running free

Double Dippin'

2012-01-27T09:27:00.003-05:00

"And the heart is hard to translate it has a language of it's own
It talks and turns and courts sighs and present proclamations in the grand days of great men and the smallest of gestures and short shallow gasps
But w/ all my education I can't seem to command it and the words are all skipping and coming back damaged
And I will put them back in poetry if only I knew how,I can't seem to understand it
And I would give all this and heaven too I would give it all if only for a moment that I could just understand the meaning of the word you see
Cause I've been scrawling it forever,but it never makes sense to me at all"

All This And Heaven Too-Florence & The Machine

Great Southern Land

2012-01-26T08:40:00.003-05:00

"Looking everywhere cause I had to find you this is not the way I remember it here
Anyone will tell you it's a prisoner island hidden in the summer for a million years great southern land
So you look into the land and it will tell you a story,story about a journey ended long ago
If you listen to the motion of the wind in the mountains maybe you can hear them talking like I do
They're gonna betray you,they're gonna forget you are you gonna let them take you over that way?
Great southern land,great southern land you walk alone like a primitive man and they make it work w/ sticks and bones see their hungry eyes it's a hungry home"

Great Southern Land- Icehouse

Given I have several friends "Down Under" and a large readership also in Australia it'd be remiss of me not to wish everyone there a Happy Australia Day.......plus it's a great chance to quote Icehouse one of my all time favourite bands who sadly fall into that classic "overlooked and underrated" category.

I got to prove the weather people wrong today which is always a plus,according to Accu Weather and AOL Weather today would see showers after 2pm w/ a 50% to 60% chance of rain during 4pm-5pm right when I'd scheduled my 8 miler.......all I saw while out there were grey and overcast skies so score one to me,tomorrow could be a different story as the forecast is rain most of the day.

A rest day b4 Saturdays Sprint Medley relay at the US Open at Madison Square Garden might not be the worst thing in the world,in fact had Monday not gotten rained out that was the plan anyway but as it stands right now I have 28 miles for the week,2 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday would give me 40 for the week,something I can live w/.

It's Clobbering Time

2012-01-25T12:44:00.003-05:00

"We've been playing now for much too long and now we're gonna dance to a different song
I'm gonna scream and shout till my dying breath I'm gonna smash it up till there's nothing left
Ooh smash it up,smash it up smash it up,ooh smash it up smash it up smash it up"

Smash It Up-The Damned

My mother used to say that I was the "eternal pessimist" when I was younger,I'd like to think as I've gotten older I've become the "eternal optimist",more of a glass half full guy............
When I got to work yesterday I arrived to find a behemoth wooden crate on the dock taking up room we just don't have,by lunch time the Phillips tech came and uncrated it leaving yours truly w/ a big arsed wooden crate to deal w/............
"Hammer Time" what better way to deal w/ my frustrations w/ the drama queens of this world than taking a hammer to the crate and also clearing the space it took up on the dock........don't ya just love it when a plan comes together??!!!

Another easy 10 miler this afternoon in almost identical conditions to yesterday,very nearly threw on the shades today as it was so sunny.
Forgot to mention yesterday as I was coming back on the inbound leg of the run through Cobbs Creek Park I encountered three deers.
In the two years I've been running along Cobbs Creek Parkway and cutting through Cobbs Creek Park I'd never seen deer till yesterday,not sure who was more startled and not sure who ran off faster......probably the deer but they have four legs!!!
Anywho the next two days will be wait and see as showers and rain are in the forecast,glass half empty no 50 mile week,glass half full I'll be well rested for Saturdays Sprint Medley Relay at the US Open at Madison Square Garden.......

More Drama Queens Than Wisteria Lane

2012-01-24T10:18:00.004-05:00

"They sew fish hooks under their collars got razors in their shoes "Go cat go'' is their battle cry world war three is starting to brew
Well the skinheads all use black jacks and they're looking mighty mean they've got chains wrapped around their fingers and their heads are shaven clean
There's a rumble in Brighton tonite ringside seats for the neighborhood fight there ain't a goddamn thing that the cops can do
There's a rumble in Brighton tonite"

Rumble In Brighton-Stray Cats

If Sundays run was brought to us by Lipton....cos it was Brisk then today's sponsor was TNT cos"They Know Drama"!!!!

As I eluded to last week there been some underlying tension in the house recently.....some of which spilled over the other nite,I'm not going into detail just yet but I will say I'm done w/ all the drama here and one drama queen in particular it is time to move on and put Wisteria Lane in the rear view mirror!

Oh and as if that wasn't enough to be dealing w/ I returned to work today to be informed that for the past 12 plus years I've been working an extra 15 minutes I shouldn't be working,all I can say it must've been a slow day in accounting when after almost 12 and a half years some jobsworth realized we were all working 15 mins more a day,an hour and a quarter a week and two and a half hours a pay period than our 7.5 a day 37.5 a week, 75 hours a fortnite,the upshot being I now get to leave work at 3pm not 3.15pm.

