It's pretty corny, but I did it anyway, played "Chariots of Fire" on my i-pod as I made my way down the beach yesterday. I was looking for an inspiring piece, one that would pump up the pace a bit, and that one did the trick.
There was the familiar opening salvo, the electronic pulses, the melody itself. In my mind's eye I saw the 1924 Olympic athletes splashing through the surf, recalled their stories, their motivations for running, each of them different, each of them their own.
While I can't claim any speed records I did feel the thrill of that music. And since I was running — well, mostly walking — on a beach then, too, well ... you get the idea. It was fun, it was exhilarating, it was a movie-lovers beach walk.
(A still from the beach-running scene in the film "Chariots of Fire," courtesy Wikipedia.)