Ho's Before Bro's (even during marathon training)

I think its important to remember that at the end of the day...your 'ho's' are the ones that are going to have your back when the tough gets going..

Thats true for those ho's that dont run and the ones that do run!  At every critical time in my life, its always been one (or more) of my (girl)friends that ultimately was and probably will always be there.

Like these times...

Been there...

or....if you need help burying the body...or at least to always take your side...

Done that....

or...

....more times than I can count....

Last week, my dear friend NC had an event on FB that she posted.  A musician she looooves was going to be in Houston for an acoustic show, and right near my house.  Now while honestly I dont this guys music (I did recognize him once he came up to the table to chat), it was more important to me that she was making the drive into the city and I would get to see her, so I clicked Attending on the FB event.  Now, typically I will just flake out due to tiredness from running or that I have to run...

I am trying to be better about that.  Making time for friends that I dont get to see that often.  And originally it looked like there were a few gal pals I hadnt seen in a while that were going as well, so it was truly going to be a win-win.

Then came the week of, and I loosely was planning in my head how to make it all 'work'.  I of course, was stressing a little bit about it...and with the new kitten, my sleep has been affected (new mommy and all)...but really it just came down to the running/working out and how I could make it all work.

Make a long story short, Tuesday didn't get done the way I had hoped (slept in) and then Wednesday didn't get done the way I had hoped...so it was time to improvise because I had made up my mind that I was NOT missing the opportunity to just hang out, be a girl, talk about people, and look at boys.

I don't even know if my mind can regurgitate what I did in the gym to get a solid run workout done.  It was definitely what some would call an A.D.D. workout, and I didnt get but half of my miles done (4 instead of 8), but I did eek out some heavy weights on bi's, tri's, back and shoulders as well.  About an hour and a half still in the gym so thats good enough for me.

And I am so happy I did go after all to meet up with the gals!  I got to see 3 people I didnt know were going, that I haven't seen in forEVER!  Hi Holly!!!  (Holly is running her 1st marathon in January; has lost 70 lbs and looks phenomenally amazeballs!!!)

I ended up only maybe eating 1/3 of my menu choices (house salad, minus croutons and cheese please!) and I ate 1.5 pork empanadas (they were little too!).  2 glasses of Diet Coke and a water.  Brought the leftovers home.  Best part was that I didnt feel uncomfortable or antsy one little bit that everyone was drinking besides me.  But then again, this is a tame bunch  ;o)

We've gone from this:

Not a good look and certainly not fun...

to this:

Still cute and fun!  Moderation is key!



Anyway, after being there only a couple of minutes, I knew I had made the right choice.  So what if I missed a few miles?  And on top of that, gonna do a little out of the norm run tonight too with 2 other peeps (from LL and KW)...so it will be slow, with some exploring mixed in, and best of all, fun.

I think many of my readers already know this, but I believe that running allowed me to figure out my formula for happiness (among other things).  What I am trying to do now is balance.  I really enjoy spending time with my friends...my old school ho's!  I love my running girls too...but there is something comfortable about the ones that 'knew you when', and still love you anyway!   And when it comes to (boy)friends, well you cant ever have too many of those either ;o)  Some though just aren't worth the effort...and that goes for both genders.

When I run, especially during long runs, I think about how I don’t want anyone who’s close to me to feel like I would ever take them for granted. I try to be the best daughter (yes even still I want to make them proud, even if they are in heaven), sister, friend, or when I’m in a relationship, girlfriend that I can be. 

I notice the beautiful simplicity of life that I can walk right by at other times, such as a deep, purple Alium perfectly shaped in a ball. 

Every run, I try to push myself so that I know I’m doing the best with my body, and that translates to my professional life and personal life. 

All of that, brings me happiness.

Running makes me happy, but so does a whole lot of other things!

Who do you tend to hang out with more?  Did you use to party till the cows came home or always been the good girl?  What makes you happy?  Is your BFF(s) a runner/runners?  What have you seen lately thats made you marvel at the simplicity of life?

What I Would Eat Wednesday

A spin on the ever popular What I Ate Wednesday that is so popular in the healthy living/foodie blogger world!  What I Would Eat Wednesday!

so.. just for fun.. I thought I would make a list of the top ten things I would eat every single day if calories and ingredients weren’t an issue for me.  Let's face it, most of us (at least women) have to even be more diligent as we get older..

