With the marathon looming, final preparations are being made; from topping of my energy stores, to extra time on the foam roller, to creating my pre-race playlist. That’s right, I’m a big fan of music for motivation. I actually don’t run with music, in fact I can’t. Back in the day, I used to run with music, but those were the days when I ran just to run, rather than running for time.

Now I realize not everyone is an Eminem fan or maybe it’s just because I used to live on 15 mile (just a little 8 mile reference for you), but I don’t think there is a better song out there to get pumped up to than ‘Til I Collapse’. Honestly, one second into the song, a rush of adrenaline runs through me, it’s almost surreal. Just take a look at the beginning lyrics and tell me that this is not the perfect song for a marathon. I love it!

‘Cause sometimes you feel tired,
feel weak, and when you feel weak, you feel like you wanna just give up.
But you gotta search within you, you gotta find that inner strength
and just pull that shit out of you and get that motivation to not give up
and not be a quitter, no matter how bad you wanna just fall flat on your face and collapse.

Here. We. Come.