Better not kill the groove.

Still sick. Still determined to run a little every day. Last night we watched Saltburn. Hot tracks. Millennials who are still hurting from the "This Is Not Your Mother's Mean Girls" campaign have to contend with a film set in the mid-aughts as some kind of period piece. 

Distance: 2 miles
Duration: 20:22
Pace: 10:10

Songs from "Saltburn"

Murder on the Dancefloor - Sophie Ellis-Bextor  

Perfect (Exceeder) - Mason ft. Princess Superstar 
Hang Me Up To Dry - Cold War Kids

This Modern Love - Bloc Party

Loneliness - Tomcraft

You're Gorgeous - Babybird

Route: Burlington Loop
Temperature: 37°
Climate: overcast & damp
Mood: all right

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

What are we living for?

Really petered out this past month, now there aren't enough days in the year left to break my previous record of 195 runs, set in 2015 when I was training for a marathon.

You know what? Who cares. Start fresh on Monday. Maybe I'll run two hundred times next year.

Distance: 1 mile
Duration: 9:54

Got this cold, see? Minorly scratchy throat, running nose, not much of a cough. It's mild, the meds I am taking to clear my head make me feel weirder than the illness. So I keep running, a little bit, each day. After almost a month without exercise, it feels pretty good to move. 

Your Top Songs 2023  

New Gold - Gorillaz ft. Tame Impala & Bootie Brown

Here to Forever - Death Cab for Cutie

A Roller Skating Jam Named "Saturday" - De La Soul ft. Q-Tip & Vinia Mojica

Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 39°
Climate: overcast w/light rain
Mood: all right

Tempted a first to go further. Glad I didn't. Maintain, Cap'n. Maintain.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

We burst through the Overton window.

Hurt my back. Remember the rules, never run like you are trying to get the running over with. Relax, do not lean forward, run at the pace which best suits you at the moment.

Distance: 1 miles
Duration: 10:19

Without posting it here on the blog, I am attempting to pull it back on the consumption. God, there's a lot of little snack things around.  

Your Top Songs 2023

Dog Days Are Over - Florence + The Machine

Steal My Sunshine - LEN

Pontius Pilate's Home Movies - The New Pornographers

Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 47°
Climate: overcast & damp
Mood: all right

I have a bit of a cold. And I am recovering from the allergies I suffer at Con's house. But I wanted to move, and so I did. I'm on vacation!

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

It's coming up!

Oh, boy. I got up at seven am, and it's six hours later and I have accomplished nothing. 

Holiday torpor. Let's run!

Distance: 1 mile
Duration: 9:35

One mile is better than no miles. AM I RIGHT?

Your Top Songs 2023  

Road to Joy - Peter Gabriel

DARE - Gorillaz

Actually, I haven't done nothing this morning. I wrote a blog post. Please clap.

Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 46°
Climate: overcast & damp
Mood: all right, actually

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

Planks: 30 min.

They taught themselves to be OCCULT.

Happy Yule, y'all.

Merry Christmas. It's like spring outside in Athens, Ohio.

Distance: 2.05 miles
Duration:19:16
Pace: 9:23

Been enjoying myself nd trying not to be concerned. Took a few steps, felt weighted and tired. Took a few more and started to feel better. That's how we get it back, short runs build to longer runs, you can't pick up right where you left off.

I hope I can start strong in the New Year, to eventually greet the Spring where I ant to be. I think you know what I am talking about.

Your Top Songs 2023

Nothing Left to Lose - Everything But the Girl

Gold Rush -  Death Cab for Cutie

Eye Know - De La Soul

Cracker Island  - Gorillaz ft. Thundercat

Ship to Wreck - Florence + The Machine

I've come unwrapped.

Route: Hocking River Bike Path
Temperature: 61°
Climate: overcast and cool
Mood: merry.
 
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Got to get you into my life!

People have opinions about this, but the fact is Revolver is The Beatles best album. Produced right when they stopped touring (and as a result no longer had to worry about reproducing their work live) they were able to get really creative, but hadn't yet gotten used to being so fucking "creative."

From my childhood I knew individual songs, but it wasn't until I got a copy of the album in high school that I first heard it the way a teenager (may) have experienced it when it was first released. Can you imagine? There was a certain "Mod" sound you were expecting, like the first rack, Taxman. But then you are hit with an epic composition like Eleanor Rigby ... and that's only the second freaking track. 

It helped that I had started experimenting with weed. The boy says Eleanor Rigby is his favorite Beatles song of all. Mine is Tomorrow Never Knows.

And Don Draper can suck it.

Distance: 3.5 miles

Duration: 32:49
Pace: 9:22

Revolver - The Beatles (1966)

Taxman

Eleanor Rigby

I'm Only Sleeping
Love You To

Yellow Submarine

She Said She Said

Paperback Writer

Rain

And Your Bird Can Sing

For No One

Doctor Robert

Got To Get You Into My Life

Tomorrow Never Knows

Route: 3.5 miles

Temperature: 55°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: all right

 

Was doing very well keeping up in November, but the weather has turned and the holidays have started and I am just so very tired. But hey, it's over fifty today and I have a couple hours to bang together. No excuses.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: tbd
Planks: tbd 

Upper body: tbd
Water: yes

Album includes the greatest love song ever written to weed. Happy Legalization Day (yesterday) to all who celebrate.

