Margaret Whitesides is running in the Chicago Marathon this Sunday, the Weinberg senior’s first. A runner since middle school, Whitesides competed in high school track and cross-country. She’s turning the race into a family matter and will be joined by her older sister, Harvard graduate student, who is a trained ultramarathoner. The two prepared for the marathon using identical training schedules and will stick together through all 26.2 miles.
1. “Born to Run” — Bruce Springsteen
A standard for anyone who has ever run. The grittiness of Bruce’s voice always makes for great motivation to push through when you’re hitting a wall on a long run.
2. “If I Can’t” — 50 Cent
My go-to song for any long runs. The combination of a steady, heavy beat and motivational lyrics really help focus thoughts. Since your thoughts have such an impact on the outcome of runs, repeating ‘If I can’t do it, it can’t be done’ really helps you hit pace. I use this mostly during speed repeats.
3. “Hip Hop” — Dead Prez
No description necessary. It’s bigger than hip hop.
4. “I’m Back” — T.I.
As you can tell by now, I really like running to songs with good beats. Rap generally provides beats that are heavy enough that I can check my breathing speed, and general body coordination.
5. “Body Bounce” — Kardinal Offishall
Something a little more upbeat that changes up the pace of the run.
Sometimes all you need to get more energy is a pump-up jam, and these definitely provide enough synth-pop to power through miles 13-17.
6. “Hey” — Lil Jon & 3OH!3
7. “Keep it Going Louder” — Major Lazer
8. “Kick Ass” — Mika
9. “99 Problems” (Black Album Acoustic Version) — Jay Z
I like to end pretty strong, and this is absolutely one of my favorite songs of all time. The lack of backup has you really focus in on the vocals, which in turn, makes you listen to your body. During this, I usually make sure that my heart rate is in the right zone for the workout I’m doing.
10. “My President” — Young Jeezy
Hands down, a jam. Always a great way to finish a run, and you come full circle in terms of gritty voice quality (although I’m not sure how much the boss and Jeezy would like being compared to one another).