Well ... I talk about it. Talk about moving.

Coming to a location near you.

February closes. Five runs in February, lowest since 2011 and there really wasn't much of a damn thing I could do about that. When it was above 10 degrees, I ran, and those days were few and very far between.

We are rehearsing the tour every night this weekend and on until we open on Tuesday. Tomorrow March begins, and I cannot express my enthusiasm for turning the page on this calendar. 

Temperature: 25°
Distance: 2.95 miles (Sorry, Stephani.)

Early this past week, the city brought out the sidewalk plow. A plow about four feet wide with a v-shaped plow blade. They did what they could to the frozen mounds all up and down Monticello. Still pretty crappy to run on, but better than the street. Thank you, Heights Department of Public Works!

Tomorrow it will be above freezing. On Tuesday, it rains. Here comes the flood.

1980 Playlist
People Who Died - Jim Carroll Band
Make the Move (164 bpm) - Kenny Loggins
That's Entertainment - The Jam
Another Journey By Train - The Cure
Funkytown - Lipps Inc.
Same Old Scene - Roxy Music
Antmusic (162 bpm) - Adam and the Ants

I'm the man.

Can't you hear me laughing.
Can't you see me smile.

I do not run when the temperature is below ten degrees, and so it has remained. Perhaps it is all the exercises I have been maintaining to keep my back pain free (or largely so) that has kept me from having thigh fatigue. This is what usually happens when I cannot or do not run for extended periods of time.

That, and the rehearsal process for The Great Globe Itself (opening March 3) for which I have spent an inordinate amount of time on my feet, even though I am directing. Poorer directors give line readings, I give blocking readings.

Temperature: 27°
Distance: 3.15 miles

Thawing icicles. It been cold for so long the ice thinks it's above freezing. Slushing buh-shee wushy gushy. But my God, that felt good. Tomorrow we sink back into the deep freeze. I hope the forecast is correct and I can try this running thing again on Tuesday.

1979 Playlist
I'm Cold - The Cure
(Do The) Instant Mash (172 bpm) - Joe Jackson
One More Time - Joe Jackson
Dim All The Lights - Donna Summer
Let's Go - The Cars
I'm The Man - Joe Jackson
On My Radio - The Selecter
Cool For Cats - Squeeze
Boys Don't Cry (169 bpm) - The Cure

I'm cold, indeed. Cure lyrics are not a sound personal philosophy, young man.

It's showtime, folks.

Monday: Meeting to set auditions for Timon of Athens
Tuesday: First read-through of Rosalynde & The Falcon
Tonight: Rehearsals begin for The Great Globe Itself

It's Spring, y'all, and I am now hellabusy. This is a good thing.

Many have asked how rehearsals for the tour are going, and they haven't even started yet. For years now, the tour was set to commence in mid-February, with rehearsals beginning in mid-January. Last year rehearsals were very uncomfortable in the room (it is in an office building - heat automatically stops after 6 PM) and there wasn't a single performance on a day above freezing.

Seriously. Not one.

So we begin a bit later. How will this fit into the general schedule of things? No idea. Perhaps very well!

Temperature: 28°
Distance: 3.5 miles

How is the back? Better. Much better, actually. There is still pain or at least discomfort. But we are diligent. And I take the wooden chair instead of the cushy one. It's more comfortable. 

1978 Playlist
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
I'm Gonna Love You Too - Blondie
I Love The Nightlife (Disco 'Round) - Alicia Bridges
Digital (169 bpm) - Joy Division
On Broadway - George Benson
Excitable Boy - Warren Zevon
Heart of Glass - Blondie
Good Times Roll - The Cars
Peanuts (178 bpm) - The Police

I was ten, and the music was good.

Romeo was restless.

Here's the best things I can say about my spine injury -- I look better. It is more comfortable to have good posture, I sit up straight, i stand up straight. I look thinner, my pants fit better. My wife has complimented the way I have been rocking these jeans. So there's that.

Some days it feels like there's absolutely nothing wrong with me ... and then there are other days. Meanwhile, the boy is still incapacitated in his own way, and it is necessary to give him a piggyback ride to handle stairs. It's not good for me. But what can I do?

Anyway, events, timing, and weather have kept me off the road. But if I can't get out when its above freezing, when can I?

Temperature: 46°
Distance: 2.5 miles

Hitting the pavement after one week, I became aware of my breathing. This is what happens when the running tapers off. First the thighs begin to ache. Then, the breathing.

Just looking at the forecast ... two days of chill, above freezing again on Wednesday before it dips to the teens on Friday. Just demoralizing.

However, the playlists are about the enter the greatest period of pop music in human history. Which is the whole point, I think.

Running on one stretch of crusty, unshoveled pavement, however, getting up those knees ... it's not good. Makes me want to take out a membership at the rec center just to use the track.

Hmn. Not such a bad idea.

1977 Playlist
Lust For Life - Iggy Pop
Dust In The Wind - Kansas
Second Hand News - Fleetwood Mac
We're A Happy Family - The Ramones
I Robot - The Alan Parsons Project
Mystery Dance (179 bpm) - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Well, he ran down the hall and he cried.

Simple task, run no less than ten times in January. Didn't happen. It is very challenging, my physical therapy exercises take up between forty minutes to an hour daily (half that time in the morning, half in the evening.) Combine that with assisting the rest of the family, especially the one currently employing a wheelchair, and there is neither time nor motivation to pursue my own extra-curricular activity.

The activities alleviate the pain. My PT says that eventually the disc will be back in place, and perhaps it shall, I am not certain yet I believe him. Last Sunday was very painful, since then I have been mostly all right. I will continue to do these exercises because I do not want to feel worse, the question is whether I will ever feel better.

Temperature: 32°
Distance: 3.25 miles
Climate: lovely snow

I really like running. That felt really good. Today is the first day since the end of last year that conditions have made it possible to run my traditional circuit. It's the same route I have used for years, but the circular route makes me feel I am going somewhere. Jogging up and down the neighborhood streets is tedious, especially the streets are short, and have a noticeable incline.

By tomorrow, the unshoveled sidewalks will have become a minor obstacle course, one I might have traversed in years past, but not in my present condition.

Kerry Fined For Unshoveled Sidewalk

Kerry was hit with the fine after a passerby submitted a picture of the snow-filled sidewalk on the city of Boston's online "Citizens Connect" portal on Wednesday.
- CNN.com

I am so totally doing this tomorrow. Monticello Boulevard, you are on notice.

1976 Playlist
Lonely Boy - Andrew Gold
Disco Inferno - The Trammps
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Shout It Out Loud - KISS
Brand New Arkansas Traveler * - Alex Bevan
More, More, More - Andre True
Crazy On You - Heart