I #RuntoaFasterBeat with New Balance #FreshFoamZante

I love to go on a nice long run to clear my head. There is nothing more serene to me than heading out on an endless stretch of road and letting problems work themselves out with the sound of my breathing and feet hitting the packed dirt.

But sometimes, I am not searching for serenity on a run.

Sometimes, I want to reach beyond my potential, break a Strava record or just run dang fast.

For those workouts, I have music.

I lived in England for a year right beside one of the best electronic music venues in Europe so I ended up falling in love with raging bass lines, drops and driving rhythm because it directly translated to my running, which I also started to do at the time.

I would spend my Friday evenings going to shows featuring DJ’s like Armin Van Buuren, Gareth Emery, Michael Woods, Liquid Stranger…the list goes on. My favourite playlist is full of everything from drum and bass to psychedelic trance because falling in love with music also made me fall in love with running.

 

I made a playlist featuring some of my favourite workout songs on Spotify and wanted to mention some of the songs that have made the biggest impact on my workouts over the years:

Deeper into Man – Let It Rain – I ran my first marathon to this album on repeat. I find psychedelic trance to provide the best rhythm for running that I have ever found.

Going Insane – Infected Mushroom – I can’t explain why, but this will always be one of my favourite songs. I have done more interval sessions to this song that I care to count, but my playlist is suggesting it is 150.

Gravity by Parker & Hanson – This song goes into my car stereo the week before a race when I spend time mentally preparing to make it hurt. It is the only time I listen to it and I associate this song with pain that will be coming soon. If I am going to be running to music, I also need to make sure my shoes can keep up.

The last marathon cycle, I trained with the New Balance Zante Fresh Foam and it helped to deliver the most successful training cycle and marathon race I have ever experienced. It is basically a shoe for distance runners who want to go fast. It has a bootie-like design that wraps around your foot and makes it feel like you have nothing on your feet.

Which seems great but then it does one better – it has an aggressive toe spring that basically gives you no other option than to run with a proper stride and giving a smooth heel to toe transition. This shoe has nothing other than what it absolutely needs, making it sexy, light and cushioned enough to take me long distances.

 

 

I am not the only one that absolutely loves it – Competitor Magazine voted it the 2015 Road Shoe of the Year and I can completely get behind this award. With a 6 mm drop, it leaves no need for transition and for a runner that is aggravatingly blister-prone, I have not had a single one since training in these shoes.

It’s no secret that I love New Balance, but these shoes are next level. In fact, I was so thrilled with my success in training for the Boston marathon with them that I grabbed another pair to start training in as soon as my current ones die.

If you need me, I will be sprinting to some trance in the corner over here, but in the meantime, check out the contest that New Balance is holding. Head over to freshfoamzante.ca and submit a playlist of 5 or more songs on the Spotify plug in for a chance to win a trip to the music festival of your choice (It’s for two, so take me, mmmk?) AND $1000 in New Balance gear. Winner is announced in July.

Remember to share your playlist with me. Not required for contest entry, just because I am always on the look out for new music.

What are your top workout songs?

Why do you run with music?