O brave new world ...

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 9.45 pm
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 167 lbs.
Weather: 34º

1989 Playlist
Brave New World - Michael Penn
Express Yourself - Madonna
On the Greener Side - Michelle Shocked
Cuts You Up - Peter Murphy
On the Verge* - Nicholas Robinson
Sin - Nine Inch Nails
Veronica - Elvis Costello
Ana Ng - They Might Be Giants
Cooldown: Bust a Move - Young MC

"This may not be my best day ... but this ain't no golden age."

Everyone has been ill but me. Colds, flu and coughs swirl about me, but me? I am untouched. Credit palliative effects of ex-wife soup.

The shins did not scream very loudly tonight. Time for ice, wrap and painkillers.

Two years ago I attempted a race series. I registered, and attended the first event of the season, a 5 K in Akron. It went pretty weel, there was snow on the ground in Cleveland but it was merely wet there. I was out of shape, didn't make an impressive time, but the sheer number of people who came out on that blustery day was inspiring. This was a day or so before the last pope died, for those of you trying to place this weekend in history.

Less than a week later, I had a broken heel and was sidelined for the rest of the season. It is my hope, if not to sign up for the series, to attend that race this year. If my shins hold out, I may improve on that time.

Also, I need less clothes than I used to. Even tonight, it was just above freezing, and yet I felt I was wearing too much. My hat was too thick, I didn't need gloves for very long, my legs were too warm. It's a good feeling. Makes me feel much less thin-skinned than usual. God, I hate being cold.

The engine's thumpin' like a disco

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 9.30 pm
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 169.5 lbs.
Weather: 23º

1981 Playlist
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
Hungry For You (J'aurais Toujours Faim De Toi) - The Police
Primary* - The Cure
Bad Reputation - Joan Jett
Radio Free Europe (Original Hib-Tone Single)* - R.E.M.
Talk To Ya Later* - The Tubes
Sausalito Summernight - Diesel
Working for the Weekend - Loverboy

"Everybody needs a second chance."

Okay, screw counting calories, I'm back to eating whatever I want.

Last season, as part of the repertory company, I had to wear boots. Killer cowboy boots - not killer as in 'cool' or anything, they killed. I was still nursing a hairline fracture in my right heel, and these boots were murder. They slayed me. At the end of rehearsal, I was dead. Literally.

Okay, not literally. What I'm saying is they made my feet hurt. This season I have some lovely thigh-high numbers. And we are doing some ridiculous choreography which requires me to bend my ankles in all kinds of wacky, nutty, splinteringly painful positions. You should see it.

So today we staged a large part of the aforementioned dance, in those boots. I thought of blowing off a run tonight, it was getting late, but I didn't think I'd get the chance tomorrow - though I am happy to say I will not have rehearsal tomorrow, nor Monday, and so my shins will get a bit of rest.

Until I go running on Monday.

The only thing that works for me

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 9.15 am
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 169 lbs.
Weather: 37º and a little windy

1994 Playlist
Ripper Sole - Stomp
Come Out and Play* - The Offspring
Sure Shot - The Beastie Boys
Girls & Boys - Blur
Missing (Terry Todd Remix) - Everything But the Girl
All That She Wants- Ace of Base
Get Ready for This - 2 Unlimited
Closer to God - Nine Inch nails
Cooldown: Mr. Bitterness - Soul Coughing

"Can I confess I've been hanging around your old address?"

Look Ma, no braces! In a bit of physiological reverse psychology, I ran without the shin guards. Yes, it hurst, but the feeling that I was carrying around a set of ankle weights was missing ... mostly. I think I can ride through this, my stretches were much more thorough today, I have such a short window of opportunity I want to get out right away. But if I don't have time to stretch, then I don't have time to run.

Hey, I should put that on a T-shirt.

Sweet outfit; hat, fleece, long undershirt, gloves - and shorts!

Intake
Breakfast: oatmeal with raisins, butter, brown sugar & milk, orange juice, vitamin, coffee
Snack: PowerBar, coffee, apple
Pre-dinner: cream cheese with crackers, olives, Bacradi Classic
Dinner: spaghetti with turkey meatballs, parmasean, broccoli with butter
After: bag of Dan Dee Cheez Twists, Sidecar (but not without good reason)

Just words and so much skin

Distance: 2.85 miles
Time: 9.30 am
Stretches: not really
Sit-ups: no
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 169 lbs.
Weather: 43º

1992 Playlist
Happiness In Slavery - Nine In ch Nails
If I Can't Change Your Mind* - Sugar
Jimmy James - The Beastie Boys
High - The Cure
Jump - Kriss Kross
I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred
Hit - The Sugarcubes

"How can I explain away something that I haven't done?"

