Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Update Operation:F U Jake and Matt

As you may or may not know I am running marathon to win a bet. I started training in early November and I can only say that progress is slow but steady. I am in infinitely better shape than I was a few months because, well, I do stuff now. On the other hand I am nowhere near where one should be should they want to run 26 miles in a reasonable amount of time. As previously stated I was using hatred as my main form of motivation, but that doesn’t seem to be enough anymore. Things have become stagnant, I need a new push. Fortunately, with the help of the Sports Guy, I’ve found a weapon to give me that extra edge needed to put me over the top, the kick in ass that will keep my feet moving when I’m too tired to run anymore. That’s right friend, I have just added to my iPod “Going the Distance” from the Rocky soundtrack. I’m telling you that it is a near physical impossibility to run slowly once you hear those bells tolling. This may push me under a three hour marathon I get that fired up about it. There are a few potential negatives to this new development though that I am more than a little worried about:

1. Goosebumps add wind resistance, which could slow me down.

2. I fear tripping over one of the hundreds of children running behind me; it’s an injury waiting to happen.

3. It will be difficult to complete a 15-20 mile training running after having sprinted the first ten minutes because I’m so pumped up about the Rocky music. I sense a lot of vomiting resulting from this.

4. I may miss several schedule runs due to my impending legal battles caused by punching strangers in the face and yelling “Yo Adrian, we did it” because I’m so pumped up about the Rocky music.

We’ll just have to wait and see, but I think with the help of the Italian Stallion I may be able reach heights previously though to be unreachable and make Operation: F U Jake and Matt a success.

8 comments:

Los said...

Hmmm, maybe songs that pace you better are a good thing ... So Lonely, by the Police has some slow and fast in it, and the Reggae rhythm might work.

Wendy said...

so are you saying the majority of marathon runners don't finish in a reasonable amount of time? Because only like 25% at the most are done under 3 hours. I think i just jumped over to jake an matt's side, eff you eric

Anonymous said...

Good morning to you too Eric. Nothing like an F U in the morning to get you going. It kind of makes me feel like a celebrity.

So what time does the race start? 8 AM? If so, I'll be sure to be there by 11:40 AM so I don't miss you finishing.

Anonymous said...

P.S. Every marathon I've run forbids head phones during the race (safety issues). Practice like you play.

Eric said...

Los - Good suggestion, unfortunately I don't really think any music in general will give me as much help as I need

JW - Not really sure where you got that, I've reread the post several times now trying to gather where I implied that and still haven't made the connection between the two. Take yourself a little more seriously though

Jake - You are a celebrity in my book. And I wouldn't wear headphones in a race even if I were allowed.

Rachel said...

Eric ~ You are going to do great. I have every confidence that you will blow past the competition and can yell "Eff You Jake & Matt" at the end.
Well, it might come out more like a wheeze, but you get my drift.
Add "The Distance" by Cake. It will give you a good push too.

Red Photography said...

Maybe you could move the Rocky music towards the middle as to avoid the burnout you mentioned in your post. Or repeat it a couple times. If you're running 26 miles, hearing a song more than once is probably the least of your annoyances.

Amy said...

I do think that hatred is a great motivator. I just retuned to the gym after an 8 week recovery from surgery. Part of my recovery was bed rest so I really got out of shape. On my second day back to running I thought that I was going to die. Then a COP got on the treadmill next to me and started running at 11 miles/hour. I hate people who are in better shape then me. Then song "I fought the law and the law won" came on my MP3 player. This made me REALY HATE him. It's 3 days later and I still HATE him. He totally motivated me to keep running.