I'll be good to you. You'll be good to me.

“That corner of the world smiles at me
beyond all others.” - Horace

Sorely (heh) tempted to run every day, fighting the temptation to do so. The running feels great. Walking about the rest of the time, not so much.

Lovely times, lazing about the cove. Reading, talking, drinking snacking, washing dishes. Avoiding work emails. I have received more than the usual number of communications, other years I would fret about responding to them. I just can't. Family is more important. 

Distance: 3.5 miles
Duration: 32:50
Pace: 9:22

Why does my ankle hurt after rest? Why does it not hurt when I am running? I need to remember to ice and take pain reliever -- I think of doing this, but then fail to do it.

Route: Martin Point Run
Temperature: 74°
Climate: sunny & warm
Mood: very good
Stretches: yes
Water: no

Planks: yes

Pushups: yes

The elder, their partner, have gone, also, too, my brother and his family. But we're not going anywhere! We have another week in paradise.

BorderLight | Fringe Unleashed Playlist 

The Giver - Duke Dumont

Good to You - Claptone

Kackvogel - Solomun

Kuar (Henrik Schwarz Remix) - Emmanuel Jal

Liquid Spirit (Claptone Remix) - Gregory Porter 

Happy birthday ... to me!

Keep in pace with the p*dophiles.

My ankle has been a bit wonky this week. Not when running, just the rest of the day. Though, I gotta say, running every other day? Works for me.

Distance: 3 miles

Duration: 25:25

Every day I prepare the same breakfast, a bowl of fresh fruit (mostly berries) with granola and (plain, nonfat) yogurt. This fruit place opened a year or two ago in my office and every time I go there I can hear my mother's voice saying, "You know, you could just get fruit from the grocery store."

I used to think, what's the point, it's (the fruit) just going to go bad in the fridge before I eat all of it. But not if you have it every day. 

And also, it's like Seth Brundle, doing the Einstein thing, where he's got, like seven of the exact same outfit so he doesn't waste any time thinking about what to wear. Morning time I am not in the headspace to decide what to eat. And it's fresh and tasty and never disappoints.

Yesterday, I mixed in a tablespoon of sunbutter. Can you imagine?

Route: rec center
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Weight: 160 lbs.

2010 Playlist

Black Sheep (Brie Larson Vocal) - Metric

Burn It Down - Sims

Mr. Saxobeat - Alexandra Stan

Too Dramatic - Ra Ra Riot

Drunk Girls - LCD Soundsystem

Psychic City (Classixx Remix) - Yacht

Run - Vampire Weekend

Like a G6 - Far East Movement

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

Moving in elliptical pattern.

Man. The sleep has been long this month. Eight hour sleeps, but this weekend they've been nine and ten hour sleeps, with no chemical intervention.

Got a kink in my ankle. It's lasted a day. Not something I like waking up with.

And so! Sleeping in, the time change, sore ankle, it all adds up to taking a day off from running! And well-earned, too.

Distance: 2.5 miles

Duration: 25:39
Pace: 10:15

Route: three times around the block

Temperature: 32°
Climate: light snow

Pavement: wet
Mood: good, actually

Quite a weekend. Active, and stressful. Why stressful? Not sure. Perhaps because it was so active. And yet, I saw beautiful things. We had dinner out, saw a show at the CMA. I attended the premiere of a local film and last night, my son playing with a jazz ensemble.

Why stress? Is it stress? Or just the feeling of experiencing life and people in a post-pandemic world? 

2009 Playlist

Animal - Miike Snow

Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys

1901 - Phoenix

Everyone's at it - Lily Allen

Sleepyhead - Passion Pit

Gimme Sympathy - Metric

Single Ladies (Microaggressive Mix) - Pomplamoose

What was 2009? My parents' 50th wedding anniversary cruise. We took And Then You Die (How I Ran a Marathon in 26.2 Years) to the New York Fringe Festival. Our eldest started elementary school.

 
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec.
Water: yes

Sunday

Breakfast: coffee w/oatmilk cream 

Lunch: latte w/oatmilk, bagel w/olive cream cheese

Coffee Break: latte w/oatmilk

Dinner: smash burger & fries

Bedtime: Tea w/oatmilk cream & honey

Monday

Breakfast: coffee w/oatmilk cream (and almond cream), 1 serving frosted mini wheats & soy milk

Lunch: half toasted everything bagel w/lox, cream cheese & red onion

Coffee Hour: coffee w/oatmilk cream

Snack: sliced pear

Happy Hour: Fizzy water

Dinner: stir fry w/broccoli, celery, scallions, peppers, turnip greens over rice

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 188.5 lbs. (+1.5)

Goal: 185 lbs.

