He running the game.

Twenty years ago, on June 11, 2006, I received confirmation that I had been accepted into that year's New York City Marathon.

"How the hell does one train for a marathon? I have books, and have consulted websites, and yet I am still trying to figure out how to work it into the schedule. Not the race, the training."

This language, or something very close to it, was used in And Then You Die. I was very aware that I would be directing, which is to say directing a production of HAMLET, directing a production of Hamlet ON THE WEST SIDE OF TOWN at the same time I would be deep into training.

"I am going to have to spend the month of September going to bed at midnight and waking up at 4."

And indeed, I was.

June 11, 2006 Playlist

All That She Wants - Ace of Base

Push It - Salt N Pepa

Steppin' Out - Joe Jackson

8 Mile - Eminem

The Way - Fastball

Crystal Wrists - Peter Murphy

Someday, Someway - Marshall Crenshaw

Let Go - Frou Frou

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:38
Pace: 8:54

These are the beautiful days. So often, we go straight from too cold and rainy directly to hot and torrid. These days are cool in the morning, but not too cool. Wrapped up on the deck, writing or reading, then parading about town in a light jacket. It's lovely.

And the runs are swell!

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 56°
Climate: perfect
Mood: very good

Two days dry. I think I woke for a moment in the night, and went right back to sleep. Slept until my alarm and woke refreshed, head clear, free of pain. It's a decision, the pleasant torpor of drink and drugs, or energy and awareness. I haven't wanted to be aware, for months. 

90s Pride Playlist

Finally - CeCe Peniston

Fireball - Pitbull ft. John Ryan

Red Alert - Basement Jaxx

Can't Get Blue Monday out of My Head - Kylie Minogue

It's My Life - Dr. Alban

Show Me Love - Robin S

Love Me Right (Oh Sheila) - Angel City ft. Lara McAllen

Okay, so? Not all from the 90s, I'm not mad.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 164 lbs. (-1.0)

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: yes

Make you feel like a queen on a throne.

Got to choose the playlist the night before, just got to. And what better way to celebrate the first day of June?

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:38
Pace: 8:54

And speaking of new beginnings, I need a detox. This last week -- no, let's be honest, for weeks, months, even, I have been drinking consistently, every night. At least one drink, but usually two. And since the wife has been out of town, there has been a nightly use of additional toxicants.

It is June, The school year is complete. You can rest now. And you need to prepare for camp. 

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: perfect 
Mood: strong!

Straight back, full chest, tight stomach, head high, feels good.

80s Gay Club Party

Relax (Come Fighting) - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys

Express Yourself - Madonna

Love With Tear Us Apart - Joy Division

Stop! - Erasure

Boy - Book of Love

Groove Is In The Heart - Deee-Lite

Enola Gay - OMD

But seriously, I spent twenty minutes looking absolutely everywhere I went yesterday (inside the house -- I never left the house yesterday) from attic to basement and everywhere in-between, searching for my earbuds.

I gave up, resigned to eventually run without them, and returned to the book I had set on the deck ... and there were my earbuds, next to the book. No reason. Just took them outside this morning. Give them some air.

I really need to lay off the brownies. 

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs. (-0-)

What if no alcohol?

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Life is short.

A chore-free Saturday. How far will we run?

Distance: 5.75 miles

Duration: 53:45
Pace: 9:20

The wife is having a tremendous west coast adventure (see photo) and I am celebrating the completion of the school year.

When she goes out of town, I have these fantasies of organizing and de-cluttering and that often lasts six hours on the first day.

As she is out over two weekends, not just one, I am hoping to accomplish more than usual. The weather has lifted my spirits.

Route: Forest Hill-Cain Park Loop
Temperature: 60°
Climate: ideal
Mood: good

Yesterday and today, I have felt pain across my chest. Not like "chest pain" but more like muscle pain, perhaps from overexertion, I do not know. After this run, I do not feel it any longer. 

High School Run (1982-1985)

Fantastic Day (12" Version) (152 bpm) - Haircut One Hundred

Since Yesterday - Strawberry Switchblade

Doctor! Doctor! (Phil Thornalley Remix) - Thompson Twins

New Religion (Carnival Remix) - Duran Duran

Don't Box Me In (160 bpm) - Stewart Copeland ft. Stanard Ridgway

Two Minute Warning - Depeche Mode

New Kind of Kick - The Cramps

Hello Again - The Cars

Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life - Indeep

What Rap! (Enjoy What You Do?) (Unsocial Mix) - Wham!

Black Diamond - The Replacements

Baby I'm a Star - Prince & the Revolution

(You Can Still) Rock In America (165 bpm) - Night Ranger

I Confess - The Beat

Remarkable, a longer run, a slower run, a casual run, a beautiful run. The result? My mind went places it does not normally go on a shorter run. I started thinking about the future, not the past, making plans for camp, for the writing workshop, and also the Wilde scene work.

Exercise is good. Thinking is better.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs. (-0-)

If you watch a David Lynch movie before bed, don't be surprised if you have odd dreams.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

We did it again! Fifteen runs in a month. Consistency. Three months running, a streak I have not maintained since 2023, the last period when I would try to run every day. It is a conscious choice not to run every day (unless making up for a missed day) and it has kept me, for the time being, from injury.

