Okay, so yesterday I started the Couch-to-5k week 4 workout. It went pretty well, just about comparable to the walk/run workout I was already doing. There were a couple things that bugged me about it, though:
1. Since I hadn't yet memorized the intervals, I had them written on my hand. This worked fine until the serious sweating started and the ink began to wash off. By the end of the workout, my hand was a big blur, and poor Audrey was covered in blue ink streaks.
2. I was constantly checking the stopwatch to make sure I was switching the intervals at the correct times. This wasn't a big deal, but it made the workout seem longer than when I was doing a lap at a time, even though it was actually shorter.
Well, today I happened upon the perfect solution to both problems. I took my huge workout playlist and sorted it by song length, then I put together a playlist for each of the workouts in week 4 and week 5 of the Couch-to-5K. Today, I just switched between walking and running every time the song changed. I didn't have to think about it, and the workout flew by!
Here's the playlist I used today, for the week 4 workout. I've linked MP3s for the ones I had on hand...some of which I'm sure I hoovered up from places elsewhere in the blogosphere (so thanks to anyone who has ever posted music! I've been introduced to some of my favorite artists that way...). The unlinked ones are downloads from iTunes that I haven't yet made unprotected copies of. If you want one of those, email me or go buy your own. :) The downloads will only be available until noon tomorrow, so get 'em while they're hot. (Right-click and save-as, if you please.)
UPDATE: The MP3s are no longer available, links removed. Snooze, lose, etc.
Damn, Feels Good To Be a Gangster - Ghetto Boyz (5:09, warmup walk)
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison (3:05, run)
The Wind - Cat Stevens (1:42, walk)
Lose Yourself - Eminem (5:20, run)
The Fox - Nickel Creek (2:30, walk)
Punk Rock 101 - Bowling for Soup (3:08, run)
Oh, Goddamnit - Hot Hot Heat (2:28, walk)
Shake Ya Tailfeather - Murphy Lee, Nelly, P. Diddy (4:53, run)
Wear Sunscreen - Baz Luhrmann (5:11, cooldown walk)
Yeah, it's a bit...eclectic. :) The times aren't a second-for-second match to the C25k intervals, of course--I even threw in a 2 1/2 minute song for a 90-second interval toward the end because I felt I need a longer recovery by that point in the workout (and have you ever tried to find a 90 second song?!).
Posted by Joy at March 9, 2005 01:58 PMhot damn! great songs. you should post music more often! in the meantime, check out my fave music blog for free daily downloads:
www.shakeitlikeapolaroidpicture.com
cheers
karin
That playlist is the COOLEST!! thing. But I'm so anal, knowing me I will edit a song down to 90 secs...lol...
I'm no longer doing the intervals part but I remember time felt soooo long.
Thanks for the links, I snagged Baz song for my future ipod ;)
Posted by: renee on March 10, 2005 01:07 PM
I'm glad you liked them...my tastes are kind of all over the place, so I always wonder if people are looking at my playlists and just shaking their heads sadly..."Poor girl--she's so confused."
I plan on posting the week 5-9 playlists, too--there's 3 different workouts for weeks 5 & 6, I think, so that's quite a bit of music. Some of it is probably going to repeat, because, you know, I have my favorites. Forewarning--Week 5 #1 playlist contains They Might Be Giants, David Crowder Band and Eminem. It's all good, as far as I'm concerned. :)
Thanks for the URL, Karin...I checked it out already--love it!
Posted by: joy on March 10, 2005 05:00 PM