Well, I'm dressed up so nice and I'm doing my best.

On the most recent installment of the Dear Hank and John podcast, John Green recounts an episode in which he was at a party and his friend said he'd like to leave in ten minutes or so and John announced, I will have one last beer, then.

His friend said to him, "No one has ever regretted not having that last beer." So John did not grab another beer, and he did not regret that decision. Sometimes, I am entirely in tune with that vibe. In fact, I had already though something like that last Monday at a company function. I had had one beer, I thought of having another but instead grabbed a seltzer. I do not regret that decision.

Now, if I can only make it through a long evening at home savoring one drink instead of having two, just because I can, I would really be onto something.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 29:39
Pace: 9:34

Big weekend. Lots of different places to be. Hope to make them all.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 83°
Climate: sunny & hot
Mood: very anxious

Hot, midday run. I will miss these days and they will be gone soon. Kink in my right knee, just walking hurts today. Feeling the age. Also, attending an induction ceremony for my high school, I felt at once very old and also that I hadn't gained any self-confience at all since 1984.

High School Run (1982-1985)

Miami Vice Theme - Jan Hammer

Cruel Summer - Bananarama

What a Day That Was (Live) - Talking Heads

I Ran (So Far Away) - Flock of Seagulls

Flashdance ... What a Feeling - Irene Cara

Conga! - Miami Sound Machine

Back of Love - Echo & the Bunnymen

Couldn't Stand the Weather - Stevie Ray Vaughn

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Our bodies displayed through the dance.

Fourteen runs in September, best since June. Time was, I would get into these bursts where I'd run every day, like I was in training or something, and it would get to me. That was doing all this running -- every single day -- but not for any reason. Just to rack up runs.

Running every other day just feels normal. A day off feels good, but so does running again, after a day's rest. 

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 28:01
Pace: 9:02

DID YOU KNOW ..? Infatuation is an intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.

Life In a Spanish Disco
Let the Music Play (Remix) - Shannon

Blue Light - David Gilmour

Infatuation - Rod Stewart

To France - Mike Oldfield

Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.

Relax (New York Mix) - Frankie Goes to Hollywood

One of my Lugo compatriots just recently posted photos from a return trip, forty-one years later. They mentioned the playlist, I am glad to put this together, back in 2009 (it was a twenty-fifth anniversary inspiration) because I'm not sure I would remember them all now.

I always wondered if we would have a reunion but I don't believe that is in the stars. Goodness, we were all so very very young then. 

Route: Forest Hill Loop

Temperature: 57° 
Climate: clear & cool
Mood: good

Stretches: yes 
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

Moves? I make them.

The vast majority of Zombies, Run fan art features a female presenting Runner 5. I am entirely okay with this.

Eavesdropping 0118

Distance: 3.2 miles
Duration: 29:21
Pace: 9:02

No, I can't seem to run every other day. This won't always be the case, but I have been busy, busy, busy.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 76°
Climate: clear & warm
Mood: angsty

I seem to be gaining weight. Either that, or I have been standing on the scale wrong and if that's the case, I just need to be wiser with my diet.

I didn't think it was an out-of-control weekend. In fact, I skipped lunch on Saturday, without even intending to. As we head into sugar season, I must be mindful.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 164 lbs.

My right knee had been in pain for over a week, even waking me up at night, but that has subsided.

Now my left knee hurts. What the actual.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Upbeat Mix

360 - Charlie XCX

Now That We Found Love - Heavy D & the Boyz

Block Rockin' Beats - Chemical Bros.

DARE - Gorillaz ft. Shaun Ryder & Roses Gabor

One Girl/One Boy - !!!

Whip It - Devo

Alright - Janet Jackson

The lengths that I will go to.

*attacked*

Okay. Yesterday, I came home from work and worked. I got up this morning (see below) and continued that work. Then I went to work. It's Saturday.

I was going to go out of town for a day and a half, but I'm no longer doing that. I'm owed a couple days off, but the timing is all wrong. Because I have to work.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:55
Pace: 9:00

My right knee has been giving me some serious shit. It's even been keeping me up in the middle of the night. A lot of ibuprofen. I have been waking at 4:00 AM the last couple of days just to take more pain reliever.

