I've been running a long time.

A visit to the gym -- suiting up, driving there ands back, running three miles -- takes only one hour. I think I can do this, one hour, every other day. Back on track -- get it?

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 27:06
Route: Rec Center
Mood: angsty
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

What's That Lyric?

Bitterblue - Yusuf

The bells are ringing through the town again.

Slay (part 2).

Happy holidays! We deck the halls, we trim the tree, we do the Christmas play. It is sugar season, and yet I have been moderate in my consumption, enjoying for its own sake, but not a lot. I feel good!

It's good to know when you feel good.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: about 28 minutes

Got home from this morning's matinee, took an hour long nap. Headed to the gym at 4:00 PM when a large number of seniors also started arriving. I guess I don't need to say "also."

Route: Rec Center
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: tbd

What's That Lyric?

Driver 8 - R.E.M.

Kept the beat and kept it strong.

Slay.

Why hasn't Pengo had a run since Thanksgiving?

A. Eight performances a week

B. The weather

If you chose B, you would be correct. I would have made time for running in spite of or even because of the work, but it was cold and even snowy. But I have also (FINALLY) renewed my gym membership.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: no idea

MapMyRun is still unable to track running indoors. So, I need to use a stopwatch at the rec center.

Route: Rec Center
Mood: good
Stretches: no
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBA

What's That Lyric?

88 Lines About 44 Women - The Nails

O! That we were there.

Good times.

Oh, my. Thanksgiving was good fun, great time with family and loved ones. The food was not great, but I ate a lot of it.

We went to a restaurant for a second year (I won't mention what it was this time around) because the wife works in retail and "Black Friday" is literally the biggest day of the year for her store. Starting last year she decreed 1) we're not leaving town for the holiday and 2) I'm not cooking. Maybe next year I will cook, but for now we are dining out.

These places that are open on Thanksgiving, several offer a "traditional" TG meal in addition to their usual fare, and I will try that because I like the tradition. Last year I was delighted with what they offered, considering it was largely a seafood place. Last night was ... it may have been that we were last sat. Who knows, who cares.

The thing was, my wife and our children, and her sibling's families and my MIL, we were all at the same table and having a lovely time. And that's what it's all about in the mix.

Distance: 1 miles

Duration: 9:08

Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 31°
Climate: overcast & cold
Mood: a lil' nervous
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: tbd

My job is very boring, I'm an office clerk.

I love this man.

What's next?

Had the third -- and final -- reading of my new script. I don't normally have more than one, but this was a special case. Because I did a major revision of the first version, then changed the names and added a song to the third. So I got to hear that. I wrote a song! The music for a song! That's new.

I'm fifty-six and I'm doing new things. 

Distance: 3.1 miles 

Duration: 28:10
Pace: 9:05

And speaking of new things ...

The big news is that I am now an understudy in A Christmas Carol. Or technically an understudy, but I will be in the show for the rest of the run. This is new. It is a show with which I am very, very familiar, but I have never been a company member, I think everyone involved assumed I must have been, at some point, but I haven't. Still, I was offered the role (roles plural, it's a track a supporting characters) a very short time ago but I am doing the work and I will go on Friday evening.

Twenty-eight performances. My entire holiday season has been changed. Considering my recent feelings of uncertainty, I think this is a very good thing. I am happy. I am very happy.

165 BPM Playlist

Gold Rush - Death Cab for Cutie

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots - The Flaming Lips

The Boys Are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy

La Grange - ZZ Top

Best Friend - The Beat

Give Me Back My Man - The B-52's

Echo Beach - Martha & the Muffins

Radio Free Europe - R.E.M.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 44°
Climate: partly cloudy & cool
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

You ran away, that's touch and go (?)

Made a motherfucking quiche.

It is amusing to me that I ran more in November than in October. It may be due to a colder October and a warmer November. Or I was busy? Or who knows? Anyway, I say I am amused. Amused, I say.

Failed to mention, I walked 3.2 miles on Monday night. Just, needed to get those steps in, walked the large block, from Noble to Mayfield to Taylor and home. It was a little brisk, but a lovely evening. Not sure how long it took, maybe 45 minutes?

Three point two, maybe. I could just run that.

Distance: 3.1 miles 

Duration: 28:23
Pace: 9:09

The cold, and also, the wind. We approach winter.  Weather good for a run, though.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 56°
Climate: cloudy & cool
Mood: all right
Stretches: no
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Wait. How did I get a headache during that run? Maybe it is because I am exhausted. I will go into that soon.

The Twenties (So Far)

Apple - Charlie XCX

Vertigo - Griff

The American Dream is Killing Me - Green Day

Buttermilk - Remi Wolf

Slugs of Love * - Little Dragon

Here to Forever *  - Death Cab for Cutie

Girls - The Dare

Chapstick - Coin

Next to Normal - Lucius

Wake Me Up - Foals

Take a step now.

Grateful thanks, Q.

Lying awake, fretting about the world, is I thing I do not like to do. And since the election, I have literally been drugging myself. The sertraline has its own soporific effects. occasionally I take melatonin. During the lockdown I took melatonin a lot, way too much. Even now if I have it more than one night in a row it makes the mornings very challenging.

Then there's the cannabis. There's this hybrid I picked up in Maine that just knocks me out. But that's the thing, it just knocks me out. I can watch a movie or read, I just want to go to sleep. There are other strains for that kind of activity, and I sleep well then, too.

But. Can I just sleep? Like, just have normal uninduced rest? And if so, when?

