Another month's quota accomplished.Thank you, Major Tom

With one day to spare, I hit my target today, ending up at 39.2 miles. I waited til after the girls had drifted off to sleep, and the Sox game was over (alas, a loss to the dreaded Yankees), for my departure. I went up to the corner of Samford and Gay, passing my wife and her friends closing down Amsterdam Cafe.

I told my Dad about my cunning plan to run 3 half-marathons between my birthdays, and he told me my monthly mileages were too low. I still have almost two months until Athens (GA), so I think I still have time to work up to it. He said he's not in any condition to run it, but he'd be glad to come watch me. That's HIS birthday weekend, so I'm really touched that he'd do that for me.

Playlist, all David Bowie
Space Oddity -from "Space Oddity
Queen B*tch -from "Hunky Dory"
The Man Who Sold The World -from "The Man Who Sold The World"
Moonage Daydream -from "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars"
Diamond Dogs -from "Diamond Dogs"
The Jean Genie -from "Changesonebowie"
Ashes to Ashes -from "Changesonebowie"
Oh! You Pretty Things -from "Hunky Dory"
Unwashed and Somewhat Slightly Dazed -from "Space Oddity"

Times
L1 12:25
L2 6:09
L3 5:51
L4 11:13
L5 0:46
Total 36:24
Not bad for me, almost back under 9:00/mile.

Distance 4.0 miles
Cumulative 39.2 miles. Whew!

Warm Friday

Having finished my lecturing for the week, I knew it was time for another run. I set out shortly after 8 AM, which was, of course, the coolest it was going to be on this run. I went over the Interstate and west on University, up Donahue to College, and past the Art Museum back to Gay and home (not turning down Briarwood). Looking at my time, I didn't think I'd gone 4, but measuring the route showed that I went 4.1 miles. Yay. My BRAND NEW headphones have started going all wonky again. I think that when they get sweat in the microphone they start trying to activate Voice Control, and making the music play oddly. Boo. Otherwise, they're nice headphones.

Playlist
Turn It On -Flaming Lips
Novacane -Beck
Safe European Home -The Clash
The Width of a Circle -David Bowie
E-Pro -Beck
Crazy -Gnarls Barkley
Purple Haze -Jimi Hendrix
Notion -Kings of Leon
For Your Life -Led Zeppelin

Times
L1 15:06
L2 6:27
L3 3:26
L4 11:53
L5 0:50
Total 37:42

Distance 4.1 miles
Cumulative 35.2 miles

Night moves

No, I'm not suddenly down with Bob Seger. I just went on another nighttime run; a variation on the GWCToomer's route, tacking on enough to make it just over 6 miles. I turned on Samford and went up Armstrong, which I haven't done in a long while, and at the end I went around the block a bit to add the last 0.37. It's just warm enough out there, hopefully Fall will be upon us soon.

Playlist -Grungey
Les Yper-Sound -Stereolab
Breed -Nirvana
Devil's Haircut -Beck
On A Plain -Nirvana
Nothing -Meat Puppets
Scum -Meat Puppets
Use Somebody -Kings of Leon
Blanket of Weeds -Meat Puppets
The Sky Is Fallin' -Queens of the Stone Age
Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts -Funkadelic
Superunknown -Soundgarden
Flaming Heart -Meat Puppets

Times
L1 13:00
L2 6:26
L3 7:20
L4 6:18
L5 6:45
L6 3:33
L7 12:15
L8 1:50
L9 0:59
Total 58:27

Distance 6.0 miles
Cumulative 31.1 miles. Getting close again.

Postscript: I think blogger is running some kind of cuckoo clock, it's actually 11pm, not 8:47

Warmer again

My semester has officially started. I taught yesterday, but have not teaching commitments of Fridays. So I thought I'd go on a morning run. The heat has not gone away completely, yet, which I should have thought about before I laid about prior to my run this morning. As it was, I went out towards Chewacla SP and down the bike path, but thought better of seeing that course through to its conclusion and back. I turned around at Canary Drive.

Playlist
(audiobook)

Times
L1 8:56
L2 7:33
L3 5:36
L4 5:44
L5 8:14
L6 7:53
L7 0:48
Total 44:45

Distance 4.7 miles
Cumulative 25.1 miles

Cooler

More nighttime running. The temperature dropped a good bit today. I ran Gay/Samford/College/Woodfield/home with a little extra bit at the end. I ate a pretty large dinner, with beer and potato chips and cake, which is a thing I do on most Mondays. I then came home and took a short rest, which I often do. When I got I, I thought I'd hit the road, because I was feeling like it, but once I got out, all that crappy food caught up with me. I didn't feel awful, but I wasn't going fast and I didn't feel great until towards the end when I felt a bit better. At least I felt better enough to tack a bit on. I listened to one of my new CDs from Amoeba, a collection of African psychedelia put together by David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) on his Luaka Bop label. Most of it doesn't sound too psychedelic to me, rather more there are a lot of other influences evident as well.

