Posts Tagged ‘music’

I finally got around to planning my Spring schedule – an activity rife with my usual mixture of excitement and fear.  I think this is my first season where I don’t have a goal Half, or any Half for that matter, it’s just 5ks, 10ks and a 10-miler in May. You can see what’s up on my At The Races page.

The first race, a low-key neighborhood 10k, is in 6.5 weeks and I’m nervous about it.  Normally, that’d be a good amount of time to get race-ready but I’m still catching up to my pre-injured self, so if I do it (notice, I just gave myself an out) I need to be prepared to suck wind, treating it as a rust-buster with bonus rust (Now! 30% more stagnation and shitty results as our gift to you…)

I have to start doing the mental work I’d begun when I signed up for all those Fall races, the thing that tells my sub-conscience races are fun, recreational and an entertaining way to spend a weekend morning, they’re…well, they’re not a measure of where you’ll be stuck from that day forward.

I want to be more open to the idea of having crappy races, knowing it’s just a comma in the big running story and not an indicator of the future. Only time will tell what we can achieve, let it unfold and show you the rest of the story at its own pace.

So that’s my homework, some self-propaganda.

A Few Excellent Links
I’ve posted some of these on Facebook but since all you readers aren’t my FB pals, you might enjoy them.  There are also some I’ve never posted so something for everyone.  Enjoy!

• Since I’m so immersed in doubles right now, thought I’d share this swell article on them.

• Here’s a truly fabulous resource that’ll keep you off the injured list or help get you off it asap.  It’s a Self-myofascial Release Manual that shows you all the different muscles and how to attack each with foam roller, Stick and/or tennis ball.  Trust me, open it up, scroll to the middle and you’ll get an idea of why you need this link.

• A nice article on Dathan Ritzenhein after coming in fourth at the Olympic Trials.  I thought it interesting what he said about not doing a tune-up Half, choosing to do two 5ks instead (boils down the brain/confidence thing!).  Poor guy has had an unbelievable amount of medical issues that it’s amazing he did as well as he did this last weekend.  I really hope he gets to rock his shorter race stuff in the Olympics, I’m a fan.

• Here’s a great post-race video interview with Kara Goucher where she talks about her race tactics at the Trials, getting back her fitness and training with Shalane among other stuff.  She’s so darn likeable.

• Behold a fabu collection of post-Olympic Trials recaps.  Tons of goodness in these!  I especially liked 5th place Janet Cherobon-Bawcom’s interview. This was the first marathon she actually raced and she ended up with an 8min PR.  “…and we have a rule in our house that you never complain if you ran a PR” – that made me smile.  But all of them are good, interesting to read about the slower ones and DNFs too.

And lastly a couple songs. This first one is Airborne Toxic Event’s “All I Ever Wanted”. Honest injun, I ran 8-miles with it today and kept hitting replay for the entire 8 miles. There are several versions and videos of it, but I’m a sucker for strings, so this is my favorite one.

I posted this on Facebook a couple months ago and I still love it like crazy, totally gives me the sex vibe. Even the geese in the park look at me funny when I’m running to it. I know they want me.

Once upon a time, long ago, I was an actress in NYC who hated auditions.  Due to being an overweight 20-something, I didn’t have many auditions to go to anyway, so my friend Simon and I took matters into our own hands and did some funny little musical shows in a few nightclubs.  I eventually went solo, becoming a fixture in gay nightclubs on the Lower East Side with my short one-woman musical extravaganzas, making a little dosh and garnering a loyal following.

A few years into it, I got tired of being funny all the time but really enjoyed the songwriting process, which at this point had been limited purely to comedy stuff, so I made a shift to writing standard, more pop-type songs.  The more I wrote, the more fascinated I became in arranging, building harmonies and creating perfect (to me) little 3-minute packages of sound from nothing.  I loved it.

I became especially enamored of the technical side, though because I was a singer and extremely cruddy keyboard player and most certainly not an audio engineer, I had to learn everything from scratch…how to hear, basically.  This is a hard thing to do on your own, but I managed by reading incessantly, experimenting, taking music theory classes, anything I could do to better understand music, the nature of audio and sound engineering. I never became a proficient instrumentalist, but would write in layers with the help of sequencing software, samplers, synths and my first recorder: a little Fostex 4-track.

As a fun aside, the first computer I ever bought was an AtariST, bought specifically for its built-in Midi ports (enables you to hook up and control electronic instruments, like synthesizers, directly to your computer, as well as to each other).  This was mid to late ’80s, btw.