So here we go!

#10 - Baby Ruth

This goes back to high school.  Every day, my last period was 'gym' because it went straight into drill/dance team practice and every day, I would get a Baby Ruth bar, and a Dr. Pepper from the machine.  I remember never eating one again after I gained so much weight a couple of years after high school.   I dont recall exactly when that was...I remember the guy I was dating when it all happened and when I lost it, but thats about it.  I would say I have had a miniture one maaaaybe a couple of times since high school!!!  I just dont eat full size candy bars anymore!  Lucky for me I am not a chocolate candy kind of girl.

#9  Iced White Chocolate Mocha - Starbucks

I am not a coffee drinker in the true sense of the word(s), but in the Summer I do love it iced.  Its rare (as in once or twice) that I will get the same coffee in the Winter.  But lately I have been having one of these about once a week.  I do get it no fat/no whip which helps and even if I could have it full fat etc., I wouldnt.  I don't understand whip cream on coffee.

#8 - Homemade Ranch Dressing

Like the kind you make with a tub of sour cream  and one of those little packets of Hidden Valley Ranch.  I dont know that I could eat it with a spoon straight up, but pretty darn close.  ;o)

#7 - Chicken Fried Steak WITH gravy

I havent had a chicken fried steak probably in about 25 years.  And thats the Gods honest truth.  I remember at my heaviest, for a few years after graduating from HS, you could have probably taken an xray of my ass and you would have seen chicken fried steaks Anyway, I somehow found out that in one CFS and gravy there were 60g of fat or something like that, and right then and there I swore off CFS's forever.  I think I might have had one after I moved to Vegas, when this 'texas style' place opened up there with my boyfriend at the time (he was from Dallas), can't be certain, but I think I did (not that it mattered then, I was a size 0-2 3 of the 7 years I lived there).   It was probably the only thing I had eaten in 2 days anyway.  :o/

#6 - German Chocolate Cake - from scratch (even the icing)

This will never be the same.  For as long as I can remember, sans this year and last, my momma would make me a 3 layer German Chocolate cake from scratch.  And when I say from scratch I mean even the icing was made from scratch.  I can still remember watching her over the stove stirring the ingredients, adding the coconut...German Chocolate Cake is my favorite favorite favorite!  I wont miss her GCC as much as I miss her, but still...it just wont ever be the same ever again without her.

#5 - Blue Bell Ice Cream - specifically Mint Chocolate Chip

Is there anything really to say here?  I mean come ON, its ice cream!!!

#4 - Mexican Food - Enchiladas

Another food I cant remember the last time I ate.  I always say I am going to, especially after a marathon, but I get to the restaurant and I guilt myself out of it. 

#3 -  Queso (and tortilla chips)

Melted cheese, hot and spicy with salty chips?  I die.

#2 - French fries - alone or WITH cheese!!

French fries.  Double fried if possible.  And yeah, cheese again?  Sure.  But I dont really care one way or the other, I just thought this picture looked super yummy!!  I wanted to eat them off my computer screen!

#1 - drum roooooooooooooolllllllllllllllllllllllll!!!

Rice (white) and gravy!!





Well I am a southern girl first and foremost, and by southern, I mean cajun.  All my roots are in Lousiana, and my momma use to put gumbo in my bottle.  Hello fat cell growth from the time I was borned.  ;o)  We didnt have potatoes, or even vegetables at every meal.  But I tell you one thing that we did..that was rice and gravy.  And yep, if it was the weekend you could have rice and gravy at breakfast and lunch if you were so inclined.  Good God how I loved (and still do) my rice and gravy.  I raaaarely eat white rice anymore, but I still long for it...I am even good at making it.  The kind you cook for longer than 90 sec in the microwave too...I'm old school.  You learned to cook rice before you could boil an egg.  Its just the coonass way.  :O)  What I never could quite get tho is the gravy.  Lord knows I tried, and a time or two it came out ok.  I can do a 'natural' gravy but then again who cant?  Now that I just wrote that I do believe I am going to attempt me some good old fashion the kind momma could make with her eyes closed and both hands tied behind her back kind of gravy this weekend.  Maybe its the way I should celebrate Independence Day?  I have to say, if I could get it right, there certainly would be fireworks in my mouth!!!!

