My jogging tracks

I can't jog without my ears plugged. Indeed, when I started jogging some 15 or so years ago, I started jogging songs rather than time. I jogged one song, then two, then three and so on. When I wanted to attempt my first half marathon, I told myself that I needed to jog at least 25 songs, each of 5 minutes duration on average. I didn't run distances, just songs. Soon that wasn't enough. I had to run 50 songs because I wanted to run a marathon.

Since music is as much a part of my running as my shoes are, I started developing playlists. I need music in my ears when I run. 

The only real constraint I have is that my tracks have to be between 80-90 beats per minute (bpm). The beats assist my running cadence. I place the lower bpm tracks at the start and progressively the tempo in the playlists increase. This works just fine because my stride shortens as the run progresses.

Not all songs that I like to include in the playlist fall neatly into the 80-90bpm range. So I use software to either reduce or increase the tempo of these songs.

I have 4 playlists and depending on my mood for the day, I will pick one or the other and on some days, I may even choose to play songs from all four playlists in a random manner. 

The playlists are:

• Bollywood (Hindi) running tracks
• Pop/rock playlist
• Carnatic music running playlist
• Tamil (mainly Ilayaraja) tracks

The playlists are provided below.

Carnatic playlist

1. karpagambikai nee allavo, behag (tempo increased 25% -- Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
2. lavanya rama (Hyderabad Brothers)
3. matim dehi, kalyani (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
4. chalamelara, marga hindolam (Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Live in Melbourne)
5. mahalakshmi, sankarabharanam (T. N. Seshagopalan)
6. evvare ramaiyya, gangeyabhushani (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
7. palaya sada, nalinakanti (Sanjay Subrahmanyan) 
8. ee vasuda, sahana (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
9. nenarunchara, simhavahini (Hyderabad Brothers)
10. etula brotuva, chakravakam (Alathur Brothers)
11. nijagadasa (tempo reduced 20%), sindhubhairavi (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
12. ra ra rajeeva lochana (M. L. Vasanthakumari)
13. ninnadanela, kannada (Hyderabad Brothers)
14. rama ninuvina, sankarabharanam (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
15. unnadiye gati, bahudari (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
16. smarane sukhamu, janaranjani (Ramnad Krishnan)
17. amba kamakshi, bhairavi (Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer)
18. brochevarevare, sri ranjani (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)
19. pranatharthihara, melaragamalika (Sanjay Subrahmanyan)

This playlist lasts nearly 3 and a half hours and is the one that changes most. This is how the playlist looks at the moment though.

Pop/Rock Playlist

1. Hymn to Her -- speed up 10% (The Pretenders)
2. Under The Bridge (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
3. Tears In Heaven (Eric Clapton) 
4. I Want to Know What Love Is (Foreigner)
5. Brothers In Arms (Dire Straits)
6. Mad About You (Sting)
7. You're the Voice (John Farnham)
8. Come Together / Dear Prudence / Cry Baby (The Beatles)
9. Take the Long Way Home (Supertramp)
10. When We Dance (Sting: Fields of Gold)
11. Kashmir (Led Zeppelin)
12. A Great Day For Freedom (Pink Floyd)
13. She's Always a Woman (Billy Joel)
14. Last Chance (John Mellencamp)
15. Come Away With Me (Norah Jones)
16. In the City (The Eagles)
17. Sunrise (Norah Jones)
18. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt (Elton John)
19. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (The Police)
20. Romeo And Juliet (Dire Straits)
21. Holding Back the Years (Simply Red)
22. I am… I Said (Neil Diamond)
23. All the Girls Love Alice (Elton John)
24. I Can't Tell You Why (The Eagles)
25. Going to California (Led Zeppelin)
26. Love is the Seventh Wave (Sting: Fields of Gold)
27. Give A Little Bit (Supertramp)
28. Brass in Pocket (The Pretenders)
29. Spirits in the Material World (The Police)
30. Pink (Aerosmith)
31. Black Dog (Led Zeppelin)
32. In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel)
33. She's Got The Look (Roxette)
34. Nikita (Elton John)

This playlist lasts nearly 2 and a half hours.