When my Grandma died she left me some money which I spent on better recording equipment and tons of outboard gear.  This was before digital was affordable for home studios so a Tascam 8-track reel-to-reel was the hub of it all, mixed down to a ¼ inch two-track, then eventually DAT when that came on the scene.

I recorded a bunch of songs and eventually put an ad in the Village Voice for musicians and started a band.  The bass player, a loveable Dominican fella named Rigo, became my boyfriend and biggest musical champion – still is to this day.  We lived together for a few years.

Eventually, Rigo and I broke up, the band dissolved. I wrote a few more songs but then sold all my equipment.  This was when I got the job designing audio/visual systems for Planet Hollywood, which consumed my life for the next few years.  It was interesting work and made it easy to leave music behind.

But I didn’t just leave it behind, I shut the door and threw away the key.  Meaning, I didn’t sing again, save for a couple drunken times in a karaoke bar.  And I played one song off my demo for maybe 3 people in the last 19 years.  I couldn’t even listen to my own music.  There was something so raw and almost embarrassing about it, that I’d ever written any in the first place.  The same way I sometimes feel like a poseur in running, I felt that 10-fold with music.

Cut To The Present
It’s nearly two decades later, and Rigo, who lives in the Dominican Republic and makes his living playing music, has been hounding me all this time to send him the songs so he can do something with them.  I was able to demure for years because they were all on DAT, a format that isn’t used anymore, which suited me fine because I didn’t want to hear them again.  I was afraid it’d be one big cringe festival.

As fate would have it, Nick, my ex, had an old DAT player stuck in the closet.  After the umpteenth request from Rigo, I finally borrowed the DAT machine and transferred the material.

Hearing the songs after all this time was both startling and incredibly bittersweet, reminding me of who I was at one time and how deeply I cared about it.  It’s funny how I can talk freely about past drug use or even my mother’s suicide without a moments hesitation, but this has remained under wraps for all these years.  I need to get over it.  It’s just some music.

So without further ado, here is one of my songs.  It’s one of my last ones written back in 1992, which I’d forgotten all about.  It’s just a simple, very imperfect demo called Missed The Boat.

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If the player doesn’t work for your browser, here’s a link to the song.

And for those who care about such things, here are the lyrics.

…to being an asshole today and going 12 just so I could write “oooh, I went 91 miles, look at me, I PRd again!” but good sense prevailed and I left it at 90.  I had to, otherwise there will be no end to this.  But I admit, it was tempting.

Anyway, it was a stellar week on the joy scale.  It rained for 5 days and with it came some intensely beautiful scenery: deep dark skies, vibrant flora and fuzzy waddling fat-bottomed baby geese.  A deep serenity accompanied me everywhere.  Should I be embarrassed to say that running is why?  Yeah, ok, I kind of am, but hell, happiness is happiness and as long as I’m not drugging, robbing banks or stealing children, there should be no shame in the mild-mannered way I’m getting mine.

Two runs that mattered
Tuesday’s 14 was such a good time that I extended it to 16 and if I hadn’t had a job to get back for, I would have made it 17.  Considering the big deal I made at the start of this aerobic adventure “I don’t have to go farther than 14mi if I don’t want to!”  this is some funny shite.

The thing is, the more I cover 14mi, the shorter it feels, so it went from being “my long run” to “the one that takes me to the prettiest place in the park”.  I love my 14s.  And once I’m at the turnaround point, what’s an extra mile?  Nothing.  In my goofy reasoning, it’s only 4 more minutes since ½ mile later, I’m turning to come home.

So this month has introduced a good number of 15s.  16s will soon become common and probably 17s, too.  This is helpful since longer runs mean I can have some shorter ones, too.  A gal likes to have options.

The other run worth mentioning was on Thursday.  I rarely wear my heart rate monitor these days and if you remember, the last three “fitness checks” were all in 55 degree temps.  But now, with summer emerging, it was time to see how my heart fares in warmer, muggier conditions.  And the verdict is:  it fared fricking fabulously! 81 degrees, very humid, more sun than clouds: 15@8:01, 73%HRR (157).

Here is what that means in English:  No longer will I wistfully recall 2009 as the peak in my running life.  That was just the first one.  The second one begins now.

