What I Talk About When I Talk About Running (book)

Finally finished the Murakami book. And I am sorry to report I was disappointed. Really looking forward to that one, highly recommended. Maybe my hopes were too high.

It's a short book, and yet it felt long. I think it was because he was either a) telling me things I already know or b) telling me things I was horribly uninterested in. Or maybe it was the way he told it. I mean, I thought it was boring.

I heard a piece of fiction he wrote this weekend on This American Life, a short story I'd heard before but hadn't made the connection. On seeing the 100% perfect girl one beautiful April morning. Long. Meditative. Dull. (That's not fair, on that program it does follow the best romantic short story in history, Kiss, written and read by Tobais Wolff.)

Maybe that's not was irritated me about this book. I think it was more personal than that. He turned sixty years-old this January. And he runs a marathon every year. The year before I ran NYC he ran NYC. There's this really tense part (which isn't tense at all because he has already made it clear that his is still running marathons - and triathalons) where he is really anxious about his knee hurting. Maybe there's something wrong, maybe he can't run any more, maybe all of his training is for nothing.

Except, again, we know that's not true. But it's true for me because I do not know my future, I do not know if I will ever run again, so listening to someone who has twenty years on me, half of my life over again, fretting about something which has not come to pass ... well, it made me want to strike him. I am sorry but it's true, I want to slap him stupid.

Oh, and when he gets to the bit about running the NY Marathon? He just flits through it, no big deal, time wasn't so great, kind of disappointed.

Slap-slap-slap.

Running Lakewood

Don't forget to stretch!

Route: Lakewood Loop
Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - Making Tracks (140 BPM)

Distance: 6.15 miles
Weather: warm and breezy - beautiful

Call On Me! Hands down, that is my favorite Podrunner mix, ever. But then, I have not listened to nearly all of them, but I do have fond memories of that one from training.

One word about today's run: Big, fat midges. Mouthbreather had some problems. But it was a delicious run, I have not gone so far in quite some time. Almost the same route as I ran last Christmas, only a little farther, to 112th.

I had the chance to check out the new BIG FUN CLEVELAND (Big Fun - one of the top 20 coolest stores in America as ranked by Playboy!) Wow. Envious. That place looks much better thanb Steve's place on Coventry. Cleaner, friendlier layout, not so chaotic, with so much style. And an adult section that befits the neighborhood! Woo!

Push the Button

Hey, hey - FringeNYC buttons!

A:

B:

Vote (at right) for which I should stick with on the blog for the duration. I just can't make up my mind about anything these days.

What Might Pengo See at the Fringe?

The Aperture
Cleveland Public Theatre
Writer: Sean Christopher Lewis
Director: Craig J. George
Inaugural winner of the Kennedy Center Rosa Parks Playwright Award. In the woods outside of Baltimore, Alex McGregor is staging fake photos of war torn Uganda. Notoriety follows until her subject - a boy soldier refugee - reverts, committing a horrible crime.
0h 55m National Cleveland OH
Drama FringeHIGH

Gotta support the home team. Missed it in Cleveland, so I'll catch it in New York.

Or maybe not. Remember: "I like my theater funny."

Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - Cloudrunner (150 BPM)

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 63º
Weather: nice
Weight: 155.5 lbs.

Beginnings

So this friend of mine is going Couch to 5K. And I am proud of him. And I know it's hard. The other day he asked me, "So ... when does the running stop hurting?"

The eternal question. Today I was trying to decide if it does stop hurting, or if runners simply twist their minds a certain way so that hurting becomes something you do, like breathing, and you get used to it.

And then I thought, that's a terrible piece of advice. And besides, I was running when I thought it, assessed my situation, and decided I was not actually, in pain at that moment. At least, I didn't think I was in pain.

What I did ask this friend, at the time, was where it hurt. Was it his chest, was it breathing? That might take a couple months. Just to get used to breathing deeply and hard - which goes away, you don't keep breathing hard as your lungs get used to the aerobic activity. I am a pretty controlled breather when I run.

If it's in your belly, maybe it is because you haven't eaten, or eaten the wrong thing. Or you didn't drink water before you set out.

