Shuffling Through 17 Miles

Happy April Everyone!

This past weekend I headed up to my hometown of Milwaukee to spend Easter with my family. This week's run was 17 miles, which put me at a little less than 3 hours of running. Sunday morning was a sunny 60 degrees, so I was feeling pretty optimistic. I headed out, thinking that I'd run cheerily through the nicest part of the sunny day along the tree-lined streets of my parents' suburb. Not so much. About 2 miles in, the tempurature dropped about 10 degrees, it started raining, and the wind started whipping at my face to the point where I felt my contacts drying out. Because I was only at about mile 3 when things got ugly, and I was running solo, music became my savior.

Now, those of you who have been in a car or (God forbid) ever sang karaoke with me, have experienced my completely random and admittedly cheesy music tastes. My shuffle's workout mix, about 150 songs collected since 2003, amplify this because, as the sole listener, I don't need to filter out of shame. I have no idea how to describe my overall style of music, so here's a list of the most recent 20 songs my shuffle played:

1. Minute by Minute-Girl Talk
2. I Believe in a Thing Called Love-The Darkness
3. Turn My Head-Live
4. Knock You Down-Keri Hilson, Kanye, and Ne-Yo
5. Wendy Clear-Blink 182
6. The Wind-Cat Stevens
7. Poker Face-Lady GaGa
8. Juicy-Better Than Ezra
9. Ice Cream Van-Glasvegas
10. Sober-Pink
11. Leavin'-Jesse McCartney (Probably my favorite guilty pleasure song)
12. Laid-Matt Nathanson
13. The Finer Things-Steve Winwood
14. Gold Digger-Kanye West (I promise, I'm really not that big of a Kanye fan!)
15. Never Gonna Give You Up-Rick Astley
16. A Little Respect-Erasure
17. Polmont on My Mind-Glasvegas
18. Faith-George Michael
19. Come And Get Your Love-Redbone (Don't ask me why, I have NO idea)
20. Surrender-Cheap Trick

Wow. Shameful. But it works for me because it keeps me guessing while I run, changes up my mood and pacing, and helps me focus my attention away from whatever conditions I have to deal with. So, thanks to my shuffle and a break from the bad weather after 10 miles, I successfully finished the 17 miles!

Now here's a little more about the reason I'm doing all this--AHCF! Last weekend I got together with Gara, her boyfriend Boris, and Gara's parents, Ursula and Gary. Gara and Boris are whizzes in the kitchen, so they whipped up an Indian feast, and then Ursula and Boris played some music for us--Boris playing the bass by ear and Ursula the accordian. It was a blast!

Besides getting dinner and a show, I got to chat with Del's proud grandparents about the work they've been doing for the AHCF. I was incredibly impressed with their commitment to the cause. In just a few weeks they'll be hosting a spaghetti dinner to benefit the AHCF. Around 600 people plan to attend! I was interested to hear about their experience so far working to raise AHC awareness, and was touched to hear the amount of support they've received from their community, especially in this difficult financial climate. Thanks again to everyone that's checked out the AHC information, sent their support, and continue to spread the word about AHC.

Also, a special thanks to my roommate and running buddy Denise Sinz for her donation!