You know you better run fast.

It wasn't me.

Thursday evening in July. Why not run?

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop

Buying a new car, a Corolla. Haven't had a Toyota in some time. Question is this, will sitting higher, and having an automatic, cut down on aggravation and stress in the muscles on my left side? No more idling, no more using a clutch. Will be interesting to find out. Just he past two days, getting to work and home have been painful.

Temperature: 78°
Climate: overcast & humid
Mood: all right

Oh, the joy of running. Running solitary and free, in warm weather, with music in my ears. I am overweight again, it is arduous. I stretched my hamstrings appropriately, but I could feel it a bit in my hip. I will shower and stretch again. We'll see. But it's time to run, and run regular.

Chris has at long last bought that house in the Heights. The park is equidistant from each of our houses. Hell, the Heights entrance is probably closer to where he is. We have made a pact. The partner running will commence.

He doesn't have a choice. He has a mortgage.

Baseline: 174 lbs.

Right back where I started. Breathe. Begin again.

What's That Lyric?
It Wasn't Me - Shaggy ft. Ricardo Ducent

Feeling kind of older.

The hamstring is an issue. Maybe running every day has something to do with it, but my left thigh generally aches. The "string" in my leg, I can feel it like a band of rubber and it has pain. Sitting for any length of time can make my back sore, or my thigh. It is, as I say, a pain.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:19
Duration: 27:04
Route: Forest Hill Loop

Beautiful, cool morning. So many geese around the lagoon, really pissed one off who did not wish to make way for me on the running path.

Feeling it in my back-end. Forecast is mild for the next ten days, but I feel the need to continue, whenever possible, to store up for when the actual winter might come. In CLE, that might be in May.

Pavement: wet
Temperature: 36°
Climate: cool & cloudy
Mood: all right

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 165 lbs. (0-)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

165 lbs. is kind of where I am supposed to be. I would prefer 160, but 165 is good It is a good place to be. But how do I stay here, or just below it? I have  tendency, like most people, to eat.

I keep salted almonds in the house, and mix a handful of those with a handful of raisins or dried cranberries to keep my mouth occupied and my hunger (it's not really hunger, it's appetite) sated until dinner. Often that works. I would rather have a bag of Doritos. Like a whole, family-sized bag.

1973 Playlist
Love Train - The O'Jays
Dancing With the Moonlight Knight - Genesis
D'yer Mak'er - Led Zeppelin
Pills - New York Dolls
Hooked On a Feeling - Blue Swede
Live & Let Die - Paul McCartney & Wings
Skokian - Hot Butter
Blinded By the Light - Bruce Springsteen

Here’s me trying to do a cartwheel for no reason last year at the age of 80. Pathetic. I’ll try again when I’m 85. pic.twitter.com/zM5STtFaKE

— Alan Alda (@alanalda) February 11, 2017

Ladies and gentlemen, Alan Alda. (((Sigh.)))

Set me free, set me out on the run.

Football as an American political metaphor. Okay, whatever. I'm still in it for the Lady Haha.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Avg. Pace: 8:51
Duration: 28:47
Route: Forest Hill Loop

Left hamstring is irritated, clumps of snow caused some awkward landings and twists. Still, feels great to get out. Air is clean and cool, I'm cold for about ten seconds and then very comfortable Love the park.

Pavement: shoveled, dry. un-shoveled, crispy, treacherous snow and ice.
Temperature: 25°
Climate: cold
Mood: I'm thinking.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 166.5 lbs. (-0-)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

2009 Playlist
Bad Romance - Lady Gaga
Paparazzi - Lady Gaga
Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z ft. Alicia Keys
Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Something Good '09 - Utah Saints
Mute (Jokes of the Scene Remix) - The Brash
Ghosts 'N' Stuff - Deadmau5 ft. Rob Swire

Now they call me Mr. Bitterness.

Every day another national indignity. Congress just wanted to erase the legacy of Barack Obama, this guy is seriously doing all the bad things that lead to authoritarian government. Censoring facts, oppressing the weak, aggrandizing the self.

The question is, are our democratic systems strong enough to fight the power? The Internet has proven to be the most powerful tool in this war of misinformation, can it be harnessed for truth? Is that even possible?

Distance: 3.6 miles
Avg. Pace: 7:54
Duration: 28:28
Route: Forest Hills Loop

My hamstring continues to irritate, on the left side, all the way down. It's in my thigh, in my calf. Sometimes it sings quite loudly. Cold weather exacerbates the condition. It's a drag. I keep massaging my leg in public, it's not a good look for me.

