City Lights:

“Golden Slumbers” is a darn good song.

We all need positive thoughts to help us through a workout, and the Beatles’ classic was mine as I prepared for the Pushups for Charity competition Saturday at the Training Spot in Huntington Beach.

A month and a half ago, I signed up for the event, which takes place nationwide this spring to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. The nonprofit, which benefits disabled U.S. servicemen and women back from overseas, will use the proceeds to pay for job training, family counseling, day-to-day essentials and more.

I entered the contest partly out of patriotic duty and partly out of a desire to see how well I could do. My athletic record in the past has been, to say the least, undistinguished. In my only season of Little League, I got one hit in 34 at-bats and once drew a standing ovation for catching a pop fly — during practice. And I never won an arm-wrestling match growing up, even against smaller kids.

But the competition Saturday wasn’t about personal glory; the organizers invited contestants to solicit pledges for every push-up finished in 90 seconds. So nearly every morning for the last month, I dropped to my living-room carpet and set myself training.

To make the process more bearable, I cued up my favorite 90-second song: “Golden Slumbers.” Day after day, as Paul McCartney’s ballad wafted from the speakers, I pushed my upper body to exceed 70 repetitions, 80, 90, 100. The next track is “Carry That Weight,” which about summarized how my muscles felt after a minute and a half.

By Saturday, though, I had nearly doubled the amount of push-ups I could do in that time a month ago. And I was raring to go at 10 a.m. when I hit the mat outside the Training Spot.

As it turned out, I managed 117 push-ups — good enough for first place in the men’s over-30 division. That’s right, I actually won an athletic contest. Whatever deal President Obama made with the Russians, that was clearly the news of the week.

But kidding aside, the most important number was the nearly $350 I raised for the Wounded Warrior Project. I can’t fathom the sacrifices our men and women make overseas, and I was glad I could contribute something toward easing their burden.

And to all you over-30 guys: I’m the champion, baby, read it and weep. Now, for the sake of our wounded vets, go out there next time and break my record.

City Editor MICHAEL MILLER can be reached at (714) 966-4617 or at michael.miller@latimes.com .