Please. Don't confront me with my failures.

Perhaps a little exercise? I will be on my own the next 48 hours, as the wife returns the boy to Cincinnati. Thanksgiving is done, the holidays have begun. Four years ago (no, not three as I almost typed) this was the beginning of the end for our mother. And yet, here was are. Our lives continue. Is that rude?

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:12
Pace: 9:44

Instead of blogging, I have been reading. Not as much as I would like to, but is it ever? Finished Yellowface by R.F. Kuang this morning. Outrageous and compelling. 

Route: 3.1 miles

Temperature: 42°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: anxious

 
Stretches: yes

Water: no. seriously? fuck. no.

I'm running down the road trying to loosen my load.

Who wore it better?

Stayed off my ankle for a couple days. These little kinks are crazy. I was on my feet for several hours on Tuesday and wow was that exhausting. And yet, we feel good, don't we? So much to be thankful for.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:02
Pace: 9:21

Thanksgiving Dinner Playlist

Lovely Day - Bill Withers

Thank You - Dido

Take It Easy - Eagles

Riptide - Vance Joy

I've Got Plenty To Be Thankful For * - Bing Crosby

What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong

Better Man - Leon Bridges

We Are Family - Sister Sledge

I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honeybunch) - Four Tops

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 45°
Climate: beautiful

Sunny, crisp fall day. Just perfect for a run. Folks walking dogs, kids watching the birds on the lagoon. We spent the morning watching the parade as a family. It's gonna be a lovely day.

Mood: 

 
Stretches: yes

Water: ope

What was it we were thinking of?

Sunday. One more day on my own until the season turns. Tomorrow it is all writing contest preparation, the eldest comes home (the wife prefers elder, reminding me that there is one older than they ... but not more aged) and the holidays are underway.

Will we run together? Maybe Turkey Trot? I do not know. I do not care. Family will be present and I will be full of joy. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:11
Pace: 9:40

Us - Peter Gabriel (1992)

Come Talk To Me

Steam (Oh, Oh, Let Off Steam Mix)

Digging In the Dirt

Kiss That Frog (Mindblender Mix)

Secret World

I love Peter Gabriel, I do. But mostly his upbeat work. The slow songs seem to me, sometimes, very, very slow. And similar. And besides, I need to run.

This album will always remind me of the first year of Guerrilla, for many, many reasons, and not only the timing. Though, sure, mostly the timing. Good timing. Frenetic. Sexual. Transgressive. There it is.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 47°
Climate: bright & sunny

Mood: determined

 

Got a kink in my right ankle in the park, had to walk, worked it out, kept limping along, and soon it went away. But I think this might happen more often these days.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 40

Upper body: 40 reps.
Water: yes

Breakfast: oatmeal w/dried fruit, butter, brown sugar & cream

Lunch: linguine alfredo w/green vegetables, fizzy water

Snack: raw cookie dough, cookies

Dinner: squash curry over rice

Beverage: Festivus!

I could not run fast enough to flee them.

The purge continues. I'm talking household items, not anything gross or violent. The November Purge in which we search for things we do not need and either donate or trash them.

Holidays coming. Must make room.

Distance: 3.25 miles

Duration: 31:46
Pace: 9:46

We're at that strange time of year when I have no idea what I want to listen to, and that makes it challenging for me to get out onto the road. That and the temperature. But it is a bright and sunny day.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 45°
Climate: sunny & cool

Mood: good

 

Yeah, felt good. Not great, but good. Beautiful day, kink in my ankle and in my knee. Wishing for spring again.

 
Stretches: yes

Upper body: 20 reps
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, homemade pastry w/egg, sausage & cheese

Lunch: fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Snack: cinnamon toast

Dinner: cocktail, cheese board

Movie: popcorn, beer

What's That Lyric?

An Arrow In the Wall - Death Cab for Cutie

Kozlar da jitte.

This morning I was exhausted. No reasonable reason why. Had a reasonable night's sleep, rose at six, felt fine, did some reading, and then I lost it. Weird. No pain, no ill feeling, just tired.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:58
Pace: 9:38

"Fall is here."

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: cool

Mood: good-ish 

What's That Lyric?

Saginou - Zulya

Gasping, but somehow still alive.

Last night we saw The Killer. I have been on a Fincher kick. Two running gags in the film are the (unnamed) assassin's use of characters from sit-coms as aliases, and that he listens to The Smiths to relax.

In fact, I enjoyed these moments of "comic relief" so much, it really irritated me when one of his aliases was Sam Malone. All of the other other references -- Robert Hartley, Reuben Kincaid, Archibald Bünker -- were from the 1970s. Including a Cheers reference threw me and it still bothers me this morning.

David Fincher is too exacting to have made such an error. 

 

Distance: 4.1 miles

Duration: 40:59
Pace: 9:9

"The Killer" Playlist (Songs by The Smiths)

Well I Wonder

I Know It’s Over 

How Soon Is Now? 

Hand in Glove

Bigmouth Strikes Again 

Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now

Girlfriend in a Coma

Shoplifters of the World Unite

Unhappy Birthday 

This Charming Man

There Is a Light That Never Goes Out

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: sunny & beautiful

Mood: good

  

Trying to run slower, to be intentional. My knees hurt after every run, like they never have before. Taking pain reliever, sure. But I wonder if I am doing damage, or it's just getting old and I have to deal with it.

