2 min readWe’re more than halfway through the streak, and with the weather getting chillier and everything else going on—holiday stress, Omicron, cold season making you get tested because you think it’s Omicron <raises hand>, “2020 too”—I’ll admit there are some days I’ve wanted to skip a run and call it quits. But fellow test editor Morgan Petruny reminded me that you don’t have to approach the streak with an all-or-nothing attitude.
One thing that keeps me motivated is listening to music. Months ago, I endured 45 minutes of a playlist by deputy test editor Jeff Dengate to see if song tempo influences run pace. It was a long time coming, but I’m finally sharing my run playlist.
For me, music is deeply personal. I was that friend who gifted “mixtapes,” which in retrospect is pretty obnoxious. I approached making these CDs like I was creating a storyline, a soundtrack to a movie in my head.
I used to listen to the raspy crooning voice of Courtney Love during my high school cross country days, and sweeping film scores with dramatic build-ups (anything by John Williams, Hans Zimmer, Howard Shore) in college. Currently, most of my songs are from my Spotify Discover Weekly, a mishmash of genres from synthpop to, appropriately, shoegaze.
I included the old standby Hounds of Love by The Futureheads, a perfect cover and reinterpretation of the Kate Bush original. Speaking of covers, I had no idea Alexa Melo’s Idioteque was a peppier version of the song by Radiohead. No playlist—running, driving, kitchen dancing—is complete without Angel Olsen and Sharon Van Etten. I have a soft spot for M83 because a song of theirs played on a difficult run during a really sad time in my life. Kim and Jessie is a fun one with dark undertones.
There is a story here if you play it in order, but feel free to hit shuffle and rewrite your own.
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Amanda Furrer, Editor, Running Reviews, studied journalism at NYU and writing at Emerson College. She has reviewed gear and covered other topics in the running space for almost 10 years. Since 2013, she has consecutively run the Boston Marathon. She also has a master’s degree in gastronomy from Boston University and was formerly a professional baker for two years before hanging up her apron.
