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.

Quota for March!

I've been in the swing of things and managed to hit my monthly quota over a week early. I went up Whippoorwill (three sets of double letters, I observed as I passed the entrance sign at the top of the big hill). On the way back, I went down Old Wright's Mill, which I thought would have gotten me over 8 miles today, but not quite. Anyway, a good run. Knock on wood, I'm feeling good. The playlist includes a number of songs I'm currently learning to play, including some Hawaiian slack-key guitar. I was also trying to think up a new challenge for my next birthday year. I'm thinking about doing the Music City Half Marathon at the end of April for my third in this year, and for next year: 40 miles/month, with no runs under 4 miles and at least 10 a month? A full marathon (that's 42+ km)? I've got a little time to figure it all out.

Playlist	eclectico
Manteca	Dizzy Gillespie
Isa Lei	Keola Beamer
Mino'aka	Keola Beamer
Moana's Laundry Basket	Keola Beamer
Papa's Okolehau	Keola Beamer
I Ka Pi Me Ke Ao	Keola Beamer
Blue Ridge Mountain Home	Flatt and Scruggs
Crazy Heart	Hank Williams
Paradise	John Prine
Rowboat	Johnny Cash
The Wurlitzer Prize (I Don't Want to Get Over You)	Waylon Jennings
Good Hearted Woman	Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain	Willie Nelson
I'm the Man Who Loves You	Wilco
Heavy Metal Drummer	Wilco
I Am Trying to Break Your Heart	Wilco
War on War	Wilco
Sugar Never Tasted So Good	White Stripes
Do	White Stripes
The New World	X
Motel Room In My Bed	X
Stray Cat Blues	Rolling Stones

Distance 7.79 mi

Cumulative 42.73 mi

Time 1:08:37

Pace 8:49 min/mi

A Golden Finish to July!

After a nice long run through Golden Gate Park, I thought I'd head the other direction and attempt the Golden Gate Bridge. It's 2.25 miles from the house to the bridge plus 1.2 miles each way, for a round trip of 6.7 miles. That puts me over my quota for the month! The route over through the Presidio is quite beautiful, although it's mostly up one side of a big hill and back down the other. Once on the bridge, it's quite a tangle of tourists on foot and bicycle, not too many other runners. It got much less congested after the first stanchion, and even less so after the second, although there was some traffic coming from the Marin side at the end. Yay for nice cool conditions to get me up to my goal with a few days to spare.

I have to wonder if I've set the bar too low, seeing as how I was slacking off at the beginning of the month, and I have a couple of days to spare at the end. On the other hand, this is only the third month I've completed my goal out of the twelve I've committed to, and I'm certainly a bit worn about the calves and knees as a result. Look out August! Here I come!

Playlist (California and Western States Influence)
El Microfono -Mexican Institute of Sound
Corona -Minutemen
Straight Outta Compton -NWA
No Phone -Cake
Mexican Radio -Wall of Voodoo
In This House That I Call Home -X
Come As You Are -Nirvana
Let Me Drown -Soundgarden
Jane Says -Jane's Addiction
Hot Pink -Meat Puppets
History Lesson Part 2 -Minutemen
I'm a Mindless Idiot -Meat Puppets
Time Is Too Expensive -Del The Funky Homosapien
When I Win The Lottery -Camper Van Beethoven
Motel Room In My Bed -X
Long Line Of Cars -Cake
Gin and Juice -Snoop Dogg
Carbon Monoxide -Cake
Walk On By -Cake
Strange Apparition -Beck
Mustache Man -Cake

Times
L1 37:25
L2 36:57
Total 1:14:22

Distance 6.7 miles
Cumulative 34.0 +6.7 =40.7 miles W00T!