The run today was glorious. Just perfect. Lovely day.

Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

Upper body: 20 rep
Water: yes

I don't even care what my best friends are doing.

The wife works at a book store, so she will be very busy from now through the holidays. She's working Friday nights, which means I need to plan my evening. I could go out, sure. See a play or a movie. Last night I made a pie, from scratch. My first. Never even made a crust before. It was a success.

I was also taking large pieces of furniture and other things out of the house to put onto the curb. And not drinking. Or not drinking right away. It was after the chores were through and the pie was baking that I sat by the fire, listened to music, read and had a cocktail.

It was a very good night alone with David. I'm learning better how to be with me. 

Distance: 3.25 miles 

Duration: 31:51
Pace: 9:48

Oh, shit. I finished the first draft of a new script. See? Good day!

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 45°
Climate: sunny & cool

Mood: good

Just keep running, okay? Doesn't have to be far, doesn't have to be fast. Just run.

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes 

Play script: Sugar the Play by Gloria Shea

What's That Lyric?

Bad Dream Baby - Hippo Campus

I would really, really love to stick around.

Been watching a lot of David Fincher recently.

We have returned to form. A good breakfast, a high-calorie mid-morning coffee drink, an early lung( god dammit, I packed but forgot it again, what can I do) followed by an afternoon snack and horking nuts while making dinner over not one but two drinks.

We are gaining weight, like that's the thing we are supposed to do in November. Alack, alay.  

Anyway, tonight I'm baking an apple pie.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:23
Pace: 9:28

The wife suggested I run. So I did. Good call, wife.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 49°
Climate: sunny & cool

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

What's That Lyric?

Freedom 90 - George Michael

Everybody wants a box of chocolates.

Gracious. I have now logged more runs than I did in 2009 -- and those weren't even all runs. I was recording blog posts about the play And Then You Die that year. So, 2023 has been far and away the year I have taken the most most individual runs, except for 2015 when I not only had a diabetic scare, but trained rather successfully for the Twin Cities Marathon.

Not sure I can make another twenty runs before end of the year, but who knows? Seems kind of arbitrary. Why this year? Another health scare, the scare of just getting old?

Regardless. It's still enjoyable. I hope it continues to be so.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:05
Pace: 9:42

Took shoes to Athens and Cincinnati. A beautiful weekend, perfect weather, no chance to run.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: all right

 
Stretches: yes

Upper body: 30 rep.
Water: yes

What's That Lyric?

Everybody Knows - Leonard Cohen

Just can't wait to get on the road again.

Miguel sings "Careless Whisper"

Stayed up late, watching the Rock Hall inductions. Both Miguel and Carrie Underwood did some lovely interpretations of George Michael's work. Adam Levine was also there. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:38
Pace: 9:33

Rock Hall Class of 2023 Playlist

Strong Enough - Sheryl Crow

On the Road Again (Live) - Willie Nelson

Bulls on Parade - Rage Against the Machine

Faith - George Michael

Then Came You - The Spinners ft. Dionne Warwick

Lose Control - Missy Elliott ft. Ciara & Fatman Scoop

Ain't Nobody - Chaka Khan ft. Rufus

Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God) - Kate Bush

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 55°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: good

The years pass, and the old guard, those you could count on to show up at an induction ceremony, they are all very old, or dead. Or they are Jann Wenner and he wasn't there, either. Now the inductees are my age (or dead).

I saw Sheryl Crow open for Crowded House in early 1994. She was on her first single then, now it's almost thirty years later and she is playing a duet with Olivia Rodrigo, who is twenty days younger than our eldest living child.

The Rock Hall has protested its relevance and the "power of music" but really, it was always about nostalgia. That's why I stayed up past midnight to experience it, though I will probably not be doing that again. I was there for George.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 40
Planks: tbd 

Upper body: 10 reps. (5x)
Water: yes

Play script:

Check my vital signs.

Sometimes I pay a lot for great seats.
Sometimes they're free.

Been feeling queasy. I felt like this ... last year? Not sick, just poor digestion. Unhappy bowels. The diet has not been great. A lot of meat, fried things, bread. I can do better. I don't want to.

Becoming more and more aware of my weaknesses. I do not have the balance, the equilibrium that I used to. Then, I've always had weaknesses. When I take care of myself I can mitigate them, but it must be consistent.

The weather turns. My motivation to run wanes with the weather. I do not like cold, not really. Not at all.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:21
Pace: 9:08

Perfect fall evening. The run was great, but my knee (right) has been in pain the entire week. I don't hurt when I run. Just all the other times.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 56°
Climate: overcast & nice

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Upper body: 10 rep. (3x)
Water: yes

Play script: Nobody Heard, Nobody Saw by Luke Brett

What's That Lyric?

Boulevard of Broken Dreams - Green Day

Why don't you run from me?

Merrily We Roll Along was pitch-perfect and you have to ask yourself how it failed in the first place. Blame must be offered to Hal Prince and his abstract concept because Sondheim’s music and lyrics are outstanding. 