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:57
Pace: 9:20

I actually wrote that a few days ago, and have experimented with uninduced sleep the past two nights, and they have been successful. I just rest. Long days, active days, followed by rest. Avoiding the socials has been a great help. Breaking bad habits. I don't feel I am missing anything.

Quincy Jones Playlist

Soul Bossa Nova (156 BPM)

Love Is in Control (Finger on the Trigger) - Donna Summer

Theme from "Sanford & Son"

Come Together - Brothers Johnson

Billie Jean - Michael Jackson

I Can't Help It - Michael Jackson

I'll Be Good to You - Ray Charles & Chaka Khan

Give Me the Night - George Benson

Thanks, Mr. Jones! That was a brisk and joy filled run.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 51°
Climate: nice & cool
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

For the record, I am holding fast at 170 lbs. I am not trying to "diet" I am simply being mindful, as they say. Recording the intake in Noom. Learning about the calories, the good, the bad, and the empty.  

Where have all the good times gone?

Reading "Two Shakes" by Luke Brett
with the playwright at Goldhorn Brewery

We have been avoiding social media. This is part of a trend that began when I lost interest in blogging. 

Slight tangent: This is not a blog. This is a health record. For a short time, it was a promotional device for a play about running, but in main, it is a record. I discovered that keeping track of how many times I run reminds me to run. If I didn't keep track of my runs, I could easily just stop doing it, for weeks or even months. Instead, I have this reminder -- oh, you haven't run in a week? You better get on that.

How many runs did I take in 1993? I have no idea. Maybe ten? Or twenty? How many runs did I take in 1994? A lot, for a brief moment, and then not at all. I have no idea. Do you see? I have no idea.

So. Social media. Every time I visit, something angers me. Or makes me depressed. I resolved to stop. I didn't announce it to the world, it's so dumb when people do that. I just ghosted. And not entirely, I will post things, but I will not look at others' posts. I find myself opening the app, like a tic, then remember my resolved, close it before anything pops up, and put my phone in my pocket.

Is this easy? It is not. But it is necessary.

Distance: 1 mile

Duration: 8:43

Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 51°
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: driven
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

What's That Lyric?

Where Have All the Good Times Gone - Van Halen

But I know which way I'd run to if the choice was mine.

Zoom has me counting steps. For years I have watched one of my colleagues take time to walk in place, during meetings, breaks, whenever. 

If an average goal is 10,000 steps a day (so they say) well, any day I take a run I kill half that. However, what about days I do not run? Then it is closer to 4,000. So, I will take the stairs. It makes a difference!

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:09
Pace: 9:24

And yet, 10,000 steps is a lot! I would need to take a walk around the block in addition to a morning run. A couple of walks around the block.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 49°
Climate: cloudy & misty
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

The US LP release of the album Café Bleu. This is my wife's version, the LP she had and that we listened to a number of times on my solo visits to NYC in late 1994. I most strongly remember it from my second visit, which was in October. It was fall in New York and she showed me her part of the city and we held hands in the crisp and lovely autumn air.

So, this album, this version, takes me back to both the mid 90s as well as the mid 80s, when the eponymous single had airplay (or at least show play on MTV) and also the general mood of sophisticated pop.

We thought our lives were complicated. We had no idea.

Blitz: Now in theaters.

My Ever Changing Moods - The Style Council (1984)

My Ever Changing Moods (12" Version)

The Whole Point of No Return

Blue Café *
The Paris Match (ft. Tracey Thorn)
Dropping Bombs on the Whitehouse

A Solid Bond in Your Heart
You're the Best Thing +
A Gospel *
Strength of Your Nature *

Here's One That Got Away

Headstart for Happiness +

Mick's Blessings *

Usually, when I post an album for running I just don't include the songs the songs I skipped or those I didn't get to. With this album I feel the need to explain myself.

*Blue Café is too slow for running, and an instrumental. The other two have always stood out to me because they don't match the mood of the rest of the album. I love those songs, but I wanted to keep the autumnal vibe today. Most days, really.

Mick's Blessing was cut for time.

You're running out of sight.

My heart.

Part of survival is focus. Last Wednesday was remarkable, not wonderful, but successful. Yes, I ran almost seven miles. That was a surprise, I wasn't sure if I would muster four. The only reason I went as far as I did was that I had gone three miles without realizing it.

I took naps, I went grocery shopping, I watched our elder child create art, I made hearty, health-reviving soup, all while avoid the trauma and chaos of social media. And with some exception I have dedicated myself to this. That's how they get you, you know -- engagement.

I have been writing, submitting scripts, making connections. I have a script to read and rehearse, too. 

And exercise. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:08
Pace: 9:24

High School Run (1982-1985)

Cover Me - Bruce Springsteen  
Voice Carry - 'Til Tuesday
Jason and the Argonauts - XTC
Better Be Good to Me - Tina Turner
If You Were Here - Thompson Twins
Headstart for Happiness - Style Council
Undercover (Of the Night) - Rolling Stones
One Thing Leads to Another - The Fixx

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 47°
Climate: sunny & cool
Mood: struggling
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

You glorify the past when the future dries up.

We are in Athens, MIL is having hip replacement surgery, and we came down last night to assist, to make meals, to care.

What will we do? This is not the country I promised my children. There is nothing to say, white American is stupid and angry. Decades of misinformation and nonsense have led to this moment. The American experiment is holding as it was designed, to protect wealthy white men. And I have lost faith. Change will come, but not in my lifetime. I tried. So many of us tried.

Eight years ago we were shocked, surprised. What does this mean? And we protected each other, knit hats, wore safety pins, met and told stories, signaled virtue, protested in the streets -- even created art. And we hoped that things would change, because we did not know where it was headed.

