New 4+ route

This evening, after a disappointing Auburn game, a resounding Oregon State game, a soccer game in which my daughter scored a goal (!) and an Orchid Society picnic in Columbus, Georgia, I went out for a run as the sun was setting.  Fortunately, I was carrying a flashlight.  I decided to run up University to Donahue, and instead of turning up towards College I turned towards Longleaf and up into that neighborhood.  I came out on Summerhills and crossed over into Town Creek Park. 

Playlist
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together	Taylor Swift
Gangnam Style	Psy
Frontier Psychiatrist	the Avalanches
Sweet Emotion	Aerosmith
Walk Like An Egyptian	the Bangles
Crosseyed and Painless	Talking Heads
Cantique	Kanda Bongo Man
Lady	Fela

Distance 4.42 miles
Cumulative 8.44 miles
Time 37:36
Pace 8:30 min/mile

Run around Campus/Sweatin' to the 80s

I had to move a vehicle from one parking lot to another parking lot across campus for work purposes, so I decided to make a run out of it by taking the long way back from lot A to lot B. Lot A is the Hemlock Lot, and lot B is over by Funchess Hall. So let's see. I don't know that I can or want to describe the route, and I don't know that I'll do it again, so maybe I'll just call it a new route and cut to the playlist and numbers. It was all over and around AU campus, though.

Playlist	Esoterica from the 80s
Moon Rocks	Talking Heads
She Blinded Me With Science	Thomas Dolby
Genius of Love	Tom Tom Club
Blister in the Sun	Violent Femmes
Mexican Radio	Wall of Voodoo
The New World	X
Once In A Lifetime	Talking Heads
Motel Room In My Bed	X
Bust A Move	Young MC
Steppin' Out	Steel Pulse
Gardening At Night	REM
Round and Round	Ratt

Distance 5.53 mi

Cumulative 19.61 mi

Time 45:37

Pace 8:17 min/mi. Don't think I've been that fast in a while.

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

After the Half

A lovely morning it is this morning. And with a relative lull in my teaching duties, I decided to go out on a run. I went up out of the neighborhood and into Grove Hill, then left on Moore's Mill, and up to Dean Road. Then back down Dean to University and home. I felt pretty good. After a half marathon and a couple of days' rest, five miles is feeling like not very much. I feel like a key to getting my speed up is using my thighs more and my calves less. Since I started running again a few years ago, my main goal has been aerobic exercise to improve cardio health. I had read that speed wasn't important, and was in fact counterproductive, as it puts more stress on joints and muscles, etc. So I adopted a technique of running with mostly just lower legs.
But I like trying to improve upon my speed as well, and I think to do that a good start would be using my thighs more. After all, they are bigger muscles and have more swing in them. We'll see how this goes. I don't want to hurt myself.

Playlist- leftovers from the Half Marathon playlist plus

Cool It Down	Velvet Underground
Monkey	Matthew Dear
Driving South	Jimi Hendrix
Evil Urges	My Morning Jacket
Sex On Fire	Kings of Leon
Pop Muzik	M
Tougher Than It Is	Cake
Search and Destroy	Iggy and the Stooges
Once In A Lifetime	Talking Heads
Fat Bottomed Girls	Queen
Smile	Lily Allen

Times
L1 23:35 (home to end of Grove Hill)
L2 18:16
L3 0:43 (sprinting with my thighs, not my calves)

Distance 5.0 miles
Cumulative distance 32.9 miles. 6.1 to go for October's goal.

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.

Still Catching Up

Somehow I thought this route would be a bit longer than 4 miles, but according to gmaps, it's not. I'm trying to play catchup and haven't quite caught up yet. But, being summer in Alabama, it's hot out there and I didn' want to go too far or too fast. I got a new pair of shoes yesterday, the Five Fingers variety, but I'm hesitant to go running in them until I get used to them a bit. My daughter wants to go running with me, so maybe we'll take a short one out to give them a try later today or tomorrow. I'm reluctant to take her out while I'm in catchup mode, seeing as she's a noobie and all.

Playlist
What New York Used to Be -the Kills
Buckingham Green -Ween
Use Somebody -Kings of Leon
Search and Destroy -Iggy and the Stooges
Birds in the Treetop -Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus
Mind -Talking Heads
Clap Hands -Tom Waits
Undone (The Sweater Song) -Weezer
Manhattan -Kings of Leon
Shout It Out Loud -Kiss

Times
L1 12:45
L2 6:39
L3 18:12
L4 0:54
Total 38:30

Route. Wright's Mill Univ. Gay Samford WM Univ. Home.
Distance 4.0 miles
Cumulative 7.1 miles

Getting Close

...to the end of the month. Last week's 5K was canceled due to stormy weather. It's be a mix of overcast and stormy off and on the past week til today. It did storm earlier, but right now it's muggy and overcast, but not even a drip. We need the rain very badly. Over the weekend, I got a terrible pain in my leg which made it unpleasant to even walk. A little ibuprofen (or Vitamin I, as I call it) and rest made it all but disappear. No hint of it this evening as I went out and ran up to Samford and back via College. If tomorrow's 5K pans out, I'll have my monthly goal for the second month.

