Grove Hill Loop

I went up and into Grove Hill and back around via Ogletree and Wright's Mill. It's a nice cool Fall day, so I wore a long sleeve T.  Probably could've gotten away with short sleeves. 

Playlist	Newly installed
The Way You Move	Outkast
Boll Weevil	Presidents of the USA
Les Yper-Sound	Stereolab
Our Lips Are Sealed	the Go-Gos
Airline to Heaven	Billy Bragg and Wilco
That's Good	Devo
Rosa Parks	Outkast
Groove Is In the Heart	Deee-Lite
Big Poppa	Biggie Smalls
When the Levee Breaks	Led Zeppelin

Distance 4.84 mi
Cumulative 19.52 miles
Time 41:32
Pace 8:34 min/mi

GG Park II

While Veronica is with her grandparents, I thought I'd go on a solo run to see if I can still go longer and faster.  It was rather painful, actually.  It's a bright sunny day in San Francisco, probably in the 70s so much cooler than I'm used to, but still I didn't feel like going on and on and on.  As it was I went up 14th Ave to Geary, then up Funston to Fulton and into the Rose Garden (in full bloom!, that's about 1.0 mile) Then I went up JFK to over by Oak near Haight and back near the playground and carousel, then around the mall by the DeYoung (where I went this morning) and Cal Academy of Sciences.  Then back out by the Rose Garden and home with an extra block to make it 5+.

Playlist
Vibrate On	Augustus Pablo and the Upsetters
Red, Red Wine	UB40
T.B. Sheets	Van Morrison
Jump Around	House of Pain
How Many More Times	Led Zeppelin
Pass the Dutchie	Musical Youth
Enter the Ninja	Die Antwoord
Creep	Radiohead

Distance 5.03 miles
Cumulative 15.16 miles
Time 43:27
Pace 8.38 min/mile

Fail, fall down, get up, get going again

So last month ended in abysmal failure.  I failed to meet my monthly mileage quota by a lot, mostly because I failed to get in my third half-marathon, which I was registered for and ready to go to, but my brain kept me away.  Excuses: I had a lot of work to do,  my daughter's softball team needed me,   I've had some personal crises in my life that made ten hours of driving alone and staying in a strange cheap hotel room only to physically exhaust myself all seem, um, unpalatable, to put it mildly.  So.  There's that.

Moving on to this month.  It's been getting warm again, so it's getting to that time of year where I need to put my miles in around the heat.  Today, it's supposed to thunderstorm, and I can hear the thunderheads rolling in.  I knew that three days into May I had to get going or get deeper into the hole, so I chose the former.  I opted for my favorite four mile, up to Samford and back.

Playlist	pretty hard stuff
For Those About to Rock, We Salute You	AC/DC
How Many More Times	Led Zeppelin
The Jean Genie	David Bowie
Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution	AC/DC
You Got The Silver	Rolling Stones
Books About UFOs	Husker Du
Corona	Minutemen

Time 32:55
Distance 4.00 mi
Cumulative 4.00 mi
Pace 8:13 min/mi

Marie W. Wooten Memorial 5K

I ran the second annual Marie Wooten Memorial 5K this morning.  The route was the same, so it seemed a little more familiar this time.  I saw a lot of my colleagues from the College of Science and Math out there, and I finished in a reasonable time.  I was trying to go fast and keep up.

Playlist
Crawl	Kings of Leon
Fok Julle Naiers	Die Antwoord
Jump Around	House of Pain
El Microfono	Mexican Institute of Sound
Born Free	MIA
How Many More Times	Led Zeppelin

Time 22:21.  Reckon that's a PB, though maybe a slightly shorter route
Distance 3.1 (3.02 according to Map My Run)
Cumulative 22.63 miles
Pace 7:41 min/mi

Warming up/West Pace

It's starting to get warm out there. And here it is the first day of Spring? Happy Vernal Equinox!

