Team Member Judy wants to know what's on your IPOD?

WHAT'S ON YOUR IPOD?

I don't know about everyone else, but for me, the I-Pod has made it possible for me to run again. Getting my former couch potato self off and running always meant dealing with that part of myself that whines loudly and unceasingly, like a kid on a cross country road trip. You know what I mean. "I can't breath." "My feet hurt." "Are we done yet?" "You mean we've only gone one tenth of a mile?" "We always run down this road, can't we do something different?" "If we don't stop right now, I'm going to have a heart attack. Really. I mean it."

Music on the MP3 player works as well as puzzles, snacks, books and auto lotto worked to occupy my sister and me back in the 1960s or, in my daughter's case, a portable DVD player and her Gameboy.

It's not like listening to the radio, since there are no commercials and you know that every song you'll hear is something you like. I've found that I need bright music with a good beat, nothing dark or heavy metal. The absolute best is Bruce Springsteen. When "Born To Run" comes around, I'm always re-energized, practically sprinting as I mouth "Tramps like us, baby, we were born to ruuuuuuuuuuuuun!" I also like hearing him do "Badlands" and a song called "American Land" which always reminds me of seeing him in concert last April. It's an uplifting Celtic tune with filddles and accordions and you just can't help but move your feet.

Other songs that get me going are "Copper Head Road" by Steve Earl, "Bad To The Bone" by George Thorogood, "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac and "Beds Are Burning" by Midnight Oil. A good saxophone solo helps, too, like the riff in Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street."

Of course, you do need to be careful running with headphones on, as you're not as likely to hear cars coming. I'm lucky enough to live in a subdivision where there's not much traffic and most of my route is in an uninhabited development. The only people using the roads there are other runners, cyclists and people walking their dogs. I just hope the housing market stays flat and no one moves back there for at least another year or two.

So, I'm curious. What's the song that gets you past the wall and keeps you going to the end?