‘Race you to the Bar’ playlist

This fantastic, foot pumping playlist was made by our pal, veggie runner, Twitter goddess and smiley keeper of the brilliant Leeds Playlists website, Wendy Denman. Guaranteed to produce a personal best (in singing along, if nothing else 😉

High Heelathon Leeds – image from BBC Website

‘Race you to the Bar’ running playlist

After several half hearted attempts, last year I started running regularly – and to my amazement I’ve kept it going. I originally began running to make myself lighter, and give myself a goal of finishing a race. Now it picks me up so much that not only does it give me a high, but if I’m feeling excited, I immediately feel like running. I don’t always act on it of course – that would be impractical. But I love the trigger feeling! As we all know, music can aid these motivational triggers greatly, so I put together this ‘Race you to the Bar’ playlist of songs that inspire me to keep on going. Enjoy!

So as it’s summer now, What You Waiting For? Let’s get outside and Feel the Earth Move under our feet, and the wind in our hair. OK so there will be bugs in your mouth too at times but it’s exciting to be out running free in nature isn’t it? We can run Around the World and discover places we never would have seen otherwise.

The best motivation I had at the start was finding experienced people to run with me who helped me Push It to the next level. It was scary at first but having my ass kicked made me want to Whip It up a gear to compete. It was also a great feeling later on when I realised that I’d improved enough to encourage others in the same way.

There’s no doubt that running gives me High Energy. I’m no Speed Demon, but I’ve definitely got faster with practice and there’s less need to stop for a Breather these days. I like to vent frustration by listening to something angst ridden that Smells Like Teen Spirit. I was far too self-conscious to enjoy running as a teenager, which is such a shame. I could have been doing it All My Life!

If only I’d have known then that it would help clear my mind, strengthen my body and help me answer the internal voice repeatedly asking Where’s Your Head At? But these are things you only learn after doing them Over and Over again. How Deep is Your Love for running? What will it take to become a true Rocket Queen? How about we each adopt a motto like ‘Go Hard or Go Home’ and mean it?!

I can’t wait to Rise to the Challenge of my first half marathon next year. OK so it’s not quite Twenty Five Miles yet (thank goodness!) but it’s so much more than I ever thought I could do. My head is challenging my body to work up a Sweat and as long as I Don’t Stop Moving I’ll be ok! In order to finish a run on a high – I like to pick a short, fast song I can go all out to. I was recommended this as a great running song. I hear it, smile, and think of dancing around with my mates in a Gay Bar, cocktail in hand!

You can find plenty of other playlists on my blog  and follow me on Twitter @Wandapops

Here it is – enjoy!