Last of September

Up Gay Street to Samford, back via College, Donahue, University. Thought about turning into Town Creek Park, didn't do it. I feel like I have a lot to do at work, and I need to get in there. I think I'm doing all right, mileage-wise. Another Stones-rich playlist.

Playlist-Song	Artist
You Got the Silver	Rolling Stones
Good Vibrations	Beach Boys
Stray Cat Blues	Rolling Stones
The Man Who Sold the World	David Bowie
Seen and Not Seen	Talking Heads
B*tch	Rolling Stones
2000 Light Years From Home	Rolling Stones
Turn It On	Flaming Lips
Walk On By	CAKE
Diamond Dogs	David Bowie
What Is Life	George Harrison

Times
L1	11:45
L2	5:35
L3	6:44
L4	5:58
L5	12:10
L6	0:49
Total	43:01

Distance 5.1 miles
Cumulative distance 56.5 miles. A good jump in mileage.

IT

A shortish run over to my friends' house. I was pleasantly surprised to measure it again, 3.1 miles. I realize shortly into my run that my playlist had a theme, so I decided to alter IT to go with IT.

Playlist		What to do about IT?
Turn It On		Flaming Lips
Bring It On		Gomez
Let It Bleed		Rolling Stones
Cool It Down		Velvet Underground
Here It Goes Again		OK Go
I Can't Stand It		the Specials

Times
L1	7:31
L2	9:39
L3	5:39
L4	1:13
Total	24:03

Awesome. 8 minute miles make me happy.

Distance 3.1 miles
Cumulative distance miles 35.7 miles

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

Muggy but nicer

It's a bit overcast and it might rain shortly, which is good because we need rain. The temperature is down a bit, but the humidity is quite high. I got off to a good start and decided to go down to Toomer's Corner and back, the ol' 5.6 mile route. And it's our Wedding Anniversary, yay!

Playlist -A nice one, seemed to flow well.
Take Me Away -Ween
Cut -Minutemen
China Girl -David Bowie
Highway to Hell -AC/DC
Celebration Day -Led Zeppelin
Buk-In-Hamm Palace -Peter Tosh
Loser -Beck
Cobbler -Meat Puppets
The Gnome -Pink Floyd
It's Up To You -the Specials
The Day I Tried To Live -Soundgarden
It's Summertime -Flaming Lips
Meanwhile Rick James... -CAKE
Nappy Dugout -Funkadelic

Times
L1 12:23
L2 6:31
L3 6:11
L4 4:49
L5 6:38
L6 3:34
L7 11:16
L8 0:48
Total 52:11

Distance 5.6 miles
Cumulative distance 28.5 miles

Hot Lazy Saturday Morning

I knew I had to get out there today. I'm slipping behind in my challenge, and I don't think I should try to backend all my miles at the end of the month. Another newish route, left on University and up to Donahue, then back down Kimberly and down University to Town Creek. At the restrooms, I stopped and rested, both my bladder and the rest of my body, and had a little sip of water from the fountain, then back out to Gay and home.

Playlist
Use Somebody -Kings of Leon
Lucifer Sam -Pink Floyd
Spoonman -Soundgarden
Notion -Kings of Leon
Blanket of Weeds -Meat Puppets
Transdermal Celebration -Ween
Mexican Radio -Wall of Voodoo
Turn it On -Flaming Lips
Heroes -David Bowie
Benzi Box -Danger Doom
Manic Depression -Jimi Hendrix
Say It Ain't So -Weezer

Times
L1 15:24
L2 3:12
L3 7:12
L4 2:11
L5 3:17
(Break 3:26)
L7 9:13
L8 0:56
Total 44:53 -3:26 =41:27

Distance 4.3 miles
Cumulative distance 15.2 miles

Hot Summer 5K Series

Today was the first of the Wednesday evening 5K's, a series I haven't done before, but have signed up to do this year. I saw a good number of friends and colleagues there, most of whom ran much faster or much slower than me. It was hot, at one point the thermometer got up to 99 F. I wasn't impressed with my time, but between the heat and the new route and the change in elevation, it's somewhat understandable.