For today's route, I hit the Shel Toomer Bike path and out around West Pace. It was the first time with the MapMyRun app, so I was able to measure it: 6.89 miles. Also, I recently was introduced to some Wilco that I really like. I've heard Mermaid Avenue, but it didn't really turned my knobs. But Yankee Hotel Foxtrot? That's some crazy good shtuff, there. Today's playlist features it prominently, to wit:

Playlist
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart	Wilco
Sugar Never Tasted So Good	White Stripes
Heavy Metal Drummer	Wilco
Who Loves the Sun	Velvet Underground
I'm the Man Who Loves You	Wilco
Live With Me	Rolling Stones
Kamera	Wilco
Evil Urges	My Morning Jacket
Do Nothing	the Specials
Reggaemyelitis	Peter Tosh
Here Comes Your Man	Pixies
Time to Pretend	MGMT
Inspector Gadget	Lee "Scratch" Perry
Monkey	Matthew Dear
How Many More Times	Led Zeppelin

Distance 6.89 mi

Cumulative 34.94 mi

Time 59:09

Pace 8:36 min/mi

Long Moonlit Route/ More Zeppelin'

In spite of a long work day (not quite from 7 to 11, more like 7 to 7), and a long outing on Monday, I felt like going on a run this evening. And once I got started up Gay heading towards Samford, then up to Magnolia, I just felt like going and going. I went down Magnolia past Tooomer's to Donahue, and then all the way back to College. Then up College back to Toomer's and back to Gay via Magnolia. Then all the way back down Gay to University, and when I checked the mileage, I decided to keep going to try to get over 10 miles. So I went up to Old Wright's Mill and around home that way. I was inspired. It felt really great, with the full moon, and more Led Zeppelin, and ... well. Just inspired.

Playlist	More Zeppelin
I Can't Quit You Baby	from "Led Zeppelin Box Set, Disc 1"
How Many More Times	from "I"
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp	From "III"
Rock and Roll	from "IV"
The Rain Song	from "Houses of the Holy"
Dancing Days	from "Houses of the Holy"
The Song Remains the Same	from "Houses of the Holy"
For Your Life	from "Presence"
What Is and What Should Never Be	from "II"
Misty Mountain Hop	from "IV"
Communication Breakdown	from "I"
Your Time Is Gonna Come	from "I"
Ramble On	from "II"
Tangerine	From "III"
Kashmir	from "Physical Graffiti"
Achilles Last Stand	from "Presence"
In My Time of Dying	from "Presence"

Distance 10.15 miles

Cumulative 17.75 miles

Time 1:30:08

Pace 8:52 min/mi

Sun on my Pelt/Cain't stop Zeppelin'

5 days into March and first run. Up to Whippoorwill and back, though without the extra to get the full 8 miles in. Beautiful day, ran with no shirt. Get some sun on my pelt. Vitamin D. Listened to all Led Zeppelin. I was feeling some tightness in my left side. I don't know why I'd be cramping, though. Maybe dehydrated? Next time: complete sentences.

Playlist	Led Zeppelin
For Your Life	from "Presence"
When The Levee Breaks	from "IV"
The Song Remains the Same	from "Houses of the Holy"
What Is And What Should Never Be	from "II"
Travelling Riverside Blues	from "Led Zeppelin Box Set, Disc 1"
Friends	From "III"
Celebration Day	From "III"
White Summer/Black Mountain Side	from "Led Zeppelin Box Set, Disc 1"
Over the Hills and Far Away	from "Houses of the Holy"
Immigrant Song	from "III"
The Battle of Evermore	from "IV"
Going to California	from "IV"
Custard Pie	from "Physical Graffiti"
Misty Mountain Hop	from "IV"

Distance 7.6 miles

Cumulative 7.6 miles

Time 1:08:59

Pace 9:08 min/mi

Closing In on the Goal for February

I tried a new route this evening: Up to Gay, then right at Thach to Chewacla (Street, not the State Park), and down to Samford. Then up the hill to Dumas, and around to Wright's Mill down to University, and home. I thought it would have been longer, but it came out to be 5.4 miles. In my mind, I thought I could finish the month's goal with this one effort, but I didn't want to push it and finish with a big greedy bite; better to take it in two. I wore the compression suit, although it was just about 50 F when I left the house. I was still feeling a little heavy with dinner, too, though that was worked out about 2 miles in. Overall, I felt good.

I also wish to note that if there is any song that expresses joy moreso than "Cooperation", I'm not sure my heart could stand to hear it. That song just nails it.

Playlist
Vibrate On	Lee "Scratch" Perry
Over the Hills and Far Away	Led Zeppelin
Rudie Can't Fail	the Clash
The Man Who Sold the World	David Bowie
Mexican Radio	Wall of Voodoo
Jane Says	Jane's Addiction
Stay Close to Me	Bad Brains
Cooperation	Franco & Sam Mangwana
Can't You Hear Me Knocking	Rolling Stones
San Ber'dino	Frank Zappa

Time: 48:06

Distance 5.4 miles

Cumulative 37.1 miles

Pace 8:56 min/mi

Windy and Warm Evening

Another crack at the Gay-Magnolia-Donahue-Lem Morrison-Samford-Gay route. I went out after the girls' bedtime, and after a good sized (i.e. not small) dinner featuring some tasty, delicious sausage. I was worried it would sit like a stone in my gut. I did feel a little sluggish in parts, and felt like I'd slowed down quite a bit on the way home, but I didn't need to stop. It was windy and warm out, my favorite kind of weather really, almost 70 F out there.

