Requiem for a twat.

Throwing Muses
The Grog Shop, 4/9/2026

This year has been unnecessarily stressful. I mean, you could say that reaching back to forever. But in these recent years I had relaxed into a certain mode, one which involved seeing movies on my own, reading more, cooking, that kind of thing. I need to get back to that. Because otherwise, I'm just watching videos on YouTube.

Am I still middle age? Or am I leaning senior? I'm cool either way. Whatever. You know.

Distance: 3.1 miles

Duration: 27:13
Pace: 8:46

Spring vacillates. Perfect temps in the morning, it will rain this afternoon. So we run.

Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 59°
Climate: gorgeous
Mood: all right

1968 Playlist

Requiem pour un con - Serge Gainsbourg

The Letter - Nirvana Sitar & String Group

I Say a Little Prayer - Aretha Franklin

Daydream Believer - The Monkees

All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie C. Riley

Green Tambourine - The Lemon Pipers

Born to Be Wild - Steppenwolf

Classical Gas - Mason Williams

Those Were the Days * - Mary Hopkins

Man. Those kids would listen to anything.

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 160 lbs. (-1.0)

Sometimes, often these days, I think about all the running. And that's not good. Because I think, God. That's a lot of running. And then I think, why am I doing this? It brings my enthusiasm down. Then I pull myself together and get out there, and I feel great. I feel great now, having run.

Folks think running is hard. But it's really just getting out there that is.

Planks: TBA
Push-ups: TBA

Sit-Ups: TBA

You scream and everybody comes … running.

We're reading more books!
(We're just not finishing them.)

The holidays are fun and all, but how do you feel about reality? Thankfully, I took down the icicle lights and wreath yesterday, when the pavement was damp and not crusted with snow, as it is today.

And work, how do you feel about work? Not as though I wasn't working all through the holidays. Or, at least my mind was working. And it is working now.

Distance: 2 miles

Duration: 16:40

Two days in a row? I thought we didn't do that anymore. Yes, well. I know tomorrow is a no-go, with classes all day and a special event in the evening. I'll take the risk to keep on track.

Route: rec center
Temperature: 28°
Climate: light snow
Mood: driven

But, dude. Remember to eat something.

1975 Playlist

Dancing in the Nude - The Funkees

I Got The … - Labi Siffre

Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker) - Parliament 

Fox On the Run - The Sweet

Stretches: yes
Water: yes
Weight: 165 lbs. (+3.0)

Good lord, what a productive morning. I have resolved to make the most of my weekends in the form of creation. Of course, I need to do this every day, but it is particularly edifying to accomplish a handsome amount of several things, in a row, to graze, as it were, through my necessaries.

Study, read, write, tend (i.e. chores), exercise, write again. That's a morning, less than a morning.

Planks: yes
Push-ups: yes

Sit-Ups: yes

The clock starts ticking now.

Good morning. Headachy, but. Take some discipline to run one mile when you know the music will be hot. But. I don't want to tax my knees. So far, so good. Four runs this week. Tomorrow we will visit the park ... or the city! I hope.

Distance: 1 miles
Duration: 9:12

Note: Jagged flashing.

2006 Playlist

Whoo! Alright - Yeah ... Uh Huh. - The Rapture

Overtime - Girl Talk

Push The Button - Sugababes

Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 65°
Climate: sunny & nice
Mood: all right

Stretches: yes
Water: yes

Upper body: 40 reps

Core Strength: 

   Sit-Ups: 20

   Bicycle 20

Can I keep this up? Maintain. I hope to push myself further.

Baseline: 185 lbs.
Weight: 182 lbs. (+2.0)

Goal: 175 lbs.

Come on, man.

Breakfast: fresh fruit, granola, yogurt

Coffee Break: coffee w/cream

Lunch: Clif Bar, fizzy water

Snack: almonds, dried fruit, fizzy water

Dinner: vegetarian chili over rice

Cover me when I run.

Third day. Poor sleep. Warm night. Slight head pain. Knees feel better. Maybe another day of light exercise. 

Distance: 3.25 miles

Duration: 30:25
Pace: 9:21

Route: Boulevard Loop

Temperature: 61°
Climate: overcast & cool

Mood: good

 

Ah, naw. Full 5K. Let's get this.