The book isn’t bad, either, though it is true (the wife and I talked about this on the subway home) that Mary is a seriously underdeveloped character. Last night, though, understudy Jamila Sabares-Klemm stepped into the role and she was excellent. A tremendous ensemble. So delighted to have this chance to see it.

Distance: 4.9 miles

Duration: 44:20
Pace: 9:03

O laws, Duran Duran just dropped a Halloween album full of covers, of their own songs and those of others. Perfect choice for a dreary morning — and an incredible run.

Danse Macabre - Duran Duran (2023)

Night Boat

Black Moonlight

Love Voudou

Bury a Friend

Supernature 

Danse Macabre

Secret Oktober 31st

Ghost Town

Paint It Black

Súper Lonely Freak

Spellbound

Psycho Killer ft. Victoria De Angelis 

Route: Reservoir Loop

Temperature: 55
Climate: overcast & damp

Mood: very good

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 40

Water: yes

I wouldn't trade one stupid decision for another five years of life.

Manhattan weekend, Upper West Side. The weather has been warm this week, but I had no time to get out. So glad to get to do this run today.

We traveled in style, relaxed. Got to our apt after ten so we didn’t go out, I’d had enough to drink in Airportland regardless. Anxious dreams, I think the owner of this place got into them, or her daughter? There are photos tucked into corners.

Distance: 4 miles?

Pace: 8:47

Glorious run. Last time I ran in Central Park was two years ago, last weekend. With the boy. It was about 50° then, a little too cool for my blood that I had and brought a jacket. While they were plenty of other runners, it was hardly crowded.

Today, a sunshiny day. The path around the reservoir was full of walkers and runners. Couples holding hands, kissing, people taking selfies.

The timer has started, but I stopped to take a picture, and somehow it defaulted. So I’m not sure exactly how far I ran. Don’t know, don’t care.

If it doesn’t rain tomorrow, and it’s not too cool, I may go out again.

Route: West 105 to the Jaqueline Onassis Kennedy Reservoir and back

Temperature: 67
Climate: sunny & warm

Mood: very good

  

Reading the book on Sound of Silver from the 33 1/3 series, by Ryan Leas. It’s fun, though for the first few chapters he does say the same thing over and over, to wit; LCD Soundsystem is derivative and dorky and yet makes the most relevant music of the 21st century.

He spends like, three chapters on “Losing My Edge” alone, and that’s not even on the album.

But laws, it makes me want to listen. I chose an EP of remixes to run to I had never heard before. My god, it was beautiful.

A Bunch of Stuff EP - LCD Soundsystem (2007)

All My Friends - Franz Ferdinand Version

Get Innocuous! - Soulwax Remix

Sound of Silver - C2 Rmx Rev.3

Us V Them - Any Color U Like Remix by Windsurf

Time To Get Away - Gucci Soundsystem Mix

Stretches: yes

Water: yes

"For the boys on MTV."

Home, again. Keeping my run on. This morning I am unmotivated specifically because I do not know what to listen to. I'm sure I'll come up with something.

Memories of Fall 2021, when the boy and I visited NYC. Photos pop up in the social media feed, and there are those photo books on the table, of the shed they used for outdoor pandemic dining. It was a time of great transition. It remains so.

Distance: 3.25 miles

Duration: 31:20
Pace: 9:38

So, my streaming service is like, "Wouldn't you like to listen to something we've called 80s pop retro tuesday early playlist?" And I'm like, sigh, yes, nailed it, I'm so obvious, woo-hoo.

Route: Boulevard Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: cool

Mood: all right

 

Ugh, Running before daylight. Anticipating a bad foot fall with every step is not good for my back. We just need to run in the early evening, it's not worth the injury. 

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Ouch, yeah, fuck. Hurt my back.

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 175 lbs. (+2.0)

Revised Goal: 170 lbs.

I’ve placed faith in geography.

Hot mane.

Awake at 2:30 AM in an Airbnb in Over the Rhine, fretting existential questions, deciding to sit up for an hour to write out my thoughts.

Getting our money’s worth out of this bougie hipster flop.

Distance: 2.5 miles

Duration: 22:39
Pace: 9:03

We are in Cincy to see the boy over  UC’s “family weekend.” So far we’ve had some good together time, got to existence a new neighborhood, even saw a play on campus. Shame about the football game though we couldn’t even get tickets, anyway.

Route: Over the Rhine

Temperature: 48°
Climate: partly cloudy & cool

Mood: anxious

  

This is in an Urban Outfitters

Ah, Sunday morning in Gentrification Land, where last night’s cold IPA is this morning’s warm piss.

“Watch out for uneven pavement,” she said, and it was a warning well-heeded. For the most part, though, and easy course, and safe, and one I would be happy to elaborate upon.

Stretches: yes

Water: yes

What’s That Lyric?

Gold Rush - Death Cab for Cutie

All my senses rise.

Crazy. The wife has been out of town since Tuesday, barely two days. And yet, it's so strange. It's strange being alone. I do not care for it. It's okay. It gives me no joy, not for a moment. It never has.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 26:36
Pace: 8:35

Man. I wrote a sad little scene this morning. But is it trite? Is it maudlin? Can't know until I read it in context ... whenever I figure out what that is.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 49°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: good

Got to stop thinking, "It takes five minutes to get my kit on and step out the door." It takes fifteen minutes, sometimes twenty. Okay? Fifteen to twenty. Budget that time.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: tbd
Planks: tbd 

Upper body: tbd
Water: yes

Diet: No greasy food today. You've eaten a lot of that shit this week, and you'll probably have more this weekend. It affects your mouth, only vigilant oral hygiene has kept you from sores.  Fruits and vegetables, that's it.