Honorable Mentions

Whataburger!  What In and Out is to the West Coast I guess you could say!

Peanut Butter (super chunk) and jelly (strawberry or orange marm only!)

I can't even believe I found a picture of these together!  Ruffles and ranch dip!  I seriously could eat myself into a coma with this duo!

OK, so give it up....what is the one (or several) things you would eat all the time if there were no calories or fear from weight gain/health issues????

Running on Sunshine

It seems that most of the country (at least by the fitness/running blogs I read), runners are dealing with heat issues.

Tonight was no different here down in H-Town.  I didnt leave the house until around 6:15 and at least according to my phone app it was only 93 with 57% humidity.  Fun huh?

I wait until much later as when I have 6 miles on the schedule at least I know a route I can take that when I run on one side of the road, for 95% of the route I am hidden from the sun by shade.

I know that everyone has their little tricks of the trade for dealing with heat when running and then there are those that throw caution to the wind, and in my opinion, take risks out there.

There isnt a day that goes by that throughout the day, I can look out the windows from where I work, right across from Buffalo Bayou (a very popular place for runners) that I see people running in the middle of the day when the temps and feels like are dangerously high.  I see them running with no hydration that I can see.  And while there are a few fountains around the either 3 or 5 mile route, its not sufficient in my opinion.

I have been running in this mess for my entire running 'career' (for lack of a better word) and I worked full time (and now part time) in a specialty running store, have attended countless sessions on running and racing in the heat etc., so since a few have asked and even on other blogs where it seems to be a common question I thought I would give my 2 cents on how to deal.  Or at least what works for me.

1. Run in the coolest parts of the day.  If you can, under the cover of darkness or at least on a route where it provides at least shade for part of the route.  If life prevents you from doing this (other obligations) then either postpone the run to another day, run on a treadmill or shorten the distance.  I have done this myself, and in the Summer months here, I do at least 2 days a week on a treadmill.  Its been proven that progressive days of intense exercise in intense heat builds up and can cause problems over time without you realizing it.  I run either early before work (rarely though because I like to sleep and not be rushed in the mornings before work), or I wait till much later in the evening.
2. Carry hydration.  It sucks and I hate it.  I know that there are those that have always and have no issue with it, but it drives me bonkers.  But I do it for anything over 3 miles.  Thankfully I dont have to do this on my long runs as my running group provides water/gatorade stops every 2 miles on Saturdays.  One of the tricks that I do is I actually freeze whatever fluid I am going to take in the handheld.  Here it melts very quickly so there isnt a need to worry that it will stay solid.  I carry a 10 oz bottle.  If you carry a bigger one, and you dont live in such a hot climate as I do, then freeze half and before you leave, fill it up the rest of the way.  Also I would say, dont take big swigs.  Small swigs work better and enter into the body more evenly.  If you take big swigs, it goes directly to your tummy and just sits there and swishes around making it uncomfortable.
3. Wear identification.  I wear my Road ID whenever I run alone, but sometimes I just blow it off.  However when its dangerous conditions out, I always always ALWAYS wear it.  If something happens like heat exhaustion or you pass out from the heat, or even get disoriented, at least there is information for someone to know who you are, where you live and an emergency contact.
4. Wear as little clothing as possible.  Throw modesty out the window.  Trust me you may think people are judging you, but they arent.  Its important to be sure that the body is cooling off properly and while running clothes are high tech and all, in certain climates such as ours (high humidity) no matter what you wear its going to soak through, and not dry fast enough.  In addition to the added weight and uncomfortableness (and chafing), when its high humidity, and you have all that fabric and sweat and its not evaporating, your body has to work harder to cool itself.  This is no bueno!!!  Again, regardless of how uncomfortable you may feel by showing too much skin, its better for you in the long run!  If you must wear a shirt, wear a tank or singlet thats very thin, lightweight and light colored.
5. Don't wear a hat.  When you wear a hat, just like in the winter, the hat acts as an insulator.  This is great in the colder months, but in the summer, its going to make your body heat up much faster and since heat escapes through the head, well with a hat on, guess what?  No escaping.  If you must wear something to shield your eyes or face from the sun, then wear a visor.  This at least still allows heat to escape.
6. Wear sunscreen if you are running in direct sunlight!  Get a sports one so that it doesnt sting if it gets in your eyes, or do like I do and not put it on your forehead :).  This way when you sweat and it rolls in your eyes, then it wont sting!  This really wont do anything for your run, but its important!
7. Salt tablets.  I generally use S Caps (by Succeed), but because I was a yahoo and forgot to order in time, I just bought Saltstick tabs at Lukes.  These are supposed to be just as good or better.  We'll see.  There is also a brand called Endurolytes, but I found that SCaps are better due to more salt and just more than table salt.  Salt tablets, in my opinion prevent more than just cramping.  They keep your legs fresher.  You lose so much salt and electrolytes during the sweating process that simply taking oz's of Gatorade during your run, cannot replace it fast enough.  Be proactive instead of reactive.  I take a couple before my run (over 5 miles) and then 1-2 every 45 min or so.  Sometimes depending on the sweat factor I will take 1 ever 3 miles.  
8. Slow.  Down.  This is quite possibly the hardest thing to do.  You come off of a cold winter and a cool Spring and then the heat and humidity hit you and you start beating yourself up (literally) by trying to do the paces you were doing before.  This along with the actual running can cause not only injury, but can make you sick and then also mentally it can wear you down to wear you lose the desire.  None of this is good!  Take walk breaks to bring the HR down.  Even if you dont wear a HR monitor, you know when its too high and if slowing down even further doesnt help, then walk for a minute.  Then start back up slowly until you fall back into pace.  In the summer, I do a lot of run/walks.  Its usually 7-10 min of running then a 1 min walk break.  Its in this minute that I will take in a couple of ounces of fluid.
9. Reduce mileage.  If you arent training for a Fall marathon, then cut back on mileage.  This keeps you in shape and love running, but yet not to the point of where you are hating having to get out there.  This way when you do start training for a half or full marathon, then you arent starting back at square one.