 
Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: 20

Water: yes

Breakfast: coffee w/cream, cinnamon bagel & cream cheese

Snack: "fruit snacks"

Lunch: jerk chicken bowl, danish

Snack: almonds & dried cranberries, Funyuns flavored potato chips

Dinner: Mongolian beef over rice

Alcohol? Immigrant Son Common Ale

Baseline: 195 lbs.

Current: 170 lbs. (-0-)

Goal: 165 lbs.

Reading: HTD (30 in.)

Writing: 1 scene

What's That Lyric?

Shock the Monkey - Peter Gabriel

Flood's Cove: Run Seven

Twenty runs or more every month since March. That's some kind of record. I'm not even training for anything.

One more in before we leave tomorrow. It's been a beautiful week, lots of sun, some really hard rain, too, but that's kept the temperatures reasonable. And by reasonable, I mean perfect.

Distance: 3.5 miles

Duration: 35:12
Pace: 10:03

Route: Martin Point Run

Temperature: 73°
Climate: sunny & nice

Mood: good

Last run, slow run. The past two nights I have not slept well, in spite of it being "good sleeping weather." Last night I woke up all the time, I have bedsores on both hips from how firm this mattress is. And you need to sleep to run well.

Next run, probably Thursday, in Cleveland Heights. I will miss the smell of the sea, of the pine, and the relatively low humidity.

 

Stretches: yes

Sit-Ups: tbd
Planks: tbd 

Upper body: tbd
Water: yes

The Twenties (So Far)

Boys Who Kiss You In Their Cars - Ber

Alive! - Bakar

Hi-Fidelity - Lava La Rue ft. Biig Piig

Good Day - Seratones

Can We Forget - ALEXSUCKS

About Damn Time - Lizzo

The Smoke - The Smile

Open Relations - Heart Bones

Tonight - Phoenix ft. Ezra Koenig

Say Peace - Common ft. PJ & Black Thought

Rather see you on the run.

Gym run complete with exercises. The girl's dedication is remarkable, exercising most mornings, then twelve hours at CIA before coming home to unwind playing the violin (that was a joke, the unwinding part) then going to sleep whenever it is she goes to sleep. She is one disciplined fifteen year-old.

Distance: 3miles
Route: Rec Center
Mood: positive

Exercises: yes!

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 166 lbs. (-0.5)
Goal: 160 lbs.

Work. Get below 165 again.

What's That Lyric?
Push - Prince & The New Power Generation

Running folks in ditches.

Lord! What a run. Just wanted to get two miles in --we have a long run tomorrow -- and I dressed for the weather, but I did have shorts on.

Heading out was great, then I had to walk for a few minutes to take a show-related call. But halfway through the rest of the run, the wind picked up and the temperature started dropping fast!

Anyway, I'm fine, I feel great regardless.

What am I going to do when I can no longer run?

No, seriously. What am I going to do?

1974 Playlist
Skin Tight - Ohio Players
September Gurls - Big Star
Riding the Scree/Carpet Crawlers - Genesis
Dancing Machine - The Jackson 5

Run/Walk: 2.35 miles
Route: Horizon Loop
Temperature: 40°→36°
Climate: cold & rain
Mood: driven

Stretches: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 165 lbs. (-1.0)
Goal: 165 lbs. Achievement Unlocked

My legs too weak to stand.

Why yes, I do like Huey Lewis and the News!

Apparently it will be in the fifties in about ten days. It always says it will be in the fifties in about ten days.

Seriously. The doldrums. Running in the cold. I cannot deal anymore. I drag my feet out the door. I am not happy about this.

1983 Playlist
I Want a New Drug - Huey Lewis & the News
Is There Something I Should Know? - Duran Duran
The Flirting Kind - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Modern Love - David Bowie
Automatic - The Pointer Sisters
Fake Friends - Joan Jett & the Blackhearts
Wrapped Around Your Finger - The Police
The Fanatic - Felony

And yet, we persevere. Not so cold, that was nice, actually. Lots of guys around the pond, must be first day of fishing. I didn't know there was an opening day for fishing, but it must be today. There were a dozen folks around that pond.

Many downed trees in my path, too. Nothing enormous, not like last year.

Distance: 3.25 miles
Route: Forest Hill Loop
Temperature: 37°
Climate: cool & partly cloudy
Pavement: wet
Mood: not bad

Stretches: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 167 lbs. (-0-)
Goal: 165 lbs.

Scenery freeze.

Spot the Vice President.

Missed exercise yesterday, too many other responsibilities. And one day off I think, I'll never get this back. Today was jam-packed with errands, but with a little from our friends, I had just enough time to get this run in.

