Keep On Moving: Get Beyond the Wall in The NYC Marathon
NYC Marathon Course Section: Harlem, Miles 21-23
After leaving The Bronx, runners enter Harlem in the New York City Marathon. The route winds around Marcus Garvey Memorial Park and ends up on 5th Ave. This is the point where some runners talk about hitting “the wall.” Fatigue is setting in and if there were any mistakes earlier in the race in pacing or nutrition they will be apparent around this point. “The Wall” describes the feeling when a runner is so exhausted they don’t feel like they’re moving forward anymore, as if there’s an invisible wall. Also, at this point the road starts going back uphill which doesn’t help if you’re in pain. Everything becomes heightened and there is a strong desire to stop. However, careful training, planning, and most of all will-power can keep the wall at bay.
Marathoners Rocking New York Song:
Track #14: Keep On Moving
Time: 3:00
Tempo: 93 (or 186) bpm
Treadmill Elevation: 1.0
NYC Marathon Course Section: Miles 21-23, Harlem in Manhattan
In Marathoners Rocking New York, Sheena is still hanging in there and feeling O.K. as she enters Harlem. Somewhere around Marcus Garvey Park she feels a wave of exhaustion starting to set in but she strengthens her resolve to keep going and finish the race strong. She is in completely new territory now because she has never run mileage this high before and isn’t sure how it will affect her as she goes. She tries to think of it as a new opportunity to shine, but that only helps for so long. The increased bpm of the song symbolizes the increased effort required for this stage of the race.
Download “Keep On Moving” on iTunes
Keep On Moving Lyrics:
CHORUS
It seems crazy to keep on moving
But my bones and my blood are all tied into it
That was the limit of what I could do
Everything past this point is new
VERSE 1
If you’re not in it, then you just won’t get it,
how can you go through a wall, When you’ve already hit it
Take those last cards, put’em in your back pocket
Get your claws on those walls and just start climbing it
CHORUS
Who knows why we keep on moving
But my bones and my blood are all tied into it
That was the limit of what I could do
Everything past this point is new
VERSE 2
It’s too easy to say that won’t be me,
until your feet are in the fire and you have to get free
It sounds pretty bad, and it looks even worse
But as it turns out sometimes the truth really hurts
CHORUS
There’s gotta be a reason to keep on moving
Cuz my bones and my blood are all tied into it
That was the limit of what I could do
Everything past this point is new
VERSE 3
Tired, dehydrated, depleted and losing it
But I can’t stop compulsively doing it
It may be ugly whatever I find
But I’ve got to know what’s on the other side
CHORUS
I know I’ve got to keep on moving
Cuz my bones and my blood are all tied into it
That was the limit of what I could do
Everything past this point is new
Original photo courtesy of Anita Aguilar
Marathoners Rocking New York is the rock’n’roll-fueled journey of a 70’s punk loving young woman named Sheena. She’s on the cusp of turning 30 with nothing to show for it. Her rock star dreams are not coming true. She succeeded at the downtown party lifestyle but not at keeping a band together. After stumbling on the New York City Marathon with friends, Sheena accepts a drunken dare to run it the following year. To her surprise, and everyone else’s she actually does the training (with a little help) and makes it to the start line on time.
Sheena runs the marathon without music, so Marathoners Rocking New York is the guitar-driven soundtrack going on in her mind as she navigates the course. The songs are influenced by the early punk movement in 1970’s New York with bands like the Ramones, Blondie, The Patti Smith Group, and Television. The album is in an excellent tempo for running playlists and a useful tool for marathon training that can be downloaded through iTunes.