Light in your head and dead on your feet.

Pre-dawn run with Chris. Met him at 6:00, rather than 6:30 AM when we have been meeting, because kids, school, life. Summer ends ... only it's ten degrees hotter than it was two days ago at the same time.

Distance: 5 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:04
Duration: 45:21
Route: Forest Hill Run

Used the flashlight on my phone for a few stretches before the sun rose around the pond on the East Cleveland side.

Temperature: 72°
Climate: hot & humid
Mood: all right

We run, we push. Two dudes striving for perfection. The strangest thing, I wore my iPod in a different place and chafed, actually chafed on it. That's not sexy.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 174 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

We're on the road to paradise.

We took a long run today, a ten mile, out to Gandhi and back. Yesterday was a big one of outdoor, neighborhood activity. The Block Party, yes, before that the girl had a scrimmage. I ate a hot dog. I ate a cheeseburger. There was macaroni salad and cake. Over the course of one long afternoon I had two and a half beers, but I stopped well before bedtime.

Still, sugar and fat and lots of it. I could taste it in my mouth this morning. Amy warned me about sugar, now I can't get it out of my head.

Distance: 10.25 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:23
Duration: 1:36:17
Route: Gandhi and Back
 
Our last long run, last week, affected my sciatica in a way running hasn't for several weeks. I am wondering what I will feel like n a few hours. I am going to do a series of stretches now, as a kind of precaution. Earlier this week I couldn't sleep until I took pain reliever for it.

Temperature: 63°→67°
Climate: sunny & humid
Mood: all right

Will I run a marathon next year? Can I run a marathon next year? Which marathon will I run next year?

I am currently taking ten miles runs on the weekend. I must be training for something.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 173.5 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Road to Nowhere - Talking Heads

Maybe I just want to fly.

Yesterday at work, Chris asks if we are running tomorrow (meaning today.) This is in front of the ladies. I'm like, uh, yeah.

"Eight miles?" he asks. In front of the ladies.

All right, I agree. smh

Distance: 7 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:17
Duration: 1:05:00
Route: Lakeview/Uptown Loop

Anyway, I held him to it, or almost. I led him through the cemetery. He went this way before, last weekend, just ran around the cemetery with no particular course. He racked up eleven miles that day. I took him through my usual course (Good morning, Harvey. Good morning, Mr. Ness.) and out the Euclid gate through Uptown.

Temperature: 64°
Climate: bright & cool
Mood: good

Coming through Little Italy was kind of gross, they haven't cleaned up since the Feast this past weekend. Tents blocking the sidewalks, place reeks of beer. But we made it up the hill in a steady jog. Good for us.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 173 lbs. (-2.0)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

Seven miles. Let's keep going.

What's That Lyric?
Live Forever - Oasis

Come all this distance.

It is happening. Meeting Chris, I have to run a mile to the meeting places, then we run about three miles through the park before we return to the meeting place. That means another mile back, on my own.

The past several times we have met, I have stopped running at five miles and walked the rest of the way. I was just tired. This morning I wanted to keep going, ran the last half mile home. Didn't feel any need to slow down. In fact, that half-mile was 8:08. It was my fastest length of the morning.

Distance: 5.5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:41
Duration: 47:48
Route: Forest Hill Run

My running partner is named Chris. So is my father-in-law. Do not let this confuse you.

Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny, cool & humid
Mood: all right

My wife is home after being in Columbus and then Athens, looking after family. She will leave again on Thursday, and I will look after the kids. This is how we do these things.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 175 lbs. (+3.0)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Don't Break This Rhythm - Peter Gabriel

I want it to be perfect like before.

It wasn't the first time I had met my future in-laws, it wan't the first time I had pulled up outside to pick up the woman who I would one day be married to. But the first time I stepped into their home is a day I will never forget.

It was Thanksgiving weekend, 1994. I had picked Toni up from the airport in Columbus, she'd flown in from NYC for the weekend, to be with her family. She and I were not officially a couple, not publicly. I was still married to someone else.

I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect. It was more awkward than you might imagine, the last time I had met them was probably as guests at my first wedding.

And yet, I was welcomed, unconditionally. That's what they do, that's who they are, beautiful, open-hearted people, quite possibly the least judgmental people I know. It is always a joy to return to this place, even or especially when times are difficult. It's the safest place I know.

Distance: 4 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:02
Duration: 32:10
Route: Hocking River Bike Path

We're having an impromptu gathering at the house this weekend, aunts and uncles and lots of visitors. Clear skies, cookouts, and children. You would think that things were good.

Temperature: 78°
Climate: sunny & hot
Mood: what you might expect

The kids and I packed for one night, and I brought my running kit. I wasn't sure if I would take the time, with so much going on here, but by the end of the morning I figured, what is my excuse not to? I used to love running, and now I kind of dread it. I know I will feel some pain, that I may need to go slow, that I'll be tried, thirsty, things I don't normally worry about.

