I’m loving the weather we’re getting out here in Los Angeles this week. After a weekend in the 90’s, it’s started to cool off. We are even supposed to get rain today! Last night, I enjoyed a fun-filled 4 miles in cool temps after dark. I’ve adjusted well to using the Nike Plus app on my phone for keeping track of my running during these mid-week training runs. With it being dark outside, I can’t see my watch to keep up with the intervals I want to be running and walking. The phone is nice and bright. So, I never have to worry about going too long or too short on the intervals!

On this Music Wednesday, I want to highlight a song that has been on my playlist ever since it came out. I’m a huge fan of American Idol and have been watching ever since midway through season 1. Even though I still watch the best talent competition on television, there has never been a contestant quite as talented as the original winner Kelly Clarkson. Sorry to fans of other American Idol contestants, I’m a Kelly Clarkson fan and will probably never be wowed by anyone as much as I have been by Ms. Clarkson.

When the season 1 American Idol finalists went on tour, I ended up with a front row, center stage ticket. It’s the only concert I ever went to by myself and was a spurt of the moment decision. I walked up to the ticket office in the afternoon of the concert and walked away with this amazing ticket. True story. I didn’t have any friends I knew who watched American Idol in its first season. So, I had no one to go with. When I got the ticket, the map of the arena I was shown didn’t make it look like I was front row center stage. So, I didn’t take the camera for what would have been some amazing pictures. Anyways, the people around me were huge fans of the show. So, even though I went by myself, I was among friends. It was a totally fun show that I will never forget.

Anyways, while I have all the albums and have seen Kelly in concert many times, some of her songs haven’t worked for me on playlists. However this song has been a favorite for a while…

Tempo is a big thing for me while running. Any song that slows down too much is hard for me to continue running with. What I like about My Life Would Suck Without You is that there are tempo changes, but the slow parts don’t last long enough to slow me down. I like that the first verse has a constant beat going while the accompanying music is kind of mellow. By the time you get to the first chorus, it’s on. Most days, when the first chorus hits, I get a huge burst of energy. That energy keeps going until the bridge of the song. The slowdown and build up to the last time through the chorus is great fun to listen to while running. It breaks things up a bit, but not too much. I’ve run with this song, lifted weights with this song, and been on the elliptical machine with this song. It’s a great all around song to have in your ears no matter what your workout needs are.