Now having said all of that, tonights hot and humid 6 miles went very well!  I went out slowly, walked a minute after each mile.  Picked it up in the last mile and finished without feeling like I was going to pass out!  I think mentally I have found myself back where I need to be in this kind of weather, and in my opinion, when it is like this weather wise, it becomes all about mental as opposed to the physical.

So do you live in a hot and humid climate?  Are you struggling mentally?  Are you training for a Fall marathon or just maintaining for when you start training for a Winter or Spring marathon?  Which one(s) are you doing?  Any additional tips???

When Animals Attack!!

I did not get up when my alarm went off at 4:50am this morning to run.  Why?

This is why. 

This is what I dealt with until after 11pm.  The nugget was a terror and would not stop just going nuts and literally trying to climb walls.  (note:  not my kitty, but he's white so there ya go)

I suspect it was maybe 11:30 before sleep won out.  Yes, I tried putting him in the living room and shutting my door, but then I figured I didnt want to face the disaster that would surely greet me when I woke up.

So this was me this morning...

Dead to the world.  I still feel like that.

So no Bikram tonight.  Just a run.  I thought about just going to Bikram and skipping running altogether.

Then I woke up from the nightmare.

:o)

The heat warnings are off the chart right now (feels like of 108 today), for the next 7 days...It really starts to wear on you mentally and even physically.  I plan to hydrate well today, take a nap after work, and then starting the run around 6:30 or so.

ps.  To the person at Rowan Companies, who is not SR, I'm watching you stalk my blog.  

Weekly Preview

Not gonna lie, I am kinda a Grumpy McGrumperson and also not feeling very creative, so this week might be kinda lame on the blog homefront.  :O)

But I am working on something...a little change up in vision, design and go-forwardness for the blog so stay tuned!  Working on that now with a creative-head that hopefully will have some cool ideas!

There is a post in the works for Wednesday thats a bit fun, so stay tuned for that... What I Would Eat Wednesday (now sweeping blogs all across the internet)

And last, but certainly not least, all you Grumpy McGrumpersons out there in HTown that are boo hoo'ing and bashing Houston Marathon Commitee, stop it.  You're acting like a child for Gods sake.  There are ways to get a guaranteed entry, but if you don't want to do any of those three things, then quit you're bitching because you have to go through the lottery.  Actually 4 things.  Run enough Houston Marathons to be a veteran.

