why dont you run from me

Father's Day, I got decadent. A cheeseburger and chips for lunch, with a Coke. For dinner, an annual celebration at the Melting Pot ... it began as a celebration of the children's great work over the previous school year some five years ago, now it is a tradition. Why fondue? A Groupon. And yet, sure, why not, stale bread with melted cheese. Totally worth it.

So, that was an exception. Let us remember to make wise diet decisions.

And now, ladies and gentlemen ... 56 Playlists for 56 Years (1964-2019)

2019 Playlist
Can't Knock the Hustle - Weezer
Take On Me * - Weezer
Juice - Lizzo
seconds (electric lady sessions) - LCD Soundsystem
bury a friend - Billie Eilish
Funny Business - Alison Merton
Tempo - Lizzo ft. Missy Elliott
This Time It's Different - Heart Bones

There we go. Doesn't usually take me until June to have this many runs, if it's going to take half a year, perhaps I should abandon this tradition and just create playlists on Spotify, or go back to using Podrunner.

No idea what Podrunner sounds like in the late 10s, perhaps I should find out. I think my iPod is retired.

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 25:32
Pace: 8:30
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: overcast & cool
Mood: all right
Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Good run, brisk and exciting. Killer geese, a distressed heron and one plucky deer.

Three mile runs, all week. I should find an alternate route, to pick things up. I, too, need tempo.

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

Light in your head and dead on your feet.

Pre-dawn run with Chris. Met him at 6:00, rather than 6:30 AM when we have been meeting, because kids, school, life. Summer ends ... only it's ten degrees hotter than it was two days ago at the same time.

Distance: 5 miles
Avg. Pace: 9:04
Duration: 45:21
Route: Forest Hill Run

Used the flashlight on my phone for a few stretches before the sun rose around the pond on the East Cleveland side.

Temperature: 72°
Climate: hot & humid
Mood: all right

We run, we push. Two dudes striving for perfection. The strangest thing, I wore my iPod in a different place and chafed, actually chafed on it. That's not sexy.

Baseline: 174 lbs.
Today: 174 lbs. (+0.5)
Goal: 170 lbs.
Ideal: 165 lbs.

What's That Lyric?
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

Why do you write like you're running out of time?

Vogue

Freak snowstorm last night, this morning it is bright and crisp and shiny. We, all of us, slept in until 9 AM today. This was a long time coming, at least for the wife and I, and well-deserved. It would be easy to settle down with the boy to watch a movie (I am giving him an education on the Civil War in film, beginning with Gettysburg, then Glory, next up Lincoln -- I make a point of making historical the inaccuracies clear) but then again. Training.

Training in sub-freezing weather. The wife asks if I am bringing water on this trek. Hmn. I really don't want to do that, I don't want a leaky water bottle in my hands today. Meanwhile I am writing this post in advance of my setting out, in the hopes that coffee and gravity will result in some backfield action. I do not wish to have an incident Uptown.

Distance: 9 miles
Avg Pace: 7:50
Duration: 1:10:31
Route: Forest Hill/Lakeview/Uptown Loop
Week Four Total: 26 miles
Training To Date: 81 miles

Water, water everywhere - in the form of crystallized condensation. Yes, I found fresh snow in off-the-path places and melted it on my tongue. Right?

Almost wiped out in Forest Hill Park, some paths were clearly melted, others not so much. Did not, for example, sprint down the hill past Rockefeller's monument.

Temperature: 28° → 32°
Climate: cool
Pavement: deceptive
Weight: 162 lbs. (-1.0)
Mood: awesome

The plan was to run eight miles. For obvious reasons, I was compelled to run nine. And get this, I ran exactly nine miles. With a final sprint - check the beats per minute - I crossed the nine mile mark right in front of my house, precisely on the final cannon of act one. (That's true.)

Keeping pace with Stay Alive brought me all the way up through Little Italy, followed by Ten Duel Commandments where the pace dropped just a touch where I needed to get over the top. That was amazing, too.