And it has headed to this? Seriously? You can't blame our candidate. She ran a flawless campaign. But white America is terrified of people of color, of women, of transgender people, and that they may lose their dominance over them. Is this because white people assume if you are in the majority you necessarily must harm the minority? That there will a reckoning? Or is that they never learned to share? Or do they just hate and fear.

People will suffer, they have before and they will again. And people will die. And those of us who do not, who are in positions of education and communication will be instructed in what we can and cannot say.

There will be a reckoning, that is for sure. And it will have been avoidable.

This is the essay I told myself I would not be writing today. Because it isn't very good, or insightful, or helpful. But this is my running blog, where I record my general well-being as well as log my runs, my each and every run, as I maintain my health through my middle years. And for the sake of my mental well-being, I will abstain from social media for the foreseeable future. I can not stand to listen to people I care about wail in the darkness.

Distance: 6.75 miles

Duration: 1:0:58
Pace: 9:37

College Run (1986-1990)

The Only Way Is Up - Yazz

Go Lil Camaro Go - Ramones

Fuck Tha Police - N.W.A.

Talkin' Bout a Revolution - Tracy Chpaman

Summer's Cauldron - XTC

Slow Ride - Beastie Boys

Praying For Time - George Michael

Honey Bee - The Bears

Losing My Mind (Disco Mix) - Pet Shop Boys

Vibrating - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians 

The Passenger - Siouxsie  the Banshees

Can't Hardly Wait - The Replacements

Musique Non Stop - Kraftwerk

I Still Believe - Tim Cappello

Desire - U2

Hippychick - Soho

Crucial Bar-B-Q - Murphy's Law

Route: Hocking River Bike Path
Temperature: 72°
Climate: overcast & authoritarian
Mood: just nauseous
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

What's That Lyric?

God Part 2 - U2

(It's not actually on the playlist. I hate this song.)

I'm outside in the dark wondering how I got so old.

What will we do?

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:27
Pace: 9:29

Songs Of a Lost World - The Cure (2024)

Alone

A Fragile Thing

Warsong *

Drone:Nodrone

All I Ever Am

Endsong *

How does Robert Smith record an album that sounds exactly like a Cure album like it was 1989 all over again and yet it sounds absolutely contemporary?

I guess they are just timeless.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 62°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: "nauseously optimistic"
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

The president of paragraph will end it here.

The weather turns back to fall. I feel good, my knees are without pain, my sciatica has faded. Noom is tedious. But it helps, just keeping track.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:51
Pace: 9:18

160-169 BPM Playlist

Freedom of Speak (We Got Three Minutes) - De La Soul

Rocket Ride - Felix Da Housecat

Classical Gas - Mason Williams

Get Outta My Room - The Donnas

Hurt - Nine Inch Nails

I'm Free (Heaven Helps the Man) - Kenny Loggins

Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles

Ugh! - BTS

La feeme d'argent - Air

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 54°
Climate: sunny & cool
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

I've been on tenterhooks.

It's sixty degrees in the morning in late October. 

I remember thirty years ago, it was the summer that never ended. Romeo and Juliet opened in September, and it was baking and I was in love and everyone hated me except for one person and we had the biggest party this house has ever known and we slept outdoors and the summer kept going, as I went back and forth to New York and sat on the side porch on shitty lawn furniture and smoked and the weather continued to be good, even when it turned cold. 

Now it's just warm when it really should not be. We are all going to die.

Distance: 3.25 miles

Duration: 29:41
Pace: 9:07

That fucking dog on Monticello.

flannel modern rock wednesday early morning  
Take Me To the River - Talking Heads

Been Caught Stealing - Jane's Addiction
Brimful of Asha - Cornershop

Never Say Never - Romeo Void
New Pollution - Beck
Shake Your Rump - Beastie Boys

Girl U Want - Devo
Pump It Up - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Route: Boulevard Loop
Temperature: 61°
Climate: warm
Mood: yes
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Someday in the city we won't have the run.

Soulmates.

A day in Cincinnati. The young man has a recital tonight at the jazz club Caffè Vivace, and we arrived the night before so we could relax today, not drive. Just write and read ... and run!

Distance: 2.1 miles

Duration: 19:16
Pace: 9:11

Warriors - Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis (2024)
Somewhere In the City *

Reunion Square

Same Train Home *

Finale

We complete the album. I need to watch the movie, I am surprised that I never have. I know the references, the image of David Patrick Kelly clinking the beer bottles together taunting, "Warriors ... come out and play-ay ..." and also the sample which is the title of the Pop Will Eat Itself song Can U Dig It?

But it's the Odyssey, I get it. They're just trying to get home. And don't we all just want to get home?

Route: Clifton Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 53°
Climate: sunny & gorgeous
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

I'm sick of running.

Site-specific play!

We Noom. I am keeping track of my diet -- without dieting. Right? Having to listen to the lessons are ... tedious. I don't think I need to learn any of this. But it's part of the game. Maybe something will surprise me.

It's tracking my intake, and also my exercise including daily steps. I do walk a lot. 

I haven't lost any weight yet, but -- closing the app for the day means committing to not eating anything extra after dinner. And that will, I believe, make an impact. I'm also snacking more intentionally.

Because it's not about the weight. It's about the cholesterol. It's about my heart.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:18
Pace: 8:48

Sciatica kicks in occasionally, perhaps due to the weather. But also, those nights the cat keeps me up all night, and I lie awake, I toss more because I am aware of the aches of lying on any one side.