Playlist, an odd melange
El Microfono -M.I.S.
Party in the U.S.A. -Miley Cyrus
Fireflies -Owl City
Life During Wartime -Talking Heads
Emperor Tomato Ketchup -Stereolab
What Goes On -Velvet Underground
On A Plain -Nirvana
Black Hole Sun -Soundgarden
Crush -Smashing Pumpkins
No Expectations -Rolling Stones
Mexican Radio -WoV

Times
12:41
6:23
7:40
3:42
11:47
0:54
Total 43:08. That's my best time for the route in a while. It's nice to see the time go down, even a little bit.

Distance 4.6 miles
Cumulative 37.4 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

Summer 5K part II

A little bit cooler this evening, a little bit quicker to the finish. I had a pretty sizable spicy Indian lunch, which was, in retrospect, a bad idea, after all. Not as many familiar faces this week, but that's okay.

Playlist
El Microfono -Mexican Institute of Sound
Ruby -Kaiser Chiefs
Torn and Frayed -Rolling Stones
Mind -Talking Heads
Fish, Chips and Sweat -Funkadelic
Armagideon Time -the Clash
Born Free -M.I.A.
Enjoy Yourself -the Specials

Time (unofficial)
27:36

Distance 3.1 miles
Cumulative distance 10.9 miles

Stinky Hat

A route with lots of new terra incognita today. I ran up over the interstate and went left down University, then up into Town Creek Park and around the pond to the left. Out to Gay Street and up to Woodfield, up to the Art Museum and left to Kimberly. Straight down Kimberly back to University and down to Town Creek again. Around the pond to the right this time, and back home via Gay Street, University, Wright's Mill, etc. I was a bit worried about my condition, as a canoe trip on the Tallapoosa River on Saturday left my torso skin fried and my feet cut up with lots of little cuts. When I started out today, my left knee was a little tender, and I felt like I was a bit wobbly. After the first half mile or so, I was feeling loose and well oiled, but my knee was bothering me again a bit at about mile 3. On top of all that, my running favorite running hat stinks. I've tried washing it twice, but it still smells pretty horrific. Maybe I'll try washing it again.

Playlist
Notion -Kings of Leon
Profanity Prayers -Beck
Rock & Roll -Lou Reed
Where It's At -Beck
Superunknown -Soundgarden
Moonage Daydream -David Bowie
The Stallion Part 3 -Ween
Crosseyed and Painless -Talking Heads
Mustache Man (Wasted) -CAKE
Party in the USA -Miley Cyrus
Fireflies -Owl City

Times
L1 18:23 (Home to Woodfield)
L2 3:36 (Woodfield to Museum)
L3 6:56 (Museum to end of Kimberly)
L4 2:12 (Kimberly to Town Creek?)
L5 4:26 (Through Town Creek)
L6 8:14 (Gay Street to Home)
Total 43.47

Distance 4.7 miles
Cumulative distance 7.8 miles

Taking some time off.

After the half marathon, I felt like I was done for a bit. My hips got sore, my feet were in bad shape, and I just needed to recuperate. But I probably went a little longer than I should have, and finally today I got back out there. I'm thinking about running the Love Your Heart 10 k again this year, and I needed to get back on the concrete. I thought about going all the way down the bike path and back, but decided to ease in with a trip down to Chewacla and back. I did make an extra effort on the big hill, to try and work on the hills, but I'm pretty sure a shorter run was a good decision for today. A bit overcast, but warmer than it has been in recent days. First time out in shorts in a while, but with a long sleeve shirt.

Playlist
Federal Funding -CAKE
Benzi Box -Danger Doom
What New York Used To Be -the Kills
I Zimbra -Talking Heads
Rock and Roll Problems -the Hold Steady
Cities -Talking Heads
Search and Destroy -Iggy Pop and the Stooges
El Microfono -Mexican Institute of Sound
Life During Wartime -Talking Heads

Times
L1 8:25
L2 7:18
L3 7:42
L4 7:13
L5 0:54
Total 31:32

Distance 3.5 miles
Cumulative 3.5 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

Run with a purpose

I've ended up taking the week off, not on purpose. Today, though, I had the opportunity to run with a practical objective, namely to fetch my wife's car from a friends house. We'd taken two cars, and left one there, so I opted to run the 3 or so miles rather than figuring out some alternative.
It had gotten quite hot and muggy out there, and so it was tougher than I was expecting, especially with a big drop in elevation toward the end. Our friends live out near the elementary school, so it was up and over, then down Ogletree a bit, and then down.

