Dean's Cards.  You should check them out.  Basically, they just buy and sell vintage baseball, football, basketball, etc cards; memorabilia; and vintage Sports Illustrated and Sporting News magazine covers.  I'...

...that I totally forgot to mention running with Kais yesterday afternoon. I also ran with Kais yesterday afternoon. It was sweet.

Ok let's be honest, that's not true at all. I just felt like one today.  So I got up early (does 7:30 count as early?) this morning to do 4 by mile at Withrow -- the goal was to do it early enough to be beat the heat.  As it turned out, the heat wasn't the problem... The workout started fine, nothing too crazy.  But pretty quickly, we noticed ominous dark clouds in the distance.  And then lightning.  And thunder. And of course, it was moving this way. So by the end of the second interval, it had turned from light overcast to straight dark and stormy.  And on the third interval, the rain was coming down horizontal and there was lightning in every direction around the track.  And no freshmen to hug the flag pole, either. We cut the workout after that one, because running around a track with an open field in a thunderstorm is a little dangerous I guess... But anyway, it was totally sweet.  At least for a little bit, I felt pretty tou...