And so on Friday my left hip ached during the day, and also my left shin. I believe they are connected.

Warriors - Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis (2024)

Call Me Mercy

Still Beathin' *

Quiet Girls

Outside Gray' Papaya

Sick of Runnin'

The Park at Night

Luther Interlude

Cardigans

We Got You

A Light or Somethin'

We Got You (Reprise)

Miranda has always worn his inspirations proudly on his sleeve, and recognizing those in a show like Hamilton was part of the appeal. But here they aren't so much drops as lifts. Not vibes, but sound-alikes. He's even cannibalized his own work -- not Hamilton, but 21 Chump Street.  

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 54°
Climate: breezy & sunny
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Saturday headache. Bed past midnight, woke freezing so I added a blanket, woke again baking and with head pain. Took three Ibuprofen, a Sudafed and went back to sleep, the morning mostly salvaged. Rewarded myself with a run!

What a beautiful day, just perfect in short sleeves. Head is clear, and boy was that swift. I can still do it.

Am I going to apply for the 2026 New York City Marathon? Can I make five?

We run the night.

The weather is lovely. Let us not nap. Let us run!

Distance: 3.1 miles 

Duration: 28:38
Pace: 9:14

Warriors - Lin-Manuel Miranda & Eisa Davis (2024)

Survive the Night

Roll Call

Warriors' Cypher

Make Way For Cyrus

If You Can Count
Derailed

Woodlawn Cemetery

Leave the Bronx Alive

A Track Fire and a Phone Call

Going Down

Orphan Town

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: overcast & nice
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

How do you follow up a Broadway sensation like Hamilton? If you are Lin-Manuel Miranda, you don't. You join Disney and write songs for films like Moana (yay) and Mary Poppins Returns (boo) and Encanto (never saw it).

Now he has teamed up with another songwriter-performer, Eisa Davis, and co-produced a concept album, adapted from Walter Hill's 1979 film The Warriors, which was based on a book by Saul Yurick (1965). The album is packed with some downright historic performers (Lauryn Hill? Oh, shit, son!) and so far it is fun to run to.

But is that Midwest Emo they've thrown in there? For a gang called the Orphans? Lol.

Run the whole damn world.

Joined Noom. Why Noom? Why now? To record my diet. That's it. Like so many apps, we turn our daily business into games, or social media platforms through which we can focus so entirely on ourselves. I know.

But the fact is, the spring arrives and I am motivated by good weather to exercise! And to track my diet! And then it gets cold and I go into hibernation mode, neither moving very much and eating anything I want. That I want.

So now, the fall, the beginning of sugar season, is a good time to do this, and we will see what happens. In two days it had already made me aware of how much non-plant matter I consume, and how many carbohydrates.

So! I do not need to set it down here. It is there. And here I can reflect and concentrate on the exercise itself. And the world outside. Until I get that gym membership.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:16
Pace: 9:07

Bitch Beats Playlist*

Run the World (Girls) - Beyonce

Good Morning Gorgeous - Mary J. Blige

Like a Girl - Lizzo

Because I'm Awesome - The Dollyrots

She's Kerosene - The Interruptors

Free Your Mind - En Vogue

None of Your Business - Salt-N-Pepa

Pick Up Your Feelings - Jazmine Sullivan

Rebel Girl - Bikini Kill

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 62°
Climate: sunny & beautiful
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

*Music from the current Dobama Theatre production of "POTUS - or - behind every great dumbass are seven women trying to keep him alive"

Can you hear them? The helicopters?

It's October! Time to elude the zombies.

Patient 29 0114
Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 30:42
Pace: 9:54

She encouraged me to go, so I went. About time, too. Going to pick up Tommy's and watch the game. Crunch time!

melancholy dreamy Thursday afternoon 

Sexy Boy - Air

Talk Show Host - Radiohead

House of Cards - Radiohead

Down By the Water - PJ Harvey

Venus as a Boy - Björk

Golden Brown - The Stranglers

This Mess Were In - PJ Harvey  Thom Yorke

Sunday Morning - Velvet Underground

Boss playlist for a zombie run.

Route: 3.1 miles
Temperature: 57°
Climate: sunny & bright
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Upper body: 

Core Strength: 

One stop to the rhtyhm.

Yesterday, my sister-in-law sent me finish line photos from when I ran the Twin Cities Marathon in 2015. My brother and his family live two blocks from Summit Avenue, which is the final straightaway to the Capitol building and the finish line.

This weekend is marathon weekend in St. Paul. I wonder if the governor will be there? Probably not he's been very busy this week.

I was very happy to see these pictures again. She encouraged me to join them in Minnesota for the marathon again some day. It sure is tempting.

What's That Lyric?

Semi-Charmed Life - Third Eye Blind

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:09
Pace: 9:23

Whoa. Run got messed up by an unleashed dog in someone’s yard. No people around, that fucker came at me.

Why don’t you like dogs, David? Because unless they are abused into docility, they are uncontrollable and dangerous.

This isn’t a metaphor, dogs aren’t people. They are mutated wolves.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 67°
Climate: sunny  beautiful
Mood: all right, until ...
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Upper body: 

Core Strength: 

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

Lunch: pesto pasta plus

Writing Time: White Russian (2x)

Dinner: homemade pizza, beers

You hit the deck, you get found out.

Oh, my GOD. This is where we fall apart. I attended two ball games this weekend in lieu of running (not exactly, but yeah) both of them involving rain the second of which did not even happen. But I did get to eat an awful lot of junk food, drink a lot of beer and absolutely no water.

