I’m in my September.

Monday, Twin Cities In Motion tweeted this:

City officials have informed us that the St. Paul chapter of Black Lives Matter is planning a disruptive protest... https://t.co/2YdLobau5S

— TwinCities In Motion (@tcmarathon) September 28, 2015

Yesterday, Nina forwarded an article from Runner's World,

Black Lives Matter Says It Plans to Disrupt Twin Cities Marathon

"Our plan is just to disrupt business as usual and try to create as much awareness as possible," [organizer Rashad Turner of Black Lives Matter St. Paul] told Runner's World.

"Our hopes are that when the marathon runners reach us at the finish line, instead of being more concerned with finishing the marathon, that they’ve been able to do some critical thinking throughout this week and understand how powerful it would be if we all stood together in solidarity against the injustices that are plaguing our society and plaguing the community right here in St. Paul, Minnesota.”

- Runner's World, 9/29/2015 

Runners World states the activists intend to "stop runners from finishing the marathon."

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 23:22
Avg Pace: 7:46
Route: Forest Hills Loop

I approve of civil disobedience, and am a supporter of the Black Lives Matter campaign. As has been pointed out, time and again, the only appropriate time for BLM to have their voices heard is at a specific time in a specific place of someone else's choosing where no one can hear them except those who already agree.

Having openly criticized those supporters of Bernie Sanders who got the vapors over BLM disrupting one of his events (wrong time, they said, wrong place) I do not feel it is my place to criticize the proposed Oct. 4 protest at the marathon. Why is our event sacrosanct?

However, I will say it makes me uneasy because it is a marathon, and we have had a big city marathon "disrupted" quite recently and I regret the comparison this action will create. I have assumed that security at the finish line of any large scale marathon would be higher since Boston, and I do not want anyone to get hurt.

Having said that, I wish them luck in stopping me, because I do intend to finish and as you know, I am fast. However, after I cross that finish line I'd be happy to listen to anyone who cares to have a conversation.

Temperature: 59°
Climate: misty, light rain
Weight: 157 lbs.
Intake: bagel w/cream cheese & preserves
Hydration: yes

What's That Lyric?
No Sympathy From the Devil - Public Enemy

Don't need to walk around in circles.

Yep.

This morning the girl asked if I would ride bikes to school with her. Last week we did this, I borrowed her brother's bike because I thought, you know -- fun. I almost got a hernia.

So I swiftly dove into the basement and brought out my own bike. I pumped the tires and sprayed WD-40 into the gears and off we went. The gears kept slipping and there was nothing I could do about it, this poor, twenty year old machine was kept in a leaky garage for most of that time, neglected and dirty.

I'd like to take it in but I am afraid the bicycle guy will inform me that fixing it will be more expensive than buying a new one. Of course, I could always repair it myself ...

One thing I did realize on my way home after dropping the girl off at school is that cycling isn't a real sport. How can it be when you can just stop moving when you come to a decline? When I am running and I stop ... I have stopped.

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 23:08
Avg Pace: 7:42
Route: Boulevard Loop

This morning we learned one of the girl's schoolmates had a migraine yesterday, and during our walk to catch the bus I explained to the boy what a migraine is, how to treat one, and what it feels like. Since then, I have had a headache.

The run was good. Strong, fast. But I do not believe I can run 8 minutes for the entire race. Not sure I should run any of the race at that speed. However, 8:30 would be good. I think. Maybe I can do that. So much depends on how my body feels on the day. Not much I can do about that except eat well and rest.

Temperature: 75°
Climate: okay
Weight: 157 lbs.
Intake: flavored almonds
Hydration: yes

What's That Lyric?
Circles - Soul Coughing

Just let us through.

Rubber duck factory fire on East 120th.

Trying to think of something to say before an eight mile run. I got nothing. Oh, wait. I finished a revision and plan to have a reading. There's that. Also, the city was having their irregular shredding day and as I searched through the attic I was once again overwhelmed by time. Not as in, I forgot what time it was, I mean stepping into the attic is like being subsumed by every moment of my previous existence all at once. A great cloud of all memory. It's had not to get taken in.

Distance: 8 miles
Duration: 1:03.30
Avg Pace: 7:56
Route: Lakeview to Little Italy Loop

Great clouds of smoke drifting through the Euclid Road entrance to the cemetery. Lots of fire engines. Not sure if I would be able to follow my rout, but they had only closed street traffic. Wicked big abandoned factory fire on East 120th Street.

Again, thinking of all the paper in our attic. I removed two boxes today. Hmn. That's not enough.