This Week’s Pavement Escapades:
Monday: 9@8:33
Tuesday: 16@8:17
Wednesday: 12@8:17
Thursday: 15@8:01
Friday: 12@8:06
Saturday: 15@8:10
Sunday: 11@8:01
Total: 90 mi (avg pace 8:11)

A Social Weekend
My great pal and race roomie Audra recently moved from NYC to San Francisco, but she was in Philly this weekend so I got to hang with her over dinner last night.  I’m gonna miss that chaquita, even if we did only see each other a couple times a year.

And another online running friend was here from Australia, Rachel.  She was in town to run a Half this morning in the midst of some US traveling (and got 4th O.A., the fastie), so I got to meet her and share a lovely brunch with her family today.

I will never cease to be amazed at the number of wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of meeting in real life, just from a mutual love of running and an internet connection.  It’s fantastic.

Music
I’ve been downloading a good bit of new music recently – another reason running is exceptionally fun lately.

Simple Math from Manchester Orchestra totally fooled me.  When I heard it the first time I didn’t even get past the first few bars, thinking “oh, so plodding with that slow snare and [what seemed to me at the time] fragile vocal…definitely not a running song”.  But when I saw the video, which kept my attention from start to finish, I was blown away.  This song builds into something epic, and not in the throwaway use of the word, but in a Gone With The Wind type of Epic.

Around 3:12 to the end, when the strings build, drums become bullets and vocals harmonize into a wall of need, it absolutely moves me and I run like a demon.

No, this is not another tired video about running drills, nutrition or hill sprints.  It’s time to get real and tackle the truly important subjects that we, as runners, must face on a daily basis in an effort to make a difference in the sport.  Like neatening up your headphone cord.

Note: I feel it’s important to remain consistent in the videos I present to you, so I made sure you get the same low quality you’ve come to expect.  You even get an added bonus with this one because I didn’t realize auto-focus was changing the lighting, so crossing my fingers…no epileptic seizures for you!   Until I get paid for this shyte, I’m not sweatin’ the particulars – it’s just fun.

Btw, if you want better quality, change the settings on the video from 360p to 480p (at the bottom of the YouTube playback window…it’ll sound way better).

Got My Insurance Bill
…via email today from the heatstroke 5K.
Hospital charges for ER + one-night stay: $34,988 (plus $600 in incidentals)
What the insurance company turns it into: $4760 (gee, somebody must know someone)
What they’re charging me: $150 in copays and another $150 for the releasing doctor to say I could leave.  The second $150 is total bullshit (I’m appealing it), as is the whole inflated pricing system.  I really don’t get the health system and never will.

The Sleep Nazi’s New Gadget
I’m loving my new-found affair with sleep – I swear, I feel rejuvenated and motivated again (thus the new video).   This is serious stuff!

So wouldn’t you know, after 7 months of nobody living above me, I finally got a new neighbor: a sweet, petite young woman who volunteered she’s “never around”…music to my ears.  That said, although she steps way lighter then the asshole did, the floors are always going to creak and I can hear stuff through the walls (not just hers).

So…I ordered this very cool white noise machine.  It’s got 1000 reviews and people love the thing – many of them apartment dwellers with my exact scenario.  Granted, I’m not thrilled about replacing sound with sound, but if it makes sleeping easier and deeper, I’m all for it.  I’ll keep you posted when I get it.

The Hot Week Ahead
It’s going to be a challenge with another heatwave of 100s and 90s.  I also pulled something in my groin on Saturday’s run which is still hanging about despite yesterday’s rest day, so hopefully it’ll be fine by the time I need to run hard, though considering the temps, we’ll see how hard “hard” is.  I had to bag my hill sprints today which bummed me out, but I’ll do them later in the week.

Be careful everyone, get out there early as you can, drink up and don’t be macho with your paces.

Yesterday was Vova’s funeral which ended up being a wonderful day-long affair with a luncheon for 40 and a boozy party afterwards.  He would have loved it, the sweetie.

Occasionally I link to music on this blog and while my main favorite genre is Alternative, I’m a sucker for any style so long as there’s a great hook or a beautiful melody.  Nick made a wonderful slideshow of Vova through the decades with a heart-ripping A Capella song as the soundtrack.  It’s by a Ukrainian group called Pikkardiyska Tertsia (translates to Picardy Third, a type of musical chord).  Using this song was insurance that anyone who saw it would cry their eyes out.  I’m moved every time I hear it and the climax just kills me – doesn’t matter that I’ve no idea what they’re singing.

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If my fancy new audio player plugin isn’t showing in your browser (I had to download the newest version of Firefox) here’s a link to the song.

