your blood, your sweat, your passions, your regrets

Finally checked out Run, Fatboy, Run. Sweet movie. Not a waste of my time. Love Simon Pegg, who was one of the few British parts of this movie which ostensibly took place in London.

Spoiler alert: He finishes. Oops, sorry.

I don't get Thandie Newton, I really don't. Why have I seen her in as many movies as I have, and I haven't even seen the ones she's been in that everyone else has seen. And I had no idea she was English. I still don't.

You know, it's weird, I'm a runner, and I thought the dialogue was odd and clunky. I mean, no one really says, "I'd love to, but I have a run tomorrow," do they?

Okay, they do. I mean, I have. But having someone actually say that, out loud, in a movie? That's embarrassing.

Here's the bit that absolutely killed me, though ... the imaginary marathon in this movie - the N*ke River Run - concludes with its final stretch across the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's. And so, at the end, we have Pegg's character, finishing the race in terrible pain, hobbling up the steps to St. Paul's towards the finish line in the middle of the night. It's the middle of the night because he is the last person to finish the race (sorry, gave away that part, too.)

So, what we have missed is the elite runners, those who run the race, taking five steps at a time up a flight of stairs in their final sprint. We missed the hundreds and hundreds of runners following them, tripping, falling, breaking knees and fracturing hands and faces as they crowd up those stone steps.

I mean, come on, it's a movie, for God's sake, for years film directors have put whatever building they like across the street from Central Park, David Schwimmer couldn't remove the steps from in front of St. Paul's?

It's the dumbest f*cking thing I'd ever seen in my life.

2003 Playlist
We Want Your Soul - Adam Freeland
Comfortably Numb - Scissor Sisters
Hey Ya * - Outkast
Jerk It Out - Caesars
Bangin' On - Johnny Marr
Mainframe - Kaada

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 26º w/little, tiny snowflakes
Weight: 151 lbs.

Gotta love yourself

Run, Fatboy, Run
NY Times Review

Hey - they almost sound like they maybe liked it. Don't forget to play Fatboy Frogger.

(Song: Boys & Girls In Love by The Rumble Strips.)

Run stats:
Route: Garfield's Loop
Days until Cleveland: 48
Distance: 5.15 miles
Weight: 170.5 lbs.
Stretches: yes
Push-ups: 10
Temperature: 45º
Weather: lovely
Gear: jacket I ended up wrapping around my waist, short-sleeved shirt, shorts, hanky hat

A quick jaunt around the cemetery. I was running and chewing gum! Dangerous, perhaps - I didn't think about it, I had already set out and thought hey, I still have that bit of gum in my mouth. Went a long way to quench my thirst. And thought I looked cool, working that jaw.

1998 Playlist
The Long Hair of Death * - Stereolab
La Femme d'Argent * - AIR
Jump Jive An' Wail - Brian Setzer Orchestra
To Ulrike M. (Zero 7 Mix) - Doris Days
History Repeating - Propellerheads ft. Shirley Bassey
Circles - Soul Coughing
The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim
Strength - Sister Soleil
Ray of Light - Madonna
Cooldown: MMMBop - Hanson

(Last Year's 1998 Playlist)
Take California - Propellerheads
Sexy Boy - Air
Red - Sister Soleil
Kalifornia - Fatboy Slim
Because We Want To - Billie Piper
Outside - George Michael
The Way - Fastball

Baby, the stars shine bright

July 4, 1980 - my first five mile run. My first run, ever. Check out those Keds. Just rolled out of bed and started running. You can do that when you're 12.

What a morning. Welcome, new moon, haven't seen stars that shiny in ages. Hello, Venus.

I understand it's been raining a little bit in London. Henrik says bits of Run, Fatboy, Run are "hopelessly naïve" - trying to train for a marathon in 3 weeks. I say yes, that's what makes it a comedy. If he took 3 months, that would be a documentary.

Received my first copy of Running Times magazine in the mail this week, a perk of signing up for the Akron Halfer. The wife thinks it's amusing - an article on Brian Sell and Eritrea's Elite Running Program? Pinch me! But I did find several pieces of interest.

Having said that, what price, writing? There's a column in there about hitting the road at 5 am that is much less interesting and, frankly, less well-written than your average daily blog entry. I'm wondering what future first-person human interest articles have in the New Media, you can get such better stuff for free.

I'm not talking about me. I just quote New Wave tunes from the 80s.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Weight: 166.5 lbs.
Stretches: yes
Drink: coffee, Gatorade
Snack: PowerBar Triple Threat
Start Time: 5.30 am
Temperature: 57º
Weather: perfect

Welcome to the Pleasuredome - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Do It Again - Steely Dan
Warsaw * - Joy Division
Steppin' Out * - Joe Jackson
Music Time - Styx
Water From a Vine Leaf - William Orbit
Sin (Long) - Nine Inch Nails

Everyting But the Girl
"I Don't Want to Talk About It"

You've gone and got sick on my trainers.

This will be my kids memories of their grandparents; car trips to the hills, playing in the muck by Dow Lake, running around naked, tractor rides, a big bonfire to the moon and the countless visible stars.

Having said that, diet for the last two days have consisted of burgers, hot dogs and pizza, Cheetos, White Cheddar Cheez-Its and Wavy Lays, Cosmos, margaritas and beer.

Yesterday was hot, oppressive, and searingly bright. The night was cold ... and I learned that if I lay on my back, I'm fine. If I lie on my side, I get a headache. I lie on my back, it goes away. It went like this until I woke up for the final time - as usual - three minutes before my alarm went off.

Running the bike path along the Hocking is beautiful at sunrise. I need to ask my wife what the birds were. Shared my morning shower with a deer.

Distance: 6.75 miles
Stretches: yes
Drink: Gatorade
Snack: Balance Gold
Time: 6.00 am
Duration 1 hour 4 minutes
Weather: cool, misty & humid

Outtake
"Run, Fat Boy, Run"

Umgawah!

It's about time I chimed in on whether or not it is kosher to wear headphones while running. I mean, it is obvious from my blog that I use my iPod every time I run. And there is a reason for that.

I have been running, on and off, mostly off, for over twenty-five years. Since I got my first iPod in 2003, I have run more often, more consistently, faster and with greater joy, than I ever did before.

I'm all for the sound of the outdoors, your feet on the pavement and your own healthy breathing. But first off, I am easily bored. And music is an outstanding motivator for me. Running is one of my few opportunities in the day to listen to the electronic pop music I like (though, I have to admit, my son is becoming one crazy dancer) and planning playlists and looking forward to listening to them has gotten me out of bed many, many times.

The first time I ran a 5K wearing my iPod I broke twenty minutes. I do not believe I could have finished my first marathon without it.

Yes, if I were hit by lightning I could send raw electricity right into my ears and destroy them. So I will refrain from using them in a thunderstorm. And there is always the chance of getting hit by a car, so I stick to the sidewalks, always look both ways when I cross the street, and otherwise pay attention.

To each their own. This is mine.

Distance: 3.15 miles
Weight: 167 lbs.
Stretches: yes
Drink: PowerBar Endurance Sun Tea
Snack: Slim Fast Optima
Time: 6:00 am
Temperature: 65º
Weather: misty

Playlist:
Girls and Boys in Love - The Rumble Strips
Tubthumping - Chumbawumba
Space Age Love Song - A Flock of Seagulls
Malegria - Manu Chao
Leilani - Hoodoo Gurus
Merrymaking At My Place - Calvin Harris
Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
It's My Life (Vocal Mix) - Liquid People vs. Tak Talk

Trailer
"Run, Fat Boy, Run"

Play Fatboy Frogger.