We've been running in the human race.

Friends and neighbors ... 59 Playlists for 59 Years.

2025 Playlist

Anxiety - Doechii

Who Laughs Last (160 BPM) - Lord Huron ft. Kristen Stewart

Basic Being Basic - Djo

catch these fists - Wet Leg

What Was That - Lorde

Swoon (164 BPM) - Peter Murphy

The Human Race - The Vapors

Love In Real Life - Lizzo

Got home from Europe, yanked out a crown. Oh well, better here than on the road, right?

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:45
Pace: 8:57

Stayed up too late last night, trashed the morning. I would like to declare this vacation finally over, please. Restorative run, though. Just what I needed to pull myself together. Banger playlist, too. There is still good music being made.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 58°
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: eh.
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Weight: 160 lbs.

Then I'd still be where I started.

What to say. I have been ill, yes. My jaw hurts from some unfortunate, unsuccessful, but necessary dental work. But even before that ...

Okay, I was prescribed a steroid pack. It took away the pain from sciatica. But I was instructed not to run then. Shortly after the series of doses was completed I took a one mile walk at the gym. The pain returned.

I am not sure what will happen next. I have been very busy. But I have not even wanted to run. Running in the gym is unrewarding. Running on a treadmill I now find unpleasant. I want to go outside, and experience the air, the street, the path, the world.

Today is a lovely fall day. I slept deeply last night, for nine hours. It has been some time.

Last night we saw the biopic Bohemian Rhapsody. And so, Mr. Freddie Mercury.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 50°
Climate: bright & cool
Mood: all right
Weight: 173.5 lbs.

Stopped to walk three times. Watched a piece of red plastic wrap drift and float in the sky until it disappeared. Went slower. I little pain in my glute, it will become more painful. Slight throb in my teeth. It feels good to feel.

Exercises: yes

Queen Playlist
Radio Ga Ga
We Will Rock You
Killer Queen
Love Kills - Freddie Mercury)
Get Down, Make Love
Another One Bites the Dust
Keep Yourself Alive
Bohemian Rhapsody

No runs in October. I will run when I run and be happy when I run. And that's it.

I am tired. I am weary.

This is me.

But look at it this way. I have had more runs in January -- already -- than in the last three months of 2017 combined. And I have not been feeling badly, I have not been limping, I have not had pain. A little awareness, perhaps. Aware of nerve in my leg, but not pain or discomfort.

1967 Playlist
Knock On Wiid - Eddie Floyd
Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane
Venus In Furs - Velvet Underground
Chain of Fools - Aretha Franklin
I Was Made to Love Her - Stevie Wonder
People Are Strange - The Doors
Tighten Up - Archie Bell & the Drells

Ugh. Feel like my teeth have been ruined. Chewing like a shut-in. It's all mac and cheese from here on out. Mac and cheese and gruel.

Distance: 2.28 miles
Route: Neighborhood Run
Temperature: 24°
Climate: cold & clear
Pavement slippery with snow
Mood: all right

Got new athletic supports. Can't remember how old this set is, but they were old. Just fell apart. Seriously, though. Shock Doctor should not be the brand name for jock straps, that should be the brand name for something else entirely.

Stretches: yes

Cold air. Deep breaths. Moving through space. Feels good. This is why.

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 177 lbs. (-2.0)
Goal: 170 lbs.

Feeling like a jerk.

And a doughnut, I had one doughnut.

Lost a filling on Sunday. My tooth is sensitive to cold. Not happy. I remember when piece of my tooth fell out, it was almost twenty years ago. It made me feel very old. I was 29.

Monday I had it replaced, and that went relatively well. I just feel like I am physically falling apart.

1982 Playlist
Workin' For a Livin' - Huey Lewis and the News
More Than This - Roxy Music
Let's Go To Bed (Extended Mix) - The Cure
Body Language - Queen

The daily exercise continues, weather and circumstance have kept me from running. The plan is to use the gym, but I don't like to go on my won. It's part of the new family routine, we just need to begin it. Temps should rise in the next day or two, but I cannot wait any longer.

Distance: 2.1 miles
Route: Neighborhood Run
Temperature: 8°
Climate: cold
Pavement: slippery with snow
Mood: unsure

Bitter cold at first and then it eased off, as I warmed up. Surprised to go two miles. That was a very good choice.

Stretches: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 179 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 170 lbs.

This is the thing. I have stopped eating processed sugar, entirely. However, I have a habit while I am preparing dinner of snacking big, hearty snacks. I used to have a handful of almonds to see me through, but yesterday it was a large amount of almonds, with dried cranberries. Then cheese and crackers.

Lunch was big, too, because I didn't pack my lunch, I bought it, and that's always a portion too big and high in calories. I have to pack my own lunch, I have to control my diet in the evening.

But there is no fucking way the president is 236 pounds. Donald J. Trump is not merely fifty-seven pounds heavier than I am, that's complete nonsense.

Running away will never set you free.

Numb.

Choosing to make a four mile run, I will often head around Lee Road to Cain Park. This is one of the things I love about living in Cleveland Heights, the fact that we have a public park which includes an amphitheater for live musical performances, and locally produced live theater.

Like most great endeavors, the park was conceived of by an educator, Heights High drama coach Dr. Dina Rees Evans. She started a theater company to present works in this park in the early 1930s, their inaugural effort was A Midsummer Night's Dream. 

Education, Shakespeare, Cleveland Heights. That's my life, too.

Last winter the boy was sidelined by an injury and all year (yes, even in deepest summer) how he missed out on sledding last year, at all. He's had the chance to do that twice so far this winter at the sledding hill in Cain Park, which is his favorite and always packed with sledders on snow days and even past sundown.

We shall see if he gets to do any more sledding this year. (sad trombone)

Distance: 4.05 miles
Avg Pace: 7:36
Duration: 30:52
Route: Cain Park Loop

One of the best things about Cain Park - from spring to fall - is the chance for a water break. They put away the water fountains during the winter for obvious reasons. The other great thing is that sledding hill. It makes for a steep incline to get out of the park and onto Taylor Road. Not everyone digs this, but training on it made it possible for me to crush Mile 21 in the Twin Cities last fall.

Temperature: 39°
Climate: cool and bright

Bit distressed a few weeks back to learn I had developed a new cavity. Had that filled today, feel a bit light headed, still can't feel my face. But I want OXYGEN.

Weight: 162 lbs. (-1.5)
Mood: good! woobly!

1984 Playlist
Blue Jean - David Bowie
Doctor! Doctor! - The Thompson Twins
Drive (167 bpm) - The Cars
Let's Go Crazy - Prince & The Revolution
I'm Free (Heaven Helps The Man) (160 bpm) - Kenny Loggins
Dropping Bombs On The White House - The Style Council
Born To Run (160 bpm) - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Train Running Low on Soul Coal - XTC

That was a totally awesome playlist. No kidding, I was flying. However, I was also afraid I would swallow my tongue. I still cannot feel my tongue.

Sources:
City of Cleveland Heights
Cain Park website