Playlist (Hot Summer)
It's Summertime -Flaming Lips
Summertime Rolls -Jane's Addiction
White Summer/Black Mountain Side -Led Zeppelin
Red Hot Mama -Funkadelic
Silver Black Summer Day -Living Funk
Coming In Hot -Peter Tosh

Time 28:43 (unofficial) It just keeps getting worse now :(

Distance 3.1 miles
Cumulative distance 3.1 miles

Adjective Noun

Trying to get one more semi-long run in before the Tough Ten. Gay Samford College Woodfield and back with a little extra at the end. Feeling pretty good, quite good actually. Knees a little sore. Hopefully didn't cripple myself for tomorrow's long day in the lab.

Playlist (lots of adjective noun band names)
Oh, Atlanta -Alison Krauss
Save It For Later -English Beat
The Wizard Turns On... -Flaming Lips
Caught Up In You -.38 Special (a number adjective band, just to mix it up)
Houses In Motion -Talking Heads
Banned In D.C. -Bad Brains
Whip It -Devo
Let's Dance -David Bowie
Mexican Radio -Wall of Voodoo
Crazy -Gnarls Barkley
Seven Nation Army -White Stripes

Times
L1 13:21
L2 6:28
L3 7:27
L4 3:30
L5 11:45
L6 0:46
Total 43:18

Distance: 5.0 miles
Cumulative distance 12.2 miles

Dang, already missed half of August.

Long time without going out. I couldn't even get out a second time in San Francisco. It's finally cooled off a little bit, and I felt inspired, so I went on a short run, up to Gay/Woodfield and back. My friend gave me an entry form for a 10 mile race in October. It may take some doing, but I think I'm going to try for it.

Playlist
People are Strange -the Doors
Electric Avenue -Eddy Grant
It's Summertime -Flaming Lips
Rock and Roll, Part 2 -Gary Glitter
The Next Episode -Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
Ruby -Kaiser Chiefs
Rhythm and Rhyme -George Clinton
Found A Job -Talking Heads

Times
L1 13:42
L2 11:47
L3 1:02
Total 26:30

Distance
2.7 miles

Back to it and still at it

And yet a little further. Up Gay to Thach, east to Brookwood down to Samford and back down via Wright's Mill to Loftin. Feeling pretty good.

Playlist -More of that same genre as yesterday plus some others
The Day I Tried To Live -Soundgarden
Say It Ain't So -Weezer
Mutilated Lips -Ween
Speaking In Tongues -Eagles of Death Metal
Seven Nation Army -White Stripes
I'll Stick Around -Foo Fighters
Ego Tripping At The Gates of Hell -Flaming Lips
Watching The Detectives -Elvis Costello
It's Summertime -Flaming Lips
I Gotcha Back -Genius/GZA
Going On -Gnarls Barkley
Our Lips Are Sealed -the Go-gos
Purple Haze -Jimi Hendrix
(I Love It When You) Call Me Names -Joan Armatradding


Times
L1 12:20
L2 5:56
L3 (Top of Gay Thach Brookwood Samford) 19:14
L4 (Wright's Mill Loftin) 10:52
L5 6:17
Total 54:40

Distance 6.0 miles

Ogletree loop

Ran out Ogletree and decided to go around the loop rather than turning around. That's actually the shorter route. Seven plus miles. Missed yesterday, because my daughter didn't have school and I was in charge.

Playlist
Sweet Child O' Mine -Guns 'N Roses
The Yeah Yeah Yeah Song -Flaming Lips
What Is Life -George Harrison
Rusty Cage -Soundgarden
Catch All This -Del the Funky Homosapien
16 Shells From a Thirty-Ought Six -Tom Waits
Rock The Casbah -The Clash
Nappy Dugout -Funkadelic
Diamond Dogs -David Bowie
Jesus and Tequila -Minutemen
That Girl From Brownsville, Texas -Jim White
Seven Nation Army -White Stripes
You Can't Catch Me -Chuck Berry
Atomic Dog - George Clinton

Times
L1 (Home ->SS) 8:28
L2 (SS ->Windway) 11:33
L3 (WW ->Moore's Mill) 18:40
L4 (MM ->University) 12:28
L5 (MM/Univ ->Home) 12:16
Total 1:03:26
Distance 7.07 miles

New Month, New Route, Will I ever go back to my old ways?