160-169 BPM Playlist

Moving On - BTS

Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio ft. L.V.

Everywhere I Go - The Call

Foundations - Kate Nash

The Adults Are Talking - The Strokes

You Better You Bet - The Who

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola  yogurt

Lunch: chili cheese burritos, Pepsi

Dinner: pasta & roasted vegetables

Alcohol? yes, I think.

Haw haw haw.

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 173 lbs. (-1.0)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Writing: yes

What's gone wrong in your system?

After all ... why not?

Here's the thing. I begin the day determined to follow my agenda, and by lunch there's a little voice in my head saying "Why not?" and thinking of greasy slices of pizza nd fast food fries and burgers.

I got a cheeseburger fries and a shake from MacDonald's for lunch yesterday. I ate them while driving, chewing without tasting, swallowing without chewing. Last night I thought, "Why not?" and had a glass of wine with dinner, just as my wife did. I'd already had a strong ale, it was drink two, and it was wine. I don't drink wine, normally, it gives me a headache.

By the time we went to bed, I had a headache. I minor one. I'm fine now, but, stupid, you know?

The weather turns. Shorts with a jacket. Time to put up storm windows, mornings now before the fire. Can I maintain? Will I, once more, gain back all the weight I lost? Why not? 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:41
Pace: 9:15

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 49°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20 

Upper body: 10
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/yogurt & granola

Lunch: fish & chips & slaw

Coffee Break: decaf pumpkin roll latte

Dinner: chicken salad, fizzy water

Alcohol? GLBC Oktoberfest

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 174 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Writing: yes

What's That Lyric?

Gratitude - Beastie Boys

¿Y como vas progresando?

Yesterday was mostly successful, as writing goes. There were an awful lot of breaks for straightening up and doing basic exercises, but that's what kept me going.

Today I need to be online most of the day to attend a workshop, so any business must be attended to before ten AM. And that's why we get up at seven on a Sunday (also to avoid the headaches).

Tess: 0110

Distance: 3.15 miles

Duration: 29:14
Pace: 9:16

Brisk, upbeat tunes from the late 1970s and early 80s. Didn't get particularly invested in the episode. I need a reason to be interested in Runner 8 but I'm not there yet. Missed Steve.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 51°
Climate: overcast, damp & breezy

Mood: good

Gear: jacket, shorts

Hour break in our theater intimacy workshop, so I took the run then. Sometimes I push too hard when I need to get back for something, but that's not why I was going so fast. Just felt good!  

 
Stretches: yes 

Sit-Ups: 70
Planks: 30 sec. (4x)

Upper body: 10 rep. (4x)
Water: yes

Man. What if I did that every day.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Workshop Snack: pudding, fizzy water (2x)

Lunch: pizza (2x)

Afternoon: cheesecake, Mini Swedish Fish, more pudding

Dinner: bean soup, ice cream

Alcohol? no

Reading: tbd

Writing: tbd

Blog: tbd

What's That Lyric?

El Rayo-X - David Lindley

The word that would best describe this feeling would be haunted.

Big day planned -- which can be perilous. It's raining now, just an ordinary fall day. Let's get out and start the weekend on the right ... foot?

Recovery: 0109

Distance: 5.1 km

Duration: 29:13
Pace: 5:43/km

The plan is to write, and not just to write, but to complete a first draft of my new play. Can this happen in six hours? I believe that it can.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 50°
Climate: breezy & light rain

Mood: good

Perfect day for a zombie run, gloomy and damp with a "dark and goth" playlist.

Shit is getting real, this app was created over ten years ago, but I have been re-introduced to Runner 8, who is suspicious of Runner 5 (me). She also has a persistent cough. She's had it long enough that it doesn't make sense that she is "turning gray." 

But between the cough and her talk of a supposed, possibly entirely bogus vaccine which was distributed just prior to the collapse of civilization, it's quite timely.

Then she lets slip that she was bitten. So ... maybe the vaccine did work? Or maybe it prolongs the inevitable. We'll find out!

  

Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 60
Planks: 120 sec.

Water: yes

Speaking of vaccinations, I have my flu shot I have my most recent, Covid booster. Doing my best to remain prepared and vigilant and well.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream

Early Lunch: bean soup, crackers, ginger ale

Coffee Break: iced coffee, Swedish Fish

Tea Time: Toddy, cheese board

Dinner: popcorn, last of the Baxter’s, pizza, salad

Alcohol? 2x

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 174 lbs. (+2.0) 

Goal: 165 lbs.

Sugar season. We have ice cream in the house, and that is bad news. I will try to maintain. Today, we write and work -- and exercise. taking breaks to do a little, light body work.

Reading: tbd

Writing: yes! scenes!

What's That Lyric?

Haunted When the Minutes Drag - Love & Rockets (162 BPM)

The kick in the eye.

O, it is me.

