My Playlist for the Union Beach 5K

My history with running started late--around age 35--and it's been rocky. After my father's triple bypass in 2007 I got serious about running and losing weight. By the spring of 2008 my race pace was down to 9:27 and I could run 10K without minding very much. In November of 2008 I had T and I've never really gotten back to that good place. It's a chicken-and-egg thing, running--you get a little out of shape and you get scared and you're scared so you don't run the way you should and you get a little more out of shape and...soon you're in a spot where you hang up your shoes.

Then a few things happened. Sandy beat up Union Beach, badly. Union Beach isn't my town, but it's a town I care about quite a bit. I have friends who grew up there and they love their small town the way I love mine. When the Union Beach 5K was announced I took it as an opportunity to hold my feet to the fire and get running again. I bought new shoes. I ran to albums--Tapestry, Cold Roses, The King Is Dead, Heart Food--that draw me in and help me forget about my lungs and my legs.

Oh, and I have a tangible prize waiting. If I make my goal, I get a ridiculously expensive celery-thyme-scented candle I smelled at the Visiting Nurses' Association designer show house.

Here's my playlist:

June Hymn, The Decemberists--As I mentioned above, I like to run to this whole album, and June Hymn is one of the jewels in the crown. Perfect for a June 22 race. "You were waking/Day was breaking/A panoply of song."

Bend & Break, Keane--This one's kind of a dark horse. If I just put in all my surefire cuts, my brain gets bored and I'm back where I started. This song came out around the time I first started blogging and got my first actual iPod after a period with the now-defunct Dell DJ. Plus, the album it comes from is called "Hopes and Fears."

Rise, Public Image Ltd.--This, on the other hand, is one of my surefire cuts. It's about being on the road, it has an insistent beat that's not too fast, and I've loved the album since high school--although they made a huge mistake when it became available digitally and they kept calling it Compact Disc instead of Download. Also, it's 6 minutes long so once it's over you've burned a big chunk of time.

Karn Evil 9 1st Impression, Part 2, ELP--In April of my 16th year, I went on my first real date. When you strip it all down I have had four serious boyfriend types in my life, and three of them were Prog Rock fans. (Three were Eagle Scouts, not the same three; I married one of the two who was both.) After our Chinese dinner we got back into his vintage long white car (I wish I knew the make, model and year) with under-dash graphic equalizer and he said, "Have you ever been to Union Beach?" He had a theory that since we went to school with so many Union Beachers, we should see it. I hadn't, so we took a drive through. I wish I could remember what was on the stereo at the time, but this song is part of another memory of him, so I'm using it.

Rosalita (Come Out Tonight), Bruce Springsteen--The first time I ran the Spring Lake 5, I rounded a corner past a house with stereo speakers set up on their front lawn. As I approached, "Rosalita" was playing, and my heart swelled with love and enthusiasm. They abruptly switched tracks to "Eye of the Tiger," and I almost committed mayhem. Tell your father this is his last chance to get his daughter in a fine romance! Because the record company, Rosie, just gave me a big advance! Talk about a winner's song. Eye of the Tiger, pfft. This is funny, though.

Carry On, Fun.--Something current. All these songs by Fun. kill me with emotion. Do they have any non-inspiring ones?

Lean On Me, Club Nouveau--Another memory. In the spring of my 17th year, my friends and I had one day left to read a rather daunting portion of _Huckleberry Finn_. So, in the admirably insane way of all teenagers, we decided that we would all go to the beach with blankets and read it communally. I vaguely remember cracking the spine. I took a whole roll of attempted arty pictures with Kodak Black and White Color film, but I knew nothing about framing an image. Then I think we got ice cream? This song came on the radio in the girl-crammed station wagon headed home. We were all very happy and giggly.

Bury My Heart On The Jersey Shore, Shannon McNally--"Bury my heart on the Jersey Shore/Bury my heart/Bury my heart no matter where I run/Bury my heart."