La Musica!

That's about all of the Spanish I speak and/or write.  Thank you high school education!  On to the post.  I thought I'd write about my music selections while working out.  Actually, to be fair, my wife suggested this.  Thank you sexy lady!

I actually have a little bit different view of training with music than a lot of people, I think.  I love music, and really enjoy working out to it.  I find that it does take my mind off of the pain I'm causing myself, which I also see as a problem for a couple of reasons.  The main reason, for myself, is that in Ironman races, ipods are typically not allowed.  I feel that if I can't use it during the race, then I shouldn't train with it.  I wouldn't train with a better bike, only to use my POJ (the cleaner version of POS) for a race.  So why would I do it with music?  Secondly, if I don't specifically focus on my form, whether it be biking or running, I find that my mind will wander and my form, what little there is, will deteriorate.  I've noticed that my pace usually gets off track as well.  If it weren't for those two things, which I view as pretty important, then I'd probably use music all the time.

There are two instances when I do choose to listen to music.  Those two instances are treadmill runs and bike rides on my trainer.  Why do I use music in these workouts?  Because it is so dang boring to not actually be moving, it can actually be hard to motivate myself to keep going and not just stop.  With music, or the TV on, it's a little easier to keep the body moving.

My music selection is pretty large.  There's really too many to name all of them.  I'll just talk about some of the highlights.  Anyone who knows me and my musical tastes would only assume that I have some 311 in the ipod.  And I do, of course.  Here's a taste of 311 (just ignore the 1 or 2 swear words...):

Next is a little taste from the band Muse:

And as of late, I've added something to my ipod that I never would have considered adding, until my wife and I stuck around to see the last finisher come across the finish line at IMAZ 2010.  It was quite the party at the finish line, and all the DJ was playing was phat club beats yo!  Whenever I hear that music now, it reminds me of when we were waiting at the finish line and we were watching the pro's on the big screen TV.  So I did my best too look up some of the stuff that the DJ was playing, and I came across Deadmau5.  Here's two of the songs that made the cut:

 

It's sort of like having my own little spin class at my house!  Aside from those three bands/artists, there's really an endless list of artists on my playlist.  To name a few:  Yellowcard, Andrew W.K., Metallica, Beastie Boys, Black Eyed Peas, Alien Ant Farm, The All-American Rejects, Foo Fighters, Blink 182, Sugarcult, Finch, Jimmy Eat World, Papa Roach, The Used, Incubus, Maroon5, P.O.D., Hoobastank, Nickelback, AFI, Queen, Metro Station, Thrice, Our Lady Peace, The Gap Band, and Steriogram.  There's about 15 others, but I'm tired of scrolling through the list.  And besides, you get the idea.  It's a pretty big variety.  I just put it on "random" and let the ipod do it's magic.

If I had to limit it to one band, I'd probably go with 311.  Mainly because they are awesome.  But also because they have a gazillion songs, and they range from fast to slow to mellow to intense.  They're a good band to do intervals to: I'll sometimes match the tempo of the song with my cadence, or increase the resistance on my trainer for the duration of a song.

The long and short of it is, if you use music, great!  I try not to most of the time because I don't use it in races, and I prefer to prepare for race day as much as possible.  But when I do use music, I absolutely enjoy it, and it makes me wish I'd use it all the time.

BONUS VIDEO!!!!

This goof ball is most definitely NOT in my playlist.  Sorry, I'm not a Belieber.