Songs to Add to your Workout Playlist

Ankle-high socks, moisture-wicking shirts, knee-high socks, single or double-knotted shoes. When it comes to running gear, I’m not one to have very many stipulations. In fact, I only have one stipulation and that is: I will not run with headphones in, thus I do not run with music.

Because of this, I often daydream of an alternate running universe where running with headphones isn’t so bothersome for me. In celebration of this alternate universe, I’ve recently made note of a few songs that I’d add to my running playlist if I had one. These songs may never accompany me on my own runs, so perhaps, they’ll find a home with you.

For a quick pace: 212 by Azealia Banks

For the fast runner, or the runner with a short stride, I imagine this might be your anthem. With quick beats to set your stride to, this upbeat hip-hip anthem will help you keep pace, as long as you don’t mind Banks’ potty mouth.

For the casual run: White Teeth Teens by Lorde

If you’re not racing the clock, or the setting sun, Lorde’s smooth vocals and secondary instrumentals might be the perfect background noise for your run. This young, Kiwi has a knack for poetic lyrics and a calm, raspy tone that might not be enough to get you pumped up, but it’ll keep you engaged as you make progress along your pre-destined or impromptu path.

For the classic runner’s sole: Real World by Matchbox 20

With an ever-present guitar strum, this ‘90s hit from Matchbox 20 might encourage you to wear a scrunchie or that throwback pair of neon Nike running shorts once belonging to your hip dad. Don’t stop yourself from singing along, either. It could help with your ability to control your breath. 

Theoretically speaking, I would think that a workout playlist of any kind should match the tempo you're trying to keep. Faced with a uphill slope, fatigue, or ideal weather, the music you listen to should aid in keeping you going. As for me, I'll continue singing the choruses of songs in the confines of my own mind.

Check out this article, "The Top 10 Workout Songs for November 2013", from The Huffington Post. They weigh in on the best tunes to listen to during your run with artists ranging from Rihanna to the U.K. band, Bastille.  

Happy trails.

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Bleachers to Bruises: Rugby fan joins CSU Club Team

With fair skin and a likeness for wearing dresses when the weather permits, McKenzie Kimball is getting accustomed to showing a couple bruises as a rookie on the Women’s Rugby team at Colorado State University. After years of adoration for the sport of rugby, the Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism senior has traded her fandom for a team jersey.

Growing up, Kimball spent her childhood in Silverthorne, Colo. and her adolescence in Fruita, Colo. With a small town upbringing on either side of the state, her interests were shaped by her surroundings. In Fruita, like many other regions of the United States, rugby is a lesser known sport alongside football and soccer. Her first exposure to rugby took place in Silverthorne, but it wasn’t until her collegiate career that Kimball would don a pair of rugby cleats all her own.

During her first year at CSU, Kimball walked out of the rugby interest meeting in a fit of intimidation. Two years would pass before she deeply considered joining the team.

“It’s the sport that tough girls play, and one that people have respect for but its always on the outskirts,” Kimball says of rugby. Though she was content with her involvement on campus, and with her academics, Kimball says she entered her third year at CSU “ready for something that really scares me and pushes me out of my comfort zone.”

Seated in an office chair, the rugby newcomer can’t help but to look approachable as she hugs her right knee to her chest and swings her left leg rhythmically. It seems like a misplacement to imagine Kimball with her pixie-cut, blonde hair out on a field, where physicality has few limitations. She admits that she had her reservations, as well.

Up until her first game, a scrimmage against the University of Wyoming on the CSU intramural fields, Kimball can’t recall having any “physical responses to stress”.

“I fell silent about an hour before the game,” Kimball says. “Typically, I’m reserved before games and the like, but I was thinking ‘shit what did I get into?’”   

After about 60 ‘scrums’—where teams vie for possession of the ball by pushing against their opponents in a head-to-head huddle—her mentality began to change.

Like a mass of humming bees from flower to flower, the two opposing teams are in constant motion whether the ball is or not. As a forward on the team, Kimball is continuously at the center of the swarm with a few specialized roles. If she’s not following allowing with the referee’s cadence of, “crouch, bind, set” to dig her cleats into the ground towards the ball in a scrum, Kimball is helping lift the jumper in the air in a lineout to catch the ball.

“I was surprised that I could actually lift and tackle girls,” Kimball says between giggling. But the surprises didn’t stop there.

Aside from her ability and budding love for the sport, Kimball was equally surprised by the amount of camaraderie within the women’s rugby team.

“There aren’t very many of us, which is part of this sport,” says Kimball. “It’s a family. They want to know about you and support you like a family does”.

Nov. 3, signified the end of the fall rugby season for the CSU club team, with a loss to the University of New Mexico. With a record of one win and two losses, the team looks forward to a spring season that will begin again in the New Year. As the snow makes its last flurries for the winter, the women on CSU’s rugby team will play one last game against Air Force Academy, and begin preparing for regionals and nationals according to their season performance.

“I don’t really have much opportunity to rest, or to think about stuff which is kind of good because it forces me into a rhythm,” Kimball says with an intonation that suggests she’s realizing more about herself as she finishes her sentence.

“Leaving my first game, I was exhausted. It was really fun, it was terrifying, it was brutal, and it definitely made me fall in love with the sport”.

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Recover, Rest, Re-charge: Post-run care

Sweat drips from your temple and onto the sidewalk below as you slow your pace into a walk—a movement that suddenly seems foreign for your body. Finishing a run, and stopping the time on your stopwatch does not always indicate the end of your workout. In order to stray away from the soreness and lactic acid build-up that has haunted you time and time again, try implementing some variation into your cool-down process.

One of the best ways to supplement your stretching routine is with a foam roller. Like an inanimate masseuse, the foam roller can target most any body part you’re experiencing soreness with. Most often, I put my ankles on the roller, holding my body up with my arms, and roll up to my hamstrings. Additionally, the foam roller is good for treating shin splints.

As a long-term recovery method, you can elevate or ice your legs. Elevation can promote blood flow back up towards your heart, and “eliminate waste products”, according to, “Your Best Rest”, from Runner’s World.  This article also suggests bags of ice, or ice baths (up to 15 minutes) to reduce inflammation and achy joints.

Bettering your recovery routine makes for genuine strides and more productive training. 

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