Yesterday was fucking horrid. I got a headache, as a result of nothing. Went to bed at an appropriate time, had zero alcohol, just, got a headache. And it got worse as the night progressed. 

I couldn't get up without feeling ill. Took pain reliever, Pepto Bismol, Sudafed, these helped a little but the pain did not truly subside until the evening.

I had to cancel three workshops I was supposed to teach today, which was fine, they can be reshceduled. But I was dressed and prepared to walk out the door and I just couldn't do it, on my feet for hours maintaining my cool. I need a clear head to teach well, I just saw endless misery. I am grateful I could just not go.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:27
Pace: 9:11

No head pain, and I feel like a goddamn giant. Or I am just manic in response to a day spent almost entirely in bed. The whole world is falling apart, what can I control but myself.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 51°
Climate: cool

Mood: all right

Goth Playlist

Dominion/Mother Russia - Sisters of Mercy

Kick In the Eye - Bauhaus

She's Lost Control - Joy Division

Wax and Wane - Cocteau Twins

Bela Lugoi's Dead - Bauhaus (153 BPM)

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Lunch: buffalo chicken salad wrap, potato chips

Treat: fruit snacks

Dinner: sliders, fries, corn dip & chips

Alcohol? Yeah, two. we went out.

Lots of comfort food last evening. Ice cream, processed popcorn. Forgot to weigh in this morning. Oops.

Writing: yes

9:30 AM First noticed flashing in my left eye, while driving. A “C” which expanded, just below center. Check out line, which continue to expand its arc until it was no longer a C shape.

Occurring the day after a serious day long headache?

이사 가자.

“To restrict your listening to English-language pop is like deciding to eat the same meal for the rest of your life.” - David Byrne

One of the books I picked up at the Chicago, independent bookstore Exile in Bookville was a slim collection of essays by Lenika Cruz about the K-Pop sensation BTS, On BTS.

I know very little about BTS, but you know? I should. So here is a list of songs I have never heard before that are all between 164-170 bpm.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:23
Pace: 8:50

BTS RUN

Moving On

No More Dream

Lost

UGH!

Boy In Luv

For You

Mic Drop

Route: Forest Hill Loop 

Temperature: 43°
Climate: cool, you know?

Mood: good

Gear: New L.L.Bean long sleeve, short sleeve (tucked in), shorts

We have returned home. The last two days were just one long day, the flight from Phoenix to Philadelphia was restless and without sleep. And yet, we have our memories and our love and a desire to push forward into the fall. There are so many more wonderful things to accomplish and to experience.  

"Let's move."

Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: tbd
Planks: tbd 

Upper body: tbd
Water: yes

We ate with impunity. Burgers, tacos, a steak. French toast, desserts, many sweets. I would even finish her plate. I have no regrets about this. I maybe could have exercised more, but there was an awful lot of walking in dry heat. I did a very good job of drinking water, all the time, not too much at anyone time. The journey was good for my body.

Six AM is a good time to get up -- if I have to be somewhere by ten, at the earliest. But no afternoon coffee, that kept me up last night. I needed to push through the day, but the results were not worth it.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, oatmeal w/dried cranberry, butter, brown sugar, cream

Lunch: smoothie bowl w.fresh fruit, granola & nutella

Trea: Snickers!

Snack: Pretzel shortbread

Dinner: roasted buttered suash w/rice pilaf

Alcohol? no

No, I did not even taste the Snickers. Don't do that.

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 172 lbs. (+1.0)

Goal: 165 lbs.

I gained one pound. I think I'm all right.

Reading: tbd

Writing: yes

Blog: tbd

We pulled off the interstate.

Two nights at the idyllic Dreamcatcher Inn in Pearce, AZ. Yesterday my beautiful wife brought me to Chiricahua Monument Park. She’s shown me so many breathtaking sights on this journey. I am privileged, I am grateful.

Distance: 1.5 miles

Duration: 15:20 
Pace: 10:13

I asked our innkeeper, Ramon, about running on these desert roads and he assured me they would be safe. “One car every fifteen minutes.” I imagine it would be fewer on a Saturday morning. Is it Saturday? Is it Saturday already? 

Route: Sunrise Drive

Temperature: 61
Climate: cool & dry

Mood: good

Running at 4,400 feet. The road was uneven, and rocky, but entirely untraveled but for another visitor takings morning walk and one dog protecting his master’s home. That’s when I turned around.

The going was hard, the road, the elevation, and also the path itself was an incline. I felt my chest heaving, not normal. I was going to turn around at a half miles, but stopping to watch the sunrise a moment pushed me further (until I heard the dog.)

 

Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, ham quiche, fresh fruit, probiotic yogurt

Wine tasting: charcuterie, wine

Treat: DQ soft serve

Dinner: old fashioned, chips w/salsa & guac, beef quesadilla, greens, sushido peppers

Alcohol? Yes

Reading: yes

Writing: yes

What’s That Lyric?

Bandits - Josh Ritter

You said you hate that I’m a writer.

On Sunday, October 1, they canceled the Twin Cities marathon. It was due to excessive heat, it would’ve been 70° when the race started.

Some folks were less than understanding. “We all trained in this weather!” one guy carped. Maybe you did, sir. A lot of people come in from out of town for that race.