That was dumb. But I couldn't not run on the warmest day in weeks. Well, I should have. But I didn't. I had to walk a hundred yards near the end - things were great at the beginning, but my legs became dull, dead weights on the last mile.

Intake
Breakfast: scrambled egg, beans, toast, V-8, coffee, vitamin
Snacks: pear, PowerBar, coffee
Dinner: Greek salad with chicken, pizza (2 slices), 2 glasses of beer

Full Fathom Five

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 1.30 pm
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 168.5 lbs.
Weather: 21º

1999 Playlist
Five Fathoms - Everything But the Girl
All Star - Smashmouth
Accepting Applications At University - Lilys
Cups - Underworld

G-d dammit! I came in practically weeping in pain, I've got shin splints wrapping around both calves. The best thing I can say about it is I know I can beat them, I did it before. I had crippling shin splints last spring and still ran the marathon without braces - or pain. I may need to take some time off of running but keep up the stretches. That's hard, because the running reminds me to do stretches (and sit-ups, and eat well, etc.)

There's this dance we rehearsed on Friday night, I won't go into further detail (puppet dance really does say it all) but it's a bit taxing on the legs, especially the calves. I ran on Friday morning, and that was fine, but learning this routine in hard soled shoes was murder. Thank you, again, Tylenol 8 Hour!

Intake
Breakfast: beans and toast, fried egg, V-8, vitamin, coffee
Toby's tea party: ounce of tea, ginger creme snap
Lunch: salad (with olives, roasted red peppers, assorted veg, almonds and croutons), 2 slices of bread
Dinner: chili with chicken, pasta salad with feta, scalloped potatoes, 4 (?) martinis
Nightcap: tea

I seriously do not believe there was any alcohol in the martinis. None.

How much do you commit yourself?

Nation's Joggers Sick of Finding Dead Bodies
- The Onion, February 12, 2007
CHICAGO—Citing the sobering statistic that over 10,000 of the 12,800 slayings in the United States in 2006 were reported by joggers, a national coalition of fitness enthusiasts called upon government officials Tuesday ... (more)

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 10.30 am
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 169.5 lbs.
Weather: 12º (but with the wind chill it's a balmy 65 and sunny!)

2003 Playlist
The District Sleeps Alone Tonight - The Postal Service
Slow (Chemical Brothers Remix) - Kylie Minogue
You're So Damn Hot - OK Go
The Way You Move - Outkast
Extraordinary - Liz Phair
There There (The Boney King of Nowhere) - Radiohead
It's My Life - No Doubt
Solsbury Hill (12" version) - Erasure

Intake
Breakfast: coffee, oatmeal with raisins, mile & brown sugar, mango, V-8, vitamin
Snacks: PowerBar Triple Threat, coffee, banana
Lunch: Leftovers! A little chicken curry, sweet potatoes, pasta salad & bread
Dinner: broccoli rizzo with pita, french fries, coffee
Nightcap: Manhattan

My moustache froze.

Dear, dear me. Here I am, turning onto Euclid Hts. Blvd., blissing out to the once-upon-a-time-was-edgy, rock-chick stylings of Liz Phair, when who should flag me down but my neighbor, Mz. J, driving by in her subcompact. After slowing to almost a walk and extricating my earphones from my odd-neck-thing, she asks if I need a ride.

Woke before dawn with a headache, took ibiprofen and a glass of water and went back to sleep. Still nagging pain in my head when I got up, making me feel queasy, though going for a run has entirely eliminated it. Love it when things work out that way.

UPDATE: Oh my God! Rehearsal tonight was a funky puppet dance rehearsal - my shins were screaming! I can't tell wether it was a good thing or a bad thing I went running today. I have been going much fast, I think, just to get the f*ck home. Thank you, Tylenol 8 Hour!

Beware of the dork

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 3.30 pm
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 168.5 lbs.
Weather: 16º with a thick coat of snow

2006 Playlist - or - The Playlist I Am Totally Gay For!
My Love - Justin Timberlake
New Smokes - Project Runway
Prodigal - Project Runway
Beware of the Dog - Jamelia
SOS - Rihanna
Tracking Treasure Down - Gabriel & Dresden
Call On Me - Eric Prydz vs Retarded Funk Mix

Intake
Breakfast: coffee, juice, cinnamon bun (1), banilla yogurt (small portion), strawberries (5)
Lunch: slice of pizza, broccoli
Treat: 1 inch of chocolate covered pretzel
Tea party: spot of tea, cookie (1)
Rehearsal: coffee, goldfish crackers (6)
Dinner: pork, pineapple, peppers & rice dish, celery, rose
(Apologies if the daily intake appears compulsive, I am trying to avoid snacking at all costs.)