Playlist
Mambo Sun -T. Rex
Black Country Rock -David Bowie
Back in Black -AC/DC
Jean Genie -David Bowie
No More Tears -Ozzy Osbourne
Peg -Steely Dan
Burning Down the House -Talking Heads

Times
L1 8:40
L2 11:21
L3 8:27
Total 28:28

Distance 3.0 miles
Cumulative distance 5.3 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

San Francisco, a nicer place to run in July

I've fallen off the wagon again, today was my first run in a couple of weeks. It's really been too damned hot for me to run in Auburn, and I've been busy landing a job (!) at the University. Now I'm on vacation in San Francisco, where, it's much nicer for running, to paraphrase Mark Twain. Last night I went to the Giants game at AT&T Park, which was nice, though it was sold out and I spent the game on my feet. My knees were feeling it about the 5th inning on. Great game though; I got to see Tim Lincecum pitch.

Today I went on a pretty short one from my inlaws house to Mountain Lake Park and back. Just a short one to get me going hopefully for a longer one tomorrow in Golden Gate Park.

Playlist
Going to California -Led Zeppelin
Oh! You Pretty Things -David Bowie
Lust for Life -Iggy Pop
Found a Job -Talking Heads

Time
19:55

Distance
? not sure, probably not much more than two miles if that.

Day off, day on

Yesterday I stayed at home with my daughter and a friend. Haven't gotten into night shifts again, yet. With the warmth today, I know it's coming. It seemed nice and moderate when I got suited up, but then as I dallied that Lucky Ol' Sun came out and started cooking up some asphalt. I thought I'd hit Gay/Woodfield and straight back, but I did make it up to Gay/Samford and back. A little bit further, no walking, no calf pain (yet), getting back on track.

Playlist (Mellow)
Shh/Peaceful -Miles Davis
Rastafari Is -Peter Tosh
He'eia -Gabby Pahinui
Academia -Sia
The Overload -Talking Heads

Times
L1 12:31
L2 6:11
L3 5:57
L4 11:16
L5 0:58
Total 36:53

Length 4.0 miles

Ooh, why did I eat first?

Getting to the end of the month, and I should be able to get in 15 runs. Today is lucky number 13, I do believe. Today I had a few things to do in the morning, see another friend's defense seminar, banking, and lunch with my wife and daughter. She requested Chick-Fil-A food, which is about the limit for me as far as fast food goes in general. But I definitely felt a bit logy afterwards, and had to lie down for a few minutes while I charged my personal batteries and the one in my tune-o-matic. Still, I felt a bit logy on the road, and I didn't get very far (not that I wanted to). I prefer my schedule of avoiding eating (except a simple breakfast) before running.

Up Gay to College via Woodfield, back to Gay via Samford, and home.

Playlist
This Must Be The Place (Naive Melody) -Talking Heads
What Deaner Was Talking About -Ween
Let's Spend The Night Together -the Rolling Stones
Yes I Guess They Oughta Name A Drink After You -John Prine
What Is Life -George Harrison
Atomic Dog -George Clinton
Break On Through -the Doors
It Ain't Easy -David Bowie
Beautiful Delilah -Chuck Berry
Rastaman Live Up -Bob Marley
Girl -Beck
Get Back -the Beatles

Times
L1 12:15
L2 3:16
L3 7:09
L4 5:29
L5 9:59
L6 0:51
Total 39:00
Distance 4.6 miles

Two days off, short day on.

Not too long a day out there. My right calf is still a little tight. My wife is back from her trip to Belize, and the kids are off from school for Spring Break. Up Gay Street and back down Wright's Mill.

Playlist
Hosanna -Harry Belafonte
Learn To Fly -Foo Fighters
What A Day That Was -Talking Heads
Jeepster -T.Rex
International Colouring Contest -Stereolab
Superunknown -Soundgarden
God Is A Number -Sleater-Kinney
No One To Depend On -Santana

Times
L1 11:46
L2 5:49
L3 16:28
Total 34:02
Distance 4.0 miles

double A to Z

Back out after the 5k. One day of rest. All the snow is gone, except for the muddy, shrinking snowmen. A pretty nice day, though chilly enough for spandex. I went back out to the Shel Toomer bike path, with a playlist featuring two songs for every letter of the alphabet. The only missing letter is X. I think I know of one really good song to fill that void. Anyway, the playlist, which I got through to H.

Playlist
Alabama Chrome -Jim White
Andy Warhol -David Bowie
Babylon System -Bob Marley
Beercan -Beck
Calling Dr. Love -KISS
Carbon Monoxide -Cake
Draw the Line -Aerosmith
Don't Believe the Hype -Public Enemy
Exactly Where I'm At -Ween
Excuse Me (I Think I've Got a Heartache) -Cake
Fell in Love With A Girl -White Stripes
Flaming Heart -Meat Puppets
Get On The Good Foot -James Brown
The Great Curve -Talking Heads
He'eia -Gabby Pahinui

Times
L1 8:07
L2 6:46
L3 13:34
L4 13:36
L5 7:07
L 7:50
Total 57:02 New personal best for that route

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.