Fuel for 6-Mile Treks across the Desert

There are few days when I'm as exhausted as I am today.  I had to wake up at 5am to take my dad to the airport which is -- you guessed it -- just under 2 hours away.  That, and I couldn't sleep because I've been reading about serial killers and my unconscious mind was serving me up platters of cryptic nightmares last night.  Fun stuff.  Anyway, most of my days are filled with working on The Novel, the unending-and-fruitless job search most college graduates are going through, facebook stalking old friends, and running ridiculous distances.  I am a big runner -- it's my zen time.  It's my time to tune out the world with some daydreams and thoroughly wear myself out with physical exertion.  Thus, it has become borderline impossible for me to run without my iPod.  Nope, can't do it -- running without music is weird and almost pointless from where I'm standing.  Among other things, it motivates me to run faster and harder and it provides welcome accompaniment to my imaginings, which are always in the back of my mind.  Thus, I've picked a playlist of my favorite songs to run to -- from upbeat dance tunes to kickass power ballads -- that keep me going when running 6 miles in the Arizona heat is the last thing I want to do.  I run about an 8-minute mile so this list lasts roughly 50 minutes.

• "Too Young" Pheonix -- I love Pheonix but this song in particular never fails to energize me.  You may remember it from that scene in "Shallow Hal" when Jack Black is whipping out his meth-addict dance moves with three "ugly" girls.  I'll admit, it's hard not to dance like that to this song -- reminiscent of disco but with better lyrics.  Favorite line:  "I guess I couldn't live without things/that made my life what it is."  True story.

• "American Boy" Estelle w/ Kanye West -- Another tune that gets me pumped up.  Estelle is amazing if you've never heard any of her other stuff.  And Kanye -- despite his increasingly asshole-celebrity public antics -- can write a good rap.  And this one is, for the most part, free of obscenities. (personally, I think if you need to say "f*ck" every other word, you lack linguistic creativity -- and that's from someone who has an incredibly foul mouth.)
• "Try to Understand" The Gay Blades -- Another song I download off Fuse for free, I underestimated how quickly it would become one of my favorite songs.  When the singer starts off, he has that rockabilly drawl that reminds me a lot of Elvis.  Again, amazing lyrics and I can't help singing along -- which is really difficult when you're running at about 6mph.  Needless to say, I have pretty impressive lungs.
• "Die Another Day" Madonna--When I'm running, sometimes I like to imagine that I'm training for something - the CIA, the zombie apocalypse, to become a superhero, etc.  Probably because the video is ingrained in my head, this song goes well with the CIA scenario.  Don't knock it until you try it -- I don't know about you but I run a helluva lot faster if I think someone is after me.
• "The Love Letter" Blaqk Audio -- This song is fantastic for interval training!  It has alternating waves of calm verses and then a powerful chorus.  You may recognize it from "The Eye" trailer (the one with Jessica Alba).  I'm a big fan of dark wave and any music that is patently of the eerie persuasion and "The Love Letter" falls into both of those categories. 
• "Another Nail in my Heart" Squeeze -- Is 80s fan tattood on my forehead?  It must be.  Most people my age haven't heard of Squeeze, especially since alot of young'uns assume that punk began with Green Day and Blink 182.   Coincidentally, Squeeze is still around, albeit with many new band mates, recording and touring and releasing albums, the latest of which came out last year. 
• "Here it goes again" Ok Go -- This song needs no explanation.  It's upbeat.  It has a good tempo for running.  And the video involves the most epic misuse of exercise equipment created by modern man.  They had to do that shit in one take!  One fuck-up and they had to start from the beginning.  Can you imagine the bruises they had after filming?  I've fallen off a treadmill and believe me, it ain't no Sunday picnic.
• "The Will of One" The Protomen -- I'm a staunch Idealist who has delusions of grandeur, a combination that has allowed me to, among other things, develop a massive hero complex.  This song quite literally makes me want to go and save the world.  My favorite part is the bridge -- the lyrics are perfect and brings the whole Megaman dystopia to life and the singing/screaming at the end is so primal. 
• "Flagpole Sitta" Harvey Danger-- The lyrics of this song pretty much describes my entire thoughts throughout a normal day.  Who are these people?  Are they even human?  And why did they have so many f*cking dumb*ass children?  The truth is that, yes, I do want to publish zines.  And rage against machines.  But I can go without piercing my tongue because I'm pretty sure it does hurt.
• "Baptized by Fire" Spinnerette -- To end, I picked this song because it's a good wind down.  It has a good pace, great lyrics, and Brody Dalle's husky croon has calm, determined quality that gets me through the last stretch.  Also, I like to imagine myself running off into the sunset, praying I hit some "Bermuda Blue."  But, alas, I live in a f*cking desert and the only water for miles is the growing mudpit in the drainage ditch that is is a bitch to run past because -- since monsoon season started  -- the mosquito population has begun to procreate exponentially.