7 Reasons I'm Running a Marathon: #1 - To be an example

I am running my first marathon on Saturday, November 3rd. So I will blog all week about seven reasons why I'm running a marathon.

#1 - To be an example
There was a time in my life when all I wanted to do was to acquire something.  Degrees, jobs, money, achievements, toys.  As a younger man, that was the way that I measured myself.  I measured myself by what I owned and what I had done.

Then I became a parent, and EVERYTHING changed. 

7 Reasons I'm Running a Marathon: #2 - For the Haters and for the Lovers

I am running my first marathon on Saturday, November 3rd. So I will blog all week about seven reasons why I'm running a marathon.

7 Reasons I'm Running a Marathon: #3 - For the fun of it!

I am running my first marathon on Saturday, November 3rd. So I will blog all week about seven reasons why I'm running a marathon.

#3 - For the Fun of It!

THE MOMENT I found the motivation!

"How did you do it?"   

If you are reading this, you are probably aware that I have lost over 80 pounds and kept them off for more than 3 years. The question I get asked most often is "how did you do it?"  And I always answer it because I love to share my story. I hope it will help others to realize thay they can do it too, that I am not "special."  Well, I am special but not because I lost a bunch of weight. :) But I always add that "how" is the wrong question. There are as many ways to lose weight as there are ways to put it on. The better question is "why did I lose the weight?"  Hold that thought.

7 Reasons I'm Running a Marathon: #4 - Vanity

I am running my first marathon on Saturday, November 3rd. So I will blog all week about seven reasons why I'm running a marathon.

#4 - Vanity

7 Reasons I'm Running a Marathon: #5 - For the Fitness.

I am running my first marathon on Saturday, November 3rd.  So I will blog all week about seven reasons why I'm running a marathon.

#5 - For the Fitness

7 Reasons I'm Running a Marathon: #6 - Winning Begets More Winning

With seven days before I run my first marathon, I will blog all week about seven reasons why I'm running a marathon.


#6 - Because winning begets more winning!

7 Reasons I'm Running a Marathon: #7 - Because it's scary!

With seven days before I run my first marathon, I will blog all week about seven reason why I'm running a marathon.

#7 - Because it's scary!


The goal of running a marathon was not a completely crazy one for me.  After all, I have run three 10k races and a half marathon in the last two years.  Still, the notion of running 26.2 miles was intimidating at first.  Especially when I considering where I have been. 
 
As I have often written, not too long ago - just four years ago - I wouldn't run across the street in the rain to avoid oncoming traffic.  And now I am going to run a marathon??  Really??  I had always built the marathon up in my mind as the gold standard of physical achievement, the race that only exceptional people could run.  That is exactly why I had to run one. 

I had to run a marathon BECAUSE it was scary.  I was uncomfortable at first and a little hesitant to even say the words out loud.  But I knew deep down - way down deep - that I had to conquer this fear.  So I did say the words out loud, then started training faithfully. Partially out of fear of "showing my ass" I've rarely missed a workout over the past 6 months. And now I'm ready.

I'm thankful that I did commit to running this race, because I have had the opportunity to hear from so many friends, old and new, in the process.  So many of you have become a part of this journey with me.  Your encouragement has kept me going every time I was tempted to bail.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

A funny thing happens to you face fear and win.  The next scary thing is not nearly as scary.  I can't say enough about how empowering it is to face and defeat your fears.  Try it!!  If you are like me, it will help you slay some of the other monsters in your life!

Top 50 Pump Up / Motivational Songs (10-1)

10) Gonna Fly Now - Rocky Orchestra (Bill Conti)
This is the mother of all pump up songs and probably should be much higher than #10. For anyone who has seen a Rocky movie, which must be at least every American over 30, this song will make you run through a brick wall. As Eddie Murphy once said though, don't watch the movie (or listen to this song) before going out to a bar if you're 5'2" and weigh a buck twenty. It may cause you to write a check that your ass can't cash!

9) Touched a Dream - R Kelly
This is not a conventional pump up type of song. It's not especially fast- more of a ballad than a "danceable" song. But, I like R&B songs in which the singer "goes off". The passion that R Kelly brings to this song is inspirational to me, gets me in gear!

8) Lose Yourself - Eminem
Gotta love the guitar riff in this song.  Always makes me run faster, because I just can't help but set my stride to it.  Love the message too.  This whole song is a challenge.  Will you rise to the occasion, or will you let your opportunity slip away?  If you've seen the move 8 Mile, the song is even more meaningful.  

7) Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J
"Don't call it a comeback."  And from there, my man rips off a tirade that never fails to get me going. One of my favorite lines: "Destruction, terror and mayhem. Pass me a sissy soft sucka, I'll slay him."  I wonder they use these lyrics in a speech therapy class somewhere.  Say “sissy soft sucka” three times fast - but I digress.  I dare you to listen to this song without throwing hook, uppercut combo. 