All you really got to do is just-a move your little feet.

Big weekend. Big meals. My wife had a do-over birthday dinner on Friday, last night we attended the screening of I Hate This at Playhouse Square. And tonight? The Guardians at Progressive Field!

Distance: 3.75 miles
Duration: 36:22
Pace: 9:42
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 64°
Climate: bright & breezy
Mood: good!
Stretches: yes
Abdominals:
Water: yes

Beautiful day. My ankles are sore, though. They were after my last run, and sleeping I ached a bit. Will continue to take (at least) a day between runs.

Breakfast: bagel w/lox, cream cheese, capers & tomato, coffee & cappuccino    

Lunch: TBA TBA
Dinner:

155 - 164 BPM Playlist

Catch Us If You Can - The Challengers

Give Novocain/She's a Rebel - Green Day

Do You Wanna Dance - Del Shannon

Ranking Full Stop - The Beat

Like Easting Glass - Bloc Party

Tommy Gun - The Clash

Don't Lose My Number - Phil Collins

Doubt - Hippo Campus

Numb - Portishead

Very Ape - Nirvana

Ball of Confusion - Leon Bridges

I can deal with falling.

Ok. Ugh. My left ankle began to hurt shortly into my last run. It hurt all day. And the next day. Then my knee again. I don't understand.

This weekend I have also been exhausted. All day Friday, all day Saturday. I have been fortunate in that I can sleep eight, nine, even ten uninterrupted hours.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 32:31
Pace: 10:29
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 75°
Climate: sunny & bright
Mood: logy
Stretches: yes
Abdominals: 90 sec. (2x)
Water: yes

Weight: 181 lbs. (-1.0)

Goal: 180 lbs.

Friday morning, I dreamed that I was running Monticello, very weary, and I fell asleep. While running. I regained awareness, and I was several blocks down the street, past my usual turning.

Took it easily, very easily. Which was just what I needed. I hope this passes soon.

The Twenties (So Far)

Back to Oz - Sufjan Stevens & Angelo De Augustine

Montero (Call Me By Your Name) - Lil Nas X

Anxiety - Idles

Security - Amyl and the Sniffers

Postman - Toro y Moi

The Only Heartbreaker - Mitski

It Might Be Time - Tame Impala

Trouble's Coming - Royal Blood

Record Player (with AJR) - Daisy the Great 

Glowing in the Dark - Django Django

Many Times - Dijon

I got all the boys.

I need new sneakers. My ankles were weak on the run Friday afternoon, and pained Saturday morning. I put on my brace bandages, but I think my shoes are entirely flat. Pain shot up my right thigh and sitting was uncomfortable Friday evening. 

Wearing the braces tonight, see what happens.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:44
Pace: 9:16
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 73°
Climate: overcast & humid
Mood: all right

Stretches: yes

Abdominals: 30 sec. (3x)

Water: yes
Weight: 186.5 lbs. (+0.5)

Goal: 185 lbs.  

Okay, now I am running like the mother fucking wind, my dudes.

Intake (Friday)

Breakfast: banana, coffee (2x)

Lunch: last of the pasta salad (1/2C.)

Dinner: pancake w/butter, syrup & cotage cheese, sausage links (2), egg -- breakfast! 

Evening: beer, ice cream cone

Also, fizzy water (1x)

2007 Playlist

Pumpkin Soup - Kate Nash

1973 - James Blunt

Love Song - Sara Bareilles

Nan You're a Window Shopper - Lily Allen

The Boys - Dragonette

Big Girl (You Are Beautiful) - MIKA

I Feel It All - Feist

Kids - MGMT

Trying hard to piece together a broken dream.

So, we're back to the thing where my ankles hurt or feel weak after runs. The wife thinks I need new kicks and she's right, I do. Because summer's here and the time is right for running the street!

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 29:33
Pace: 9:31
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 57°
Climate: cool & sunny - perfect!
Mood: angsty

Stretches: yes
Weight: 188 lbs. (-0.5)

It is a drag to run and obsess about someone you are pissed about. Such a waste. Feeling good, though, catching runs between the rains. Also? Wore ankle braces. We'll see if that makes any difference.

