The running playlist: Whitehorse’s Luke Doucet

Getting sick of your current running playlist? Every so often we put one together for you to help you switch things up a little. This time though, we wanted to make things a little different so we asked a Canadian musician who is also big into running to select some favourite songs that he likes to workout to. For those who don’t know, Luke Doucet is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. You would know him from the folk band Whitehorse. He also used to be the front-man of rock band Veal.

He says that when it comes to running, these days he’s recovering from the Hamilton Marathon where he ran a 2:45:40 PB finishing fourth. “In doing so, I tore my hamstring (I think—not properly diagnosed but a dull ache persists still— six months later) so I’m not racing this season,” he says.

Typically he’s running between 50 and 75K per week with a long run and a few speed workouts scheduled in too. At the moment, Doucet is on tour in the U.S. “Our schedule is such that I can run most days between load-in and sound test, so I’m running in different city on most days,” he says adding that he has kept a log of cities he’s ran in and that this week, he’s reached 135.

He doesn’t always choose to listen to music but here’s a sample of what he picks for when he does:

Beck: Country Down (warm up)

Sloan: Carried Away

Ryan Adams: Gimme Something Good

The Wet Secrets: Sunshine

The Afghan Whigs: Algiers

Don Henley: Boys of Summer

Neko Case: Nearly Midnight Honolulu 

Calexico: Quattro (World Drifts In)

The New Pornographers: Brill Bruisers

Cracker: Torches and Pitchforks (cool down)