Temperature: 73°
Climate: coolish
Weight: 156 lbs.
Intake: tater tots & banana
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: no
Stretches: no

Eight miles, Feeling good. I think I'm ready.

Week Fifteen Total: 24 miles
Training To Date: 460 miles

What's That Lyric?
We Exist - Arcade Fire

Go, go, go.

Last night the girl and I caught
The Secret Garden at Great Lakes Theater

One week from today I will be in St. Paul.

Our actors are in schools.

Writing is being written.

The sidewalks are slowly being repaved.

Tomatoes are coming to fruition.

Plays are opening, and we are seeing them.

Games are played, homework is completed.

Meals are crafted and produced by each and every one.

Our home is an active, circulating mess of works-in-progress.

A week from tomorrow I will attempt a third marathon.

To life.

Distance: 4 miles
Duration: 29:35
Avg Pace: 7:23
Route: Cain Park Loop

Some Spotify radio channels based on a single artist will only provide you with songs of a certain genre, or worse yet, songs from a certain genre from a limited time period, or worse yet the same ten goddamn songs.

The Cars station provides a magical nexus that cuts across genre, time and space, a vast array of seeming unlimited tunes of great interest and providing great enjoyment to anyone who is white, male and in their mid-to-late-forties.

I forgot what an awesome song Dirty Laundry is.

Temperature: 72°
Climate: perfect
Weight: 157 lbs.
Intake: a little pita and hummus
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes
Stretches: no

What's That Lyric?
Shake It Up - The Cars

Strange noise.

All right. We are in the zone. Eating well, sleeping ... well, not horribly. The weather is IDEAL for running, right now. Welcome fall. I have been writing, thinking, I am engaged. Not depressed. Not lost, not aimless. Not scared. Focused. Attentive. Ready.

Distance: 6 miles
Duration: 44:04
Avg Pace: 7:20
Route: Cain Park Loop

Strange. So much of my training (that I remember) from 2006 was during the morning. Late summer long runs, very early in the morning. The memory of this is so strong that making plans to sleep normally and try to run in the afternoon seems like cheating. Really. Like I'm not doing it the right way. Ridiculous, the way my brain works.

Temperature: 79°
Climate: hot!
Weight: 155 lbs.
Intake: the usual
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: yes
Stretches: no

How is that brain working? Just figured out a rewrite that is due tomorrow. A funny bit, a serious bit. I could wrap it up right now except I got to make garlicky kale with greens. Because that is how we run.

Podrunner: Bass Motivations (168 bpm)

Did I say ideal weather? I didn't mean in the early evening. Wow! But that was awesome. Fast! Why so fast? Because Podrunner. Thank you.

With my mind she runs.

Dog In A Bathtub

This is how this happens. For three weeks we have been rehearsing the residency program, and there has been a lot of sugar and fat in the rehearsal room, and I have been eating it. My weight has not increased, but that is not the point. My sugar intake, that which I had been so carefully keeping, has spiked. I have gone from complete control, to more casual, to complete lack of control.

Yesterday was a our first day in schools. Not including meals, here are the items I consumed that are heavy in sugar:

One large coffee with flavored creamer, one large coffee cake muffin, one frosting topped mini-cupcake, a McFlurry (Oreo & ice cream), two small eclairs, three cookies.

Yes, a McFlurry. I stopped at MacDonald's after work for a treat. A treat. As if I were the one who had been on my feet teaching all day instead of sitting and watching people teach all day. And I still felt entitled to dessert twice after that.

So. We have had our fun. This morning, without a run first, I weighed 160 lbs. I should weight at least that much, but the weight should consist of better things.

Today, I was good.

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 23:30
Avg Pace: 7:49
Route: Boulevard Loop

Been writing lately. Expanding on a piece I began last year. Taken me long-forgotten places, like that dream I had this summer. Today I had to visit a school on the near west side, GPS took me down a side street I had been down in nearly thirty years, one I describe in this new work. That was odd in its timeliness.

Temperature: 64
Climate: cool and humid
Weight: 159 lbs.
Intake: tater soup, with bread and butter
Hydration: yes
Water Stop: no
Stretches: no

What's That Lyric?
Golden Brown - The Stranglers

Live those dreams.

Desperate early morning run. No time to log three miles any other time of this day. No food, forgot to even drink a glass of water. Just out.

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 24:16
Avg Pace: 8:04
Route: Boulevard Loop

Temperature: 55°
Climate: cool!
Weight: 157.5 lbs.
Intake: none
Hydration: no
Water Stop: no
Stretches: no

What's That Lyric?
Relax - Frankie Goes to Hollywood