6) Run This Town – Jay Z, Kanye West, Rihanna
Another song that gives me "an attitude" when I hear it. Who doesn't want to be running things? I love the combination of voices here - RiRi, Jigga and Crazy Kanye - especially the little hook that RiRi sings throughout.

5) No More Drama - Mary J Blige
When you look up "passion" in the dictionary, a picture of MJB should be next to it. I've written an entire blog post about how much I love this song.  Do yourself a favor and watch this YouTube video of her singing this song live.  And then find something to do with your life about which you can feel as passionately as Mary does this song. THE lyric: "it's up to us to choose, whether we win or lose, and I choose to win!"

4) Cupid Shuffle - Cupid
This one is personal for me as it's one of my kids' favorite songs.  When Cupid says "Down, down, do your dance,"  I think of my little girl saying "down, down, do-wa-day" and smile.  If I'm feeling especially frisky, I'll even lean "to the right, to the right, to the right, to the right" as I'm running!

3) Stronger - Kanye West
"That, that, that, that, that don't kill me, will only make me stronger". Now, isn't that, that, that, that, that the truth!  You know it's true. The best and the electronic vocals make to want to run faster or push out a couple extra reps.

2) All I Do Is Win - DJ Khaled
It's the hook, friends. The hook! "All I do is win, win, win no matter what. I got money on my mind. I can never get enough. When I step into the building, everybody's hands go up. And they stay there!"  Every day I wake up resolved to make this true about my life. "All I do is win, win, win no matter what."  The beat is fast and the message is clear.  And if you quit running while this song is playing, you'd better have a pulled hammy. 

1) Victory - Puff Daddy and the Family
This song is no nursery rhyme, but I love the "attitude" in the song. Attitude in a rap song? Really? Not exactly uncommon, it works really well for me here. And the combination of the Rocky sample and the hip- hop beats is unstoppable - at least, that's the way I feel when I'm running to it!

Top 50 Pump Up / Motivational Songs (20-11)

20) In The End - Linkin Park
Great rock / rap song.  Love the passion of this song.  The singer (I don’t even know his name) is just so very indignant as he describes his sitch.  “I put my trust in you.  Pushed as far as I could go.  For all this, there’s only one thing you should know…but in the end, it doesn’t even matter.”

19) In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins
I love this song for the drum riff alone.  But when I hear this song, I think about being on the edge of greatness.  So tantalizingly close.  All I need to do to win is "hold on."

18) We Are The Champions - Queen
Queen made two of the best "anthem songs" of all time.  Period.  And you are selling Freddie Mercury’s voice by just calling it a finely tuned instrument.  It’s a freaking force of nature!  "We are the champions, my friends. and we'll keep on fighting til the end."  Now isn’t that what we expect our champions to do? Our champions are supposed to tell you how good they are and then say, “If you want this title, you’ll need to wrestle it from my cold dead hands.”   You know it!

17) Brick House - Commodores
It's not the message, per se, that I love about this song. Not that there is anything wrong with it.  I appreciate a “brick house” just as much as the next man, but I love the vocals and the vibe here.  And don’t let this song come on while I'm on the treadmill.  You'll get a full earful of "shake it down, shake it down, shake it down, now" from me.

16)  Start Me Up - Rolling Stones
I can name that tune in three notes.  From the opening guitar riff, this song gets me going.  And who doesn’t love watching a 70 year old man peacock his way back and forth across the stage.  Gotta love Mick Jagger.

15) Enter Sandman - Metallica
For me, this song will forever be the song in which New York Yankees’ closer Mariano Rivera entered the game and rocked the opposition to sleep.  It should have been called “Enter Hangman,” cause when they started playing it at the Stadium, the opposition had about as much chance of survival as a condemned man.  Oh yeah, this is a pretty good song too if you like the whole heavy metal thing.

14) B.O.B. - Outkast
You may not even know what Outkast is saying for large parts of this song, but the pace and energy of the song are so frenetic that it will help you – no, make you - get it in.

13) Uprising - Muse
This is a great rock song.  I love the barely contained emotion of the song and the message of the hook.  “They will not force us.  They will stop degrading us.  They will not control us.  We will be victorious.”  There is nothing like righteous indignation to get you pumped up.

12) Party Rock - LMFAO
This song is just plain fun and so is the video.  It will definitely keep you moving.  However, I am taking G rated suggestions on how to explain this band's name to my 8 and 6 year olds.

11) #1 - Nelly
Again, it's the message for me here.  "What does it take to be #1? Two is not a winner and three no one remembers."   I don’t truly agree with this.  I believe in competing against myself and being the best I can be every single day.  Yet, I just love the bravado.  Bravado in a rap song?  Shocking.

Top 50 Pump Up / Motivational Songs (30-21)

30) Get Up, Stand Up - Bob Marley
Listen closely and you will hear that Bob Marley was Public Enemy before Public Enemy.  Don’t let the ganja and the reggae beats fool you!  The brotha was hard core motivational.  “If you know what life is worth, you will look for yours on earth.  Now you see the light.  Stand for your rights.”