He said it was his feet and legs, and that he felt he wasn't running right, that he is pounding straight down with his feet onto the pavement (and we all know where that can lead.)

Developing a good roll to your foot (I read recently that you aren't actually supposed to roll from heel to toe, you do land somewhere in the middle of your foot and roll forward, still it needs to be a controlled step) requires limber muscles. If you can't bend your ankle very far, you don't have bendy feet.

I promised him a few basic stretching exercises, the kind that are gentle and require more gravity than exertion.

When I broke my heel, I need to work out the scar tissue and the other damaged parts of my foot structure. Placing the ball of your foot on the bottom steep of the stairs, and letting gravity pull the weight of your body straight down is a great, gentle stretch for the foot, and the back of your calf.

Also, crossing one foot on front of the other, keeping your back straight and bending at the waist is a good one. Don't try to "touch your toes" just keep your back straight, and lean out. Use something for support if necessary. Then switch feet.

For my shin splints I did this thing where you lean against a wall, with both feet placed on foot-length away from the wall. Your legs should be straight. Then raise you toes back to touch your calves. Of course, you can't actually touch, but that's the idea, raise your toes. Don't hold it, just do about ten lifts in succession, then break for a few seconds, and do them again for three reps. After a few days, increase to fifteen lifts each. That one hurts at first, don't kill yourself, do as many as is comfortable.

How's that?

Ritualized

What Might Pengo See At The Fringe?

HAMLET
The South Wing
Writer: William Shakespeare
Director: Kameron Steele
Murder, ghosts, revenge, madness and inner conflict - the Bard's masterwork presented in a bare-bones, all-female production. The South Wing brings a powerful physical style and a company of fierce actresses to this dramatic, sexually charged play.
1h 40m Local Brooklyn NY Drama Multi-Media

An hour-forty HAMLET? I could learn something from that.

Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - Funkenwalken (132 BPM)

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 69º
Weather: warm
Weight: 155.5 lbs. (stop cleaning the kids' plates.)

Running has settled for me, settled into pleasing ritual. Gone are the harsh, cold days of winter. Gone, too, for the moment, are the knee pains which were troubling me. Proper strengthening exercises? Good to be responsible. Also, gone are any goals. I am not in training. I am not trying to complete some ultimately meaningless list of songs. I just run 5K, every other day, because it keeps me fit. I breathe well. I am not in pain. I have energy. There are no aches. It calms my nerves. I eases my mind. I have a tight ass.

I must stop reading Murakami.

Bunk bed

Better Running Through Walking - NY Times 6/3/09

"To train for my first marathon, I’m using the “run-walk” method, popularized by the distance coach Jeff Galloway, a member of the 1972 Olympic team. When I mentioned this to a colleague who runs, she snickered — a common reaction among purists.

But after interviewing several people who have used the method, I’m convinced that those of us run-walking the marathon will have the last laugh." (more)

Bedroom

Hey, here's a good one: Runopolis.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 73º
Weather: warm & balmy
Weight: 155 lbs.

Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - OverDrive+ (175 BPM)

The return of summer, late night runs that turn out far more taxing then you imagined when you first set out. It's so nice! No, it isn't, not really, that's Cleveland humidity hitting you in the face and you don't know it yet.

Still. Better than ice.

The boy got a bunk bed for his fourth birthday, a present for both of them, really (thanks, Mom!) Arrived last week. Promised I would have it up this weekend. Yesterday we cleared the schedule, nothing but putting up the new bunk bed.

Except my kids live in a trash heap. Piled high and deep. Before I could remove the boy's sportscar bed frame and the poor girl's half-of-a-Queen frame she's been sleeping halfway out of for a year, we needed to weed. And pitch. And sort. And then, when all the toys and books and animals were relocated or trashed, then we could remove the old beds (by this time I was doing all of the work and they were reading books I had dug up, which was fine by me) and marvel at a room which had not been empty since before my ex-wife moved out.

Only ... the walls. Good God, they had not been painted since before I moved in. Maybe twenty-year old blue-gray paint. Cracked walls, holes in the plaster from nails. I had always dreamed of, you know, when the girl was one I would paint her a mural or something. That was nice a idea five years ago, at least then I sprung for new curtains.

