Top 10 Workout Songs for March

The weather's getting warmer, the days are growing longer, our training schedules are becoming more defined as those races we signed up for months ago are looming closer. I don't know about you, but that means a little switch up to the old workout playlist. Maybe it's because my old list reminds me of indoor workouts and I'm ready to transition outside, or maybe it's because I'm ready to push the pace and increase my current beats per minute that get me moving.

Run Hundred shared its top songs for March according to votes placed at its website, the most popular workout music site online. One of the songs is already on my playlist, added after I heard it on Grey's Anatomy so for once I feel less clueless about hits other exercisers are listening to. As for the list, here are the 10 hits Run Hundred found for March.

• Lady GaGa - Marry The Night (Afrojack Remix) - 132 BPM
• Allstar Weekend - Dance Forever - 125 BPM
• Rihanna - You Da One (Almighty Radio Remix) - 129 BPM
• Breathe Carolina - Blackout (Wideboys Remix) - 128 BPM
• Flo Rida & Sia - Wild Ones - 129 BPM
• Fun. & Janelle Monae - We Are Young - 92 BPM
• Snow Patrol - Called Out In The Dark - 121 BPM
• Steve Aoki & Rivers Cuomo - Earthquakey People - 128 BPM
• Madonna, Nicki Minaj & M.I.A. - Give Me All Your Luvin' - 147 BPM
• The Wanted - Glad You Came - 127 BPM

Not finding your favorites listed? To find more workout songs--and hear next month's contenders--check out Run Hundred's free database where you can browse songs by genre, tempo and era to build a workout playlist. Or check out the lists they shared with us in January and February.

What songs are you listening to this month?

Photo grabbed from Andrew Stawarz at flickr.

Fit-Pic: Sunday Funday

From the looks of the above photo and the date that I'm posting it (it is March, after all), you'd think that I was reminiscing about summer, counting down the days until I could find beachcombers, volleyballers, cyclists and more scattered across the sand on any given Sunday.

But no, this was actually snapped earlier today. It's March 11. We just sacrificed an hour of sleep thanks to Daylight Savings Time. Except I think everyone in Chicago forgot about that lost hour with our weekend weather. No heavy layers. No umbrellas (though Mother Nature is supposed to bring rain on Monday, but do we really care since we'll be back in the office?). No crowding into the gym to fight over treadmills and spinning bikes. Instead, we got a taste of summer: the hot runs (accompanied by the wish to have water with), the crowded Lakefront Path, the shirtless beach volleyball players, the sun tinting our skin. Oh yes, my face is showing a much rosier shade than it's sported all winter--sans goggle tans--and I even forgot about skiing for a while.

The one downfall to all this outdoor activity on a 23-hour day? I'm exhausted, and it's barely dinner time.

How did you spend your Sunday? Outside, I hope.

Skiing Face Off: Corduroy v. Powder

Tearing up some corduroy in Colorado

Untouched corduroy, calling to you to tear it up. Pristine powder that’s yearning for your skis to run through. Groomers that you can rip down again and again. Tracked up powder that’s not quite ready to fall into the crud category. You’ll ski it all because skiing is skiing whether you’re faced with an icy sheath, the mapped-out groomers or the best powder dump you could ask for. But if corduroy (aka smooth terrain) and powder were to face off, does one offer a tougher workout than the other?

That's what this exercise nerd thinks about when she can't go skiing--and when she sees pictures of smooth corduroy begging for her skis to take some quick, fast slalom turns, or the powder shots that everyone else is taking and posting to Facebook. It's a way to get my mind on skiing, but off the fact that I'm not out there (sigh). But what's interesting is the lack of concrete research to support which terrain reigns supreme. Do you have to work harder to ski powder or groomers? I took a look at the perks of each in this latest post at buzz.snow.com.

So what's your take? Is it powder or corduroy that gives your the greater workout?

You Know You're a Skier When...

Skiing Vail's bowls in 2010.

I know that I like a lot of sports--and that I like to participate in a lot of sports. But there's no doubting the fact that I am a skier. I married a skier. I haven't gone a single season since 1992, if not 1987 when I was out with a broken leg (thanks to sledding into a fence), without skiing. And right now I'm trying to make myself feel better about the fact that it dumped in ski country and I can't be there to partake in it. So I'm thinking skiing, and what can maybe make some of us skiers.

You know you're a skier when...

• Your Twitter feed is literally a string of posts about white-outs, snow conditions and powder days to be had. 
• Your Facebook news contains picture upon picture of powdery action shots or snow-covered mountains.

Freebie Fitness Friday...at Flywheel

You won't want to use this gearing at Flywheel. Credit

Try saying the first three words of this post's title five times fast. Freebie fitness Friday. Freebie fitness Friday. Then add one more word to the tongue twister, Flywheel, and see if it gets even harder to spit out of your mouth. The words might trip you up but it's worth it for free fitness on Friday at Flywheel Sports. That is, if you live or work in Chicago and can get yourself to the River North indoor cycling studio before 12:30 p.m. on Fridays.

The journalist in me knows that I should be sharing this news, but the cyclist in me is apprehensive about hitting publish. I love the word free when it's tacked onto a workout (that's how I found Flywheel in the first place). I love the 45-minute adrenaline-inducing, cardio-blasting workout that leaves my legs feeling limp and my arms turning to Jell-O with exercises that shouldn't feel as tough as they do. I love the loud music that drowns out the pain and makes my legs spin faster, perfect for this gal who always needs to work on her quick cadence. I love searching for my name on the torque board and pushing to get a higher power number to raise my ranking. I love that Flywheel is only a quick bike ride or short walk for me, and I can get there regardless of the weather Mother Nature throws at us.