Another couple of days off, followed by another long run. I'm not sure how this pattern affects my desired goals, i.e. getting more fit, losing weight, going longer, getting ready for half- or full-marathon. Most of the route I've done before, only now I've mish-mashed them into a new combination. Down University up to Donahue, up onto campus and up to Magnolia, across College and down Gay to Thach, Armstrong to Samford and back home via Gay St.

Playlist
Over the Hills and Far Away -Led Zeppelin
Alone + Easy Target -Foo Fighters
Crazy Train -Ozzy Osbourne
Superunknown -Soundgarden
The Distance -Cake
Chest Fever -The Band
Don't Sh*t Where You Eat -Ween
God is a Number -Sleater-Kinney
Dr. Lee, PhD -Beastie Boys (with Lee "Scratch" Perry)
Ego Tripping at the Gates of Hell -Flaming Lips
Gold -GZA
For Your Life -Led Zeppelin
Coming In Hot -Peter Tosh
Xtabenium -Acme Rocket Quartet

Times
L1 (Home-> Donahue) 14:32
L2 (Donahue->College) 3:16
L3 (College-> Samford?) 4:33
L4 (?->Toomer's Corner) 13:58
L5 (Toomer's -> Samford/Gay) 7:01
L6 (Samford->Woodfield) 6:01
L7 (Woodfield-> Home) 11:54
Total 1:01:14
Distance 7.0 miles

Onto Auburn campus

New route again. I went over the Interstate and to the left this time, down the big hill of University and back up to Donahue, up to campus, cut over by the President's house, down Samford and home via Gay St. I'm losing my fear of big hills.

Playlist, O to U.
One Nation Under a Groove -Funkadelic
Our Lips Are Sealed -The Go-gos
Peas and Rice -Blind Blake and his Royal Victorians
Pilot Can At The Queer Eye of God -Flaming Lips
Queen Bitch -David Bowie
Qhude Manikiniki -Umahlathini Nabo
Roses are Free -Ween
Ruby Sees All -Cake
Shadow Stabbing -Cake
Small Axe -Bob Marley and the Wailers
Take Me Away -Ween
Train in Vain -The Clash
Universal Corner -X
Up On The Sun -Meat Puppets

Time
48:21. Distance 5.4 miles. Includes a stop at a traffic light. A rare stop for me.

Sweet Virginia

I didn't listen to this song today, but there's a line in the song that struck a chord with me. And my shoes. Last night I was wearing the recently cleaned old New Balance shoes and misstepped in the dark. I thought, perhaps rather than scrape, I could run to get the mashed excreta off my shoes. Another reason this song resonated today was my route. Apparently I've been running the wrong course for this Saturday's Race to Help Haiti. I've been running all the way up Wright's Mill Rd to Samford and back to Gay Street, but the proper route cuts back over to Gay St. via Virginia St. I don't think it's much of a difference distance wise, but it does add an extra dip and climb. So I ran the proper course today, out of sequence since I wanted to try for a decent time but not end up doubling the route. Theoretically, this is an easy day. It's pretty cold out there (count my blessings, most of the rest of the country is deep under snow right now), and I wasn't feeling fantastically great out there, but my time was OK.

Playlist (more eclectic on-the-go)
Sissyneck -Beck
Tougher Than It Is -Cake
The W.A.N.D. -Flaming Lips
Walk On By -Cake
The Book I Read -Talking Heads
Buddy Holly -Weezer
Clampdown -The Clash
Cold Sweat -James Brown
Crazy -Gnarls Barkley
Fish, Chips and Sweat -Funkadelic
Guns of Brixton -The Clash
Hot Pink -Meat Puppets

Times
L1 (to Loftin) 6:57
L2 (the proper 5k, out of order) 26:47
L3 (back home) 6:34
Total 40:18.

Practicing for the 5k

I thought I'd practice for next weekends 5k, taking the course from start to finish, which meant I had to jog up to the corner of Gay and Samford. Knowing that, I took it easy on the way up Gay Street, as you can see from the time to the 1st stop sign, which I've been getting to in 12 minutes in recent attempts. My right foot has been blistery, but I've started soaking in Epsom salt to try and soothe it.