Monday - 60 minute treadmill run; 45 min weights
Tuesday - 6 mile run  (IF I can get up early enough to run before work, I am going to take this down to 4 miles and then do 90min of Bikram after work)
Wednesday -  3 miles am run - 4 miles pm run
Thursday - 60 min treadmill run; 45 min weights (this might change to an outdoor run as one of my friends wants me to go run White Oak Bayou with her so we'll see)
Friday -  Rest
Saturday - 14 miles
Sunday - Rest (from running)  Cross train though:  swim workout and bike ride

Kenyan Way - Long Run - 12 Miles

My training schedule is so kooky right now: up, down, stay.  Etc.  I know its because I started early and because my base was already at 12 miles, but still.  So last week, was 15, this week was 12.  Works for me.  :O)

When I got the route for Saturdays run, while it isnt one that I love (Rice/Hermann), it does run right by my house.  This gave me an idea. 

Instead of driving to base (2.5 miles away), I would just start from my house and improvise to get the 12 miles total.  (The route from base is either 11.5, 10 or 13.1 depending on your choice after you get to Rice).  For me, running from my house to Rice, then Hermann then back around is 8 miles; so I needed to get 4 in before I started.  I figured I would time it so that I was at the 1st water stop (which is basically where my place is) when the 4-4:15 groups were coming through (approx 6:25 or so).

So I get up and out the door at about 5:15am or so (79deg 89% humidity) and take off down WA towards Kirby (my 4 mile route through RO).  I ran with my little 10 oz handheld.  It would be 4 miles before I hit the water stop by my house and well, it was hot.  Surprisingly even as gross as it was out, the 4 miles passed quickly, and just as I was coming up H I could see the flashing lights of E's truck off in the distance so I knew she was setting up the water stop.  I stopped to say hello then ran back to the casa to drop off the hand held.  I dont really remember what time it was, but I figured it was close to 6am.  6am is when the sub 3 hour group takes off from base.  Did I really want to sit around and wait 25 minutes? 

No.

I had noticed that there were 2 people who had apparently started early from base coming up H as I was talking to E, and when I started back down H after dropping off the hh, I saw them now in front of me, heading towards Rice.

Here is where things started to not go in my favor.  My decision to start ahead was not a good one for several reasons.

When I got to Rice, there was no water stop set up.  I was too early.  Eh, I thought, no biggie, next one is 2 miles away and only a mile away from here is a water fountain.  So off I go...I did stop at the water fountain, got some water, albeit hot water, but water nonetheless and I set off towards Hermann.  Well guess what?  Not only was there no water stop set up (I feared this might be the case anyway), but in addition to that the trail we were supposed to run on around Hermann was closed off due to construction.  FML.

This is where I saw one of the guys that had been ahead of me, and we figured out that Coach didnt know this, and because we didnt have the 2nd water stop, we missed the 'announcement' of Dont go to Hermann once the news of the situation made its way back to Coach.

Thankfully it was right near Miller Outdoor and yep, water fountains.  Barely.  So the dude and I decided to just run along the other 'trail' and go around the Houston Zoo and then end up back on the part of the trail that wasnt roped off.  By this time I had seen a couple of the fast dudes, so I assumed they had made the same decision as we had.

I was beginning to struggle (just ran slow and walked a time or two for minimal amount of time and it seemed to help), with no Gatorade for calories and barely any water to speak of, and I was 7 ish miles in.  I was soaked clean through before I had finished the first 4 miles through RO.  I found 2 more water fountains though so even though the water was warm and it had 0 calories, it was wet and I need the fluids badly.

Once I finally made it out of Hermann, and the long way around Rice I finally made it back to the what was the 2nd water stop on the way out and I had to laugh because it looked like a party.  So many people were hovering around it!  Most people had gotten word NOT to go to Hermann, so it was crowded as they had been just coming off a loop of Rice.   Slackers.  :O)

Now comes the good part!  Since I had started from home, at this water stop, that told me I was 1.5 miles from ending my 12 miles for the day!  Just knowing that once I got to WA that I didnt have 2 more miles to get to base after that...mentally that was a win in my book.  Needless to say that last 1.5 miles went more according to normal pace.  I knew I could push it a bit and if I dropped on the ground at least I wasnt far from home :O)

Lesson learned.  I shouldnt start out too far ahead otherwise you either miss fluids, OR the worst part was not knowing the route had changed last minute.  :O)

Next weekend, back up to 14 miles. 

At least my BFF's will be back this coming weekend (which also was one of the reasons I went ahead of the pack to begin with)...