Life is fun, yay. Take care of yourself, man. Remember to drink water and to choose the salad once in a while.

Distance: .1 miles 

Duration: 28:44
Pace: 9:16

Last night I had three cramps, one in each foot while reading in bed, and the third in my right calf in the middle of the night, waking me from my sleep. She says it is lack of potassium, and it may well be, but also lack of exercise. The winds change, I must keep vigilant.  

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 62°
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

What a beautiful night. What a lovely run! Why don't you do this every day??

Honestly, because it's been raining for a week. Cut yourself a break. But let's go!

Upper body: 

Core Strength: 

What's That Lyric?

Save It For Later - The Beat

Keep on pushing.

Okay, here's a week. Residency rehearsals, last night the season kick-off party. So that was a long day. But the spouse is out of town, and I am on my own tonight. I have been good about going to bed at a decent hour, to get seven and a half hours of sleep if not eight -- I have resumed morning pages. And that is very good for me.

So, we keep on running. And writing. And drawing. And making ice cream. Can I do all these things and still get to sleep at nine?

We made pasta salad over the weekend. That stuff as fed me for days. God, I love pasta salad.    

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:20
Pace: 9:28

Stopped on my run, hailed by an East Cleveland neighbor. Fine looking, svelte , in a tracksuit, and holding an extinguished cigar. He wanted to know how far I run, I told him by couple times a week, right past his house. Told him he has a fine house, I drove by on my way to work every day. It is a fine house, done a lot of work, they have a great yard maintenance company.

He’s 75, he doesn’t inhale the cigar. Told me it’s his only vice. He asked me my age, I told him, he said I looked about 50. I guess the running has taken a couple of years off.

Man. I hope I look like him in 20 years.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 71°
Climate: overcast & humid
Mood: good
Stretches: no
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 175 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 170 lbs.

Maintain.

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

Coffee Break: PSL

Lunch: salad with chicken, candy, a pickle!

Dinner: pasta salad, fizzy water

Evening: old fashioned, Oreos (4)

What's That Lyric?

Push - Pharoahe Monch

I made myself so strong again somehow.

But do we run when we have had a seriously messed up sleep schedule? Dropped the wife at the airport at 5:00 AM, drove home and got back into bed. So sleep has happened but I feel dizzy and weird.

Then again, I did have a flu shot and also a Covid booster yesterday! That may also have something to do with it. Okay, we're going with that. 

Distance: 2 miles
Duration: 18:04
Pace: 9:02

JIM STEINMAN SUPERSTAR PLAYLIST

It's All Coming Back to Me Now - Celine Dion

This Corrosion - Sisters of Mercy

Paradise By the Dashboard Lights - Meatloaf  

Route: Burlington Loop
Temperature: 80°
Climate: sunny & hot
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Upper body: 30 rep

Core Strength: 

Yes, pumping iron when you had a vaccination the day before.

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 175 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 170 lbs.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, sausage, egg & cheese McMuffin, hash browns, monster-sized orange juice

Coffee Break: shitty Whole Foods root beer (DNF)

Lunch: pasta salad & Nosferatu

Snack: PB&J, strawberry milk

Writing time: old fashioned 

Dinner: ramen w/fried egg

All those years ago.

Summer 1981. Turning thirteen. Picking up skills. Yearning, longing. Lying in a hammock next to the Birchview, listening to my first mixtape -- a collection of contemporary singles -- on a borrowed Walkman. Dreaming of a kiss. 

Were we ever so old? 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:48
Pace: 9:17

The subject of Jim Steinman came up the other day. One of the actor-teachers speculated on what it must have been like to have been alive when Total Eclipse of the Heart was released and did they know it was the greatest song of all time?

I could attest, we did not. But it was huge. And did you know that was a Jim Steinman composition? And do you know who Jim Steinman was? This is what it is like to be drawn down a rabbit hole by David Hansen. 

So, anyway, I made a playlist for 1981 starting with Jim Steinman's own Rock and Roll Dream Come Through but also one just of songs written by Steinman. I will run to that eventually. But first!

Summer 1981 Playlist
Bette Davis Eyes - Kim Carnes

Boy From New York City - Manhattan Transfer

Time - The Alan Parsons Project

Elvira - The Oak Ridge Boys

You Make My Dreams (Come True) - Hall & Oates

All Those Years Ago - George Harrison

Jessie's Girl - Rick Springfield

Believe It Or Not (Theme From 'The Greatest American Hero') - Joey Scarbury

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 73°
Climate: sunny  beautiful
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Weight: 175 lbs. (-0-)

Gained no weight during rehearsal period. Huh.

Upper body: 

Core Strength: 

Breakfast: coffee w/cream

Lunch: leftover sub, pizza

Snack: PB&J, beer

Dinner: TBA

You gotta move it.

The album after the big comeback can be a challenge. Duran Duran (1993) also known as "The Wedding Album" was a return to prominence for the Fab Five, but what came next? A covers album. Not exactly aspiring for relevance, or popularity. Their version of "White Lines" was cringe-worthy at the time, though I would argue it is now a classic.

After some necessary time off following devastating life changes, The B-52's Cosmic Thing (1989) was the most successful album they'd ever had, and was an important component of the closing of my college experience. The follow-up, Good Stuff, was like a sequel. Not groundbreaking like their previous, Nile Rodgers produced epic, just kind of similar.

And yet, timing is everything, and this album landed at a very important time in my life and has stayed there. It was part of the soundtrack of a twenty-four year-old artist, embarking of his first major artistic endeavor, and we listened to this album while building sets, painting walls, fucking around and, oh yeah, writing. All that writing.

