Race Day

A special thank you to all my sponsors.

Half Marathon Prep

The half marathon is two days away and I'm about as ready for the race as I am for Amelia to start dating. My training has been sporadic at best. I'm as slow as ever. And this 13 mile run will involve much walking. HOWEVER, the most important part of my preparation, my race day playlist, is coming along quite nicely. Given my current conditioning, I'm estimating that I'll need about three hours of motivational tunes. I'm still about thirty minutes short on music and there are a few songs in my current list that need to be replaced because they're really not the right fit for running a road race and/or vomiting on myself before passing out.

So help a brother out and give me some more tune suggestions. The biggies are here already -- Eye of the Tiger, You're the Best, Gonna Fly Now, etc. I seem a little light on Hip Hop, Heavy Metal and Scandinavia, so maybe you can help out there. Sorry, but Eminem's Lose Yourself and Kanye's Stronger have been played to death in my workouts, so they're disqualified. Any new song selections need to meet at least one of the following criteria (and the more criteria met, the better):

1. A solid pavement pounding beat that gets me through at least three minutes of running without realizing it.
2. Running or other goal oriented lyrics. Though death and pain related lyrics are equally acceptable.
3. Main theme in a 1980s feel good movie soundtrack, featured in a Nike commercial or used without the artist's permission at some point in a political campaign.
4. Includes clapping or harmonious shouting. Especially clapping while harmoniously shouting.

***If I add one of your music suggestions to my race day playlist, I will not only give you full credit on the blog, I will also write your name on my race day shirt in black marker as some sort of weird honor that all the other runners will surely mistake for some much more meaningful tribute as to why I'm punishing myself with this athletic endeavor.***


Sweet List of Songs to Listen to Until I Cross the Finish Line or Lose Consciousness, Whichever Comes First
Nothing to Worry About -- Peter Bjorn and John
I Wanna Be Sedated -- Ramones
Battle Without Honor or Humanity -- Tomoyasu Hotei
I Love It -- Icona Pop
Cherry, Cherry -- Neil Diamond
Two -- Lenka
You're the Best -- Joe "Bean" Esposito
Tear It Up -- Yung Wun featuring DMX, Lil' Flip & David Banner
Carry On -- Fun.
Hold Me Back -- Round Table Knights
Elephant -- Tame Impala
Bang On -- The Breeders
I'm Alright (Theme From "Caddyshack") -- Kenny Loggins
Don’t Stop Now -- Guided By Voices
Nuthin' but a "G" Thang -- Dr. Dre
Run With the Wolves -- Prodigy
Ho Hey -- The Lumineers
Gonna Fly Now (Theme from "Rocky") -- Bill Conti
Blood -- The Middle East
The Underdog -- Spoon
Surf Wax America -- Weezer
Sour Cherry -- The Kills
One Foot -- Fun.
Eye of the Tiger -- Survivor
We Will Rock You -- Queen
Everything At Once -- Lenka
Can't Get Enough of Your D+Dang-Da-Dang -- The Taste
Rhythm -- Awol One & Daddy Kev
Jerk It Out -- Caesars
I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked -- Ida Maria
Mrs. Robinson -- Simon & Garfunkel
Serpentine (I Don’t Give A, Pt. 2) -- Peaches
I'm On a Boat (feat. T-Pain) -- The Lonely Island
The Final Countdown -- Europe
Poker Face -- Lady GaGa
Pumpkin & Honey Bunny/Miserlou -- Dick Dale & The Del-Tones
Go for the Exit -- Boston Spaceships
Helena Beat -- Foster the People
My Doorbell -- The White Stripes
Cannonball -- The Breeders
This Too Shall Pass -- OK Go

Your help is greatly appreciated!

European Vacation

I've got to get my ass in shape if I'm going to run the Air Force half marathon in September. Having completely stopped running at this point, I have just enough time to get in shape for this 13-miler. If I start running now. So I'd better get on it. This is the whole reason I committed to the race. The only thing that will motivate me to run is to commit to an actual race and pay the entry fee. Then I'll be required to run the race. And if I don't want to completely embarrass myself in that race, then I must start running to prepare. Apparently fear of failure and embarrassment are the only things that can motivate me to actually run.

Meanwhile, this young chap is spending his summer running across Europe. I guess he's a little more motivated with this running thing.

http://ryanrunseurope.blogspot.com/

Run, James, Run!

As some of you may know, I ran my first half marathon last September. As many of you know, we had twins a month later. That race in September was pretty much the last real physical activity I did. Nearly eight months I've been dormant. And it shows. It shows in my energy level, in my eating habits, in my mood and certainly in my waistline. It's got to stop, because right now I'm on my way to getting my own Discovery Health Channel miniseries. And there's no time like the present, especially since Julie is due to get pregnant again any day now.

So, my loyal readership, you're hearing it here first. I'm lacing up the running shoes once again. At the very least I'm going to run the U.S. Air Force Half Marathon again and beat my previous time by at least 13 minutes.

Want to join me? It's September 20th in Dayton, Ohio at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Not the half marathon type? You also have your choice of marathon, 10k or 5k. There's even a team event. You know, they say it's easier to achieve goals together. Or misery loves company. Or whatever.

In the meantime, I'll be sure to keep you posted on my agonizing progress and hopefully I'll be able to convey to you my complete disdain for running. Peace out.