Hamilton (Act I)
Alexander Hamilton – Full company (except King George)
Aaron Burr, Sir – Hamilton, Burr, Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan
My Shot – Hamilton, Burr, Laurens, Lafayette, Mulligan, and Company
The Story of Tonight – Hamilton, Laurens, Lafayette, Mulligan, and Company
The Schuyler Sisters – Angelica, Eliza, Peggy, Burr, and Company
Farmer Refuted – Samuel Seabury and Hamilton
You'll Be Back – King George
Right Hand Man – Washington, Hamilton, Burr, and Company
A Winter's Ball – Burr, Hamilton, and Laurens
Helpless – Eliza, Hamilton, and Company
Satisfied – Angelica, Hamilton, and Company
The Story of Tonight (Reprise) (164 bpm) – Hamilton, Burr, Laurens, Lafayette, and Mulligan
Wait For It – Burr and Company
Stay Alive (160 bpm) – Hamilton, Washington, Charles Lee, Laurens, and Company
Ten Duel Commandments (156 bpm) – Laurens, Hamilton, Lee, Burr, and Company
Meet Me Inside – Washington, Hamilton, and Company
That Would Be Enough – Eliza and Hamilton
Guns and Ships – Burr, Lafayette and Washington
History Has Its Eyes on You – Washington and Company
Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down) – Hamilton, Lafayette, Laurens, Mulligan, and Company
What Comes Next? – King George
Dear Theodosia – Burr and Hamilton
Non-Stop (182 bpm) – Hamilton, Burr, Eliza, Angelica, Washington, and Company

So? This morning I slept in, unsure as to whether I was up for training. It's almost noon, and I have already achieved much, the wife and girl are working, the boy out in the now-above-freezing weather on his ripstik. I feel alive and ready for the week.

Would I have been a successful, dedicated runner without the modern mp3 player, without the iPod, without the motivation I personally require, the motivation inherent in music? Probably not. How lucky we are to be alive right now.

Let's go.

All there is and ever was.

Actual size.

iPod Nano Silver. My former model had 2G, this one has 16.

Sixteen! GET IT?

Next year is Twenty-Sixteen. That's it. That's all I meant.

Started this blog on January 10, 2006. Have already signed up to run the Cleveland Half Marathon (yes, shut up.) Next year also signifies thirty years since I graduated from high school. No idea if I will be attending the festivities.

Perhaps if they arrange a 5K ...

Part of all this angst about working out the music situation on my iPhone is that I want to start the year with my annual list of playlists.

This year there will be fifty. 1967-2016.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hills Loop

Here's a first. My house key actually made its way out of my shorts pocket. Always worried that might happen, because I worry about losing things. Never has. I was in the park and realized that that was exactly what had happened.

Instead of worrying about it, I thought, well. Nothing I can do about that, and kept on running.

Found it lying on the sidewalk on my run home. See? Nothing you can do about that.

Temperature: 48°
Climate: cool ... oddly cool
Weight: 161 lbs.
Mood: not bad

Great Lakes Theater's A Christmas Carol Writing Contest was broadcast on WCPN 90.3 yesterday. Have a listen, this is a lot of what I have been up to the past several weeks. Have a listen, it's pretty sweet.

What's That Lyric?
The Shade - Metric

What can you buy that lifts a heavy heart up to the sky?

Nine years ago the wife got me an iPod nano for my birthday. It was first generation, 2G. It has worked like a dream the entire time. She had inscribed on the back Daddy Runs Fast - To NYC and Beyond! because I was training for the NYC marathon. It has, indeed, taken me far beyond NYC.

I tried to replace it with my new iPhone this past spring, because I wanted to use the phone to track my runs. Also, it was convenient during long runs to have a camera.

But you can't load tunes into Apple Music that you haven't purchased from the iTunes store. Some have suggested apps I could obtain, but most would necessitate transferring my song library into their desktop program. Also, with all the different apps available on what is not, by today's standards, a phone with very much memory, using it for music just seems inconvenient.

I've been using streaming services - Spotify, AppleMusic, even The Current - which have actually introduced me to a lot of new music I don't own. But sometimes what I want is what I have, to choose the exact songs I want to listen to on a given day.

I was ready to go back to using my trusty, old iPod. Unfortunately, our desktop Mac died this summer, and to save money, and because my wie has developed a serious hatred of Apple, we bought a PC.

Whether it is the PC, or because she's right and Apple is entirely evil, this new version of iTunes on my PC will not recognize my dearly beloved iPod nano.

However, when I tried finding a solution to this increasingly irritating quandary, I learned that there was a recall of first generation nanos dating back to 2011 - which is still in effect. Apparently some early nanos had batteries which could and did overheat. So I applied for an exchange, they sent me a FedEx box, and I have returned my beloved to the manufacturer.

What will they send me in return?

