February 24th was the Mardi Gras Half Marathon. I managed to destroy my previous (and non-existent) personal record with a stunning 2:14:11, which easily could have been 2:14:15, had it not been for a monstrous sprint to the Smoothie-King-supplied finish line. Most people are motivated in the final stretch by personal accomplishment, I am motivated by frozen fruity treats.

Fast forward seven months and two tibia stress fractures later. I'm back.

So, if you want to have the best run of your life, add the following songs to your run playlist. And obviously listen to it. While running. You have to run to have the best run of your life. Otherwise it'll just be the best sitting on the couch of your life. Maybe. If you've ever watched Saved By the Bell on your couch, this won't top that. Sorry.

1. White Stripes, Seven Nation Army. Great warm-up rhythm that won't let you wuss out and go back home because your shoesaren'ttiedright/noseisstuffy/socksaredirty/sunglassesdon'tfeelright, etc.

2. Sting, After the Rain Has Fallen. Don't knock it till you try it.

3. Eminem, Till I Collapse. I typically do not like running to the training anthems of our generation... Rocky, Eye of the Tiger, etc. But this one will make you want to suffer. Push this one to the back if you're still warming up. Otherwise you may end up zombie tackling that nice lady that lives down the street.

4. Indigo Girls, Shame on You. Great mid-run rhythm.

5. Saul Williams, List of Demands. Nike says my better is better than your better.

6. Debarge, Rhythm of the Night. I will give you one nickel if you don't dance a little while running to this song.

7. Hanson, Thinking of You. Before a 10-mile training run in preparation for the half-marathon, I loaded up my iPod with what I thought was a sweet mix of the hottest hits of today and 10 years ago. My iPod had other plans; however, and only uploaded one song. It happened to be the first song of the Hanson album... And since it was snowing, and I knew if I went back home, I'd never get back out. So I listened to the same song for 10 miles. Don't do that. Seriously.

8. Usher + Lil'Jon + Ludacris, Yeah. Other than the general runableness of this song, you can take your mind off of that big hill by listening for only what Lil'Jon sings during the song. Seems like Usher didn't feel comfortable giving him any more responsibility than "yeah" "okay" and "watch out."

9. Jonny Lang, Red Light. Don't ask Luke what he thinks about this song. I think it's pretty great. Especially the increased-tempo ending.

10. John Mayer version of Freefallin. Great cool down song. I love running songs that help me remember why I run - to be healthier, to look better, or to just feel better. And if someone wanted to write my name in the sky, that would make me feel pretty darn great. Apparently this song is all about drugs. Just say no.