No, this would not do. After naps I got one gallon of one-coat, primer-less paint. Ice blue. I was up until two last night painting the walls. One coat. Really! Worked a dream. Swept, mopped, and today and only today (after a restless night with the girl grinding her teeth and the boy continually poking me with his toe, because duh, they had to sleep somewhere) did we work together to put up the bunk bed. Which they sleep in, right now. In an otherwise empty room.

Runners High

Watched the movie Runners High the other night. Now, I am in education, and theater, but you don't have be involved in either to have been exposed to a million variations on the To Sir, With Love story. Devoted but flawed teacher - or maybe the teacher has no flaws whatsoever (and in that case is played insufferably by Robin Williams) and enters a blackboard jungle (hey, another good one) wherein they encounter a disengaged and even potentially vioent student population. Maybe the teacher is from the hills - or maybe they are froom this environment. Doesn't matter, the end is always the same. The teacher suffers, the students are inflexible ... until they suddenly aren't, and confess their hidden love for whetever it was the teacher was trying to get them to do. Write poetry. Act. Maybe run a marathon.

One of the greatest theater events I have seen recently was Nina's performance in No Child... at CPT. A teaching artist is trying to get students at Malcolm X High in the Bronx to perform Our Country's Good. Her performance sold me, I am not sure how the script would fare in others' hands. Everyone deeply wants to stand onstage and act, right? And would be amazing at it, if they only tried, right?

Unless of course, they don't. I think art is important. I am not always sure how important my particular art is. That's heresy, I know, but seriously, I think it's arrogant sometimes to insist students perform. I am currently working with at-risk youth in Lake County and some of them just have no use for the stuff. They may like music, though, or drawing. But speaking lines from a page? Out loud? What is?

I digress. Runners High, directed by Justine Jacob and Alex da Silva. Every year, students at Oakland Tech train to run the L.A. Marathon. I was unclear as to why they tried - were they tapped for this program? Some had a desire to complete it, others must have been talked into it, I could not be sure. But once they were in it, most expressed a desire to accomplish this goal.

It was frustrating to watch, and I mean that in a good way. A young woman, Ebony, had obviously never been expected to complete anything, ever, not even a complete sentence. And when anyone begins to challenge her, everything is someone else's fault. She's "trying", when it is apparent to all outward appearance that she is not.

Fred is a young man who has had a falling out with his mother, and is in the care of his grandmother. He is capable, and strong, and willing, but like so many others, it looks as though he has no comprehension of what a marathon is. The fact that he makes it to the race (those who cannot complete an 18 mile qualifying run are not permitted to go to L.A.) was a bit of a surprise, and in spite of my frustration with his inability to get it together, and the head shaking he produced in me, I was startled by my emotional reaction to what happens at the of the race.

There are other stories of people who have a clear picture of what they are up against, whose journeys are by turns poignant and heartbreaking. I loved all the different coaches, and their different approaches. It was like, a handful of bad cops and one good cop. There's a priceless scene, cutting back and forth between two of them talking about Ebony - one saying she's out, she's gotta get it together, she has one more chance, while the other coach speaks with great understanding and empathy for her. Who has ever expected, or asked her to do anything?

Most of all, the piece just made me wish I could run another marathon. I am not sure I ever will. But it is uplifting to think of a different high school class in Oakland, every year, having the opportunity to make that race.



Distance: 4(?) miles
Temperature: 49º
Weather: cool & clear
Weight: 154 lbs.

Harris, Liz & Max are in town. Went for a run with Harris, it was his idea, actually. He's staying with a friend, only a half-mile from our house. I took him much further han I believe he would have gone on his own. Three miles? Ha, I laugh at your three miles.

You know, talking makes a run a lot ... longer. Really, I listen to music and I don't notice the time or the distance, but talk about politics, New York, Star Trek ... makes you aware of your breathing, of the air, of the cars. I guess it is because I am listening to the world instead of closing that sense off.

That, and Harris is really, really boring.

The master gave me "nees."

Quiz: Name that comic book.

