I've been running a long time.

A visit to the gym -- suiting up, driving there ands back, running three miles -- takes only one hour. I think I can do this, one hour, every other day. Back on track -- get it?

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 27:06
Route: Rec Center
Mood: angsty
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

What's That Lyric?

Bitterblue - Yusuf

The bells are ringing through the town again.

Slay (part 2).

Happy holidays! We deck the halls, we trim the tree, we do the Christmas play. It is sugar season, and yet I have been moderate in my consumption, enjoying for its own sake, but not a lot. I feel good!

It's good to know when you feel good.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: about 28 minutes

Got home from this morning's matinee, took an hour long nap. Headed to the gym at 4:00 PM when a large number of seniors also started arriving. I guess I don't need to say "also."

Route: Rec Center
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: tbd

What's That Lyric?

Driver 8 - R.E.M.

Kept the beat and kept it strong.

Slay.

Why hasn't Pengo had a run since Thanksgiving?

A. Eight performances a week

B. The weather

If you chose B, you would be correct. I would have made time for running in spite of or even because of the work, but it was cold and even snowy. But I have also (FINALLY) renewed my gym membership.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: no idea

MapMyRun is still unable to track running indoors. So, I need to use a stopwatch at the rec center.

Route: Rec Center
Mood: good
Stretches: no
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBA

What's That Lyric?

88 Lines About 44 Women - The Nails

O! That we were there.

Good times.

Oh, my. Thanksgiving was good fun, great time with family and loved ones. The food was not great, but I ate a lot of it.

We went to a restaurant for a second year (I won't mention what it was this time around) because the wife works in retail and "Black Friday" is literally the biggest day of the year for her store. Starting last year she decreed 1) we're not leaving town for the holiday and 2) I'm not cooking. Maybe next year I will cook, but for now we are dining out.

These places that are open on Thanksgiving, several offer a "traditional" TG meal in addition to their usual fare, and I will try that because I like the tradition. Last year I was delighted with what they offered, considering it was largely a seafood place. Last night was ... it may have been that we were last sat. Who knows, who cares.

The thing was, my wife and our children, and her sibling's families and my MIL, we were all at the same table and having a lovely time. And that's what it's all about in the mix.

Distance: 1 miles

Duration: 9:08

Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 31°
Climate: overcast & cold
Mood: a lil' nervous
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: tbd

My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk.

I love this man.

What's next?

Had the third -- and final -- reading of my new script. I don't normally have more than one, but this was a special case. Because I did a major revision of the first version, then changed the names and added a song to the third. So I got to hear that. I wrote a song! The music for a song! That's new.

I'm fifty-six and I'm doing new things. 

Distance: 3.1 miles 

Duration: 28:10
Pace: 9:05

And speaking of new things ...

The big news is that I am now an understudy in A Christmas Carol. Or technically an understudy, but I will be in the show for the rest of the run. This is new. It is a show with which I am very, very familiar, but I have never been a company member, I think everyone involved assumed I must have been, at some point, but I haven't. Still, I was offered the role (roles plural, it's a track a supporting characters) a very short time ago but I am doing the work and I will go on Friday evening.

Twenty-eight performances. My entire holiday season has been changed. Considering my recent feelings of uncertainty, I think this is a very good thing. I am happy. I am very happy.

165 BPM Playlist

Gold Rush - Death Cab for Cutie

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips

The Boys Are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy

La Grange - ZZ Top

Best Friend - The Beat

Give Me Back My Man - The B-52's

Echo Beach - Martha & the Muffins

Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 44°
Climate: partly cloudy & cool
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

You ran away, that's touch and go (?)

Made a motherfucking quiche.

It is amusing to me that I ran more in November than in October. It may be due to a colder October and a warmer November. Or I was busy? Or who knows? Anyway, I say I am amused. Amused, I say.

Failed to mention, I walked 3.2 miles on Monday night. Just, needed to get those steps in, walked the large block, from Noble to Mayfield to Taylor and home. It was a little brisk, but a lovely evening. Not sure how long it took, maybe 45 minutes?

Three point two, maybe. I could just run that.

Distance: 3.1 miles 

Duration: 28:23
Pace: 9:09

The cold, and also, the wind. We approach winter.  Weather good for a run, though.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 56°
Climate: cloudy & cool
Mood: all right
Stretches: no
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Wait. How did I get a headache during that run? Maybe it is because I am exhausted. I will go into that soon.

The Twenties (So Far)

Apple - Charlie XCX

Vertigo - Griff

The American Dream is Killing Me - Green Day

Buttermilk - Remi Wolf

Slugs of Love * - Little Dragon

Here to Forever *  - Death Cab for Cutie

Girls - The Dare

Chapstick - Coin

Next to Normal - Lucius

Wake Me Up - Foals

Take a step now.

Grateful thanks, Q.

Lying awake, fretting about the world, is I thing I do not like to do. And since the election, I have literally been drugging myself. The sertraline has its own soporific effects. occasionally I take melatonin. During the lockdown I took melatonin a lot, way too much. Even now if I have it more than one night in a row it makes the mornings very challenging.

Then there's the cannabis. There's this hybrid I picked up in Maine that just knocks me out. But that's the thing, it just knocks me out. I can watch a movie or read, I just want to go to sleep. There are other strains for that kind of activity, and I sleep well then, too.

But. Can I just sleep? Like, just have normal uninduced rest? And if so, when?

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:57
Pace: 9:20

I actually wrote that a few days ago, and have experimented with uninduced sleep the past two nights, and they have been successful. I just rest. Long days, active days, followed by rest. Avoiding the socials has been a great help. Breaking bad habits. I don't feel I am missing anything.

Quincy Jones Playlist

Soul Bossa Nova (156 BPM)

Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger) - Donna Summer

Theme from "Sanford & Son"

Come Together - Brothers Johnson

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson

I Can't Help It - Michael Jackson

I'll Be Good to You - Ray Charles & Chaka Khan

Give Me the Night - George Benson

Thanks, Mr. Jones! That was a brisk and joy filled run.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 51°
Climate: nice & cool
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

For the record, I am holding fast at 170 lbs. I am not trying to "diet" I am simply being mindful, as they say. Recording the intake in Noom. Learning about the calories, the good, the bad, and the empty.