Back out there

I've taken a week off, partly because my legs have been a little sore after the 7 miler, and partly because I've been traveling (down to Tampa to visit a good friend of mine and to see the Red Sox play). This evening, since there was no 5k, I went on a slightly longer route. My friend invited our family over for dinner and a swim, so while they drove, I ran. I ran up into Grove Hill, to the far pool over near Moore's Mill Rd, and back via Windway to Ogletree and down into Springwood, about 5.2 miles. It was a bit nicer weather after the downpour we received today. My calves are definitely barkin' now, though. Over halfway to my monthly goal, but not that much month left.

Playlist (mostly 80's stuff I recently added to the Tune-O-Matic)
Sledgehammer -Peter Gabriel
Moral Kiosk -REM
Rapture -Blondie
Up On The Sun -Meat Puppets
Dizzy -Throwing Muses
(I Was Born In A) Laundromat -Camper Van Beethoven
I Lost It -Lucinda Williams
Radio Free Europe -REM
Adult Books -X
Blitzkrieg Bop -Ramones
Car Jamming -the Clash
Coming In Hot -Peter Tosh
Devil's Roof -Throwing Muses

Times
L1 25:15 (home to turnaround)
L2 23:59 (turnaround to Springwood stop)
Total 49:14

Distance 5.2 miles
Cumulative 23.1 miles

Getting Hot in Here

Just added a year, and a new goal. I'd like to run 39 miles a month, or 3 half marathons, or both. To this end, I have to run, so I did. It's starting to get hot out there, and I felt it. I started off at about 8:45, which is currently too late to get started, which I should have known given the 5k last Saturday that started at 8:00. Even so, with such an ambitious goal, I knew that I had to push a bit, and I felt that the Gay/Samford/College/Woodfield route would accomplish that.

Playlist
El Microfono -MIS
Black Country Rock -David Bowie
As Good As I Can Feel -Funkadelic
No More Tears -Ozzy Osbourne
Baba-Ye -Mahlathini
Rudie Can't Fail -the Clash
Los Angeles -X
Lust For Life -Iggy Pop
F**kin' With My Head -Beck
Fireflies -Owl City
Lucifer Sam -Pink Floyd
Walk On By -CAKE

Times
L1 13:20
L2 6:41
L3 7:51
L4 3:43
L5 12:23
L6 0:56
Total 44:55

Distance 4.6 miles
Cumulative 12.3 miles

Clear cold day

Another run up and over the hill, down to Chewacla and back. My classes for this afternoon were canceled as an artifact of the 'winter weather' (really the Auburn football team winning the National Championship!) on Monday and Tuesday, so I took advantage of the extra time for a clear cold run.

Playlist
Slavedriver -Jenny and Johnny
The Glory of Man -Minutemen
The Distance -Cake
She Blinded Me With Science -Thomas Dolby
F*ckin' With My Head -Beck
Mutilated Lips -Ween
Paranoid -Black Sabbath
The Stallion Part 3 -Ween
Been Caught Stealing -Jane's Addiction
Motel Room In My Bed -X

Times
L1 8:10
L2 7:03
L3 7:21
L4 7:17
L5 0:46
Total 30:37 Glad to be back within the 30 minute range. Feeling like I'm getting back into the swing of things.

Distance 3.5 miles
Cumulative distance 16.9 miles

First Run of 2011/Presidio

First run of 2011! A beautiful run up into the Presidio and around the golf course. Back through Mountain Lake Park. A lovely run for the first of 2011 and the last in California for a while. I got to see X at Slim's, Wow, what a show. After showing the movie "The Unheard Music", the band came out and played all of "Los Angeles" and a bunch more. Also, Ray Manzarek (of the Doors) played a few songs with them. Awesome. In a couple of weeks we're off to see Cake in Birmingham. Yahoo!

Playlist
We Are The Dead -David Bowie
What New York Used to Be -the Kills
Paper Planes -M.I.A.
Los Angeles -X
Rock Problems -the Hold Steady
Ruby -Kaiser Chiefs
White Girl -X
Ruby Sees All -Cake
Wheels -Cake

Time
28:16

Distance 2.8 miles

Few days off, back at it again.