Well, that shoots one lame excuse out the water. "No, I can't possibly run today, there was a blizzard last night that dumped three feet of snow on my neighborhood and the cold will rip my face off!" Nope, can't say that one with a straight face again.

You know, every time I run I come up with a story that I entirely forget once I have to blog the run. Today I got one. The neighbor I have known longest, Miz J., just told me she may be moving. This is a real shame. I've always like Miz J., she's been like a one-woman community watch, she knows everyone's business and it really ties the street together. I don't mean like dirt, I mean she knows who everyone is, what they do, who is well, who isn't, just neighborly stuff.

Actually, I didn't always like her. She breaks up my run. Back in the spring of 94, shortly after I moved here, I was running the neighborhood, and since I didn't know the area very well I did a lot of passes by my house. It would be early, and inevitably I'd run into her and her little dog T. Rex. She'd ask me a question as I ran ast, and there was nothing for it but to stop or be rude. Even when I was wearing earphones (oh, those floppy earphones, hooked to a Sony Walkman cassette player the size of a brick in my hand - GOD I love my iPod) she'd flag me down to tell me something.

I'll miss that. I really will.

It's a lot like life

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 8.30pm
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars
Weight: 168 lbs.
Weather: 28º with slick snow cover (but so warm!)

1984 Playlist
Master and Servant (Slavery Whip Mix) - Depeche Mode
Handsome Devil - The Smiths
La Colegiala - Gary Lowe
Fascination - Everything But the Girl
Go - Tones on Tail
Cue Fanfare - Prefab Sprout
Cooldown(?): Give Me It - The Cure

Ah, the sweet, sweet songs that cloud your eyes. If only I was cool enough in high school to have been listening to any of those tunes.

Intake
Breakfast: coffee, fruit leather, granola bar (forgot to bring anything to doctor's appt., scavenged for kid's snacks in the car)
Lunch: sunbutter & fruit spread sandwich on whole wheat bread, banana
Dinner: coffee, mac & cheese & peas, fried fish filet with homespun tartar sauce
Nightcap: Vodka Tonic with lemon

"There's more to life than books, you know ... but not much more."

NY Marathon Photos
Gothamist
EMIN
flickr photo pool

A slickery night out, making sure the cars see me, making sure I don't wipe out on a patch of newly fallen snow. But after the last several runs, it was downright balmy. There is supposed to be a big dump of snow tonight, so I am not sure when I can hit the roads again, I hope it isn't long. This has been great.

"Fascination makes us ask for more than we'd like to know."

Rehearsals begin tomorrow, a new project. I think I have crawled out of my hole. Let the New Year, finally, begin.

Here we go again

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 8.10pm
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: yes
Drink: Gatorade All Stars(!)
Weight: 170.5 lbs.
Weather: 19º with scant flurries

1980 Playlist
Antmusic* - Adam and the Ants
Ah! Leah! - Donnie Iris
Call Me - Blondie
Enola Gay - Orchestral Manoevres in the Dark
Driven to Tears* - The Police
Transmission - Joy Division
Pretty Boys* - Joe Jackson
Take This Town - XTC
Cooldown: Play For Today - The Cure

Intake
Breakfast: coffee, PowerBar Triple Threat, water
Lunch: chicken & potato curry with rice
Dinner: ribs, salad, sweet potatoes (no seconds), beer

Breakfast disgusts me. Milk, cereal, eggs, beans, whatever. I don't wish to eat, but I am hungry. Even passed on cake at my girl's birthday party, now there's a first.

A few days after New Year's 1995, I began feeling a pain in my lower abdomen (you know what's crazy - I don't know which side) which was aggravated by either a) slipping and falling on my ass at my place of employment or b) joining my last mosh pit seeing Nine Inch Nails. In February I had a hernia operation. I was warned then that I may eventually need another on the other side.

I have had that hanging over my head, or wherever it hangs, for twelve years.

This was also when I began gaining weight. I had yo-yo'ed in size from when I began college. 150 in high school, topping out at 185 when I was 20, dropping down to 145 shortly thereafter, rising steadily to 190 when I turned 22, forcing myself down to 145 again (to play the Elephant Man) a few years later, holding steady at 170 after my first marriage began, plummeting to 150 as it disintegrated, and after hooking up with my wife I peaked on New Year's 1997 at 200 pounds.

A condition that was not related to my weak musculature (well, I don't know maybe it is) made it necessary for me to begin wearing compression pants in 1996. I was around 180 then, and I was attempting some regular exercise, which would leave me doubled over in pain. I thought it was the other hernia, but it wasn't (and no, don't ask) and my doctor said compression would help. I forget how long I wore them. On days I went without a growing ache would develop, and I'd have to get them on as soon as possible.