Maybe I should take a break from running, but

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 75°
Climate: clear & warm
Mood: all right

Rock Mix

Take Another - Filter

Losing My Religion -R.E.M.

Jumping Jack Flash - Rolling Stones

Hungry For You - The Police

Let the Day Begin - The Call

American Music - Violent Femmes

Terrible Lie - Nine Inch Nails

Come As You Are - Nirvana

Gen X, right?

Stretches: yes 
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

People of the world unite.

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 27:40
Pace: 8:54

Pop Playlist

Rhythm Nation - Janet Jackson
Hella Good - No Doubt
I Feel Love - Sam Smith
Who Do You Think You Are - Spice Girls
This Love - Maroon 5
Good Luck, Babe! - Chappell Roan
The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?) - Ylvis
Espresso - Sabrina Carpenter

It's been a week. Great run.

Route: Forest Hill Loop 
Temperature: 69°
Climate: clear & lovely
Mood: good

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

Gotta strut like a front suspension.

The beginning of a long week. Rising at five am isn't the problem, going to sleep at nine pm is. 

Last night, Brian took me to see Emo Philips, who was hilarious. I tried describing him to one of my Gen Z colleagues and it wasn't easy. Gaunt, bug-eyed, non-sequitur humor with a Prince Valiant haircut ... and now he's old! 

Distance: 3.1 miles
Duration: 28:26
Pace: 9:10

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 69°
Climate: misty and damp
Mood: good

160 - 169 BPM Playlist

Little Girl Gone (Workout Remix) - Chinchilla

It's Indian Tobacco My Friend - Cornershop

Greatest - Eminem

Take It Or Leave It - The Strokes

Good Thing - Fine Young Cannibals

Young Americans - David Bowie

I Wanna Be Sedated - The Ramones

Concrete Jungle - The Specials

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

Got a stitch while running through the wood. That's not normal but it's the second time that has happened to me in the past week. I'm so used to never getting cramps, but at least I can run through them.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: yes

Me? I flew.

I used to be like, no zombies. The very idea of zombies freaked me out. 

Vampires are people who attack people, drinking their blood is weird but it's not horrifying, no more than just being attacked and murdered. And you can talk to a vampire like a person. They are practically human.

Ghosts are freaky, I guess, because they mess with your head, what you see, what you hear. And the idea of a ghost, a spirit that lives after the death of the body, that's something I think about, it's interesting.

A zombie is the opposite of a ghost, right? All body, no spirit. No identity, no sense. Just a rotting corpse wandering around with no purpose, just the memory of being and a deep, unending hunger. Not crazy about that. Don't really want to think about it.

Except, now, for the metaphor. That society has broken down, due to a virus, a plague, God forbid, fungus. Our kid has us all watching The Last of Us together. It's not really about "the infected" is it? It's about the last of us, and we have been infected with something else.

There is no utopian future. All the good things science fiction promised us will never happen. It is all about disintegration, and what we do to each other as it happens.

So, anyway, that's why the Zombies, Run app. I'm into zombies now, because I think I am one. 

Information Exchange 0117

Distance: 3.25 miles
Duration: 28:46
Pace: 8:51

Missed a day, could not be helped. Next week, we need to be out of the house by 6:00 AM. Can I get fifteen runs in September?

Fall '25 Workout

Thunderstruck - AC/DC

Tesla - Mau P

Is Everybody Having Fun? - John Summit ft. Gorgon City & rhys from the sticks

Tambourine - The Dare

Stop Playing With Me - Tyler, The Creator

dashstar* - VIP - Knock2

Notorious - Malaa

Bangarang - Skrillex ft. Sirah

So Pretty - Reyanna Maria

Kyoto - Skrillex ft. Sirah

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 73°
Climate: sunny & warm
Mood: all right

Stretches: yes -- not enough, though 
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs.

I have been this weight, more or less, since February. I often gain weight during the September rehearsal period. Consistency. Mindfulness. I'm never hungry. Often, I am bored. 

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: TBA

Update (later that same day): For the first time, one of my posts has been flagged for sensitive content warning: "This post was put behind a warning for readers because it contains sensitive content as outlined in Blogger’s Community Guidelines." I have not edited the original post. Can you figure out what the content advisory regards? Because I am flummoxed.

Update 9/21/2025: No longer flagged, no explanation. Weird.