Complete Running Network » Music/MP3/Playlists

Sound Bites: Pack Some Punch Into Your Playlist

Ian — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 07:01:19 +0000

You know it’s time to spice up your playlist when you can sing all the way through it without the iPod.

I was going to begin by espousing the benefits of running with music. But as I began putting together my opening arguments, it felt like I was opening up a can of worms. Suffice it to say, if you are one of those runners who doesn’t run with music, then you might want to skip this article. However, I have to warn you. You’ll be missing out on something revolutionary, a new idea that will someday replace the words “sliced bread” in that well-known little saying.

OK, maybe I sound like a late night infomercial, but this is not just another collection of motivational songs for your playlist. What could I possibly have to say about playlists that hasn’t already been said? Read on.

The idea came to me while watching Top Gun. Maverick and Goose had just completed a training mission and, as they walked across the tarmac, they turned to each other and said in unison, “I feel the need, the need for speed!” Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 25 years, you probably know the quote. I’ve seen the movie a hundred times, but it wasn’t until watching it this last time that it occurred to me that this would be a good mantra to remember while struggling through intervals on my next run. Then I had an epiphany; not only would it be good to remember, it would be a pace-popping, speed-inducing sound bite to add to my playlist.

Since then, I have added numerous movie sound bites to my iPod and, despite the fact that they are usually less than 20 seconds long, they are often more motivational than my favorite songs. “Highway to the Danger Zone” finishes and then Maverick and Goose break in with “I feel the need, the need for speed!” Copy that, Ghost Rider.

You probably have “Eye of the Tiger” or some other music from the Rocky movies on your playlist, so why not follow it up with Mickey (Rocky’s trainer) telling you, “you’re gonna’ eat lightnin’ and you’re gonna’ crap thunder!” Sports movies often have great quotes that you can use, especially if the coach is being portrayed as a great leader. Take the following conversation from Remember the Titans:

Coach Boone: What are you?
Team: [Yelling] Mobile, agile, hostile!
Coach Boone: What is pain?
Team: French bread!
Coach Boone: What is fatigue?
Team: Army clothes!
Coach Boone: Will you ever quit?
Team: No! We want some mo’, we want some mo’, we want some mo’!

If the slow Southern drawl doesn’t impede your speed, then you could even use the following quote from Forrest Gump: “Now you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!”

It doesn’t even have to be a good movie to have a good sound bite. Take the movie Any Given Sunday. Al Pacino plays a football coach who delivers the following as part of his passionate half time speech: “The inches we need are everywhere around us. They’re in every break of the game, every minute, every second. On this team we fight for that inch. On this team we tear ourselves and everyone else around us to pieces for that inch. We claw with our fingernails for that inch. Because we know when we add up all those inches, that’s gonna make the [censored] difference between winning and losing!”

Sports movies aren’t the only place to find good sound bites. Who wouldn’t be inspired by Maximus in Gladiator telling his soldiers, “what we do in life, echoes in eternity!”? Perhaps just hearing a quote from your favorite movie, whether it’s inspirational or not, will help you up over that next hill. Maybe the sound bite that works for you is “Houston, we have a problem.” Hey, I’m not here to judge.

Perhaps you’re a parent of young kids and the only movies that you have time for nowadays are of the animated variety. Fear not. There are plenty of sound bites in kid’s movies that can help you. Off the top of my head, I can think of three. In Cars, you have “Speed. Faster than fast, quicker than quick. I am Lightning”; in Finding Nemo, “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming”; and Toy Story, has “To infinity… and beyond!” Yes, those were off the top of my head and yes, I’m a parent of young kids.

Are you a morning runner? What better way to start off your early morning run than with “Gooooood morning, Vietnam!” The possibilities are endless.

If you’re interested in downloading sound bites for your playlist, the best sites that I’ve found are www.moviewavs.com and www.moviesounds.com. Download your sound bites to your computer in a .wav or .mp3 format and then use the import feature under the file menu of iTunes to move them onto your iPod. Happy running until the next time. Or, should I say “Hasta la vista, Baby”?

Recent Posts from this Author’s Blog

Running to The Beat

Janice from Mom on the Run — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 13:00:26 +0000

Last week Mark was kind enough to open up to us and share his music playlist. I find this a very bold move, after all musical tastes are very personal. But then he offered us a challenge:

What do you run to? Share your playlists by leaving me a comment below.

Never one to back away from a challenge, be it running, motherhood, or life in general, I commented and offered to share my playlist. Uh oh. Like training for a marathon, once you tell someone that you’re going to do it, you better put actions to your words and do it. So here it is: My playlist. I call it “Running to The Beat.”

It’s a collection of songs that motivate me to run. An all-dance collection of songs that I’ve heard on the radio recently. Not only do these songs have a quick tempo that encourage me to run a little bit harder and faster, they also motivate me to run even when I’m not running! You see, when I’m cruising to the grocery store with my kids and any one of these songs come on the radio, memories of my most recent runs come to my mind making me all nostalgic and giddy and craving my next run, and therefore motivating me to run yet again and what can be better than that?

Share Your Music Playlists!

Mark Iocchelli — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 13:15:40 +0000

It’s no secret that the iPod and MP3 players in general have become quite an important part of many people’s running experience. I, myself, have never been one to run with music …until now.

My wife bought me an iPod Shuffle for Christmas, and I was pleasantly surprised how quickly I grew to love running with it (it’s so small!). I don’t run with it every time, but it really ads an extra …dimension to my runs when I do bring it along. There’s a great line in the August Rush trailer that seems very appropriate when it comes to us runners sharing the soundtracks of our lives. In the clip, Robin Williams says:

Do you know what music is? Harmonic connection between all living things.

Very poetic, don’t you think? Well, I’m here to share a harmonic connection with you. But first, I think I need to share a bit about the technology I used to do it.

There are quite a few music networking sites on the web. Probably the most famous one is Last.fm. Last.fm has some really amazing sharing features. It’s truly astounding how quickly you can stumble on, and share so much music. But I warn you – it’s addictive. And part of the addiction stems from one feature – embeddable playlists you can put into a blog post or sidebar.

There are other music sharing sites but none – in my opinion – are as cool as Last.fm. Well, none except one – Imeem. Imeem doesn’t have as much going on as Last.fm but I think Imeem’s playlists are way cool so that’s why I’m using Imeem for mine.

I love a variety of music. I grew up on Heavy Metal and 80’s music but I also love Jazz and classical. Heck, I even like some country music (wink). Today I’d like to share some movie score music. Scores always touch me in a special way, and I’ve found running to them to be wonderfully inspiring. They are amazing harmonic backdrops. Some are peaceful and lyrical. Some are upbeat and joyful. And others are pounding and forceful (perfect for those hard, tempo runs).

What do you run to? Share your playlists by leaving me a comment below. Just let me know that you have a playlist you’d like to share, and I’ll get in touch with you and arrange to share it with our readers!

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy mine.
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Credit for this terrific idea goes to Old School Runner (turns out he’s not so “Old School” after all!).