I ain't gonna live forever
I just wanna live while I'm alive
It's my life”
― Jon Bon Jovi
Just 11 days and race day will be here. Can't believe it's less than two weeks away after 8 months of training. The time has gone fast and at the same time very slowly. Taper time is finally here and wow my body is happy! I think this taper and I are going to get along pretty nicely.
Over the past few months and especially the past few weeks I've spent some quality time on my bike. Whether you're out with a group of people or not, riding for 6-7 hours leaves you a lot of time to think and you get tired of yourself pretty quickly. Everyone does something different to pass the time. I like to sing songs. Shocker. But usually I get stuck on not just one song but one lyric. Sometimes just one word. And I repeat it, for miles and miles and miles. Now that gets old. And no matter what you try, it won't leave your head. Lately, I reach mile 40 and all I bust out with is "C is for Cookie..." Where that came from I don't know but that is not ideal to repeat for 2 hrs.
Another gem that has been popping into my head lately is "The sun will come out, tomorrow...." That's it. Just those six words. On repeat for hours. I love little orphan Annie but not on repeat in my head for 3 hours.
So as I get ready to leave next Wednesday for CdA, I'm thinking ahead to the many hours I'll have by myself on June 23, not just on my bike but swimming and running as well. So how can I distract myself? Easy. Sing songs. But don't risk the one liners I come up with. Enlist the help from everyone. I have 140.6 miles to do - 2.4 swim, 112 bike, 26.2 run. That's 140.6 DIFFERENT songs that I could sing. But rather than come up with them all on my own, I'd love for everyone to help me. Not only will it give me options to turn to if I become a broken record in my own head, but every new song will make me think of a different person that I know somehow and that is sure to keep me happy for 140.6 miles.
Here's how you can help. Send me the name of a song or send me a few. It can be any song - your favorite right now, something you listen to to pump you up, something that puts your kids to sleep, something that reminds you of me or a time when we had some fun. Anything. If kids want to participate (you know who I'm talking to..), awesome. I'm not above singing the ABC's or Mary Had a Little Lamb for a mile, especially if I am reminded of toothless grins :) I want to get 1 song for every mile of the race. That's right - I need 140.6 songs. I'm going to put them on a piece of paper and laminate so I can carry them with me all day. It'll be hard to carry with me on the swim so hopefully I can remember 2.4 songs. I'll attach to my bike so they're in eyesight the whole ride, and I'll pin to my run belt for the marathon.
How can you send me songs? A few ways....
- Shoot me an email
- Send me a tweet to @hesort
- FB message me or post to my wall
- Comment to this post
A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song.
~ Lou Holtz
I look forward to all the new songs (or old ones) that come my way and help me on race day!