Distance: 3.27 miles
Avg Pace: 7:44
Route: Forest Hills Loop

The holidays, so busy! Every night a school event, a work event, dinner with family, dinner with friends, plays, plays and plays. I even learned how to make soup. No time for running.

A Christmas Carol Writing Contest awards reception is this evening! I must go iron a shirt.

Temperature: 43°
Climate: cool and clear
Weight: 160.5 lbs.
Mood: better (after running)

What's That Lyric?
Restless - New Order

Running at the speed of light.

Up since 4 AM. Every year there is at least one morning the boy and I try some night fishing. The best part for me is getting breakfast at six from the pier grill. Lousy coffee, great eggs and hash browns. He caught three small fish, which meant the entire endeavor was an overwhelming success!

Distance: 6 miles
Avg Pace: 8.23
Route: Topsail Loop (or something)

Spotify gets spotty on the beach, so I thought I would try something new. Yesterday the wife and I had taken a long walk down the beach and I mused about running off the beach one morning and through one of the public passages onto the streets.

That way I could also check how fast I run at 165 bpm on pavement. Never really tested that before. Not much difference, a little, but not tremendously different. It sure felt easier, but I missed the wind off the ocean. And the ocean. The sand, the whole beach thing. Worth the effort.

True, though. The reception was much better. Should have brought my old iPod.

Temperature: 79°
Climate: breezy and hot
Intake: big breakfast
Hydration: yes
Stretches: yes

What's That Lyric?
No Lookin' Back - Michael McDonald

UPDATE: Girl Run

Her plan was to run three miles. The wife did not think this was a good idea, but she is a very determined girl. One mile out, one mile back, and then half a mile out and back. Her plan.

As the tide goes out the beach becomes very, very windy. We ran into the wind, for a mile. She did not make an objection nor a sound. We turned around at one mile.

Dad: How are you feeling.
Girl: Horrible!
Dad: You're doing great.
Girl: I want to sit down and I want to die!
Dad: You are breathing very well.
Girl: I hate my hair! I want to cut all my hair off!
Dad: We can cut your hair if you want.
Girl: I want to die!
Dad: I am proud of you.
Girl: SHUT UP.

And so on.

She made it two miles, and collapsed into the sand. By her estimation, it was an utter failure.

There you have every close, personal relationship with every woman in my life.

Distance: 2 miles
Avg Pace: 9.42
Temperature: 82°
Climate: really, really windy

Vacation means indulgence, to be sure. I have been consumed far less than normal, but what the hell did I used to eat and drink on vacay? No idea what I weight, feel I may have put on a bit. Or not. There's no scale here, we'll just wait and see.

Talking like a jerk.

2006 - 2015

Seasons used to change, that's how we would put it. Watch the seasons change. Today seasons rip into each other, the new seasons laying waste to the previous season and taking down a lot of tree branches in a process, or making your pipes burst. (Not ours, fortunately, but those of several people we know.)

Yesterday I walked up the street to the grocery store and it was bright and sunny. When I stepped back out onto Euclid Avenue with my bags, it was pissing downright, sheets of rain sweeping down through downtown. These things happen, but rarely with such anger.

Temperature: 48°
Distance: 3.38 miles
Avg Pace: 7.52
Climate: breezy & cool

A few days without a three-miler, a bit hard going into the wind. But it was at my back all the way down Taylor Road. Feels good.

Baseline: 178.5 lbs.
Today: 160 lbs.
Goal: 160 lbs.

Oh, uh ... I'm sorry. That wasn't supposed to happen. Seriously, I need to manage my diet better.

Sunday Alcohol Units: 1.0
Monday Alcohol Units: -0-

Playlist: LCD Soundsystem Radio on Spotify.

Yes, I have gone there. And they are correct, I will never pay for music again.

Today was the first day I used the new phone exclusively. For a couple weeks I have been using the old iPod and holding the phone, because I am lazy that way. I haven't figured out how to load music into my phone yet, and I am not sure I wish to. I guess I do not need to.

The strap pictured above is as old as the iPod itself, almost nine years old. Nine years on the road, I can't imagine how miles that is. It has been across the Atlantic, and at various points on its western shore. It has managed two marathons and several other races (admittedly not many of those.)

Now I have this big, heavy, stupid thing on my arm ... like my very first iPod strap, or carrying a Walkman. This to me is not progress.

But I do like the MapMyRun lady whispering in my ear. Ah, well.

Like, for this cat, the only reality ... is death, man.

