A lot of people are surprised I listen to music during the majority of my runs. In fact, it’s very rare that I am not wearing my iPod even for one run every once in awhile. I don’t think listening to music is a “crutch”, but an added perk to my running experience, if you will.

This year, I haven’t been that diligent in updating my running playlist. Last year I compiled my favorite songs following the Chicago Marathon and I noticed this year that a lot of my favorites haven’t really changed. The list below, however, are the new additions that I’ve been addicted to lately. Some of them are slower than you might expect for a running playlist, but I find that most of them work for my cadence. And if they don’t have a “good beat”, they usually have an emotional component that makes me motivated to run faster.

Enjoy! (Links to songs on Spotify included)

• Sail – Awolnation
• The Bomb– New Young Pony Club
• Little Talks– Of Monsters and Men
• Princess– Datarock
• Canned Heat– Jamiroquai
• Up Up and Away– Kid Cudi
• One– Ratatat
• Ambling Alp– Yeasayer
• My Body– Young the Giant
• List of Demands– Saul Williams
• Midnight City– M83
• A Kiss to Send Us Off– Incubus
• Learnalilgivinanlovin’– Gotye
• The Distance– Cake
• Gold Guns Girls– Metric
• Lonely Boy– Black Keys
• Can’t Stop– Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Think Twice– Eve 6
• Big Dancin– Bounce Camp
• It’s Time– Imagine Dragons

What kind of music do you listen to when you run? Do you prefer running with or without music?