I was feeling pretty SLOTHful over the weekend. Friday, I would have gone but my girls got out of camp early, and so I couldn't get going early enough to get out. However, I feel a lot better today for the rest. For one thing, it wasn't as muggy out, clear blue sky for the first time in over a week. I did get out a little later, and it was warm, but I didn't feel absolutely oppressed. Gay/Samford/College/Woodfield/Gay

Playlist (featuring some free downloads from Amazon)
The Day I Tried to Live -Soundgarden
Reggae Street -Mighty Diamonds
The Golden State -John Doe
Bubble Pop -Del the Funky Homosapien
Come Together -the Beatles
Pride and Joy -Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble
Blanket of Weeds -Meat Puppets
Prodigal Son -the Rolling Stones
Death Letter -White Stripes
Mexican Radio -Wall of Voodoo
Can I Kick It? -Tribe Called Quest

Times
L1 13:02
L2 6:16
L3 7:13
L4 3:23
L5 10:54
L6 0:46
Total 41:35

Distance 4.6 miles
Cumulative Distance 20.4

Road Trip, and back on the Road

I spent the last four days in Charlotte, at a meeting my wife was attending. I did see people running through downtown Charlotte, but I didn't really get the opportunity to join them. I swam in the pool at the hotel, but not in a real exercising sort of way. I also tried the treadmill in the hotel gym. I hated that thing. I spent 12+ minutes on it, and did not care to watch TV jiggle in front of me, or to have all these buttons to regulate the speed. I almost fell off the thing. Suffice to say, it is not for me at this point; I much prefer feet on concrete. So I went for an evening run out to the bike path, bringing a flashlight with me for the first dusky run in a while. It was brisk out, nice for running. Ahhhh. Home sweet home.

Playlist
(I Love It When You) Call Me Names -Joan Armatradding
Queen Bitch -David Bowie
Ocean Breathes Salty -Modest Mouse
Honton Soukpo Gnon -Antoine Dougbe
Rastafari Is -Peter Tosh
Pork Roll Egg and Cheese -Ween
Hotel Yorba -White Stripes
Jolene -Cake
Andy Warhol -David Bowie
Cissy Strut -the Meters
Heavy Heavy Heavy -Geraldo Pino
In This House That I Call Home -X
No One Knows -Queens of the Stone Age

Times
L1 7:47
L2 6:39
L3 13:25
L4 8:14
L5 4:55
L6 6:55
L7 7:17
Total 55:12 Another PB. Yay!

Back to an old favorite

The Shel Toomer bike path. A bit damp, but not really raining. Pretty nice day for it. I felt a little logy on the trail, but I did well. Slacked a bit on the way back, but finished strong.

Playlist
Changes -David Bowie
Our Lips Are Sealed -The Go-Go's
What Is And What Should Never Be -Led Zeppelin
Straight Outta Compton -N.W.A
Buk-In-Hamm Palace -Peter Tosh
The Day I Tried To Live -Soundgarden
Hands All Over -Soundgarden
White Girl -X
Beginning to See the Light -Velvet Underground
Pretty Girl -Ween
Rudie Can't Fail -The Specials
My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mamma -Frank Zappa
Fish, Chips and Sweat -Funkadelic
Little Wing -Jimi Hendrix

Times
L1 8:02
L2 6:35
L3 13:43
L4 14:11
L5 7:29
L6 7:54
Total 57:54

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.

Long run after a long day

Today I received some bad news. The post-doc I've been expecting to start later this year has pretty much fallen through. So now, I'm in the job market, which is obviously not a fun place to be right now. I'd been hoping to go on a long run today in any event, and I felt like I needed an endorphin boost like you wouldn't believe. Like I said yesterday, I'm starting to feel like 10 k isn't such a long distance. I went out the Ogletree Rd. route, to just about the intersection with Moore's Mill Rd, which is 8+ miles round trip. I wore my old shoes, which I just washed, because I didn't want to get my newer shoes too wet in anticipation of Saturday's 5k, if that makes any sense. I did feel pretty good throughout. My feet are still a little tender, and I has some tightness in my right calf and left knee for a bit, but overall it felt really good. I think I'm making some progress. That or descending into the mania of the jogging obsessed.