Intake

Breakfast: bagel w/cream cheese, coffee (2x), orange juice

Lunch: leftover vegetable sushi, banana

Cocktail hour: Old fashioned, chevre plate

Dinner: TBA

Also: fizzy water (1x)

1978 Playlist

Scenes From a Night's Dream - Genesis

Heart of Glass - Blondie

Going Under - Devo

(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? - Rod Stewart

Every 1's a Winner - Hot Chocolate

I'm Every Woman - Chaka Khan

Rasputin - Boney M.

News from today's Brooklyn Half Marathon is that a runner died after crossing the finish line, with fifteen others injured. This is all due to the heat. It's a terrible tragedy, and one that will no doubt repeat itself in the years to come.

No way to run from it.

What we're listening to this week.

Here's a thing -- my ankles were very weak last week, after my last run on Wednesday. Even for a few days after that, it was surprising, Maybe next day weakness or soreness, but it last for a few days. Also, my shins. Like the beginning of shin splints. I did some exercises. 

I expect, these days, to start wearing down if I run every day. It's what happened during training two years ago. My sciatica was giving me trouble driving to and from Athens, I have been doing an unsusual amount of lifting, helping our child move into their dorm.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 30:07
Pace: 9:42
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 72°
Climate: overcast & damp
Mood: all right
Weight: 171 lbs. (-0-)

I will have several good nights of sleep in a row, then suddenly not. And I have been good about not drinking before bed. Not true, I drank before bed Monday night and had a delightful sleep. Last night I just tossed and turned. Why? No idea. Often it is emotional, I'm fretting about something. But I had nothing particular on my mind. Just could not fall asleep. 

Intake
Breakfast: coffee (2x)
Lunch: eggplant parmesan, watermelon

Snack: small bowl of potato chips, rice cake w/Nutella
Dinner: squash tacos w/beans & corn, yogurt & cheese

Also: juice soda (?), fizzy water

oh shit, oh fuck playlist

It Wasn't Me - Shaggy ft. Rik Rok

Studio-1 - La Flotte 411

Welceom to the Black Parade - My Chemical Romance

Bring Me To Life - Evanescence

Toxic - Britney Spears

No Hago Reggaeton - Oneclown

Afraid of the Dark (Sock Jock Remix) - Biscuit Sundown

Un;Idea geniale - Kamiko

Some folks have not done a close reading of the assignment.

Will I live another twenty four.

I do not feel good this morning. But I cannot quantify how it is I feel. I cannot describe it. I will try. I am not in pain. I feel it in my muscles, it affects my thinking. I have been awake at 4:30 these past few morning,s and try to sleep for the next several hours. I doze. I cannot relax because every few moments, a stillness will affect my body, a "reset" much like the brain "buzzes" which afflict someone coming off certain antidepressants.

But I'm not coming off them. I am entirely on them. Is sleeping affecting that? What if I took my antidepressant when I started feeling that way? Is it a twenty-four hour withdrawal? But then why do I still feel that way, almost an hour after having taken one?

I will run. The morning is perfect. So much for the forecast, which said it would rain all day. I need to move these muscles. The thing is, my ankle (did I say left? I meant right.) was sore all day yesterday, after my run and taking a nap. So it will be a little tender. But running seems like to only thing I can do.

Distance: 2 miles
Duration: 18:49
Pace: 9:24
Route: Two times around the block.

Good run, no pain. The tempo has been good, I have been using the 155-159 BPM playlist recently (see right) which is not my best speed, but it's not exactly not fast, either. Feels good.

Maybe could have gone longer, but I am sweating buckets and I didn't want to tax my ankles and worse.

Temperature: 72°
Climate: bright & HOT
Mood: good, right?
Weight: 190 lbs. (-1.0)

Achievement unlocked, I guess? I would like to eventually be back at 170 lbs., right now the 180s would be an improvement. Keep going. Time for granola, yogurt and BERRIES.

What's That Lyric?
Good Day - Ice Cube

Here at breaking point, mind and body tired.

Have a kink in my right ankle again. Is it my stride, or my shoes? Could be the shoes. It might be the shoes. Or is it me? It's a question.

