Renovating Kaeti

Because it’s Friday — and I can barely get my butt out of bed, let alone write a coherent blog entry — I’m happy to announce the inaugural “Friday Favorites” column. Every week on Friday, I’ll post a list of some things that are awesome. Because who doesn’t like lists and awesomeness??

This week, I’m reliving my glory days of the 90s and offering my current tracklist of favorite workout jamz. With one caveat: I only strap on my iPod when I’m forced to run inside because of late days at the office — or because the wind chill dips to 40 below (gotta love Minnesota). When I run outside, I leave the music at home for safety reasons (ladies, you can find more running safety tips here).

Here are some of the songs that keep me motivated:

1. Pump It by The Black Eyed Peas — I realize that I’m probably embarrassing myself by admitting that I like this song (strictly for exercise purposes, of course), but it makes a great warm-up tune.
2. Bottle Rocket by The Go! Team — The peppy, fast-paced beat makes this a perfect song for the beginning of my run (those first 15 minutes are always the hardest for me).
3. Babymaker by Dance Band —Dance Band is a local Minneapolis group that is exactly what their name denotes. This song must be effective because when I listen to it, I always want to “shake my babymaker.”
4. Lucky Star by Dizzee Rascal — This song is perfect for tempo runs. I like to match my pace to the beat.
5. Hey Ya by Outkast — Another guilty pleasure song. It’s just so catchy!
6. SexyBack by Justin Timberlake — You won’t catch me listening to JT outside of the gym, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I have a total soft spot for his music. This song was on my very first workout mix last summer because, well … I’m bringing healthy back? Haha. Wow, I’m lame.
7. Bam by Atmosphere — This track from longtime independent hip-hop artist Atmosphere always comes on right when I’m getting restless or distracted. It also reminds me to check in with my body and evaluate form, pace, etc.
8. Queen B–ch by David Bowie — I’m usually starting to enjoy my run by this point, so I tend to put some of my favorites on the back end of my mix. You can never go wrong with Bowie.
9. Da Doo Run Run by The Ronettes — I have a thing for this 60s girl-pop group, and the song has the word “run” in it.
10. Any number of songs by Mates of State, Balkan Beat Box, M.I.A., The Kinks, Supergrass, Basement Jaxx, Kanye West, etc. — My only criterion is that the music have a strong, fast beat.

Got any suggestions to spice up my jams? I usually get sick of a mix after about a week and have to shake it up; I think my mind adapts to the music, much like my body adapts to a stale fitness routine.

In other news, last night I tried out a fantastic recipe for beet burgers that I found at The Jew and the Carrot. The recipe is from Farmer John’s Cookbook: The Real Dirt on Vegetables (Gibbs Smith, 2006). They were fantastic — despite it looking like someone had been horribly maimed in our kitchen (beets may help keep blood pressure down, but they definitely make a mess). The recipe made more food than anticipated, so I’ll be finding creative ways to deal with leftover beet batter for the next week (beet quiche? beet couscous? frozen beet Popsicles?). I’ll be sure to keep you posted on whatever culinary atrocities I come up with.

Tags: beets, Farmer John's Cookbook, fitness tips, food, Friday Favorites, motivation, music, workout mix

This entry was posted on Friday, February 15th, 2008 at 11:56 am and is filed under Friday Favorites, motivation, running. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.