Playlist (a new on-the-go one, rather eclectic)
Blitzkrieg Bop -The Ramones
Bold As Love -Jimi Hendrix Experience
Bring The Noise -Public Enemy
Bukowski -Modest Mouse
Bush Doctor -Peter Tosh
Calling Dr. Love -KISS
Chicken Strut -The Meters
Chiney Man -Culture
Coup d'Etat -Circle Jerks
Crosstown Traffic -Jimi Hendrix Experience
Don't Sh*t Where You Eat -Ween
Friends -Led Zeppelin
Gin and Juice -Snoop Dogg
He'eia -Gabby Pahinui
Jimmy the Exploder -White Stripes
Memphis -Chuck Berry
Misty Mountain Hop -Led Zeppelin
Mister, Would You Please Help My Pony -Ween
Motel Room in My Bed -X
Mother Popcorn -James Brown
New Name -Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus
Plateau -Meat Puppets
Pork Roll Egg and Cheese -Ween
Rainy Day Woman -Waylon Jennings
Rock 'n Roll All Night -KISS
Sheena Is A Punk Rocker -Ramones

Times
L1 8:44
L2 32:48
L3 33:30
L4 8:40 Felt really good on the last leg.
Total 1:23:43. I reckon that's a personal best (of two attempts, so not a big deal).

Long Run to Shel Toomer and Back

I took an extra day or two off, so I went on a long (1hr+) run today, down to Shel Toomer Bike Path to the end and back. It's about six miles.

Playlist
Jeepster -T. Rex
Motel in My Bed -X
The New World -X
Found a Job -Talking Heads
Take Me Away -Ween
Roses are free -Ween
Cocaine Blues -Johnny Cash
I'll Never Forget You -Husker Du
Political Song for Michael Jackson to Sing -Minutemen
Severed Goddess Hand -Meat Puppets
Sweet Home Alabama -Lynyrd Skynyrd
Dixie Chicken -Little Feat
Christine Sixteen -KISS
Our Lips are Sealed -Go-Gos
For All the Cows -Foo Fighters
Moonage Daydream -David Bowie
Shake a Leg -AC/DC
Crazy Train -Ozzy Osbourne

Times
Length 1->8:27
Length 2->7:39
Length 3->15:16
Length 4->15:45
Length 5->8:25
Length 6->9:02
Total->1:04:34
Definitely slowed down a bit between way out and back. Not too surprising, I guess. Shel Toomer has a bit more up and down, unlike the Ogletree route, which is longer but less topography.

Once in a lifetime

Perfect weather for a jog today. Overcast, mid-60's, no wind. So today I went up and explored beyond the Gay/Woodfield intersection. I ran up Fontaine St, which looked interesting driving by yesterday. It hooked back up with Woodfield, so not too exciting. But then over to Wright's Mill and through Town Creek Park with a loop through the latter. No real theme to the playlist, but fun stuff.

Playlist
Once in a lifetime -Talking Heads
Pink eye (on my leg) -Ween
Guitar -Cake
Jeepster -T. Rex
Going on -Gnarls Barkley
What is life -George Harrison
Hey ladies -Beastie Boys
Fat bottomed girls -Queen
Big chief -Professor Longhair
Motel in my bed -X

Time
Home -> Woodfield 13:31
Woodfield->Fontaine, Woodfield, Wright's Mill, Town Creek Cutover 12:40
Town Creek Loop 13:09
Town Creek -> Home 8:38
Total 39:31
Hard to tell what these splits mean, no two are identical. I guess I can compare the first leg to other days, but not too exciting there.