Did we dine sensibly yesterday? Depends on what you mean. I did have snack of almonds before dinner. And there was dessert, but not an outrageous one. Ice cream with macerated apples and caramel. I let my wife serve me, it was a fine portion of dessert (also delicious.)

So. There. So there.

Distance: 3.5 miles
Duration: 34:23
Pace: 9:49
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 61°
Climate: overcast & humid
Mood: all right
Weight: 191 lbs. (-1.0)

Did I say right ankle? I meant left. Left ankle. At least, that was today.

I think it's the shoes.

Teenage Kicks: Block Rockin' Weekend Edition!
   The Specials:
Breaking Point
A Message To You, Rudy
Concrete Jungle*
   The The:
This Is The Day
Dogs of Lust*
The Beat(en) Generation
   Kate Bush:
Why Should I Love You (ft. Prince)
Running Up That Hill
The Man With the Child In His Eyes

Okay, that was amazing.

Distance: maybe 2.5 miles
Route: Cain Park Loop
Temperature: 59°
Climate: overcast & cool

The boy and I went out, his ankles were hurting him so we walked the rest of the four mile distance.

Running just as fast as we can.

Signed up for the Hofbrauhaus Half Marathon, which takes place Sunday. Should be another hot summer day, so I hope that goes well. I'm not feeling great, as over the course of the day yesterday my right ankle began hurting more and more. I hope running on it work it out, but who knows. Longer distances, more fatigue.

Distance: 6 miles
Duration: 51:12
Pace: 8:31
Route: Forest Hill/Cain Park Loop
Temperature: 66°
Climate: sunny & bright
Mood: very good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Beautiful morning, just perfect. Sunny and bright without being too hot. Lovely trot through the park, and across the city -- to another park!

My ankle bothered me not at all, I am prepared for it to ache through the day, however. Could be wrong about that.

One thing that has been troubling me lately, is my balance. Not running, just walking. I make turns and lose my center, getting out of cars, walking up stairs. I think I am anticipating something that is no longer there.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today:  165 lbs. (-1.0)
Goal: 160 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
I Think We're Alone Now - Tiffany

Annie? Are you ok? Are you ok, Annie?

Last time I got a kink in my left ankle. I can still feel it when I wake up, though it almost immediately subsides. These little pains are so odd. They aren't new, it's just part of life. They come, they go. What are they?

Distance: 3 miles
Route: Rec Center
Mood: getting there
Exercises: yes!

Okay. Ok, ok, ok. I keep thinking of the running play. I keep making little notes here about the running play. It's been ten years, it is time to revise the running play. And now I have the motivation.

Also, I am curious about my new experiment with weight machines. How stronger am I? Am I stronger? How will I change shape? Will I change shape? Right now I am quite pillowy. Maybe that will change. Maybe I will become big and pillowy, I don't know.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 180.5 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 175 lbs.

Help.

1987 Playlist
Cry, Little Sister - Gerard McMann
Rock Steady - Sting
Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson
Hourglass - Squeeze
Girlfriend In a Coma - The Smiths
Nightclub Jitters - The Replacements
The One I Love - R.E.M.
Lean On Me - Club Nouveau

Cooldown:
Figure It Out - The Bears

Visit my Team Challenge Crohn's & Colitis page and support my bid for the Chicago Marathon!

I take your pain away.

The low-grade sinus headache, the kind that drags me to the ground. A lazy Sunday afternoon, but not relaxed. Thought best to nap, close my eyes, as my body was demanding, but caffeine had kicked in and the mind was on fire. Also, it ached.

The area around the bee sting (for that is what it must have been) does not sting, or ache, but it itches. Bee stings are few and far-between, my last was (embarrassingly enough, but also spectacularly painful) on my scalp, six years. The stinging came and went in waves for days. But not this itching. Odd.

The boy and I headed to the gym.

Distance: 3 miles
Route: Rec Center
Mood: all right

Stepping into the sunlight, after our rounds, I noticed my headache had almost entirely subsided. This was not the case after one mile, when I thought I couldn't continue. I tried changing it up, running a mile, doing a round of exercises, then and another mile. This worked out fine, but it felt like it took a long time.

During the third mile, my right ankle crashed out. This happened last week, sudden pain the ankle, I'll walk,stop or stretch (all three, actually) and then continue. When it hurts, it really hurts. Bu when it's gone, it's gone.