Playlist (more of the on the go one from the 10 k, M-->T)
Mushroom Men -Les Claypool
The Next Episode -Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
Novacane -Beck
Once in a Lifetime -Talking Heads
Push Th' Little Daisies -Ween
Queen Bitch -David Bowie
Rastafari Is -Peter Tosh
Rebel Rebel -David Bowie
Rock & Roll -Lou Reed and Velvet Underground
Settin' The Woods On Fire -Hank Williams
She Don't Use Jelly -Flaming Lips
Smiley Faces -Gnarls Barkley
The Song Remains The Same -Led Zeppelin
Straight Outta Compton -N.W.A.
Sugar Never Tasted So Good - White Stripes
Sweet Emotion -Aerosmith
There Goes My Gun -Pixies

Times
L1 (Home --> Gay/Woodfield stop sign) 13:07
L2 (stop sign --> Gay/Samford) 6:38
L3 (the 5 k route) 26:14
L4 6:14
L5 12:23
Total 1:05:00 I'm starting to feel like an hour isn't such a long time to be on the road, which is good.

Naughty, naughty me.

I've been a very very naughty boy. I've taken almost two weeks off. I didn't run in the half-marathon. I've been a lump. Why? The irony of the matter is because I got bad news that should have inspired me to run more often: my cholesterol is through the roof. For some reason, this news glued my butt to my chair when I should have been running. Given that my family has a history of heart disease, I shouldn't be too surprised. Fortunately, there are meds that can help mitigate the problems of high cholesterol in the form of statins, which I am now taking. And exercising is one factor that can reduce the likelihood of heart disease developing down the line. I guess I thought the running beforehand would have helped keep the numbers down. I should have learned from Jim Fixx.
The last time my cholesterol was checked was when I lived in California, and ate a lot better. More vegetarian meals, fewer chicken fingers, less barbecue. My physician there suggested that one of my numbers was off, and I should be careful. Now, 4 of 5 of my numbers are high. So I'm trying to change my diet; no more bbq, less fat and beer, more oatmeal, whole grains (brown rice), fish oil, fruits and vegetables. My wife thinks I should try a few months with just the dietary approach, but the efficacy of statins is well documented, with few adverse effects (although I'm on the lookout for the myalgia).

So today, I thought I'd only start out small, up to Woodfield/Gay and back. Baby steps, there will be other half marathons, hopefully someday a full marathon.

Playlist
Flaming heart -Meat Puppets
She Don't use Jelly -Flaming Lips
Let's Spend the Night Together -The Rolling Stones
No One To Depend On -Santana
On verra ca -Orchestra Baobab

Time
There 12:38
Back 12:43
Total 25:20. Pretty fast for this route, considering my hiatus.

Not quite as long

I had a heavier dinner than I should have, and was feeling rather lethargic starting out. Truth be told, I felt unmotivated and was close to bagging on the run tonight. The weather is supposed to turn ugly here soon, so I figured I'd go anyway. It didn't take long to get into the spirit of the thing, although I didn't feel up to crossing the Interstate, so I just went on a couple of loops around the neighborhood.

Playlist, another "alternative" mix:
Cellphone's Dead -Beck
Dashboard -Modest Mouse
Going On -Gnarls Barkley
Buddy Holly -Weezer
The W.A.N.D. -Flaming Lips
Confusion Fog -Meat Puppets
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend -Ramones

Time out, 26:09

A good long alternative mix

I thought about going out Sunday night after Saturday night, because I knew I'd miss last night due to a prior engagement. I didn't, so I went a bit longer tonight.

Playlist:
Spinal Meningitis -Ween
Sugar -Imperial Teen
Making Flippy Floppy -Talking Heads
Enchanted Porkfist -Meat Puppets
It's Expected I'm Gone -Minutemen
What's Going On -Husker Du
Float On -Modest Mouse
The Sky Is Falling -Queens of the Stone Age
Turn It On -Flaming Lips
The Distance -CAKE
Emperor Tomato Ketchup -Stereolab
Time out 44:13.5

OK, OK, don't push us when we're HOT!