At long last, feet on the concrete

So today I went on a run, at long last. Up over the hill and back again towards Chewacla. I wanted to head all the way down, but after such a prolonged hiatus, I figured it better to keep it short and sweet.

Playlist (punky):
Sweet Child of Mine -G'n'F'nR (I'm learning this song on the banjo uke, FUN!)
Stay Close to Me -Bad Brains
Coup d'Etat -Circle Jerks
The Glory of Man -Minutemen
Motel in My Bed -X
Fell in Love with a Girl -White Stripes
I'm a Mindless Idiot -Meat Puppets
Time out 19:24

Happy Birthday, 'Murica!

I got out again, a bit longer this time. I went out this evening before dark, while the air was still good to breathe, before the celebratory pyrotechnics. Again, I rarely indulge in daytime jogging, but with the kids out of the house for a few days, it seemed like a reasonable proposition.
Hopefully the days of post-running ibuprofen will soon end. For now, I AM BACK. Now, to eat my lovely green salad with Chicken a la Yuengling (AKA Yuengling up the YinYang).

The Playlist, featuring Americans.
Fourth of July -Dave Alvin (A natural choice for today's kick-off)
The World's a Mess It's in My Kiss -X
Astro -White Stripes
Bob Wills is Still The King -Waylon Jennings
Sweet Emotion -Aerosmith
Shake Your Rump -Beastie Boys
Get On The Good Foot -James Brown
Plateau -Meat Puppets
What I'd Say Parts 1 and 2 -Ray Charles
Time out, 34:39

Yes, I've still been running

Okay, so I missed two nights of blogging but not two nights of jogging (going every other night). You see, I was jogging with my wife, so I wasn't listening to music, so there's not playlist. I could tell you what we talked about, the exact spots where Trixie the Dog took a dump, etc., but I don't see that as good blogging.
Instead, here's the playlist for tonight. I didn't go out until after the end of the Auburn-LSU game, which features into the playlist.

The World's A Mess It's In My Kiss -X. Auburn lost, the Sox lost. What can I say, this song just expressed my feelings at the moment., in a delightfully upbeat way that's good to get started jogging with.

Love Her Madly -The Doors. Perhaps inspired by the Ray Manzarek influence in the previous song.

Our Lips Are Sealed -The Go-go's. This is one of my favorite pop songs of the 80's, because of the awesome dreamy chord progression. I've thought it kind of ironic to sing a song about one's lips being sealed. I mean, it could just as easily be instrumental if one's lips were truly sealed.

The Boogie Monster -Gnarls Barkley. Another song with a catchy chord progression. It also reminds me of my jogging inspiration, my dear old Dad, who would call home from work sometimes. When one of the kids would answer and ask who it was, he would always say, "The Boogie Man".

You're My Best Friend -Queen.

Junco Partner -Professor Longhair. In honor of the other Tigers (from LSU), who took the game from my Auburn Tigers this evening. I loves me some Professor Longhair. My favorite verse:

"I heard him singin', six months ain't no sentence.
He said one year, was not no time.
He said he had a friend, still in Angola,
Servin' from 14 to 99"

Seven Nation Army -White Stripes.
Meg's thump-thump-thump sounds like my feet. I used to find the line "make the sweat drip from every pore" a little absurd, until I her it while jogging. I still find the idea of going to Wichita on a whim a little absurd.

Sheena Is A Punk Rocker -The Ramones.
I often like to end with the Ramones for two reasons, their songs are usually short, and generally quick, which is good for my ritual of "digging it out" at the end. My typical strategy is to go slow, because my goal is to get my heart rate up and get the cardio benefits of jogging, while reducing stress on my joints. I'm not trying to get fast, I'm not worried about my legs giving out, I just want to get my ticker going. However, I do like to get a little sprint on at the end of my run. This is on the advice of another of my running inspirations, my brother in law, who told me this is a good thing to do. So I do it.

Total time: 26:20