My relationship with my knees ... it's complicated.

My knees feel great. Except when they don't. I have resumed a regular exercise regimen, which is good, it's very very good. Strengthening my knees has to be a priority. Someone (my wife?) pointed out to me recently that the msuecles around your joints act as a kind of buffer in and of themselves, and if you simply run without doing any weight-bearing exercises, and lose all your fat and muscle, then the cartilage is the only padding you have. And that's not good. That may be why I tore my left, lateral meniscus.

Then again, it may be from when I jumped off a bed during a photo shoot at the height of about six feet. I broke my right heel ... but did I also cause slight damage to my left knee, which took three years to become an issue? The world will never know.

Running, I get complaints in either knee, in different places. When it hurts where the injury (and subsequent surgery) took place, I wonder of that is further injury, or just internal scarring with issues.

Lately - and this is weird - it's like the scars on my the exterior of my knee have been saying "hello." I don't look at the front of my knees, that's hard to do. But we took a group picture of my co-workers, one which is now framed on my desk. It was taken out in front of my house, by the same tree where we took the group portrait three years ago. And I am in the same position, kneeling down front.

I look old, real old, much older than the 2006 picture (which was taken just prior to training for the NY marathon.) Grayer, more gaunt (in a lumpy, English way, not in a sexy way) ... and there are these two, puckery bite marks, one on each side of my kneecap. They look positively fresh.

Last time, without warning, my knee suddenly blew up. That's how I knew I was injured. It's like the engine light, by the time it comes on, your car has already been seriously damaged.

Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - Engine Summer (142 BPM)

Morning trot. Trying to keep my stride short - and slow. I have a tendency to go fast. It's true.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 54º
Weather: cool & overcast
Weight: 154 lbs.

Pengo (partial résumé)

AMERICAN GREETINGS CORPORATION
Cleveland, OH (August, 2001 - Present)

• Title: Full-time Graphic Artist; Illustrator; Character Designer

• Duties: Creation and design of original character line featured in a series of sympathy cards entitled 'Extreme Love'.

• Conceptualized, developed and/or composed electronic art files for thousands of greeting cards on tight deadline schedule while also developing new skill sets and attending assorted in-house classes and presentations.

• Skills: PhotoShop, Illustrator, HTML - Dreamweaver - HomeSite, Flash, Image Ready, Quark, Word, Art Direction, Graphic Design, Illustration - Traditional & Digital, Print Design, Web Design

• Intuitive, Self Starter

See: Pengo's Biography - a fictional work-in-progress.

Three questions (see below)

Sometimes, Mr. Murakami is highly nfuriating. At the age of thirty, this man who had never written prose in his life - while leisurely watching a baseball game - he decided to write a novel. And it was a success! Around the same time, he decided to become a runner. And he still is! At the age of whatever, with little or no physical complaint.

The first time he ran a marathon, he attempted it without training - and he failed! Aw, boo.

FringeNYC

Never too soon to choose which Fringe shows you are looking forward to seeing. Though it doesn't say 2009 yet, you simply need to visit FringeNYC and look up the "2008" show listing to see what is performing this year.

I never know what is going to be good, or a hit, or both, so suggestions will be welcome. I have a couple of months to make any decisions. Top of my list, however, is Abraham Lincoln's Big, Gay Dance Party.

Listening to: PODRUNNER Classic - Accelerator (162 BPM)

Distance: 3.25 miles
Temperature: 52º
Weather: cool & clear
Weight: 155 lbs.

Here's the (next) big questions ... nytheatre.com will be providing concise interviews with FringeNYC participants, if they answer a questionnaire about their show. It is a great, online interview, as they ask three simple questions which are decidedly difficult to answer.

So I am asking you. How would you answer these three questions - if you were me - about the show AND THEN YOU DIE?

1. What is your show about and what can audiences expect when they see it?

2. Why is your show pertinent to today’s times and/or why should your show be the choice for audiences to see?

3. Why did you choose to present this show?

We are allowed 300 words for all three answers, total. We are instructed not to use superlatives or hype, but just to explain what makes this show unique. Challenging!

Please leave a comment.