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