Pavement: very light precipitation
Temperature: 36°
Climate: cool, wet
Mood: bitter

Brisk, light run. Feeling stronger. The cold does not bother me, got pretty sweaty and warm, actually. Not below freezing, not yet. We'll get there.

Seventeen runs in January already? That's a tie for second place and it's not even the girl's birthday yet. Ran twenty in January, 2012. Can I make that before Tuesday? Mmmaybe.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 167.5 lbs. (-1.5)
Goal: 165 lbs.
Ideal: 160 lbs.

1994 Playlist
Voodoo Lady - Ween
Welcome to Paradise - Green Day
Sure Shot - The Beastie Boys
Live Forever - Oasis
Mr. Bitterness - Soul Coughing
Get Me - Everything But the Girl
Chewbacca - Supernova
Mr. Self Destruct - Nine Inch Nails

The wind in my heart.

Early morning run, first dropping off the car for some EPA-related work, then running home. Our mechanic is very conveniently located.

Temperature: 55°
Distance: 2.77 miles
Avg Pace: 8.28
Climate: cool but humid

Early morning run, right out of bed. A little stiff, took it easy. Hamstring still an issue. My right toe is bending (again) so I am using new spacers, which helps. This is also an explanation for why that foot was falling asleep last week.

As I begin to run first thing, I must remember to take time. Time to warm up, to drink several glasses of water. To be awake, alive. But not necessarily alert.

Weight: 158.5 lbs.
From Goal: -1.5
Monday Alcohol Units: -0-

What to eat, what not to eat? Yesterday I had a proper breakfast, lunch and dinner. But I came home from rehearsal and I was hungry. Not just, oh I want a bedtime snack, but like I was missing something. I made a nighttime breakfast - Grape Nuts, yogurt, banana, dried fruit. Not the same as a bag of Doritos. 

What's on Daddy's iPhone?
Listening Wind - Talking Heads 

All ends with beginnings.

Google "atari breakout" then click "images".You're welcome.

The music of Daft Punk continues to remind me of visiting the Everybody's Game Room video arcade circa 1980. It's like they intentionally create the idea of what contemporary dance music might sound like if there were never new-wave nor hip-hop. 

Temperature: 73°
Climate: calm. sweaty.
Distance: 3.25 miles
Knee bends: 15

All pains are related. From my ankle, through my calf, now piercing in a straight line through the dorsal region of my right thigh. And the backaches, the wife believes they are associated. And I believe she is right. I need to perform exercises to protect the hamstring, again.

Get Lucky Playlist
Get Lucky - Daft Punk ft. Pharrell Williams 
Around the World - Daft Punk
Get Innocuous! - LCD Soundsystem
Road to Recovery - Midnight Juggernaut
Faker - Miike Snow
I'm Your Villain - Franz Ferdinand
Tomorrow Comes Today - Gorillaz

Stretches:
Yeah Yeah (D. Ramirez Vocal Clubm Mix) - Bodyrox

My whole life flashed before I crashed

Distance: 5.15 miles
Time: 9.30 am
Stretches: yes
Sit-ups: 60
Bicycles: 60
Drink: Gatorade
Weight: 165 lbs.
Weather: 66º overcast & cool - perfect

"We got an engine, but we ain't got wheels."

1987 Playlist
Pump Up the Volume - M/A/R/R/S
A Japanese Dream (remix) - The Cure
Fear Is Never Boring - The bears
Join In the Chant - Nitzer Ebb
Higher Ground - Red Hot Chili Peppers
True Faith - New Order
Party Machine - Hoodoo Gurus
Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson

TOO DUMB TO NOTICE

Pulled a hamstring in my right cheek almost years ago, plagued me all last year ... and it's gone now, entirely. Pulled a string in my right big toe that fall, stuck with me all last year ... not there. So things are good.

"Annie, are you ok? Annie, are you ok? Are you ok, Annie? Annie, are you ok? Annie, are you ok? Are you ok, Annie? Annie, are you ok? Annie, are you ok? Are you ok, Annie? Annie, are you ok? Annie, are you ok? Are you ok, Annie?"

It's in the trees. It's coming.

Weight: 167.5 lbs.
Distance: 4.2 miles
Weather: Bright & warm with a breeze

Playlist:
The Becoming - Nine Inch Nails
That's What I Think - Cyndi Lauper
Shoe Box - Barenaked Ladies
Electric Chair - Prince
Me Plus One - Annie
Go - Tones On Tail
Fascination Street - The Cure
Start the Commotion - Wiseguys
Hounds of Love - Kate Bush
Good Stuff - The B-52s

Dropped the girl at school, the car at the garage, once around the Monument, and home.

UPDATE: No stretches. Big mistake. Must remember the hamstring, it may take years for it to heal properly. Must strengthen everything around it.