Leaving me here on my own.

The days are full and occupied. I have something of a groove? The running, yes. And the writing, journaling mostly, but there's also the reading. Turning old ideas around in my head, trying to see something new, to interpret a classic story through a modern lens.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:42
Pace: 8:55 

Putting things away, throwing things away, selling them on eBay. Yesterday, I adjudicated the annual Shakespeare competition at a local independent school. That went well. Making phone calls, trying to learn new things about potential candidates.  

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 61°
Climate: beautiful
Mood: good!

"Can one confide oneself to somebody of whom one knows nothing but how his laugh sounds."

- "Metropolis" by Thea von Harbou

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs. (-0-)

Stayed up a bit too late last night, the kid came home from the studio and we sat up, just hanging out on the deck. Then Tiger wanted some 2:00 AM attention. Anyway, I didn't think I'd be up for a run this morning. But I am.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

What's That Lyric?

Cruel Summer - Bananarama

I need to choose what I am going to run to the night before. It is stressful trying to choose right before I step out. Not like big stress, but it brings me down. And it's not necessary.

Saturday run? High school music. I think.

Nice try. Get out the way.

One more week in the school year. Soon we will put this mess behind us, I hope. It's not even a full week, and yet. It feels as though a month is laid out before me.

Last night, I heard some reassuring words. Sometimes I lose faith. Sometimes faith is provided to me without my asking.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:53
Pace: 8:59

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 63°
Climate: gorgeous
Mood: let's go!

"Nothing happens in Metropolis which does not come to my father's ears."

- "Metropolis" by Thea von Harbou (See: Matthew 10:29)

Stretches: yes
Water: no
Weight: 165 lbs. (+1.0)

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

What's That Lyric?

mangetout (The Dare Remix) - Wet Leg

Wonder why you stopped getting high.

The wife has departed for points west, not to return for almost two weeks. The elder will join me in a day or so, but they have such a busy schedule I will still be largely on my own.

The school year winds to a close, there is so much yet to do. The question is whether I will be able to take advantage of my time alone to be productive, remain focused, and feel satisfied with how I am spending my time.

Distance: 3.2 miles

Duration: 28:35
Pace: 8:55

Prepared my first batch of cannabis brownies last night, yes, a 57 year-old man making the pot brownies. Would I be successful? I was. They hit after about an hour, I wisely took a modest sample because they turned out to be pleasantly potent. For the first time in many days, I slept well and long -- and still woke up before eight am. What a weekend! 

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 68°
Climate: partly cloudy & nice
Mood: mellow

"For the inventive spirit of man there is no Utopia: there is only a Not-yet."

- "Metropolis" by Thea von Harbou

"And if you use crack now ... get help now!"
- Jenny Lewis (1986)

Block Rockin' Weekend - The Current

Charles Bradley:

   Changes

   Heart of Gold

   Stay Away

Hank Williams:

   Your Cheatin' Heart

   Jambalaya on the Bayou (165 BPM)

   Honky Tonk Blues

Jenny Lewis:

   Red Bull & Hennessey

   Heads Gonna Roll

My shins, both of them, have been stressed. No doubt the result of a week spent on my feet, teaching three days of classes in schools. I will take additional ibuprofen and wear some bandages.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 164 lbs. (-1.0)

It's easier to manage my intake when I am alone. I set alarms for meals so I'm not thinking about it. But then I don't have to wonder; when does she get home? Six? Seven? Eight-thirty? We had dinner Friday night after 9 PM, of course I was snacking before then.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Evel Knievel, you got nothing on me.

Beautiful days, busy days, dizzy days. Teaching in West Geauga, interviewing candidates downtown, Wednesday I visited my elementary school in my old hometown. Surprised its lasted this long, I have been wanting to see inside of it before it inevitably disappears.

Elementary School Run (1974-1978)

New York Groove - Ace Frehley

Young Americans (178 BPM) - David Bowie

When the Whip Comes Down - The Rolling Stones

Neat Neat Neat - The Damned

Peg - Steely Dan

#9 Dream - John Lennon

Riding the Scree (162 BPM) - Genesis

Come Together (160 BPM)  - Ike & Tina Turner

Distance: 63°

Duration: 27:48
Pace: 8:57

So it happens, it will be torn down, and very soon. It's an old building -- not as old as I thought it was, it was built in 1947, but still. Almost eighty. Weird to think it was only twenty-seven years old when I started attending that school in 1974. But then, 1974 is also ancient history.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 63°
Climate: damp
Mood: tired

They held an open house on Wednesday, and I am glad I heard about it. It was awkward conversing with fellow classmates -- elementary school classmates -- several of whom I have not seen since we graduated forty years ago this spring. I just wanted to wander the halls. It was a bit too much.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs. (-0-)

That was where I embarrassed myself during the utensil walk. That was where I shat myself doing sit-ups. That's the room where they taught me how not to lisp. That was where I told Tracy she was chopped. Where I learned that Santa's crystal ball was fake. Where I wrote on the mirror with soap and got sent to the office and saw the paddle with nails in it. Where we held the disco.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Five years, from age six to ten, is all of your life when you are ten, and I spent them in that building.