I remember once going out dancing and I had to stop without whoever I was with at a drug store to buy some because I knew I couldn't do my thing without them. I felt old then. I wasn't even thirty. I assume I would have to wear them the rest of my life.

I can't remember when I stopped wearing them. It was a long time ago. '99? 2000? When our boy died, we both got much more serious about our health, and my new job made it possible to go long stretches away from anything I could shove into my mouth. I weighed, perhaps for the last time, 155 lbs.

I hope I never have to wear a truss again. I have begun doing sit-ups, not out of any sense of vanity (okay, that's a lie) but because I just need to do something to hold myself together.

Hmn.

Did you know you had this power?

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 3.15pm
Stretches: yes
Drink: Gatorade
Weight: 171 lbs.
Weather: 19º frigid & sunny

1983 Playlist
Blue Monday - New Order
One Thing Leads To Another - The Fixx
Catapult - R.E.M.
A Ray Of Sunshine - Wham!
Beating Of Hearts - XTC
Gone Daddy Gone - Violent Femmes
Is There Something I Should Know? - Duran Duran

Intake
Breakfast: coffee, PowerBar, water
Lunch: yogurt, small portion spaghetti, Coke

I'm not on a diet. I just can't eat. Can't eat, can't sleep.

UPDATE: Deep, midwinter malaise. When I get capital-D depressed, there's only two things to do - exercise and not eat. Since my last entry I did, in fcat, share a brownie with my boy with a glass of milk, and for dinner we had baked potatoes with cheese and broccoli. Everyone else in the house is ill, the wife and I looked up a great toddy recipe.

It's cold, bitter cold. I did my best the stretch before resuming my workout on Tuesday, and the first thing that happened was the shin splints returned. Crap. But this time I knew how to deal with them, the braces I have are extremely successful at bringing down the pain and making it possible to run through them. Wore them all day yesterday, through the run and after. I even slept with them on, though I am not wearing them now and feel much better than I did on Wednesday.

Prior to this week running would have been impossible, because though it is so cold, the roads are clear - no snow for several days, or at least nothing that sticks. I have to stay in the streets because no one in this city shovels their sidewalk and by now it's all turned to compact ice. Neat.

Fortunately, the lake has frozen, and so the skies are bright and clear instead of that dull gray you get here which makes you want to curl up and die.

It's Too Darn Hot

Distance: 3.25 miles
Time: 2.30pm
Stretches: yes
Lunch: pasta, tomato sauce, parmasean
Drink: Gatorade
Weight: 171 lbs.
Weather: 10º

Body Language (163 BPM) - dj steveboy
"The DJ gods smiled on me and turned my totally impromptu hour of mixing into one of Podrunner's most energetic sets so far. Think I'll burn incense."

First Avenue


No, I haven't been holding out on blogging, I seriously have not run since Thanksgiving. This is a list of excuses:

I have been working on my eating.
Alcohol is very enjoyable.
Payback - my spouse has a life, too.
I wanted to touch base with the children while they still remembered me.
Thanksgiving!
Christmas!
New Year's!
Martin Luther King Jr. Day!
It's just too painfully cold out.

10 freaking degrees. Starting out I thought I'd made a huge mistake. I had all the proper gear on, longjohns, long undershirt, the polar fleece, even that weird neck thing my MIL gave me (that item is dynamite) - and I'd found my favorite hat! Been missing that one since I (didn't) take a run in Chicago.

But the wind was ripping my face. The neck-thing can be pulled up over your mouth and nose ... but then my glasses fog up. Oops. I was getting those snot icicles.

Mmmm. Snot icicles.

Eventually I just didn't notice it, though I think 3 miles is defintely the limit until the thaw. But then, why do I need to run any farther?

DJ Steveboy was right, Body Language is one of his best mixes yet. I have missed them. I recently found a brand new use for PODRUNNER; I was listening to it while figure drawing last weekend. In the past have always listened to jazz when I have a live person in front of me for sketching, but I needed something new. Like running, or any of the million other pursuits I have that I do in earnest for short bursts of time and then neglect for years, I always feel my drawing gets better when I leave it alone for a while. It was a great session, and part of the credit goes to the mix (though most goes to the model.)

God. I feel good. And I haven't for two weeks now. There's just all this stuff piling up in my head, and I swear I was going to just disintegrate into tears while watching the kids at the Children's Museum this morning (it's a snow day ... everywhere) and then it struck me - I have got to run.

Endorphins. Love 'em.

NEW YORK MARATHON FUN!

Watch me run the marathon (as represented by a tiny red dot) from start to finish! See me pile it on in the middle of Brooklyn and then peter out the rest of the way home! Race my little dot against those of Lance Armstrong or Bobby Flay (they were both faster than me)! Visit the ING NYC Marathon Course Simulation!