Playlist
New Amsterdam	Elvis Costello
Honky Tonk Women	Rolling Stones
Who Loves the Sun	Velvet Underground
Genius of Love	Tom Tom Club
Cities	Talking Heads
Solidify	Sheryl Crow
Smile	Lily Allen
Driving South	Jimi Hendrix Experience
Rock and Roll	Led Zeppelin
Gardening At Night	REM
Bring It On	Gomez
Search and Destroy	Iggy and the Stooges
Electric Avenue	Eddy Grant
Opera Singer	CAKE
Paranoid	Black Sabbath
Beercan	Beck
Sweet Emotion	Aerosmith

Distance 7.0 miles

Cumulative 31.7 miles. The rest should be doable.

Time 1:03:58

Pace 9:08 min/mile

Finishing January

Last run of the month, and it felt pretty good. Up to Samford and back, just as dusk was settling into evening. It was warm enough to go without spandex, and comfortable in a long sleeve t-shirt. Cool, but not cold; almost perfect weather for a run.

On Saturday I went for a paddle on Hatchett Creek up in Coosa County with some friends. It was a pleasant enough day, but the river was rather rough, and I'm sorry I took my daughters with me. It was more of an adventure than any of us had bargained for, and it left me quite beat up. Fortunately I had my Five Fingers on, which kept my feet from getting cut to ribbons, though my knee felt pretty banged up. I'm OK now, though, and the run this evening felt good.

Playlist
Watermelon Man	Herbie Hancock
Change Clothes	Jay-Z
Show Some Emotion	Joan Armatradding
What Is And What Should Never Be	Led Zeppelin
Walk On The Wild Side	Lou Reed
Up On The Sun	Meat Puppets
Radio Free Europe	REM
Round And Round	Ratt

Times
L1	12:14
L2	6:03
L3	5:48
L4	10:26
L5	0:42
Total	35:13

Distance 4.0 miles

Cumulative distance 40.5 miles

Douthat State Park

I just got back from a trip to western Virginia, which capped off our grand travels for the Winter Holidays. We had a lovely stay with some old college friends at a lodge at Douthat State Park. We did some hiking up in the mountains, and generally passed the time keeping warm. I went on a run just before dusk, and ended up going farther than I had intended, mainly because I got a bit lost. The last thing I wanted was to get exhausted and have to start walking as the sun was setting, but that didn't happen, and instead I got a long run in instead.

Playlist
Benzi Box	Danger Doom
Blister In The Sun	Violent Femmes
Jump In The Line	Harry Belafonte
Wat Da Hook Gon Be	Murphy Lee
Misty Mountain Hop	Led Zeppelin
Pop Muzik	M
Party in the USA	Miley Cyrus
Over the Hills and Far Away	Led Zeppelin
Dig A Pony	the Beatles
Time to Pretend	MGMT
I've Got A Feeling	the Beatles

Times
L1	14:45
L2	31:35
L3	0:28
Total	46:49

Distance: Not really sure, but about 5-6 miles
Cumulative distance: 35.1- 36.1 miles. Very close to my goal for December. Yay

Couple of days off, back on.

Went up to Gay/Samford and back. I'd been trying to get out again the past couple of days, but haven't been able to. I had a little bit of soreness here and there. Most worrisome in my injured calf. But it seems to be okay.

Playlist
You Got The Silver	Rolling Stones
The Song Remains The Same	Led Zeppelin
Rowboat	Johnny Cash
Dead Flowers	Rolling Stones
Drive My Car	the Beatles
You Can't Catch Me	Chuck Berry
Get Back	the Beatles
Cocaine Blues	Johnny Cash
Yes, I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You	John Prine
San Ber'dino	Frank Zappa

Times
L1	11:52
L2	5:56
L3	5:42
L4	10:49
L5	0:50
Total	35:09

Distance 4.0 miles

Cumulative distance 11.6 miles

Day 2. Sore, trying to make up for lost time

I'm trying to get back on track, but I can't risk hurting myself again. I think the old injury has healed, but I don't want to injure anything else, obviously. I'm feeling just a bit sore today, in my outer thighs. But overall, good. I decided on another shortish run today, an honest 3.8 mile route, out Ogletree to the first road up on the left and back, and down Old Wright's Mill again.