In 2012, when I went in the Cleveland marathon, it was about 70° when I finished. I remember seeing a young woman, she looked extremely fit. She was leaning against a post and vomiting.

This is what we’re up against. The last time a major race was canceled, it was the New York City Marathon, (also in 2012) because of Hurricane Sandy.

Distance: 2.5 miles

Duration: 25:02
Pace: 10:00

Tucson Run. Did not end up where I planned, on a bike path by the highway instead of through a green space, but it sure is Arizona.

What can I report? We saw Josh Ritter at the Rialto last night, but instead of listening to him this morning I chose a random modern country playlist … and I liked it.

Route: AZ 210 Bike Path

Temperature: 60
Climate: arid & cool

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Stopped at a light I developed a brief back spasm. Never had one of those before. Hope I never have one again.

Breakfast: coffee w/milk

Lunch: cheeseburger w/green chilies, fries, mandarin wheat beer

Dinner: chicken tacos, rice & beans, cheese crisp, Modelo Negro

Alcohol? yes

Reading: yes

Writing: yes

What’s That Lyric?

Fall In Love With Me - Morgan Wade

I'm not coming out until this is all over.

One more in before we hit the road. I have always been apprensive about looking forward to things. I do, you know very badly sometimes. But I have been very aware of my health: Is that a cough? Do I have a sore throat? A positive test and we are not going anywhere.

Today we fly to Chicago before boarding a train to Tuscon. That is the plan. All we have now is a plan. And a pair of running shoes.

The Old Mill: 0108

Distance: 3.2 miles

Duration: 29:30
Pace: 9:11

Good episode, I like the ones that are hopeful, even in the face of despair.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny & perfect

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

Upper body: 20 reps
Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, watermelon, macaroni salad w/egg

Lunch: pepperoni pizza (1 slice)

Dinner: TBA

Alcohol? 

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 171 lbs. (+1.0)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Reading: tbd

Writing: tbd

Blog: tbd

What's That Lyric?

We Will Become Silhouettes - The Postal Service

I love that tune.

Twenty runs a month for seven months.

Next week we are headed west. I had a conversation with the wife yesterday about whther or not to bring my running kit to the desert. She says bring it, I can only regret not doing so. How, when, these are things I do not know. I can tell you I will not be running for several days.

So far, however, running consistently, every other day, has been pretty sweet. Happy, happy autumn.

Distance: 2 miles

Duration: 18:01
Pace: 9:00

Route: Burlington Loop (clockwise)

Temperature: 58°
Climate: very light rain

Mood: good, rushed

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Lunch: caesar salad w/chicken, cookies (2x)

Coffee Break: Coke Zero

Dinner: cheeseburger, fries,

Alcohol? old fashioned, GLBC Oktoberfest

Lae Nite: popcorn

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 170 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Writing: 30 min.

What's That Lyric?

Karaoke - Everything But the Girl

Maybe he's looking for his womanly side.

We continue. We keep up the pace.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 26:59
Pace: 8:42

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 61°
Climate: overcast & cool, perfect

Mood: very good

 

160-169 BPM Playlist

You, Kant, Always Get What You Want - The Rolling Stones

I Saw Her Standing There - The Beatles

Across the Room - ODESZA ft. Leon Bridges

Shaking the Tree - Peter Gabriel ft. Youssou N'Dour

Dreaming - Blondie

All You Pretty Gulls - XTC

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt 

Lunch: pizza (1 slice), plums (2), Twizzlers (package)

Treat: Office party chocolate, Cheetos, cookie (1x)

Dinner: pasta w/greens

Alcohol? old fashioned

Yesterday I did pretty well, I had one drink at a social gathering where I could easily have had two, though I did scarf a dessert for two that was in the fridge because the wife said she didn't plan to eat it. This is what I am talking about. I have compulsions within me, and I believe they grow with the change in the weather.

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 170 lbs. (-1.0)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Writing: 30 min.

Don't worry, there's no hurry.

How do we take a Saturday and make it the best run ever? I have been resting evety other day now, I think next month I hope to do fifteen runs, that's the goal, not twenty. It's time to ease off, but to maintain.

I'm not paying for the zombie app, so the episodes unlock once a week now, and that's fine. In fact. a Saturdy run in fall is the perfect time for one of these, so I am content (with the content. GET IT?)

A Voice in the Dark: 0107

Distance: 3.8 miles 

Duration: 33:34
Pace: 8:50

Awesome run, full of strength. The BPM playlists do help, they usually do. Today it was 160-169. Sometimes brisk, sometimes easy. Always great.

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny & perfect

Mood: good

 

Now, can I do the exercises, too? That's what I have been missing this month. Do the extra work -- it's not extra, though. It's part of it.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: tbd
Planks: tbd 

Upper body: tbd
Water: yes

That was a great episode, by the way. Full of hope.

Breakfast: coffee /cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Lunch: ravioli & buttered bread, Moxie

Dinner: nachos & hot dogs

Alcohol? Bumble berry Brew

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 171 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 165 lbs.

We maintain, we have been 170 lbs. since the end of June, nearly three months. But we are also now entering sugar season, which will last until, I don't know, next March. As the lady said, it's decision time again.

Reading: tbd

Writing: 30 min.

Blog: tbd

Actually writing a new thing. It must mean I am putting off finishing the now thing.