And yet, it was gorgeous. Hot, but with a little breeze. I was going to run three, but at a mile and a half, I just had to keep going. The last time we were in Athens I was winded already at a mile and a half. It felt very good.

What's That Lyric?
A Night Like This - The Cure

Who is the man coming down your block?

So we're doing this. Chris suggested a run when I saw him in the office yesterday, and I said yes because that's what I do. Two days in a row. It's mental, I used to run two days in a row all the time, it's all right.

But I'm definitely taking tomorrow off.

Distance: 5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:43
Duration: 43:40
Route: Forest Hill Run

Beautiful day, great run. I really appreciate Chris pushing me like this, it's nothing but good. Getting out of bed this morning was easier than I thought it would be, I have been setting out my kit the night before, do you know how much that helps?

Temperature: 62°
Climate: cool & clear
Mood: good

Time to get to work.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 172 lbs. (-2.0)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
The Maestro - Beastie Boys

Keep it pumping.

This is only my third run since the 5K in Friendship? Feels like forever since we returned from vacation. August is not even in double-digits but the summer is winding down. We attended outdoor theater on Friday and it was uncomfortably cold. The children are speedily approaching back-to-school and my work is all about the fall.

Chris and I had made plans to take a long run yesterday, but I was exhausted and he was under it. Ah, well. This morning we continue our routine. It is a few degrees colder, and you can tell. That and the sun no longer rises before 6:00 AM.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Run

This morning I set out on my own, a jog around the park. I have begun to walk a few steps, on inclines. It's mental, I wish I wouldn't do that. That part of my brain that used to push through weariness and pain now thinks I am too old to do that, it's stupid, it's not real, and it needs to stop.

Temperature: 62°
Climate: cool & overcast
Mood: all right

Yesterday I walked through haunted Tremont with a few friends. Had brunch in the former Actors' Gym space. That's something else that weirded me out, I have been in that space, I have performed in and produced shows in that space since the Guerrilla days. But sitting in there, eating food in that space. I was having a lot of uncomfortable thoughts.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 174 lbs. (-0-)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

Made it through the weekend without picking up any weight. That is a good sign.

Guerrilla Theater Years (1992-1994)
Hello City * - Barenaked Ladies
Too Funky (Extended Mix) - George Michael
So What'cha Want * - Beastie Boys
Refazenda (Live) - Gilberto Gil
Creep - Radiohead
Just Keep Me Moving - k.d. lang
Voodoo Lady - Ween

I'm just around the corner.

Making an arrangement to meet at 6:30 for a run only goes so far. You still have to get enough sleep and ideally not drink too much to night before. I am not hitting it yet in regards to sugar consumption. If anything, it's been higher in the past two days.

Waking up with a headache, even a mild one, really sucks. I owe it to myself not to let that happen.

Distance: 5 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:49
Duration: 44:09
Route: Forest Hill Run

And yet, we prevail. Met Chris on the corner just five minutes late and we enjoyed a great run through the park. Yes, if I had not made this appointment, I would not have headed out. I may still be asleep.

Temperature: 67°
Climate: clear & humid
Mood: good

You know, it's Cousin Amy who has me thinking about sugar, and not just sugar but the sugar in alcohol. She was describing in graphic terms how you feel it the morning after, how sluggish it makes your morning run when you have had drinks the night before.

I had two drinks last night, a beer and a cocktail. Two drinks. That's too much for me.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 174 lbs. (-2.5)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Hold Me - Fleetwood Mac

This is the day of the expanding man.

Home again, and back to work. Also, back on the road. Chris contacted me yesterday about heading out this morning and I was all in. Terrible night sleep, however (three in a row) so we will see how successful this is.

August. Welcome to the the third shift.

Distance: 5 miles
Avg. Pace:
Duration:
Route:

Good run with Chris. Not easy, but what is? Ran five, walked a block. Beautiful day.

Thought the other day, why keep a log? Why not just write down statistics and leave it at that? Too much time spent writing this blog, what is the point?

Who knows. But I have been at it too long to quit. Like Samuel Pepys, perhaps I am leaving behind an account which someone may find a use for. A physiologist, a psychologist, a lawyer. Who knows.

Temperature: 67°
Climate: clear skies, a bit humid
Mood: all right

The time has come, to quit the sugar and processed foods. This is the same diet that made my blood sugar spike, who knows where it is now. Cut the soda, the candy, the chips and all the rest. Last night we got in around dinner time but I was still able to get to the store, and the wife made a meat-free, high-protein meal, one which even included a few beans from the backyard.

Just a few. Too many damn deer and one frisky groundhog.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 176.5 lbs.
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Deacon Blues - Steely Dan