Heidi and her Run/Walk

Heidi Klum is the latest celeb to take up running...

No really...

Well...dammit.  Blogger is still not letting me embed code for some stupid reason and since the video isnt on YouTube ... all I can do is provide the link!

Heidi, The First Day

I know I could never ever run with her because her voice to me is like fingernails on a chalkboard!  I love Project Runway (starts up again end of July btw!!!), so I just endure her nasal-y self through it somehow.

So by the way ...  I did finish up my 8 miles on Wednesday and the afternoon run went WAY better than the previous afternoons run, thanks completely to the fact that we finally had cloud cover!!! And it rained!!!  And of course you already know I took yesterday off unscheduled.  I just had to listen to the body (which I have been having disc/back issues again, and well I just called it like I felt it and took the extra day!)  I am glad I did because the back feels waaaay better today!

Tomorrow is long run day, and shorter mileage than the 15 miles last week thank goodness!  Just 12 miles tomorrow for some reason, but who am I to argue!?  Stick to the schedule!!!  :o) 

Plan is not to pull a Heidi  :O), but instead take it 1 water stop at a time.

How far are you running tomorrow???  Do you carry your own fluids or lucky enough to run with a group that provides water/Gatorade stops on training runs?   Do you watch Project Runway?

Aaaaand then...

Sometimes you just need an unscheduled rest day...

My life Right Now, Morning and Evening (Take 1)

Only the 'nugget' gets himself stuck under the refrigerator...

Lets Be Real

So Tuesday afternoon, I had opted (planned) to do my little 6 miler after work, waiting until 6 pm or so.

Here is how it went.

I had some issues, as I mentioned in the earlier post, and after resting a bit I figured, well I will go out and at least do 4, then see how I feel.  Thinking back now, maybe it was the fact that I had only had 24oz of water that day...and at 6pm when I took off, it was feels like of 97% (humidity through the roof).  Or maybe it was that I went a route that put me in too much of direct sunlight.  No matter what the reason...one thing remains for sure...

2 miles into the 4 miles and I was done.  Thing is that you're still 2 miles from home.



So I walked a little.  Ran a little.  Walked a little more.  Ran a little more.

Until finally I made it home.  And I stopped.  The mileage was under 4 miles but I felt like I had run 15.  Seriously.  Thats how it felt.

Nope.  Didnt feel like that Speidi.  But thanks.

Bottom line is I am either going to have to wait until 7pm from now on (suuuuck!) or get my ass out of bed earlier during the week to get it done before work.  (suuuuuuck!)

Exactly.  But as runners its our nature to bitch about the weather.  Too hot.  Too cold.  Too windy.  Too humid.  But we endure.  And because we endure, we have the privilege of bitching about it. :O)

So this morning...4:45am the alarm goes off and I get out of bed, pull on some clothes, shove 1/2 bagel thin down my throat, chug some water, grab the blinky light and headed out the door.

My schedule called for 8 miles today with 3x1 at some ridiculous pace (like 8:30 or something) with 3mr in between but F a bunch of that in this heat!!!  LOL!

So basically I decided to divide the miles up today (going forward I might change my hours from 7am to 8am on Wednesdays to give me time to do full mileage before work).  I did maybe close to 4 this morning and will do the rest this evening...We've had rain today (thank the baby Jesus)!!! And cloud cover! so right now, its only 77deg!!  with a feels like of 77deg!!!  The sun is trying to peek out which sucks big time, so it might be 6pm again or later before I attempt the balance of the miles.

I figure if everything feels ok, I'll through some 1/4 - 1/2 mile sprints in there for the hell of it.

Honestly, I think 8 miles mid-week is dumb as dog doo doo this early in, but whatev. 

Or as dumb as Jessica Simpson....

Either way, 7-8 miles will be done today...maybe not all at once, but within 12 hour time frame.  That counts right?



Marathon Playlist

The beginning of the list gives a bit of a warm up...where the bpm on these songs are a bit slower and then pick up the pace after about 6 or 7 songs.  I still have some editing to do once I get a long run in again with this music in this order since I can't remember how I had them before I fried the other shuffle.  And because I couldnt figure out how to just add on after the 36th track of the first picture, you see duplicates :)  And yes there are indeed some duplicates scattered (like the remix of Judas because its my favorite song to run to and makes me go a lot faster!)