Another daylight run. I want to eat and relax (read BBQ and heavy food and beer) so I decided I needed to go on a daylight run to enable both exercise and dinner plans. Went up to the corner of Gay and Woodfield, up to Wright's Mill, down to ??? and into Town Creek Cemetery. Down into the park part, and had a pee at the restroom there. (Too much information? Sorry, that's what I do here, you know, sharing). Then back home. A nice playlist, in my humble opinion, featuring some new additions to the tune-o-matic. It was hot out there, and after a late night of beer drinking and a heavy brunch this morning, I was pretty tuckered by about a quarter of the way in.

Playlist:
Armagideon Time -The Clash
Rental Car -Beck
To Kingdom Come -The Band
Diamond Dogs -David Bowie
Warning Sign -Talking Heads (from The Name of This Band...)
Fish, Chips and Sweat -Funkadelic
Whatever Makes My Baby Feel Good -Parliament
It's Summertime -The Flaming Lips
I Just Wanna Have Something To Do -The Ramones

Time out 40:00

Bike ride

So it's been another long while since I went running. No better reason than sloth and having been busy doing things that aren't running. I went on a bike ride today, to the library. I am embarrassed at how worked I am from the experience. I need to get out and run some more. If I wasn't blogging about it, I could have quietly quit with no one to judge, but somehow the blog is my confessional to the sin of sloth.

I also got to listen to some music. On the way out, excerpts from Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, by the Flaming Lips:

Fight Test
Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (Parts I and II)
Ego Tripping At the Gates of Hell
Do You Realize?

On the way back, some Gabby Pahinui. I've been all about the Hawaiian music of late. It just puts me in my happy place. I highly recommend Hawaiian Rainbow to anyone who agrees. I have a kama aina friend who gave me some of da kine Hawaiian tunes.

Hii Lawe
My Little Grass Shack
Lei Aloha Lei Makamae
Mauna Loa
Ka Ua Loku
Wai Hu'i O Keaniani
Ahulili

Easter Greetings

Easter's here which means a few things to my running. 1. Lent is over, so I've chosen to return to those things which I've given up for 40 days, namely coffee, beer, and sugar. This last one has had several of my scientist colleagues challenging me on what I define as sugar. For the purposes of the my fast, I defined sugar as any of several listed ingredients including: sugar, dextrose, sucrose, high fructose corn syrup. I did eat honey and maple syrup, which are course full of 'sugar', at least in terms of simple carbohydrates. Anyway, the purpose of the fast (besides the spiritual challenge) was not attained. I did not lose any weight. I haven't been running as much as I'd wanted due to illness, so that didn't help. Also, I did not abstain from other sources of caffeine (tea, diet soda) or alcohol (wine, liquor), so that couldn't have helped either.
2. Today was a feast, including doughnuts (of the Krispy Kreme fundraiser variety, not my favorite but there they were), cheesy grits, chocolate, but a modest dinner after all that.
3. We went to an Easter egg hunt at a friend's house on bicycles, with me lugging the Burley trailer. Our friends do not live far away, maybe a mile and a half, but I felt shamefully winded by the experience. I haven't ridden my bike at all for a while, and clearly I should.
4. The Easter Bunny brought a new yoga ball into our lives, along with an exercise DVD, so perhaps I'll be doing some stretching, cardio toning kinds of things to help with the whole fitness adventure.

And finally, after all that, I did get out on a jog. I went faster than normal, maybe due to the lighter dinner. I jogged up to the Museum and back, with an extra quarter mile or so around Town Creek Park, and still made it back in under 40 minutes.

The Playlist.
Turn It On -The Flaming Lips
Oh, Me -Meat Puppets
Pork Roll Egg and Cheese -Ween
Tried and True -Ween
Undone (The Sweater Song) -Weezer
I'm Gonna Put Some Hurt On You -The Meters
Cold Blood -Peter Tosh
Mother Popcorn -James Brown
Get Off My Cloud -The Rolling Stones
Get On Down -Meat Puppets.

Time 39:56 Considering this is the same route as last Sunday, and a bit longer, I'm happy with the time.