As for running, I had a banner month, reached a new mileage high with 285 and today’s LR finished off a 71 mile week, so things are looking good.  ITBS, I scoff at you (though not too hard in case you come back).

Hudson had a 4-mile time trial listed for Friday, but if there’s one running phrase that makes me stick my fingers in my ears and go LALALALALALALA to drown out the thought, it’d be Time Trial.  I simply don’t do them and I’m at peace with that decision.   Something about running as hard as I can, alone, is comparable to sticking bamboo shoots up fingernails, so it ain’t ever gonna happen.

In its place, I’d planned a 4-mile tempo run, but it was so hot on Friday (dewpoint of 74, Heat Index 87) that I bagged it.  I did want to get something LTish in this week though, so I did a steady-stateish/tempoish progression yesterday before the funeral, middle 4 went 7:15, 7:05, 7:04, 7:00.  7 miles total at 7:45.

Then today, I’d planned 15 and went 16, albeit a slow 16 on Forbidden Drive (local trail) with some rain off and on.  Yesterday I was in high heels all day and had more than my share of wine, so I had no inclination to be anything but a turtle today.  It was so gorgeous with a dark sky (I love ominous-looking rainy days) and all that green on the trail that it turned out to be a slice of heaven.  Ended up with an 8:50 avg.

I’ll leave you with my month in review.  The grey text means it was in the plan but I didn’t do it.  The numbers on the far left are the weeks counting down to the marathon, so week 16 starts tomorrow.  Woohoo!

I’m on a roller coaster ride these days, like permanent PMS without the luxury of knowing it’ll be over in a few days.

The weekend started on Friday evening with Nick’s Dad’s birthday.  How do you celebrate a 92-year old’s birthday who’s feeling like pure crap from chemo & cancer?  The whole time you’re thinking that this is his last birthday party ever and you know he knows it, too.  And as Nick said to me, he’s not giving into the idea of death at all.  He’s depressed and weak but his brain is ticking along, fully cognizant of what the score is.  Anyway, he’s to be off the chemo for a week starting next week, so hopefully he’ll feel a bit better.

Saturday afternoon, we went to see Bruno, because I’ve been waiting for that movie for weeks.  I’m not a huge movie gal, but there are certain choice comedies that I anxiously await and this was one.  I’m positive a lot of you will not like this movie, so I’m not saying go see it, but go see it. :-)

Later that evening, we saw another surprisingly excellent comedy on Pay Per View, The Promotion – about two guys competing to be manager of a grocery store, great cast and very funny.  Plus it’s got John C. Reilly in it, who can do no wrong in my book.

Sunday morning was my long run.  I had planned on 14, but only got to 13 for a couple reasons.  The more mundane of the two was that there was a Tri going on and the finish line was about 1/4 mile from my half-way point.  With tons of cyclists in the way, I had to turn around early.

The rest of the lost mile was due to the IT strap I was wearing.  At one point, I got quite uncomfortable with it, but not from my IT band, it was my calf.  I guess the pressure of the band was affecting it, so after a couple stops to rearrange the strap, I gave up and took it off.  Felt better running without it in the end.  That night, I could feel my calf was still tight, which scared me because I wondered if it was somehow an extension of the IT band problem, snowballing into something worse.

So I took yesterday off, which was certainly reasonable since June 18th was my last rest day.  I was in a bleak mood all day, my imagination had me falling apart in pieces, singing my swan song to running.  Stupid imagination.

As these things go, I woke up today feeling great and my run reflected that – 9 solid, untweaky miles.  I started easy with 8:40s then eased into 8:12 to 8:03s for the rest.  How I love normalcy.

Other than that, I’m still knee-deep in t-shirt designs, but now I’m finally making the music section of Fish Pie its own shop, which I’ve been dreading because there are about 40 different instruments (figure 20 designs in each one… big job).  But now I’m on a production roll and enjoying adding new stuff along with the old, so while I’m currently drowning in Accordion designs (going alphabetically) it’s actually kind of fun.

I know, I’m basically repeating myself these days (IT band, t-shirts, IT band, t-shirts) but it’s summer and there’s not much else going on.  I’ll leave you with a cool song Baptized By Fire by Spinnerette, whose lead singer sounds amazingly like Siouxsie Sioux of Siouxsie & the Banshees.  Love the octave doubling on the chorus.  Stupid video as usual, but at least you get to hear the song in its entirety.