Tamil (Ilayaraja) Playlist:

1. nee pathi naan paathi 
2. priyasaki
3. pazhamuthir (tempo reduced 10pc)
4. talaiyai kuniyum (tempo reduced 10pc)
5. aadipattam
6. povomaa oorholam 
7. iru vizhiyin (tempo reduced 8pc)
8. nee oru kaadal (tempo reduced 10pc)
9. keladi kanmani (tempo reduced 5pc)
10. anjali anjali
11. irandum ondrodu (tempo reduced 10pc)
12. silence(tempo up 5pc)
13. siriya paravai
14. chittaan chittaan
15. mana maalaiyum (tempo reduced 11pc)
16. oru pooncholai (tempo up 9pc)
17. varadhu vandha (tempo reduced 7pc)
18. vaa vaa anbe (tempo reduced 20pc)
19. ninnukori (tempo reduced 15pc)
20. kaathu udha
21. kaadalin (tempo increased 42pc)
22. senbagame (tempo reduced 12pc)
23. chinna kuyil
24. chinnamani (tempo increased 7pc)
25. un paarvaiyil
26. kaalai nera (tempo reduced 6pc)
27. ilaya nila
28. mannil entha (tempo increased 10pc)
29. kadhal (tempo reduced 10pc)
30. per vachalum (tempo increased 8pc)
31. keeravni (tempo reduced 12pc)
32. poo maalai (tempo reduced 12pc)
33. inraikku yen (tempo reduced 8pc)
34. thalattum
35. maarugo maarugo
36. oh sukumari (tempo reduced by 18%) (Harris Jayaraj)

The last song in this play list is not an Ilayaraja song of course. It was included just for fun and for no other particular reason. 

This playlist lasts nearly 2 and a half hours. 

Bollywood/Hindi Playlist

1. ek ladki ko dekha (1942 A Love Story)
2. hud dabangg dabangg (Dabangg)
3. pankhon ko (Salim-Sulaiman)
4. kyon (All The Best - Pritam)
5. ali maula (tempo increased 22% -- Kurbaan)
6. tumhi dekho naa (Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna)
7. iktara (Wake Up Sid)
8. aaj kal zindagi (tempo increased 18% -- Wake Up Sid)
9. hum tum (Hum Tum)
10. shukran allah (Kurbaan)
11. taare zameen par (tempo increased 14% -- Taare Zameen Par)
12. noor-un-ala-noor (Meenaxi - A Tale of 3 Cities)
13. maa (tempo increased 11% -- Taare Zameen Par)
14. kal ho naa ho (Kal Ho Naa Ho)
15. tere bina (tempo increased 15% -- Guru)
16. khwaja mere khwaja (tempo increased 48% -- Jodhaa Akbar)
17. kuch to log kahenge (Amar Prem)
18. ali ali (tempo reduced 10% -- Deewaar, 2004)
19. teri ore (Singh Is Kinng)
20. namak (Omkara)
21. sajdaa (tempo reduced 5% -- My Name is Khan)
22. bin tere (tempo increased 20% -- I Hate Luv Stories)
23. thoda thoda pyar (Love Aaj Kal
24. rahiman ishq ka jhaga re (Well Done Abba)
25. alvida (Life In A Metro)
26. phir dekhiye (Rock On)
27. chinnamma chilakkamma (tempo increased 8% -- Meenaxi - A Tale of 3 Cities)
28. aye udi udi udi (Saathiya)
29. saathiya (Saathiya)
30. kahin door jab din (Anand)
31. chingari koi bhadke (Amar Prem)
32. bheegi si bhaagi si (Raajneeti)
33. ibn-e-batuta (Ishqiya)
34. yeh rishta (Meenaxi - A Tale of 3 Cities)
35. tum jo aaye zindagi mein (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai)
36. andhanga lena (Godavari - telugu)
37. saamne aati ho (Dus)
38. rahi re (Luck By Chance)
39. khabar nahi (tempo reduced 10pc -- Dostana)

This playlist lasts nearly 2 and a half hours. 

If you have any tracks that I could add to this, please send me an email or leave a comment. 

-- Mohan (@mohank)