The Freak Factory - David Rendall

Marathon Music

For those of you that haven't been following me on Twitter or Facebook, you may not know that I got hit by a truck while running on Thursday, January 22nd. A portion of my left elbow was sheered off and my triceps muscle was partially severed. I underwent surgery, which included two screws and fifteen staples.

That was three weeks ago. The staples are out and the doctor told me to start moving the arm slightly. I still can't bend it or extend it very far. However, the doctor gave me permission to run my fifth consecutive Myrtle Beach Marathon, which doesn't require me to bend or extend the arm.

I finished the race this morning and wanted to follow-up on my recent post (sometimes the music taunts you) about the songs I listen to while running.

I use an iPod Shuffle, so I don't program the order of the music. However, sometimes the songs are perfect and other times they are painful.

The last six miles of the marathon were directly into the wind and a cold driving rain. As I began this final section, The Foo Fighters mocked me with Long Road to Ruin. "Dear God, I've sealed my fate, running through hell, heaven can wait, long road to ruin . . . under the cold streetlights, no tomorrow, no dead end in sight." Not very uplifting.

This song was followed shortly by Jon McLaughlin's Beautiful Disaster. I think that is the perfect description of any marathon. Finishing a marathon is beautiful. Running a marathon is a disaster.

However, the best song of the day came at the 26-mile marker, when I had two-tenths of a mile to go and was entering the stadium. That is when I heard Stronger by Kanye West. "Now that that don't kill me, can only make me stronger, I need you to hurry up now, cause I can't wait much longer."

Kanye was right. The marathon didn't kill me but finishing it made me stronger. I needed to hurry up because I couldn't wait much longer to finish.

Good songs. Bad songs. Good race. Bad race. A beautiful disaster.

Sometimes the music taunts you

I've been running a lot lately in preparation for a marathon. As a motivational tool and to make the miles go faster, I listen to music while I run.

Sometimes the music inspires me. Run by Gnarls Barkley and Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen are obvious companions.

One of my current favorites is Follow Through by Gavin Degraw. It is a great mantra for any workout.

However, sometimes the music taunts me. Toward the end of very long runs, I start limping like an old man with a walker. The pain in my legs is often excruciating. All I want to do is stop and lay down. Then this song comes on . . .

I Dare You To Move by Switchfoot. The chorus is "I dare you to move" and is repeated more than a dozen times throughout the song. I just want to scream back, "Stop yelling at me. I am moving! I am running. Can't you see? Why are you so mean?"

While struggling through my second marathon, I was rocking out to some classic Black Crowes. Most of the album was great until the song Twice as Hard began. The lyrics "Twice as hard as it was the first time, twice as hard as it was the first time, twice as hard as it was the first time" were not helping me to complete a marathon that seemed twice as hard as it was the first time. Just to make their point, the entire chorus is repeated five times at the end of the song.

Are there lyrics that inspire or taunt you during workouts? If so, I'd love to hear about them.

* If you are wondering how this relates to the freak factor, it doesn't. Part of my freak factor is that I have a wide variety of interests and have a hard time focusing. From this point on, I'll be including posts about leadership, parenting and running in addition to the freak factor.