I fear we have reached a technological zenith, and that we are, all of us, on the decline. Some first believed the iPhone looked ridiculous, because it was contrary to our belief system that something (videlicet, a phone) could be made better by being made larger. That is not how portable technology works, things are supposed to get smaller.

What we, which is to say me, entirely missed was that the iPhone was not a "phone" per se, but the entire Internet available in your hand. Put that way, it makes perfect sense. All of reality was now portable, and speaking to people over the "phone" would soon be obsolete, regardless.

However, and this is where things get weird. I still have an iPod from 2006. It is the size of a pack of gum. It holds 500-ish songs. It is not wifi-enabled, of course, it's old, it does not map my route. It plays MP3s, that is all it does, and it does that very well, especially for the purpose of entertainment while running.

When I was a young adult, I tried running with a cassette player in my hand. The thrill of listening to music while running quickly became a daily irritation with send the device back and forth, from one tired and hand to the other. Also, the mix tape. It's always the same tape, isn't it? Perhaps we were more discriminating in our music choices, only the best songs were on that tape. But seriously.

I am still extremely satisfied with my iPod nano, and hope it continues to last. Headphones come and go, the hardware remains.

However, as more and more individuals acquire smart phones, I have noticed a disturbing trend among runners, one which involves  holding the phone in your hand and playing music out loud from through its shitty speaker.

Holding the phone in your hand while running, listening through God's worst monaural speaker, and more horrifying of all, you're being loud in public with your terrible music.

Temperature: 86°
Distance: 3.25 miles

Middle School Playlist (79-81)
Golden Brown - The Stranglers
Kid - The Pretenders
Bye Bye Love (from "ll That Jazz") - Ben Vereen, Roy Scheider & Company
Rockestra Theme - Paul McCartney & Wings
Message In A Bottle - The Police
We Got The Beat - The Go-Go's
Boys Don't Cry - The Cure

Kill and run.

Blueberries, buttermilk and baconfat.

For my birthday, my brother and his wife gave me a Kindle Paperwhite. I do not covet technology. I don't even have a smart phone, nor do I want one. However, this is truly beautiful and useful device and and I am very happy I have one.

The boy observed, "But ... you can't play games on that!" That is correct, my son. Hands off. Like my iPod nano, which still works and was a gift to me eight years ago, it does one thing, and does it very well.

My first download was H.G. Welles The Time Machine, a novel from 1895, which was free. Suck on that, Bezos.

Temperature: 63°
Distance: 3.8 miles

Last night, we toasted s'mores and later my brother acted as DM for mine and the boy's first ever foray into Dungeons & Dragons. Yes. Today I have already wow'ed all with my pancaking skills and we took a brief motor out to spy some seals.

Pompeii Playlist
Cape Cod Kawassa Kwassa - Vampire Weekend
Kill and Run - Sia
Into the Past - Nero
The Last Time - Taylor Swift ft. Lightbody
Harlem - New Politics
Flathead - The Fratellis
Sex - The 1975s
Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons
Golden Touch - Razorlight

Fridays are traditionally the beginning of the fun, in Vacationland it feels like the end. People are packing up from the week's stay (we have another week) and wishing farewell to friends they see once a year, rentals along my run were having their lawns mowed all along Martin's Point. My brother and his family depart tomorrow, their rooms to be occupied a day later by even more friends.

Your music sucks.

The knees. Little bubbles. I do my stretches, the discomfort goes away. Or moves. I feel like I am performing a penance when I step into my gear. But for what?

That run absolutely blew. A great, mild spring day, chilly at times but mostly sunshiny and calm. Would have gone out yesterday, but there were chores to do and kids to spend time with. Up so late both nights that I slept in past when it would have been opportune to get out.

Today, again, all about the others. That's what I call my family, "the others." When they finally got out to leave me time to myself (to run, and you know, pick up after them) it was rainy and cold. I headed out anyway, and the wind whipped up, the rain stinging my knees.

And suddenly I thought ... "And why?" I came back in a haste (wind now at my back, perhaps it's not as bad as I - drop that line of thinking right now) and I will now shower, pop a beer ... and pick up sh*t.

1987 Playlist
Big Love - Fleetwood Mac
We're The Replacements - They Might Be Giants
Lips Like Sugar - Echo & The Bunnymen

Distance: about a mile
Temperature: 48º and hey-ho the wind and the rain
Weight: 153 lbs.