Playlist	Rockin'
Rock And Roll Ain't Noise Pollution	AC/DC
Sweet Emotion	Aerosmith
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da	the Beatles
Paranoid	Black Sabbath
Lust for Life	Iggy Pop
I Do	J.Geils Band
Driving South	Jimi Hendrix Experience
Stray Cat Blues	Rolling Stones
The Song Remains The Same	Led Zeppelin

Times

L1	8:06
L2	5:41
L3	1:19
L4	1:17
L5	6:04
L6	9:55
L7	0:47
Total	33:10

Distance 3.8 miles
Cumulative distance 7.6 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 again.

Another hot day, lazing in bed until it's almost the hottest part of the day. I did see a couple of friends driving by as I went along on my 4.6 mile route, up Gay to Samford and back via the Art Museum. Another 5K tomorrow. Overall, I felt pretty good out there, no major aches or pains or crippling fatigue. As always, glad to get home.

Playlist
The Battle of Evermore -Led Zeppelin
Up on the Sun -Meat Puppets
Singapore -Tom Waits
Going to California -Led Zeppelin
Little Man With A Gun In His Hand -Minutemen
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker -Ramones
Street Fighting Man -Rolling Stones
Burning Down the House -Talking Heads
The Jean Genie -David Bowie
They'll Need A Crane -They Might Be Giants
Dreadlock Holiday -10cc
Exactly Where I'm At -Ween

Times
L1 12:51
L2 6:26
L3 7:49
L4 3:45
L5 12:06
L6 0:55
Total 43:51

Distance 4.6 miles
Cumulative distance 19.8 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

Cold and going to rain/snow

I've let myself eat a little bit off my New Year's Resolved Diet (less meat, more whole grain, less cheese/dairy, more veggies) because of social engagements with friends. A corollary to the Diet is that I don't want to put anybody out with my personally imposed dietary restriction. I took an extra day off after the 7 miler, and I needed to get out before tonight's expected freezing rain and/or snow. So I went on an old route I haven't seen in a while, down to Chewacla and back.

Playlist (Cold Rain and Snow Mix)
Cold Brains -Beck
Cold Sweat -James Brown
Cold Blood -Peter Tosh
Cold and Wet -Ween
Fool in the Rain -Led Zeppelin
Look at the Rain -Meat Puppets
The Rain Song -Led Zeppelin

Times
L1 8:35
L2 7:05
L3 7:23
L4 7:13
L5 0:48
Total 31:04

Distance 3.5 miles (I just remeasured, seems longer than I remember?)
Cumulative 13.4 miles

More running. Yay!

Not as cold this evening. It was a small miracle that I got out again, though after taking a night or two off I knew it was the only way to keep it up; to gut up or shut up. I wore the warm suit, but it wasn't as cold.

Playlist
Body -Presidents of the U.S.A
Lump -Presidents of the U.S.A
Ziggy Stardust -David Bowie
The Battle of Evermore -Led Zeppelin
Oh! You Pretty Things -David Bowie
The Wind Cries Mary -Jimi Hendrix
Aurora Borealis -The Meat Puppets
Reggae Street -The Mighty Diamonds

Times
L1 13:18
L2 12:22
L3 0:55
Total 26:35

Distance 2.8 miles
Cumulative distance 4.4 miles

Last Run in September

I got our for one last run this month, this evening. I need to decide if I'm going to register for the Tough Ten coming up next week. I've been able to do 5.6 comfortably in the recent past, but that last 6.2 gave me some trouble. I was pretty sore for a couple of days after. Ten? seems like a lot. If it were at night, that might be okay. Early morning might be fine as well. My friend who's organizing it told me the route. It's up and back on Ogletree, plus Windway and up into Grove Hill. This evening I ran up to Woodfield and cut up to Wright's Mill and back past the Early Ed. Center.

Playlist Mostly HipHop
The Ocean -Led Zeppelin
What New York Used to Be -the Kills
Time is Too Expensive -Del Tha Funky Homosapien
Bust a Move -Young MC
Bring The Noise -Public Enemy
Jam On It -Newcleus

Times
L1 13:17
L2 3:00
L3 6:52
L4 5:13
L5 0:54
Total 29:21

Distance 3.1 miles
Cumulative Distance 20.2