At the beginning of the year I brought up how to start off with a runDisney race as part of resolutions for the year. So, you may have picked out a race to sign up for, and now need to train for it.
Ugh! Training! It’s hard to start off feeling motivated in running when you haven’t been doing it. Time of day doesn’t always help. If it’s in the morning, you are crawling out of bed to run first thing. If it’s at night, well you may have just gotten relaxed at the end of the day and now you have to head out on your feet.
There may be a way to get motivated, and it’s in your playlist picks. Seriously. There is some scientific evidence that certain music helps with exercise.
So, if it’s helpful to have music while you run, why not pick music that will motivate you? I will say this has been a huge help both in training and on the actual runs. Although, runDisney does not recommend having headphones/earbuds while on the courses so that you can hear announcements. It’s not prohibited, just not recommended.
First, for training, you want a playlist that has upbeat songs. I know. You like those slow ones. It’s not going to help. Sorry. It’s also good to find the right tempo in songs. Many times we run according to a beat we hear. The slower the song, the slower the pace. The faster the song, the faster the pace. If you pick too fast you may wear yourself out quicker. To pick the right songs is going to be a little trial and error. Though there are some apps that will help. Spotify finds your pace as you run in one of their features. Sometimes running apps will find the right songs to play too. But, it’s mostly just going to be trial and error.
For my races being mostly Disney ones, I pick Disney songs. You’d be surprised at how many are very upbeat and motivational. Big Hero 6’s “First Flight” is a dynamicly epic song to run with. DConstructed is an album with a plethora of remixes of Disney tunes that are great to run with. Scour the Disney soundtrack library picking out your favorite music. Just remember, the more upbeat the better.
As you’re adding to your playlist, make sure you have enough to go a little over your average run time. If you do 3 miles in about 40 minutes, have enough music to go like 42 minutes. That way you have a bit of a buffer before it repeats.
For the races itself, I like to make custom playlists that keep me motivated in every mile. And they are themed to the race that I’m running. If you know your pace in time for a race day, you can figure out what songs you need where because runDisney provides a map of the course with mile markers. It’s not too detailed, but you can get a sense of where you’ll be at which mile and time. I like having appropriate themes for the various lands of a Disney park. “Touch the Sky” from Brave will play while I’m running in Fantasyland. “Test Track” will play in Epcot. It makes me feel like I have a special soundtrack for my pace.
So, if you’re pace is 13 minutes a mile, and one of those miles is split between Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, you can estimate how many minutes you’ll be in each land during that mile and set up the playlist accordingly. Like, if starting in Tomorrowland, pick a 5 minute futuristic song, maybe have a 2-3 minute other one, and finally have a couple of Disney movie classic songs for the rest of the mile.
One thing I highly recommend is find at least two jams that will push you on those late hard miles in half or full marathons. I say two, but the song I picked is the Paint the Night soundtrack. It gives me that adrenaline to keep going on mile 10 of half marathons. It’s because I want to dance whenever I listen to it anyway, so why not run to it? Find those songs that get you moving every time you hear it, and those will be the inspirational tunes to keep you going.
A good playlist is going to help you on runs before and during the race. Start picking, and feel free to share what your inspirational music is in the comments below!
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