Andersonville Run

What was supposed to be a delightful run by the lake with my daughter turned out not so great. There were miscommunications, and we ended up heading out further than we should have. She is trying to get up to speed on running, in anticipation of high school soccer, but running two miles into the wind was a bit challenging. And we still had to head back.

Then it began to rain.

Distance: 4 miles
Avg. Pace: 12:26 (walk/run)
Duration: 49:47
Route: Lake Shore Drive North

However, as things have settled down, I believe it was a good call. Got to be optimistic, right?

It's been a long vacation, even after just a few days. Fun, happy, enjoyable, but surprisingly long.

Temperature: 71 degrees
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: not great

My heart is that much harder now.

Distance: 3.5 miles
Duration: 26:57
Avg. Pace: 7:42
Route: Chicago Riverwalk

Two nights at the Westin, the wife got a terrific rate and we are dedicated to doing extremely touristy Chicago things; yesterday we took the architecture boat tour, had deep dish and walked Navy Pier (you can totally skip Navy Pier.)

On Sunday night we saw The Neo-Futurists.

Tried to engage the girl to join me, but we have had late nights and she begged off. Perhaps tomorrow.
Temperature: 61
Climate: sunny & cool
Mood: not bad

Love the organized chaos of an urban run on a designated path. People are walking to work, also running and walking (no wheels permitted) and everyone – by and large – stay to the right and passes on the left.

A city wakes on a weekday with traffic on the streets (above) and city workers cleaning the pavement, making repairs. There are also the boat horns, that is a nice touch. I see runners in downtown Cleveland, there are more and more of them, but nothing like the scale and density of a city like this.

Cities are about density. Utopia requires people.

What’s That Lyric?
Before Today (Adam F Remix) – Everything But the Girl

Aurora

Long day's journey in our Element. Wedding in Chicagoland this weekend (I am officiating) and we have extended it into a summer vacation.

Wow. We ate a lot of junk food on this drive. I ate a sandwich ... look, I can't tell you about the sandwich. I'll just give you an instagram picture.

Distance: 1.56 miles
Avg. Pace: 5.5-6.0
Duration: 20 min.
Route: Holiday Inn treadmill

After dinner the girl wanted to work so we hit the exercise room. Got, it was uncomfortable driving here, and though it was also painful to run ... it felt much, much better.

The cares of the day seem to vanish.

Came home from theater camp today and the wife said we were all going to the gym! The entire family! That's new. I hope it occurs often. I was prepared to run the track (MapMyRun is for some reason confused entirely confused by my running on an indoor track and can provide no metrics) and the girl said she was going to run it, too.

We had our earbuds in, jazz was the order of the day me today. So we ran the 1/9 mile track for nearly nine laps and she said we would run another mile before stopping. Two miles, just checking in on laps. Running with the girl is like Fight Club ...

Distance: 2 miles
Route: Cleveland Heights Recreation Center Track
Mood: all right

What's That Lyric?
A Night In Tunisia - Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers

A hundred turns left to go.

Against my own better judgement, I took a hot run. Running in the blazing sun. Just a lap around the block. By this point in the evening, bicycling to the middle school seemed like too much of a hassle. Remembered the stretch my hamstrings upon concluding.

Distance: .85 miles
Route: Once around the block
Temperature: 86°
Climate: HOT
Mood: maintaining

That felt good. I need to do more of that. Running, I mean.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 170.5 lbs. (-0.5)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

Erie Effusion - LIVE on WRUW
When You Were Mine - The Church
Peppermint Pig - Cocteau Twins

A rock 'n' roll survivor with pendulum hips.

Recently the wife got a family membership for the rec center. It was a deal she struck with the boy, he's twelve now and finally of age where he is permitted to use the machines. They go every other day, it's great.

This evening I took the opportunity to try out the track which runs around the gym on the second level, and over the basketball courts.

Distance: around 3 miles
Route: Cleveland Heights Recreation Center Track

This is the first time I have run three miles since April. Felt good. Hope it feels so good this evening. I could feel it in my hip, but it wasn't pain. Not yet.