Heading out, I thought there's no way. But I just kept going. I even took a hill. Just kept it close to home, always a right turn away. And yet I kept pressing on, in spite of the slush and the hail.

Maybe it's the Olympics. Maybe it was this playlist. Thanks again, boy.

2001 Playlist
19-2000 (Soulchild Remix) - Gorillaz
Tanto Tempo (Peter Kruder Mix) - Bebel Gilberto
Bird Watching At Inner Forest - Cornelius
Superheroes - Daft Punk
Hella Good - No Doubt
By Your Side (Ben Watt Remix) - Sade
Get the Party Started - Pink

Distance: 3.15 miles
Route: Neighborhood Loop
Temperature: 27°
Climate: light rain and hail
Pavement: crusty with snow, slippery with ice
Mood: driven

Stretches: yes

Baseline: 178 lbs.
Today: 174 lbs. (-0.5)
Goal: 170 lbs.

I would like to celebrate the fact that I have lost six pounds since the beginning of the year. But I am reminded that I was 174 pounds at the start of last year. I made it to 163 pounds and began to gain again. This is, as they say, a marathon, not a sprint.

When everything feels all over.

White Rabbit Red Rabbit
October 24, 7:00 PM

Oh, hai, running.

Lot of stuff going on in our little world. Work, good work. Very good work. Not just for me (though I reflect on that at length in my writing blog) but for all four of us.

I want to, need to be sure to strike a balance between the mind work and the body work. Karl and I were discussing that around the fire in Athens last week, you can push so hard in pursuit of a goal, but once the (literal) race has been run, you can just stand still, and wonder what is left for you to do.

This is true about figurative races as well, you know.

The people around me set a good example, the children are very physically active, and the wife continues successfully with her routine. There are laments, not enough time to get the running in, too many days between workouts. But that's just totally normal. We all feel that.

Distance: 3.2 miles
Avg Pace: 7:37
Route: Boulevard Loop

My goal for the marathon was to run an average pace of 8:30. Did I mention I made 8:29? That's how I did that.

The list of posts at right are the most popular posts in my nine-plus years of keeping this blog. That accumulative, so it takes quite a many view to jump into the list. I don't know why most of them are there, except for passing references to Impossibly Photogenic Guy or Jenn Shelton or perhaps a very popular song lyric.

However, I was very happy to see the TCM post make the top 10. Thanks for that.

Temperature: 43°
Climate: cool and overcast ... hail?
Weight: 158 lbs.
Mood: very glad to be working out

Obsessively eating these days. Mostly almonds, though, so that's better than the alternative.

What's That Lyric?
Let My Love Open the Door * - Pete Townshend

You will pay tomorrow.

Pavlok. Because you aren't miserable enough.

Always hated stretching. As far back as elementary school I remember the gym teacher leading us through stretches and the pain made me feel sick to my stomach, and unnatural pain and I didn't understand how it was associated with the exercise I was trying to do, but there it was.

There was a period when I was in college, when the emphasis on the body was so great that I was actually what you might call limber. I could actually keep my legs straight, reach over and toes my toes. Yes, those were good times. I suppose if I worked on it every day, as I had then, I could once again have such loose muscles and tendons.

But no, screw that, I hate stretching. I cannot see how warming up before a run is any more beneficial than warming up by running. What I really need to do is to make myself stretch after running.

Today I feel all right, considering yesterday's miles. There are complaints all down my right leg. And yes, I have stretched, and it just draws undue attention to the fact that my right leg hurts.

Distance: 3 miles
Duration: 25:43
Avg Pace: 8:33
Route: Boulevard Loop

Hydration. Yesterday I had a bottle with me, kept it full whenever possible. Came home, drank a large glass, then another. When the urge hit me, I had another, and another. And I felt fine.

Strong memories of my first twenty mile run, from the Heights to Lakewood. I felt hungry. I wasn't hungry, I don't need much food. I was dehydrated, and that's it.

Temperature: 72
Climate: bright and humid
Weight: 158 lbs.
Intake: none
Hydration: yes
Stretches: yes, okay?

Yes. There is a device called the Pavlok that will shock you if you skip your workout. I have logged 136 workouts already in 2015, which is more than I ever have during any single year. The fear of obesity and diabetes has been a much more effective motivational device.

What's That Lyric?
Ship of Fools - World Party