1 Day Until Grandma's Marathon!

One: I’ve found the one song that will be “my song” for the marathon. Last year while training for Ironman, the song was Kanye West’s “Stronger.” I was literally singing that song to myself while on the 112 mile ride. It was a song that fit well for the day, and it still gets my blood flowing each time I hear it.

This year, I’ve found a new song. You may have heard it on the Nike commercial for Sparq Training that was out about a year ago. It’s the commercial that starts with the great line “My better is better than your better.” Here’s the 60 second ad (TURN IT UP!):

(and there’s a sweet appearance by Adrian Peterson of the
MN Vikes - he’s the one running next to the race car)

Tell me that the commercial didn’t do a little something for you. The song is called “List of Demands” by Saul Williams. He’s a poet, and sometimes he puts his poems to music. List of Demands is a song about taking credit for your actions. It’s a bit of a critique of how everyone feels entitled to something. Here are the first few lines of the song:

I want my money back.
I'm down here drowning in your fat.
You got me on my knees praying for everything you lack.
I ain't afraid of you.
I'm just a victim of your fears.
You cower in your tower praying that I'll disappear,
I got another plan, one that requires me to stand.
On the stage or in the street, don't need no microphone or beat.

(Here’s a link to the music video on YouTube.)

I think that’s a pretty good anthem for running a marathon. However I finish is what I deserve, whether it be 3:10 or 4:10. I’m the only one who has control over it, and I can’t place blame anywhere else.

One: There are MANY things that I do NOT want to happen during the marathon (horrible cramping, anal leakage, sudden death), but the one thing that I really hope doesn’t happen is this:

This was a prediction that one of my former students drew on a Post-It note for me earlier this spring. I’ll really try to keep that from happening...