Pavement: indoor track
Mood: all right

What's That Lyric?
"L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N." * - Noah and the Whale

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 171 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

Down the street.

Donald Trump has a very strange theory about exercise
by Chris Cizzilli, CNN.com, 5/15/2017

When I first started running, when I was twelve or thirteen, I had a theory about exercise, which was this.

You only have so much energy.

I knew this because in my personal experience, when I would run, for example, I would get tired. I could run maybe a mile, and then I would have to walk. I knew that there were athletes who could run for miles and miles, but I was not one of them. I would not be able to do that. I did not have a body for exercise.

This is what our seventy year-old president believes, that the human body is an un-rechargeable battery, that you only have so many heartbeats before you die.

It's not a "strange" theory, Mr. Cizzilli. It's an ignorant child's theory.

Distance: 1 mile
Route: Monticello Track

The wife and I have begun a series of meditation. Meditation has never come easily to me, but then that's like saying yoga doesn't work for me because I am not limber. Punchline: That's why you do yoga.

Okay not much of a punchline but it is a reason. Meditate though it is difficult because that is how you learn to meditate. Which is simple, but hard. Just breathe. Only breathe. Realize your mind has wandered again, remind yourself that's okay, and focus on your breathing. Until the next time.

There's more to it than that. But not much more.

Temperature: 61°
Climate: overcast and cool
Mood: welcoming (I think)

Overcast beginning to the week, perfect weather for running, also what they call "sleeping weather." I have had a difficult spring for sleep, until just recently. Night sounds wake me, and keep me awake and fretful. That was until I started suing earplugs on a regular basis. I used them when the wife was pregnant (and snored much more) and they were successful then and they seem to be successful now.

Except last night, when I dreamed I was bitten by a small, pale, venomous snake. That woke me and kept me awake for a bit. But in general, I have been sleeping more fitfully.

Having said that, I have still been remarkably tired during the day. Weary at various periods. Saturday was ridiculous,  worked in the garden for twenty minutes and I was practically shaking with exhaustion. She wants me to call the doctor. I would prefer a regular eight hours rest a night, and who knows? This summer I may just get it.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 170.5 lbs. (-1.0)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

Stretches this morning, a brief bike ride to the track and five laps. There are flareups in my hip when I sit for any length of time, and then I stand. I could feel it during my run a little, but not now. I was lagging a bit because I didn't eat anything before heading out, which is always a mistake.

What's That Lyric?
In The Street - Big Star

Look here, Junior. Don't you be so happy.

That evening, following my last run, my hip hurt a bit. I stand more than I used to, which makes the pain not happen, if you follow me. It's like that old joke;

Patient: Doctor! Doctor! It hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Then don't do that.

Sitting all winter, at my desk, at home writing, it hurt my tuchus. So, nu? Don't sit so much.

Distance: 1 mile
Route: Monticello Track

Best. Joke. Ever.

Then there is the eating, which has gotten a bit out of control. I have gotten out of the habit of packing lunch, which is how you control your budget, but also your portion size. The other night I remembered to cut my sandwich at a restaurant in half to take the other half home, but that takes a supreme effort of will.

But it doesn't always. When I get used to smaller portions, I get used to smaller portions. I must get back to that. Also, not eating half a bag of Doritos on a Friday night.

Temperature: 66°
Climate: glorious
Mood: better

Rode my bike to the middle school track, took five laps and home. Felt good. The exercises help. My back hurt in a very unhappy-making place for twenty-four hours, by last night it was gone.

I wonder if I will run long-distance again without pain.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 171.5 lbs. (+2.0)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

Yes, I have seriously crashed. Back into the 170s. This is depression eating, a compensation for a lack of other things. I do not need a psychologist to tell me this, I know it while I am doing it. It feels good. And it has to stop.

Man. I haven't even had breakfast today. That's empty stomach weight - only after last night, my stomach is not yet empty.

Here's the thing, I need to get to my normal weight - 165 lbs. - for a very good reason. That is where my summer shorts fit most comfortably.

What's That Lyric?
Marquee Moon - Television