I think it means I need new shoes.

Exercises: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 170 lbs. (+1.0)
Goal: 165 lbs.

Sigh.

What's That Lyric?
Tightrope - Janelle Monáe ft. Big Boi

I can still hear the footsteps.

Elvis stops the show.

Running in new shoes is like running through a brand new world, on new, comfortable surfaces. Yesterday there was still a kink in my right ankle, as before. It was a mental exercise to roll through my foot properly, to not favor one leg over the other, that is how I can cause further damage.

Soon the pain was gone, all was well. The new shoes were doing their work, and all was good. Today, no pain at all.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Pavement: dry
Temperature: 52°
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: all right

Unfortunately, last Friday I wore some old leather shoes to work which I believed had been broken in. But, uh, they hadn't been. My heels got all chewed up, there are sore spots there, not yet scabs. However, father left me (which is to say, I took from his closet) a set of shoes stretchers and I am using them to give these nice, virtually new shoes (dress brown Timberlands) a new direction.

Thanks, Dad.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 164.5 lbs. (-1.5)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

The girl and her cohort are obsessed with Saturday Night Live. They are desperately waiting for next weekend when new episodes resume. I have said a few things about watching the show in the early days, but have resisted sitting her down to watch any, because I don't think she would like them. Few women (only the chosen one and the humiliated one) and one person of color who was sorely miscast. Mostly brash, obnoxious, white, drug-addled men, and that's just a fact.

1977 Playlist
See No Evil - Television
Never Going Back Again - Fleetwood Mac
I Robot - Alan Parson Project
Warsaw * - Joy Division
Commando - The Ramones
Tie Your Mother Down - Queen
Stayin' Alive - Bee Gees
Less Than Zero - Elvis Costello

2017: The year Television broke. I have known about this band for decades. Why have I never listened to them?

I'm in need of some restraint.

Last night I was up until one am with a sick child and this morning my hip hurts from the first run I had taken in almost two weeks.

But its sixty degrees out, and it's Sunday. That is when the running happens.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:39
Duration: 28:08
Route: Forest Hill Loop

A lazy Sunday morning, but not lazy enough. My mind is in such a tumult I could not locate my toe spacers and I headed out with my last running shoes. I should have turned around, I had a kink in one ankle, then the other, and in my right knee again, briefly. Took it a little easier. That's hard for me to do.

I am overdue for new shoes.

Temperature: 63°
Climate: coll & humid
Mood: anxious

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 165 lbs. (-3.0) Uh, okay?
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

1968 Playlist
Grazing In the Grass - Hugh Masekela
Trouble/Guitar Man (live) - Elvis Presley
Stray Cat Blues - The Rolling Stones
Can I Change My Mind - Tyrone David
Daydream Believer - The Monkees
Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
White Light/White Heat - The Velvet Underground
Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
Astral Weeks - Van Morrison

Going backward.

Nineteen runs in February, tied for record set in 2012.

February 2017 Median Run Temperature: 41.6°
February 2012 Median Run Temperature: 35.2°

Granted, those are days I chose to run. Some days I intentionally chose not to because it was so cold, but that's true of both years.

Distance: 3.3 miles
Avg. Pace: 7:38
Duration: 25:12
Route: Forest Hill Loop

#resist

Late nights, this week we are watching When We Rise. Can't believe a series like this is on network TV. I remember the Red Hot + Blue controversy in 1990 when basic information on AIDS/HIV prevention and awareness was scrapped in lieu of biographical information on Cole Porter.

Pavement: wet
Temperature: 43°
Climate: sunny & cool
Mood: all right

Yesterday, I got several, sporadic, shooting pains in my right ankle after my run. The first one almost made me fall over. Lasted about an hour, then they were gone.

Last night I grimaced briefly as this stabbing pain momentarily afflicted my left foot. The wife asked what was wrong, I described it just as I did now. She looked concerned. I said, "Don't you get those? Just occasional, stabbing pains?"

"No," she said, looking at me as though I were disturbed. "No, I don't."

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 164 lbs. (+1.0)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

1983 Playlist
Everything Counts - Depeche Mode
Human Alchemy - XTC
Power and the Passion * - Midnight Oil
Moon 83 * - The B-52's
Coconut Champagne (Live) - Maynard Ferguson
Trommeltanz (Din Daa Daa) - George Kranz