29) Let’s Get It Started – Black Eyed Peas

They may be this generation’s Queen.  Whoa, now before you start flooding my inbox with nasty-grams, allow me to clarify.  They seem to have a knack, like Queen, to write songs that are perfect for stadiums.  This one is one such song and great to run to as well.

28) Getting’ Jiggy With It – Will Smith

This is the trifecta for me: a fun vibe, a great beat and PLENTY of boasting.  I mean come on, “I met Ali.  He told me ‘I’m the Greatest’”?  “You might fall tryna what did?”  Now that’s great stuff!

27) Ain’t Nobody – Chaka Khan

This is any other one in the vein of the Jill Scott song I mentioned earlier (#38).  There is very little more empowering than knowing you have the right people on your team when the sh*t goes sideways.  “Ain’t nobody love me better.  Make me happy.  Make me feel this way.  Ain’t nobody.  Love me better than you.”  And my girl Chaka doesn’t just sing, she SANGS!!

26)  Moment for Life – Nicki Minaj

This a rap song and like many rap songs, parental advisory is required.  However, there is a part in this song that I absolutely love!  “And I will retire with the crown.  Yes!  No, I’m not lucky, I’m blessed.  Yes!  Clap for the heavyweight champ.  Me!  But I couldn’t do it all alone.  We!”  Bragging and modesty in the same line?  Now that’s clever!

25) Fight the Power - Public Enemy
This is the anthem right here, friends.  If it doesn’t move you, please check your pulse!

24) I'm Not Afraid - Eminem

“I’m not afraid to take a stand.”  And there you have it.  Now listen up and go get it!

23) Forever - Drake
This is quite possibly the best first line ever, EVER, in a rap song. “Last name ever, first name greatest.  Like a sprained ankle, boy, I ain’t nothing to play with.”

22) Dream On – Aerosmith

Steven Tyler.  Some of you know may only him as the crazy or (half-stoned) old dude on American Idol.  However, he used to do a little singing prior to that gig and I really like this one.  Steven Tyler is like Axl Rose to me.  You think he’s just screaming until you try to scream along and discover there’s a whole lot of skill to it.  Also, I love the message here.  “Dream on.  Dream on.  Dream on.  Dream until your dream comes true.”

21) I'm Bad - LL Cool J
This is the prototypical boast rap.  Nothing pumps me up like a good boast rap.  "I'm the pinnacle.  That means I reign supreme.  And I'm notorious,  I'll crush you like a jellybean. I'm bad!"  Now that’s bad.  But “not bad meaning bad but bad meaning good.”

Top 50 Pump Up / Motivational Songs (40-31)

40) All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix

Love Jimi, love his voice, love the guitar solo.  Love it all!

39) Superstar – Lupe Fiasco
“If you are what you say you are, a superstar, than have no fear, the crowd is here and the mic is on.”   I write and write and write about not coming up small in big moments.  If you want to be successful, you have to welcome (no, embrace) the opportunity, as the kids say, to “do the damn thing.”  This is what this song means to me.  “If you are what you say you are…”

38) He  Loves Me - Jill Scott
Not all of my motivational songs are fast ones.  I absolutely love this song in which Jill Scott, for me, perfectly captures the feeling when you have that right someone in your life.  When it’s still new and everything is still perfect.  It starts slow and soft and builds to this wonderful crescendo of awesome.  Kinda reminds me of something else, upon which I won’t elaborate. J

37) Now That We've Found Love - Heavy D
This is a classic pump up song for me.  It has nothing to do with the message, though there is nothing to quibble with here.  The tempo of the song is so fast and the mood so light that you simply can’t help but run faster or push harder when you hear it.  R.I.P, Overweight Lover!

36) Optimistic  - Sounds of Blackness
Another motivational one.  “You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky.” Preach, ladies, preach!

 
35) Shining Star – Earth, Wind and Fire
I love the “Mighty Elements” and this song in particular.  Great groove and great message.  “You’re a shining star.  No matter who you are.  Shining bright to see.  What you can truly be.”

34) The Theme from Chariots of Fire - Vangelis
The theme from Chariots of Fire, much like the theme from Rocky, has adopted a life and a brand of its own.  It is instantly recognizable and has become synonymous with winning and overcoming.  So much so that it is almost a cliché now.  But I still happen to find to very motivational. 

33) The Power - Snap
“I got the power.”  And who does want the power, right?  This song has great pace and a couple great lines that will make you forget the searing pain in your legs for a minute.  “Cause, I might attack and you don’t want that!”

32) Theme from Shaft - Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes is the man and this is him at his funky best.  And if you don’t like it, “shut yo’ mouth!”

31) Tonight – John Legend
There’s nothing I like better than some good boasting.  And this right here?  This right here is some smooth R&B type boasting.  I love the irony in the lyric, “I don’t want to brag, but I’ll be the best you’ve ever had.”   Riddle me this, John Legend.  Let’s imagine for a second that you did want to brag.  What would you say then?  Love it!