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Meme Lord
I’m writing this trying to convince myself to go through with my plan, trying to shush away the „give up“ thoughts.
I’ve got a flight this afternoon, two Maiden gigs lined up on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then on Thursday… the thing I’ve been planning for months.
Something ambitious. Probably stupid. But it’s been stuck in my head ever since the tour was announced.
When the tour was announced, I must admit I wasn't keen on going to Budapest (Hungary), since I saw Bruce there just last year. Honestly, I wanted to go to Bratislava (Slovakia) because I’d been there a long time ago, just for half a day. Also, that show is on a Sunday, while the two Budapest dates are in the middle of the week. But the prospect of seeing Maiden on opening night for the third tour in a row was also intriguing.
That first week, I bought tickets for Budapest but was still mulling over Bratislava. I was on one of my night runs thinking: “Damn, what kind of awful schedule is this? Couldn't Bratislava be the first date? It’s so close on the calendar, and it’s not like they’re that far apart. I could probably run that far...”
And there it was.
An idea so stupid it got planted and immediately started growing and sprouting. For weeks, I tried to find more and more reasons to nip it in the bud, but the more potential problems I encountered, the more fun I had “solving” them. Over the months, I went farther with the idea, then circled back to the original and decided to do it. Run for Your Life - From Budapest to Bratislava - Crossing the Danube.
I started training harder than ever. But, as life usually goes, last week I probably strained a groin muscle during one of the exercises. As of this morning, I still feel pain in my leg. I haven’t run since Friday, but I hope it’ll ease by Thursday. Even if it doesn’t - I’m probably still going to give it a go.
I really wanted to say this is just one of those antics I love doing for the sake of it. Like, find a hobby you love (Maiden and running), and let it destroy you slowly. But I caught myself over the last few months thinking why I’m really doing this.
I had a cousin who passed away from muscular dystrophy in his 20s. I was 5 or 6 years old. I still have his drawing of Somewhere in Time Eddie, a TNOTB LP from Jugoton, and an NPFTD cassette. Just the other day, I heard the news that one of my estranged cousins passed away at 49. Cancer. I still remember him putting guitar picks in his teeth, miming Dracula and scaring the shit out of me.
This winter, a close family member battled cancer (luckily, the operation and chemo went well - he “made it”), but it brought back flashbacks of my father, who lost his cancer battle in 2016.
I’m not saying all this to suggest that losing loved ones made me do this. It didn’t.
This is something I’d love to do for the rest of my life: music, concerts, running, trails, and so on.
But it did remind me of the finality of it all.
One day there won’t be a Maiden tour debut - there won’t be two Maiden dates between which I could run.
One day, there won’t be any Maiden. Not like “a member left.” No.
One day, we’ll hear: “Good night from Iron Maiden, from Eddie, and from the boys!” for the last time.
And we’ll replay that video over and over, slowly realizing - it really was the last time.
One day, I’ll be sitting on a bench, watching someone run.
Some person, sweating their ass off, thinking: “Damn, I wish I would just sit on that bench like that old man.”
And I’ll be looking at that person thinking: “Damn, I wish I could get up and start running.”
But I won’t.
Because I’ll be too old, or too sick, or too fed up with the world.
And it’ll be over.
And this isn’t some grim prophecy, that's just how things usually go in life. And I’m fine with it.
But I think it was a line I heard some months ago that really hit the nail on the head and made me resolute in doing this:
The cemetery is full of people who thought they had more time.
So, I’m doing this.
Sprained groin or not.
220 kilometers (136 miles) on foot, over 4 days.
I don’t know if I’ll have the time, the energy, or the strength to post updates here, but if you’re curious to see me succeed, fail, or just make ass of myself in the process, shoot me a PM and I’ll share the Instagram account I made for this thing.
Up the Irons and see you in Budapest!
Oh, and Run for Your Lives!
I’ve got a flight this afternoon, two Maiden gigs lined up on Tuesday and Wednesday, and then on Thursday… the thing I’ve been planning for months.
Something ambitious. Probably stupid. But it’s been stuck in my head ever since the tour was announced.
When the tour was announced, I must admit I wasn't keen on going to Budapest (Hungary), since I saw Bruce there just last year. Honestly, I wanted to go to Bratislava (Slovakia) because I’d been there a long time ago, just for half a day. Also, that show is on a Sunday, while the two Budapest dates are in the middle of the week. But the prospect of seeing Maiden on opening night for the third tour in a row was also intriguing.
That first week, I bought tickets for Budapest but was still mulling over Bratislava. I was on one of my night runs thinking: “Damn, what kind of awful schedule is this? Couldn't Bratislava be the first date? It’s so close on the calendar, and it’s not like they’re that far apart. I could probably run that far...”
And there it was.
An idea so stupid it got planted and immediately started growing and sprouting. For weeks, I tried to find more and more reasons to nip it in the bud, but the more potential problems I encountered, the more fun I had “solving” them. Over the months, I went farther with the idea, then circled back to the original and decided to do it. Run for Your Life - From Budapest to Bratislava - Crossing the Danube.
I started training harder than ever. But, as life usually goes, last week I probably strained a groin muscle during one of the exercises. As of this morning, I still feel pain in my leg. I haven’t run since Friday, but I hope it’ll ease by Thursday. Even if it doesn’t - I’m probably still going to give it a go.
I really wanted to say this is just one of those antics I love doing for the sake of it. Like, find a hobby you love (Maiden and running), and let it destroy you slowly. But I caught myself over the last few months thinking why I’m really doing this.
I had a cousin who passed away from muscular dystrophy in his 20s. I was 5 or 6 years old. I still have his drawing of Somewhere in Time Eddie, a TNOTB LP from Jugoton, and an NPFTD cassette. Just the other day, I heard the news that one of my estranged cousins passed away at 49. Cancer. I still remember him putting guitar picks in his teeth, miming Dracula and scaring the shit out of me.
This winter, a close family member battled cancer (luckily, the operation and chemo went well - he “made it”), but it brought back flashbacks of my father, who lost his cancer battle in 2016.
I’m not saying all this to suggest that losing loved ones made me do this. It didn’t.
This is something I’d love to do for the rest of my life: music, concerts, running, trails, and so on.
But it did remind me of the finality of it all.
One day there won’t be a Maiden tour debut - there won’t be two Maiden dates between which I could run.
One day, there won’t be any Maiden. Not like “a member left.” No.
One day, we’ll hear: “Good night from Iron Maiden, from Eddie, and from the boys!” for the last time.
And we’ll replay that video over and over, slowly realizing - it really was the last time.
One day, I’ll be sitting on a bench, watching someone run.
Some person, sweating their ass off, thinking: “Damn, I wish I would just sit on that bench like that old man.”
And I’ll be looking at that person thinking: “Damn, I wish I could get up and start running.”
But I won’t.
Because I’ll be too old, or too sick, or too fed up with the world.
And it’ll be over.
And this isn’t some grim prophecy, that's just how things usually go in life. And I’m fine with it.
But I think it was a line I heard some months ago that really hit the nail on the head and made me resolute in doing this:
The cemetery is full of people who thought they had more time.
So, I’m doing this.
Sprained groin or not.
220 kilometers (136 miles) on foot, over 4 days.
I don’t know if I’ll have the time, the energy, or the strength to post updates here, but if you’re curious to see me succeed, fail, or just make ass of myself in the process, shoot me a PM and I’ll share the Instagram account I made for this thing.
Up the Irons and see you in Budapest!
Oh, and Run for Your Lives!
