No place to run

Rehearsals have moved from reimagining I HATE THIS to reblocking AND THEN YOU DIE. We spent part of the afternoon in Fefu's Kitchen working the first third of this act. DARWINII closes its sold-out run tonight, they strike, and we begin rehearsals in the storefront on Monday. Then the real work begins, because it is difficult to imagine where to go when I am supposed to be running all over the room and Fefu's is so tiny.

I am concerned about my breathing. The family has gone to the girl's violin practice. I am grateful that my wife too the boy with her ... so I may run. Now.

Distance: 5.15 miles
Temperature: 39º? Really?
Weather: cool. nice. runny nose.
Weight: 166.5 lbs.

Tomorrow is Calvin's 10th birthday. Ten years ago today, my wife and I stepped into MacDonald Women's Hospital to check on the progress of our 30 week old pregnancy, and learned the baby was dead, and on March 20th we gave birth. He died, then he was born. The day will be spent in celebration with our two living children, we will meet my parents at the zoo, feast, play, have cake, and remember.

I hope you also have a beautiful day.

1977 Playlist
Short People - Randy Newman
Night Fever - Bee Gees
Barracuda - Heart
Don't Stop - Fleetwood Mac
Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
Love Gun - Kiss
EMI - Sex Pistols
Teenage Lobotomy - The Ramones
We Will Rock You (162 bpm) - Queen
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Got To Give It Up (Part 1) - Marvin Gaye
Swingtown - Steve Miller Band

I'm gonna find my 4-leaf clover

A night without rehearsal. A late afternoon for running.

Yes, rehearsals for IHT/ATYD began in earnest this week. This explains why, in spite of by best intentions, I am not getting on the road every day. And if I hadn't gotten to run through this beautiful weather, I would have exploded.

We have spent several nights re-staging I HATE THIS. That was no big thing, I know that play very well. AND THEN YOU DIE, not so much. And there have been edits, plenty of them. And rewrites. And then there's, you know, all the running.

Distance: 5.15 miles
Temperature: 64º!!!
Weather: breezy & beautiful!
Weight: 166 lbs.

God damn the Irish! All I want right now is to drop below 165, it's a psychic boundary, like the sound barrier, only I am working at a private school this week, which has an excellent kitchen ... and by that I mean, the salad bar is great and they offer a lot of fabulous alternatives to burgers and fries which I have been enjoying.

Only today it was corned beef, cabbage, sauerkraut and potatoes -- which were delicious, by the way, no doubt because, and not to put too fine a point on it, no one working in the kitchen at this exclusive private school is Irish.

1987 Playlist (More Songs About Child Abuse and F*cking)
Play In The Sunshine - Prince
Meditate - INXS
The Right Thing - Simply Red
Bad - Michael Jackson
Fight Like A Brave - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Alex Chilton - The Replacements
A Japanese Dream (remix) - The Cure
Strange - R.E.M.
Hard Day (Shep Pettibone Remix) - George Michael
None Of The Above - The Bears
What's The Matter Here? - 10,000 Maniacs

Mmmmmm ... Guinness ...

... then you die.

Route: Garfield's Loop

This was not how I planned it. No. Not my intention to run a scant five times during February. Or to consume as much garbage food as I have this month. But it has been a grueling month, physically, emotionally, mentally ...

We did get the cat back. His five day absence -- and another entire night two week later where we could not find him -- cast a pall on what was already an endurance test of a month. The tour took a lot out of me in many ways. The weather has been wretched, yes, I know it's February, but the sheer amount of snow dumped all at once ... I mean, we all complain about it, for me it was just another thing I needed, literally, to shoulder.

This run was a release. But also an ordeal. Where the great drifts of snow that fell yesterday had been plowed, it was dry, where it had not -- I'M LOOKING AT YOU, MOTORCARS!!! -- it was impassable. I was in the street a lot. I do not like that. I have a family to think of.

My shoes are full of slush. It is amazing how little you need to run with wet socks to develop a callous or a blister. Jesus.

1997 Playlist
Space Junk [Wang Chung '97] - Wang Chung
Around the World - Daft Punk
My Hero (154 bpm) - Foo Fighters
Busy Child - The Crystal Method
Rumble In The Jungle - The Fugees
Collision and Improvisation (174 bpm) - Pizzicato Five
Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
Spudnik - Plaid
Bittersweet Symphony - Verve
One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces - Ben Folds Five

Distance: 5.15 miles
Temperature: 48º
Weather: nice, but ...
Groundcover: Dry! Wet! Crunchy! Snowy! SLUSHY!
Weight: 166 lbs.

Training:
Did you drink a glass of water when you woke up this morning? Yes.
Did you have a snack when you woke up this morning? Yes, one piece of cold pizza. (Hey. It was there.)
Breakfast: Two eggs, two pieces of bacon, on a small waffle. Lots of coffee.
Anything else: Not yet. Good boy. I plan on a simple lunch, and then beer for dinner.