Playlist -Love's a Real Thing (World Psychedelic Classics 3-Africa)
Minsato Le, Mi Dayihome -Orchestre Poly-Rythmo de Cotonou Dahomey
Love's a Real Thing -Super Eagles
Keleya -Moussa Doumbia
Ceddo End Title -Manu Dibango
Porra -Sorry Bamba
Guajira Van -No. 1 de No. 1
Better Change Your Mind -William Onyeabor
Allah Wakbarr -Ofo & The Black Company
Awon-Ojise-Oluwa -Gaspar Lawal

Times
L1 13:23
L2 6:28
L3 7:47
L4 3:32
L5 11:14
L6 3:05
L7 0:55
Total 46:24

Distance 4.9 miles
Cumulative 19.4 miles. *Almost* half way there.

Muggy muggy muggy

A hot and muggy run, even at 7:45 at night. Friday night with good friends, I ran to their house through Grove Hill. It didn't add much to the run, just changed the topography a bit. I listened to some African music, mostly my new collection of South African township stuff (Amaswazi Emvelo "You're Telling Tales", featured on Indestructible Beat of Soweto), but started off with some Beninois stuff.

Playlist
Dadje Von O Von Non -Gnosnnas Pedro et Ses Dadjes
Ukuluma Izindaba -Amaswazi Emvelo
Akekho Noyedwa Owaziyo -Amaswazi Emvelo
Uyivila -Amaswazi Emvelo
Intombi Yami -Amaswazi Emvelo
Ziphi Ezakhithi -Amaswazi Emvelo
Sengikala Izinyembezi -Amaswazi Emvelo
Indod 'Emenyama -Amaswazi Emvelo
Amusuke Eduze Kwami -Amaswazi Emvelo

Times
L1 31:21
L2 1:18
Total 32:39

Distance 3.5 miles
Cumulative 14.5 miles

Back in Sweat Home Alabama

And I do mean sweat. It's been muggy and hot, though not as hot as a lot of other places in the southeast where it's been totally unbearable. I've been off partly because of sloth and fear of melting into a puddle of saline ooze, and partly because of work and no childcare and temporary single-parenting and baseball addiction.

However, tonight is the last night of summer vacation for my girls, and I felt I was overdue for a run, which I am now, so I doffed my shirt and hit the road after the last out of the Red Sox-Twins, which coupled with the Yankees loss means happy good news for me, though a late start for a long run.

I ran to Toomer's, which was pretty quiet this time of night on a Tuesday between semesters, so now I'm pretty well back on track for the time being, except I don't think I should do all of it in large chunks like that (large for me, 5+ miles).

Playlist
Dirty Water -the Standells
Honky Tonk Women -the Rolling Stones
I Lost It -Lucinda Williams
Big Time -Peter Gabriel
I Zimbra -Talking Heads
Bust a Move -Young MC
Caught Up In You -.38 Special
Black Country Rock -David Bowie
Way Over Yonder In the Minor Key -Billy Bragg and Wilco
Party in the USA -Miley Cyrus
Search and Destroy -Iggy Pop
Ruby -Kaiser Chiefs
Emperor Tomato Ketchup -Stereolab
Wow and Flutter -Stereolab

Times
L1 12:29
L2 6:18
L3 5:58
L4 4:57
L5 6:39
L6 3:32
L7 11:29
L8 0:54
Total 52:15

Distance 5.6 miles
Cumulative 11.0 miles

Goodbye SF, Hello August

Last run in cool San Francisco, up into the Presidio, around the golf course and back down and around Mountain Lake Park. Then around Presidio Landmark and down part of the Anza Trail, which wasn't on the gmaps-pedometer :( Also on this uncharted leg, I ran out of playlist, so I stopped to re-up it. I emerged over near Baker Beach, and came back up Lincoln to 25th Ave and home via Lake St. I'm going to miss this weather, for sure.

Yesterday my wife and I went to visit some other neighborhoods, namely the upper Haight and Japantown. We came across the SF Marathon coming through. Also, I stopped at Amoeba Music and got some new CDs to plug into the tune-o-matic, some of which featured in today's playlist :)

Playlist (mostly 80s and 90s again)
Working For Vacation -Cibo Matto
Solsbury Hill -Peter Gabriel
Right Place, Wrong Time -Dr. John the Night Tripper
Pictures of Matchstick Men -Camper Van Beethoven
Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key -Billy Bragg and Wilco
Shock the Monkey -Peter Gabriel
Driver 8 -REM
Tide is High -Blondie
Sledgehammer -Peter Gabriel
Car Wheels On A Gravel Road -Lucinda Williams
Catapult -REM
Devil's Roof -Throwing Muses

Times
L1 37:48
L2 (pause for playlist adjustment, a bit longer than 0:54, really)
L3 11:40
Total 50:23

Distance 3.8+1.2+0.4 =5.4 miles?
Cumulative 5.4 miles