5.53 miles, 47:35
Conditions were less than desirable today but, at least the GPS got something closer to my actual mileage. A big storm came through that was due on Thanksgiving but decided to show up to the table a day early. It was also down in the 40s so I got into winter garb for the first time this season. It wasn’t raining hard when I left the house so I stupidly left my waterproof jacket at home and opted for a warmer, water resistant jacket. Dumb. I was drenched within the first two miles.
Weather aside it was a pleasant run. I downloaded the Nike+ run from LCD Soundsystem (James Murphy) that was released on iTunes to coincide with the release of the Nike + iPod package. The music is what you would expect from LCD SS: sprawling “dance” music. It’s actually has more vocal material than I was expecting but, that is in keeping with their sound. Apparently, the band enjoyed running on tour and this mix was created to emphasize the components of their music that they most enjoyed listening to while running. Like most things on DFA it features a post-modern interpretation of “dance” music that incorporates big, funky beats and krautrock escapades.
The mix clocks in at 45:33 (the RPM of short and full length vinyl records). I don’t know how many repeated listens this will get but it was worth the cash to hear it. It would be interesting to hear mixes of various lengths from this artist or others. It would also be cool if someone released the session files so one could cook up their own mix in a digital audio workstation. Mr. Murphy’s asserts in the companion digital booklet that fast tracks were too close to running pace and interfered with their natural pace. I’ve had a different experience with the copious amount of techno that I bring along on runs. I’ve found that most of the minimal techno I own (a good deal of it at 133 bpm, God’s bpm according to Joey Beltram - I may be be attributing this quote to the wrong DJ but reference the film “Modulations” for the details) is swift enough to pick me up but not fast enough to become distracting to my rhythm.
I do agree with the notion that runner’s need a push and pull from their running soundtrack. A balance of propulsive tracks and more relaxing music is helpful. Just having one tempo or one genre of music can be too mind numbing. Lyrics are distracting in a good way on longer runs so I try to mix the techno with a few other styles. Perhaps I’ll start working on a playlist and publish it here.