Question of the Week - What reasons or inspirations drove you to do your first marathon?

This Week's Question - What reasons or inspirations drove you do to your first marathon?

Or first Ironman, or first Ultramarathon?

In this part of the year, where those from the Northern Hemisphere are contemplating their athletic goals for 2010, I am very interested in why you have started doing marathons in the first place.

I am also interested in all those who are set to do their first this year; what is currently driving you to do your race?

I will post your answers this Friday, along with my own reasons why I first did my first marathon, then why I did my first Ironman, then why I did my first ultramarathon.

I will also post on Friday some well known inspirations to ultra-endurance sports (for example, Team Hoyt) which is downright admirable to all of us.

So get your posts in either here or Tweet me your posts (coachjoegold) and I'll place them on this blog. If you wish to list yours but want to remain anonymous, I'll help you out there as well.

Happy Trails!

A Melodious Topic Part 2 - Your Motivational Running Songs

Thanks to all those on Twitter that responded to this week's question. What songs Motivate your Ultramarathon, marathon, and endurance training?

Here is a good list of answers from everyone. Great picks!!!

Foo Fighters - My Hero
Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
Learning to Fly - Pink Floyd
Dragonforce - Heroes of Our Time (take a listen to this piece, this is metal on steroids! :-)
Judas Priest - Heading Out To The Highway
Blur - Song Number 2 (a quirky song from a friend)
Propellerheads - Spybreak (From The Matrix, one of the greatest movies of all time, thanks FR)
Alice in Chains - Check My Brain (recent song, the guitar rifts are very unique)
Slipknot - Psychosocial (real heavy stuff, rattles my brain a bit after hearing it. :-)
Muse - Uprising (another new song, very catchy beat)
Ozzy Osbourne - I Don't Wanna Stop
Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train (My mention, after the above song by Ozzy was mentioned.

Again, thanks to all those who stepped forward.

The Melodious Topic of Ultra Running Songs - What are yours?

Humans are very musical creatures. If done right, the right song at the right time in any race, especially ultras can move mountains, or at least run over them easier.

For example, my first ultra, the 50 Mile Mountain Masochist in Virginia, I was having a real tough time climbing the toughest mountain in the course, Buck Mountain at Mile 27 of the race. I was really tanking and actually thinking about quitting the race when I overheard a series of Rocky Theme songs wafting through the trees from the aid station at the top of the mountain. I couldn't believe the transformation from a feeling of desperation to one of determination!. When I finally arrived at the summit at Buck Mountain, I was almost giddy and ready to tackle the rest of the course. From them on, I did not experience another low point and finished the race strong.

On the topic of motivational songs, I am opening the blog for what your favorite songs are. I will post yours on this blog. And, of course, if it motivates me, I'll see if I can add them to my list (yep, there is an ulterior motive here :-).

I have posted some of mine below. I am very responsive to metal and rock music, especially if it has a good beat.

Theme from Rocky (of course).
Van Halen - Right Now
The Specials - Pressure Drop
Yngwie Malmstein - On The Run Again
Testament - Return to Serenity (lyrics unrelated to running, but great beat)
Joe Satriani - If I Could Fly (I got a lot of other of his instrumentals too, he's a damn good guitarist)
Face To Face - Disconnected (nice fast beat)
Proclaimers - I'm Gonna Be 500 Miles (very quirky, but a BIG song when I tackled the Appalachian Trail - I carried this thing over to ultra running)

This is only part of my music list. You can post yours here or on Twitter. I'll compile the list and put them on this blog.