The instrumental track "The World's Green Laughter" was the curtain call music for the first several weeks of our late night extravaganza You Have the Right to Remain Silent. When the composed of our theme music finally attended a performance (Adam lived in L.A. at the time) he was so disappointed the show didn't end with his work he wrote us an original theme immediately.

I love his work. To me, "The World's Green Laughter" still means it's midnight and time to get to Edison's.

Distance: 5 miles
Duration: 46:45
Pace: 9:20

My tuchus was sore this morning. Weird.

Good Stuff - The B-52's (1992)

Tell It Like It T-I-Is

Hot Pants Explosion

Good Stuff

Revolution Earth

Dreamland

The World's Green Laughter

Vision of a Kiss

Breezin'

Bad Influence

Five miles on a Tuesday night might not be the best idea anymore. Weird, my supporter broke just as I was heading out so I came back and changed it. Glad that didn't happen out on the run.

Route: Forest Hill/Boulevard Loop
Temperature: 75°
Climate: nice but humid
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, Pop Tarts (blueberry)

Snack: Pirate's Booty (1)

Lunch: PB&J, chicken orzo soup, GS cookies (3)

Snack: Pirate's Booty (1)

Dinner: pasta w/tapenade, garlicky kale, cassata cake (not in that order)

No, really. Don't eat while you're cooking.

I can’t stop pushing it.

Spotted on my run through East Cleveland.

Well. I am having a physical discomfort. In the past, I have felt tremors or pulses in my back, for example. These are not painful, only, you know, Weird. Unfamiliar. And recurrent so that you may think there were something wrong. Not a sudden pangs, but a pulse, if you will.

Right now I am feeling my literal pulse, the buzzing, as opposed to throbbing because it is not that strong, of the push of blood through my body, and I a feeling it in a very specific place and it is not pleasurable. It is also not painful. It is distracting. It is bothersome. I do not like it.

And I wonder. Why? But not enough to ask a doctor about it.

Anyway, I need to run. It's the weekend. Running must happen. 

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 39:33
Pace: 9:53

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 83°
Climate: sunny & bright
Mood: yes
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Upper body: 30 reps.

Core Strength: 

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

Lunch: ramen w/veggies & egg, Nosferatu

Dinner: PB&J sand, milk

What's That Lyric?

Tenderness - General Public

We are North American scum.

Fatigue sets in. I am rousing myself to run this evening, even as there is dinner to be made, because I'm trying to keep up. But I don't know what to listen to, and I feel a bit weary and listless.

There are more than physical reasons why this is so. But it's challenging. 

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:12
Pace: 9:05

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 74°
Climate: cool ... but humid
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: no

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

Snack: fruit snacks

Lunch: slaw dog, chocolate mint frappe

Snack: kettle corn, orange juice

Dinner Prep: White Russian

Dinner: Turmeric coconut rice w/greens

Stay in sync.

We went to New York! A lovely weekend. Actually, it was one weekend end, departing CLE on Saturday night, and returning Sunday night.

And yet! Cocktails at the Rum House in Times Square, listening to jazz performed by three white men all well over sixty. A relaxing lie-in on the 25th floor of a fine hotel with tiny but very well-designed rooms, followed by a breakfast that was better than it should have been.

We walked to and through Central Park, enjoying a new, natural meadow as well as a whirl around the carousel before heading back to Midtown to settle into our seats at the Lyceum to enjoy my 56th birthday present, a performance of Cole Escola in Oh, Mary! 

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:57
Pace: 9:01

Ugh. Kink in my ankle. I suffered that on Saturday, it troubled me -- just a little -- in New York. We did a lot of walking, but it only troubled me a few moments. But it still hurts. But oh, well. 

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 72°
Climate: beautiful!
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

160 - 169 BPM

Welcome to Family of 4 - Aska Matsumiya

Koka Kola - The Clash

Can I Be Free From Crying - Bim Sherman

Easy Rider - Big Brother and the Holding Company

A New England - Billy Bragg

Slow Down - The Beatles

Fall Out - The Police

Who'd Have Known - Lily Allen

Haunted When the Minutes Drag - Love & Rockets

Wow, Andrew Hickey is right. Big Brother and the Holding Company was a terrible band.

Core Strength: 

   Planks: 90 sec.

Breakfast: bagel half w/cream cheese, coffee w/cream

Coffee Break: PSL, banana bread

Lunch: chicken Caesar salad

Snack: Fruit Snacks

Pre-Dinner: plums!

Dinner: rotisserie chicken, salad

Nightcap: White Russian, gummi candy

I know that I am strong.

Wow! Did I want to eat on Friday. Okay, then. The weather has turned, I think I'm trying to hibernate? In any event, I will continue to be thoughtful, even as we head out of town for the weekend. I thought of packing shoes for a run in Central Park, considering the duration of our stay (about twenty-four hours) I think I'd rather stick close to my person. 

Also, with the turn of the weather, it feels like time for zombies.

A Regular Meds Run 0113

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 29:23
Pace: 9:21

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 60
Climate: breezy w/light rain
Mood: excited!
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

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

Coffee Break: PSL

Lunch: bread  potato salad

Dinner: TBA

What’s That Lyric?

Believe - Cher

I ain't missing no steps.

A successful week, so far. Yesterday, I almost bonked after lunch. Not sure how to counter-act that. I get sleepy. I always have.