What's That Lyric?

It's Gonna Get Better - Genesis

Let's all get baked like Anita.

We made it, or almost have. The rehearsal period, waking up every week day morning at five am or earlier, to write. Every day, for over a month, I have resumed the practice. And what happened? I started writing a new play.

And I ran everyday, or most days, until this week when I had to get out by six. But I kept going. It's hard, to maintain the diet, to continue the exercises -- the exercises have fallen away, I need to pick those up again. But I run. I run. I fantastize about running.

And running must be a pleasure, not a chore. I am feeling sore, a bit out of the spirit. How do I maintain without hurting myself? It's a challenge. It's a challenge.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:49
Pace: 9:37

Route: Forst Hill Loop

Temperature: 75°
Climate: sunny & humid

Mood: good

Heading out was good, sunlight is so helpful. Coming back I felt a bit weighted. Keep going. 

 
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Lunch: parfait, lemon bread, apple, coffee w/creamer

Treat: chocolate muffin

Pre-run Snack: Almonds & dried cranberries

Dinner: steak, potatoes, beans, duck pastry, fizzy water

Alcohol? no, but

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 171 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Reading: Corley, E.

Writing: 30 min.

What's That Lyric?

A Roller Skating Jam named "Saturdays" - De La Soul

She's so funky, yeah.

Waking early is beautiful. And it is hard. The wife has been engged the past several nights, and I have not. I read, I write, I sleep by nine. But I wake before five, to write, and prepare myself with peace and ease. But I still have to get out by six. This is the final push, there will be more air starting next week.

It feels as though I have not run in a month. I missed one day. My knees can tell the difference. 

Distance: 4 miles

Duration: 38:16
Pace: 9:33

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 67°
Climate: partly cloudy, cool

Mood: good

Eesh. Stretch those shins. As the weather turns these runs do seem a bit arduous. But then, I may be overdoing it. More breaks. More short runs. Keep the engine running, you don't need to tear it up every time.

Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Peter Gabriel - Peter Gabriel (1980)

Intruder
No Self Control
I Don't Remember
And Through the Wire
Games Without Frontiers
Not One of Us
Lead a Normal Life
Biko

This was one I discovered later, starting with his fourth album (alo called Security) and working backward. I was surprised to learn that "Shock the Monkey" was by the same guy who did "Solsbury Hill" which I remembered from when it was played a lot on the radio in 1977.

I'm still not a huge fan of his first two albums. Was he a prog? Was he a rocker? But this one, this third one. This is where he truly started to figure out some things. It was when he became Peter Gabriel. How many industrial rockers of the 1990s owe their career to this one record? 

Hell, Trent Reznor owes his entire career just to the song "Intruder."

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Lunch: Cobb salad, bread & butter, Cheetos, pumpkin roll (autumn!)

Pre-Run Snack: half-banana, nuts

Dinner: borscht w/potato, egg  sourcream

Alcohol? IPA (1x)

The lovely people at our test school have provided lunch this week, and they are very nice and complete.

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 171 lbs. (+1.0)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Reading: Corley, E.

Writing: 30 min.

You said you wanted to feel alive.

You were born in July '95 / In a deadly heat

Oh, we're feeling it. The desire not to run. It's the chill. I do not wish to run cold. Honetsly, by the time I get out there today, and run a tenth of one mile, I will feel warm and happy.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:18
Pace: 9:27

Put the purple lights up above the front door. It's that time of year! Listened to a "Moody Mix" which was perfect for the day, this early, early fall weather. I mean, the weather is PERFECT, I need to be enjoying this.

But I don't need to run as fast, and it is hard not to. I push and that makes me tired. No pushing! Listen to your body!

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 69°
Climate: sunny & warm

Mood: good

 

Evening runs this week. And you know, you do not need to run twenty a month. Fifteen would suffice.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

Planks: 30 sec.

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit w/granola & yogurt

Lunch: ramen

Treat: Sweet Tarts

Dinner: spaghetti, buttered bread

Alcohol? Baxter Stowaway IPA

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 170 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Reading: Corley, E.

Writing: 30 min.

Blog: posted

What's That Lyric?

True Blue - boygenius

Please, tell me who I am.

One day off cn feel like a lifetime. Also, the weather has changed, it feels like fall and so we'll call it that. 

Saw The Last Five Years at Near West Theatre last night, more of that please. All of these attempts to "reinterpret" exitsing work, some times it is better off not to, because they do not need renterpretation, they are fine as they are. This is not the case with JRB's chamber musical, which is not great. But this production makes it so.

Supply Run: 0106

Distance: 3.75 miles

Duration: 35:01
Pace: 9:20

With the change in the weather, we will resume eluding zombies. Motivation! Live through the End Times! 

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny & cool

Mood: good

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 30
Planks: 60 sec. 

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit, granola & yogurt 

Lunch: Zhug leftovers: potatoes, brussels sprouts & beef

Happy Hour: Market Garden Nano OG Lager, Jelly Bellys.

Dinner: popcorn, fizzy water

Evening: Manhattan, Swedish fish

Alcohol? yes, and

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 170 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Reading: Corley, E.

Writing: 30 min.

Blog: Acapulco Gold (book)

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What's That Lyric?

The Logical Song - Supertramp