I will survive.

Conversation with the wife the other day. About my hip. My thigh. The last few runs have aggravated my right leg, it is (I understand) all related to a herniated disc. Sometimes it hurts here, sometimes over there.

She says I need to stretch more, or take some positive action in order to alleviate the irritation and pain. I said the positive action I planto take is to live with it without becoming depressed.

The body is a machine, she says. It can be fixed. The body is a machine, I agree. Machines break down. The stop working properly. This is all right.

This is what I was dealing with last year, training fro the marathon. Long runs, overdoing it. I love running. I would prefer to run pain-free. I think I just need to live with who I am. This is me. This is what I have to work with.

Workout: Cross-Training
Temperature: 70°
Mood: very good
Weight: 183 lbs. (-2.0)

So, the girl and I are on our own for a week. She invited me to join her for a free "cross-fit" workout in the parking lot, and I will never pass up on an invitation like that. But oh, my. Oh, oh my. Six reps of squats, sit-ups, lunges, burpees and 200m runs.

Well. I did them, I just didn't do all of them every time. I can't even do one sit-up. I was trying, it was pathetic. She said, "just do crunches." Do you see what's happening here? She's already starting to take care of me.

Anyway, that was thrilling, and I am going to be in pain all day. I hope we get to do that again!

What's That Lyric?
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
(Happy PRIDE!)

Cain Park Cross-Training

Steve Brodie, July 23, 1886

Met Chris at Cain Park for hill conditioning. We got caught up on things, I got to tell him about New York, his Sunday ten-mile was a trail race. Those things freak me out, I just assume I will twist and ankle.

In fact, just running out, and then running back (listening to the Bowery Boys podcast, "The Daredevil Steve Brodie, 'King of the Bowery'") my ankle was acting up. I walked a bit, stretched, rolled it around, and made it home in good shape.

Sprints: 3 miles
Run: 3 miles

Temperature: 71°→73°
Climate: partly cloudy and humid
Mood: good
Stretches: yes, but not enough
Water: yes

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 164 lbs. (-2.0)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Four day vacation in New York City and I lose weihgt. So that worked out all right.

Cain Park Cross-Training

Lyle Lovett is coming!!

Oof. Hard to rise. Up far too late last night, performing necessary house repair, fixing a screen door, which took much more time than I had imagined. Woke sick to my stomach and sweaty.

Chose to podcast today, the Bowery Boys were covering "Secrets of Upper Manhattan" which is cool because the girl and I will be in New York in ten days and I am seeking inspiration. For the moment, we eschew beats.

Distance: 5.25 miles
Duration: 46:57
Pace: 8:56
Route: Cain Park Hills
Temperature: 73°
Climate: overcast & muggy
Mood: all right, considering
Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Snack: banana

Gods, I feel alive! It was a heavy run out to the corner of Taylor & Superior, but not unrewarding. Chris and I ran down and up the hills at Cain Park eight times, which made for about two miles. My running there and back was another three.

Tomorrow I plan to hit the gym and do upper body work, no running. On Independence Day - we race!

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 164.5 lbs. (-0.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Timepiece (one)

June 26, 1999

Twenty years ago today, my wife and I were married in my parents' backyard. We were wearing clothes.

Distance: 6 miles (running, sprinting & walking)
Duration: 1:02:26
Route: Forest Hill
Temperature: 70°
Climate: sunny & warm
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Instead of hitting the gym, Chris suggested some team cross-training; a run to the Rec Center to warm up (that's a mile for each of us) then do some hills in the park.

Podrunner Timepiece (160 bpm)

That was a great workout, miles there and back clocked in at about 8:45 - 8:50. We met up and took one of the trails down the hill. They were blocked with downed trees and branches which made for an interesting obstacle course but nothing unpassable.

We made it to the foot of Forest Hill Road, by the looming, abandoned apartment building. Behind that is a path back into the woods, and we sprinted that three times before heading back to the center to part.

Wish I had brought my rec pass, I would have finished up by working the machines. But then again, maybe I would be wrecked right now if I had. Time to get on with my day.

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 166 lbs. (-1.0)
Goal: 165 lbs.

Triskaideka (two)

KING LEAR resumes tomorrow!

Wednesday is marked for rest or cross-training, so I accompanied my ass the the gym to do some upper body work. I have always been weak, can lift much, now that I have hurt my back I don't even need to pretend that I can. But that's not good, I know that. So, to the machines.

I lasted about twenty minutes, but they were a good twenty, it felt good. Feeling it Thursday morning. Not feeling the rain, though, so slept in an extra hour. The running would come later.

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 23:42
Pace: 7:50
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 65°
Climate: light rain, many puddles
Mood: good
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Very pleasant run, it was raining lightly the entire time, but I probably caught the only thirty minute period all day that it wasn't pouring downright.

Podrunner: Triskaideka (164 bpm)

That mix is dynamite, totally recommend. I mix, two three mile runs. What's next?

Baseline: 179.5 lbs.
Today: 167.5 lbs. (+1.0)
Goal: 165 lbs.

The music is calling.

I have a medal just like that. I get to keep mine.

Allow me to begin by stating clearly and without qualification that I have the best friends in the world. That includes my ex-wife.

Having reported my issues with backache and general need for cross-training, I received a number of extremely helpful suggestions ... all of which involve YOGA.

(takes a David Cross-like hesitant pause.)

Look, I never said yoga is fucking awful ...

(okay, back to me)

I did try yoga several years ago, and found it extremely painful and less than helpful. When I am at my most limber, when I can actually squat down, I cannot kneel, sitting on my calves for any length of time whatsoever.  My knees simply scream with pain. Always have. And that kept me away.

The wife has suggested chair yoga (or "cherry-yoga" which sounds tasty) but I have too much pride or that.

However, the ex did remember that we have wii fit, and that I might try that. And she's absolutely right, why didn't I think of that, in fact here's all kinds of crap I can do with that thing that I have never tried. Funny, I am not a video game guy, at least not any more.  After spending most of 1999 playing Duke Nukem I was just done, they bore the hell out of me. But getting off my ass and moving to a video game, that might be my ticket to upper-body work.

Also, Elaine referred me to a Feldenkrais workshop in Little Italy, geared specifically for runners and those interested in less-important athletic pursuits, which I could take advantage of that takes place in next week.

I really appreciate all of these suggestions, and promise to act on at least one of them. I do have great friends who care about my physical and mental well-being.

They are all women.

Temperature: 48°
Climate: windy
Distance: 3.25 miles

Now, this serious question ... in the 2006 NYC Marathon, can I now claim I beat Lance Armstrong, or does this mean he was never actually there?

1977 Playlist
I Feel Love - Donna Summer
Cretin Hop (186 bpm) - The Ramones
Gimme Gimme Shock Treatment - The Ramones
Swingtown - Steve Miller Band
Neat Neat Neat - The Damned
Sound and Vision - David Bowie
We Will Rock You (162 bpm) - Queen
Jungle Fever - The Chakachas
Second Hand News - Fleetwood Mac
Best of My Love - The Emotions

Rock, disco, funk and punk. No wonder we were so confused.