The best thing to do after work is be a homebody, to come home and do something that makes me happy to be home. Yesterday I made gazpacho. Today I hung a print of our beautiful Puffball, now we have two pieces of art created by the elder that adorn our walls. I miss that sweet kitty but what a treasure,

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 30:13
Pace: 9:45

There has been a great deal of snacking. Snacks are plentiful. I must be careful.

"Kiss Me While the World Decays"

(Music From the Big Love 2021-2024)

Disc Two:

Crosseyed & Painless- Angelique Kidjo

What a Day That Was (Live) - Talking Heads

Dance the Night - Dua Lipa

Bandits - Josh Ritter

Murder on the Dancefloor - Sophie Ellis-Bextor

Girls Talk - Tegan & Sara

Yeah x10 [MIXED] - Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross ft. Boys Noize

Take Me to the River - Lorde

Also, try as hard as you can not to lean forward. You're not in a hurry. You timed this perfectly. Stand up straight. Be kind to your back. 

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 58°
Climate: cool
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes

Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD 

 

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 175 lbs. (+1.0)

Goal: 170 lbs.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, fresh fruit, bagel w/cream cheese 

Snack: Fruit snacks, Cheez-Its

Lunch: leftover brisket sand, baked beans, baba w/pita

Dinner 

Dark and getting darker all the time.

Every three years since we began courting, I have created a mixtape/CD/playlist for my beloved, which drops during the summer, usually in time for a big road trip. They are a chronological document of the songs we enjoyed together, concerts we attended together, movies we had seen together, moments that surprised us together, even times that we had suffered together.

The series is called Music From the Big Love, this year I created collection number ten. That's thirty years for those of you scoring at home (and if you are scoring at home, knock it off). The past three years have seen us from the closing of the quarantine through the emptying of our nest and so many other occasions.

Things that go to make up a life.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:49
Pace: 9:17

"Kiss Me While the World Decays"

(Music From the Big Love 2021-2024)

Disc One:

Chaise Lounge - Wet Leg

Benny's Dispatch from "In the Heights"

America from "West Side Story" (2021)

Radioactivity - Kraftwerk

Wedding Song from "Hadestown"

Cracker Island - Gorillaz ft. Thundercat

Nothing Left to Lose - Everything But the Girl

Theme from Succession - Nicholas Britell

Route: Boulevard Loop
Temperature: 52°
Climate: cool
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes 
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: yes

First morning for the new year of the residency. Poor sleep (the cat visited me a half dozen times) but I rose early to have a run before we begin. I plan to continue in this way for the next several weeks. I hope that I do. Every other day, a run.

And the world has turned. Literally. I must run through the city, where there are lights, and not through the woods, where it remains dark. I will return to them over the weekend.

Upper body: 

Core Strength: 

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight:  174 lbs. (+1.0)

Goal: 170 lbs.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, bagel & cream cheese

Coffee Break: coffee w/cream, oatmeal cookie

Lunch: sushi & salad, Fruit Snacks

Snack:: Cheez-Its

Dinner Prep: Nosferatu, almonds

Dinner: Gazpacho, crusty bread

There's still so much for me to do.

What's this?

A couple days spent in Athens to visit our elder child, and to meet new old friends. Residency rehearsals begin on Tuesday, the great turn of the wheel. The Guardians languish at the top of the AL, struggling to maintain preeminence. Harris remains a couple points ahead -- as of September 1. This can change. It can all change. I take a moment to feel a temporary flash of gratitude before descending again into doubt and insecurity.

Also? My back still hurts, driving four hours without a break last night was not a great help, nor sleeping in a strange, firm bed. I will take a run on the bike path, and listen to songs from my youth.

Oh, my youth. By the time I was our elder child's age, I had met my wife. I was seeing my ex-wife, but I had met Toni. That's how old they are, or how young I was. Twenty-one years old. And what have I accomplished since? And am I any kind of better person?  

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 37:03
Pace: 9:15

College Years Playlist

I've Been Thinking About You - Londonbeat

Why Can't I Be You? (Extended Mix) - The Cure

Reptile - The Church

You Can Call Me Al - Paul Simon

Kill Eye - Crowded House

Don't Forget Me (hen I'm Gone) - Glass Tiger ft. Ryan Adams

Candy - Iggy Pop ft. Kate Pierson

Touch of Grey - Grateful Dead

Route: Hocking River Bike Path
Temperature: 77°
Climate: overcast & beautiful
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

A lazy day around the New House. Late breakfast, casual conversation, time with family. So glad to see the kid after so many months.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, leftover Dr. Pepper

Brunch: eggs w/sour cream, salsa & scorpion hot sauce, bacon, rye toast w/jam, more coffee

Afternoon Bevvy: Dortmunder

Putting trouble on the run.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:06
Pace: 9:03

songs we heard at the DNC

Freedom (168 BPM) - Beyoncé ft. Kendrick Lamar
Firework - Katy Perry
Twistin' the Night Away (161 BPM) - Sam Cooke
American Woman (168 BPM) - Lenny Kravitz
Close to You - Gracie Abrams
Too Sweet - Hozier
Le Freak - Chic
I Gotta Feeling - Black Eyed Peas

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 67°
Climate: nice
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: yes

Upper body: 20 reps.

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 173 lbs. (-2.0)

Goal: 170 lbs.

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, oatmeal w/brown sugar & cream and fresh & dried fruit

Lunch: Fried fish, tartar, sauce, coleslaw, French fries, Oktoberfest

Treat: Reese's Cups, Orangina

Snack: almonds, Doritos

Dinner: potatoes w/arugula, tomatoes & feta, Old fashioned

To appear sad.

