Spoiler alert-we finished
A few weeks ago I went down to New Orleans for a race. It was the Rock N' Roll Marathon series. My wife and I did a half marathon relay where we ran 8.5 miles and our partners ran the rest of the way.
I was running right along and about Mile 5 I heard a magical voice saying, "Hey we got King Cake over here!" So I did what any shining example of fitness would do and grabbed a piece of King Cake.
My rationale was that I will probably never be offered King Cake in any other race so I'm doing this! It was really good too. Except when the excitement of the cake eating wore off and the running was still going. Started to feel a little rough.
We were running next to this guy who was probably in his mid-50s. He was quiet for about a half a mile, but then that changed very quickly.
In this booming voice he says, "Do we have any George Strait fans out there?"
Everyone around him, "Crickets"
Undeterred he continues, "This is one of my favorite songs. Amarillo by morning. Up from San Antone...."
He continues sharing his favorites from George Strait. Favorite lines, the saddest line from this song, the best line from that song, etc... All in this voice that is super loud. I can see why this dude was a runner, his lungs were amazing.
Not gonna lie, his lungs were also getting on my nerves. My wife and I had to get out of there!
We picked up the pace and picked up the pace some more. We could still hear him from about a quarter mile away. Lungs for days.
We get about a mile away and we are safe. And guess what? I no longer feel nauseous from my ill fated cake decision. Not only that, but we just made great time and covered a lot of distance thanks to George Strait's brother.
This sign gets me
Things that can take your mind off of your struggles are invaluable.
For some people music is a great distraction to help them push through tough workout. For others, an encouraging workout partner does the trick.
At my boot camp, I say and do weird things, crack jokes, and tell stories. I play songs that no grown man should have on his playlist. Part of this is because I am a weirdo, but is also to help take their mind off of the pain.
Sometimes all you need is one little thing to get you through the toughest part of your workout.