Yesterday, we said goodbye to our dear Puffball (full name: Catsby Puffball) who came into our lives in 2010, a beloved companion to our kids, a diligent nursemaid when we took ill, always there to provide a groom or cuddle.

Fourteen is no longer young for a cat, and he had developed a few, manageable illness, but when we returned from our vacation last month it was clear e had lost a great deal of weight and was becoming weaker. The vet determined he had multiple myeloma, a blood and bone cancer.

He was always the sweetest kitty. He would sleep with and protect my wife, either above her head or at her side. Occasionally he would curl up into my back. He took very good care of me when I was alone at home, recovery from eye surgery.

We had the cat put down. We cried. We went to have drinks at the Speakeasy, it was early, we were the only ones there. We took a walk in the heat. We went to see a movie. This morning I was still very sad.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration:  28:19
Pace: 9:07

Route: Boulevard Loop
Temperature: 79
Climate: puffy clouds
Mood: actually sad
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: yes

My city. I like it.

Gold Rush Playlist

Gold Rush - Death Cab for Cutie

Don't Carry It All - The Decemberists

Lazy Eye - Silversun Pickups

Beverly - Low Cut Connie

2AM - Bear Hands

Africa - Weezer

Move - Saint Motel

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 175 lbs. (+1.0)

Goal: 170 lbs.

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

Coffee Break: PSL, banana bread

Lunch: Hawaiian jerk pork sand, tater tots

Dinner: Flume Double IPA, lentils over rice

Dessert: ice cream

I fucking love ice cream.

I know you can’t relax.

Worth it for Dave McKean's opening sequence.

Difficult night, a bit too warm. Not sure if a run is going to be enjoyable this morning (it's already 68° spiking another ten degrees in the next few hours) but if not now, when? It is Monday. It is morning.

Alternatives 0112

Distance: 3.1 miles 

Duration: 30:28
Pace: 9:47

Listening through an ad and then the previously on before running (I like to start when the gates open) queers my time. Should be more like 29 minutes and a much better pace. 

But running through the post-apocalypse listening to the Miracles is pretty epic.

Barack Obama's 2024 Summer Playlist

Why Don't You - Cleo Soul

You've Really Got a Hold On Me - The Miracles

Process - H.E.R.

How Do U Want It - 2Pac ft. K-Ci  JoJo

If You Love Somebody Set Them Free - Sting

Unsuffer Me - Lucinda Williams

Golden - Jill Scott

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 71°
Climate: humid. muggy.
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

Wow, I am more tired today than I have been in some time. Bad night's sleep.

Upper body: 

Core Strength: 

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 174 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 170 lbs.

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

Coffee Break: toasted marshmallow latte

Lunch: turkey & cheese, sand. French fries, Cherry Coke Zero

Snack: Payday Bar

Dinner: mac & cheese, pumpkin ale

Evening: White Russian, ice cream

Your favorite beers and your video games.

Yesterday, I made ice cream. Homemade, peanut butter with peanut butter cups ice cream. This is where I am in my life's journey. 

Today has been carefully mapped out, I have one task for each hour of the day, and that includes running at 9 AM.

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 36:25
Pace: 9:06

My Summer 2024 Playlist

365 - Charlie XCX

Take a Bite - beabadoobee

On No! - The Decemberists

Lingerie Model - Paige Kennedy

Massachusetts - Jensen McRae

When You Know Someone - Valley

Prep-School Gangsters - Vampire Weekend

My Heart Your Heart - Bad Bad Hats

Houdini - Eminem

Girl From the Record Shop - Frank Turner

Yeah x10 [MIXED] - Boys Noize w/Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

Route: Cain Park Loop
Temperature: 70°
Climate: sunny & beautiful
Mood: very good!
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: TBD

I have an appointment this week to renew my sertraline prescription. I take a low dose, only 25mg. It ran out a week ago, I have been flying solo. And I feel pretty good. Is this temporary? Is this cannabis? Is this life?

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 174 lbs. (+2.0)

Goal: 170 lbs.

Breakfast: ice cream (1 scoop)

Lunch: leftover burrito (yeah, it is)

Early Afternoon: Bumble Berry Beer

Late Afternoon: GLBCo. Nosferatu

Dinner: Turkey & cheese sandwiches, fizzy water, Dots (for the movie)

Late night: Old fashioned, ice cream (1 scoop)

My give a fucks are on vacation.

What is my kid doing at the DNC?

The hot weather will return. It’s been like fall this week. Meanwhile, we are finally, finally, having the kitchen floor redone. I've owned this house for over thirty years, and I have always wanted to replace this floor, but we did many other projects first. I'm excited about it!

Hear that? I'm excited about something!

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 2:56
Pace: 9:00

Nine minute mile, all right.

songs we heard at the DNC
Sirius - The Alan Parson Project

Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan

Tik Tok - Kesha *

Not Like Us - Kendrick Lamar

Texas Hold 'Em - Beyonce

Yeah! - Usher ft. Lil Jon, Ludacris *

Mr. Brightside - The Killers

* No, these two songs were not played at the DNC (as of Thursday night) but I guess were added by Spotify's "smart shuffle" feature which I hate and probably hit by accident.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 62°
Climate: cool
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Pain Reliever: yes 

Upper body: 

Core Strength: 

Baseline: 185 lbs.

Weight: 172 lbs. (-1.0)

Goal: 170 lbs.

Breakfast: burger half

Lunch: leftover pulled pork sandwich half, small bacon mac & cheese, Cherry Coke Zero, one weird chocolate, an amazing slice of cake

Dinner: pub food, beers