On the road by 4.05pm for my 10 miler,glorious conditions today sunny and 50 degrees hard to believe it's January,yesterdays rain removed the snow and ice from the ground to make conditions underfoot a lot easier,to put things in perspective my time for 10 miles today was the same as for 8 miles on Sunday,it speaks volumes for better conditions underfoot,another 10 miler on tap tomorrow.

Caution Is The Watchword Of The Day

2012-01-23T15:07:00.002-05:00

So,backtracking slightly post race on Saturday Conor O Driscoll and I enjoyed a leisurely 4 mile cool down around the Cornell campus,I must be getting used to the Ithaca winters as I never used to warm up or cool down outside Barton Hall b4!!!

Yesterday was an easy 8 miler back home along Cobbs Creek Parkway as Sean and I opted to leave Ithaca after the awards banquet Saturday evening.
It appeared while I was up in Ithaca winter paid it's first visit to Philadelphia on Friday nite/Saturday morning and a blanket of snow and ice lay beneath my feet yesterday morning as I cautiously made my way along my out and back route,8 miles gave me a 50 mile week plus an idea as to what to expect if I were to run today..........

Blessed w/ a day off from work I did have the option of an run today,however I did have an early morning appointment w/ the clinical labs at Jefferson to get my blood checked so that ruled out a run first thing and frankly the threat of rain and then the rain it's self put the kybosh on that.
At least w/ the rain the snow and ice still covering the ground will be gone by tomorrow which will make life a lot easier I didn't want to risk slipping and falling out there today for the sake of an extra day that will make conditions much more user friendly tomorrow,nor did I wish to take my chances in the rain and risk getting sick prior to Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

It's Snow Joke

2012-01-22T17:27:00.002-05:00

So for the fourth time in six years I made the journey up to Ithaca for the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile,and for the third time in four races I made it to the podium......seriously I should invest in an "I Love Ithaca" t shirt!!!!
Kudos to my team mate and friend Sean Harbison for the ride up and back it would've been a much harder trip to undertake w/out him but I think I made a convert out of him that he'll want to go back next year and become a regular here.

I figured something was up when I couldn't find a starting line for any of the elite races all week,in fact I didn't know who my competition was until yesterday morning......and even then that took a twist......but I'm getting ahead of myself!!
As is Hartshorne tradition Friday nite is dinner at Antlers,I missed out on that on my last trip it's always fun to sit and brake bread w/ our wonderful host Tom Hartshorne and relax b4 the race,I had the pleasure of sitting w/ Pete Taylor,Conor O Driscoll,Tom Cawley,Fred Robbins,Bill Zink and Dave Hoch and enjoy some good grub and some light hearted conversation,there would be plenty of time for "game face" come race day.

I was awoken at 5.35am by the sound of a snow plough outside my window,would it be Ithaca w/out snow in January??
After a lite breakfast it was back to my room to kill a little time b4 the short drive over to Barton Hall,I'm big on omens{no Damien jokes please!!} so when I was flicking through the tv channels and stumbled upon VH1's Top Twenty Countdown and caught the video for "Shake It Out" by Florence & The Machine it was hard not to feel this was going to be a good day for yours truly!!!
Arriving at Barton Hall to check in I discovered the elite M40 race only had 6 entries,myself,Kent Lemme,Charlie Kern,Mike Egle,Dave Cannon and Javier Martinez.

As a rule the elite M40 gets at least 9 entries but several would be runners were unable to make it this year,in fact Mike Egle and Dave Cannon dropped down from the elite m50 race to swell the numbers.
Out of the 6 of us I felt third was doable Charlie was defending champ and Kent Lemme is a solid runner,Javier Martinez was a dark horse as I knew nothing about him.....but I knew plenty about Dave Cannon to know he could not be overlooked and Mike Egle won this event in 2004 so he couldn't be overlooked either.........

News broke that Charlie was enduring the travel day from hell and had missed his connecting flight from Philly due to his plane from Chicago taking off an hour and 40 mins late and when he arrived at the gate in Philly w/ 5 mins to spare he was told his seat on the plane had been sold!!!!
Remarkably Charlie continued his journey to Ithaca the plan was to allow him to run in the open mile in the college meet that follows the Hartshorne Miles and take his time from that and patch it into the elite m40 race.....and subsequently Mike Egle's time in the m40 race would count towards the m50 race.......there's a rather amusing anecdote to all this bare w/ me!!.

So now I knew in order to make the podium I had to finish 2nd in the actual race to clam third it meant throwing the original race plan out the window but in running as is in life"always carry a plan B!!!"
From the gun Kent latched onto Scott Weeks the rabbit I tucked in between Mike Egle and Dave Cannon and came thro 200m in 35 seconds,down the back straight b4 the turn I passed Mike Egle for 2nd and came through 400m in 69 seconds a 34 second split....after that I forget my splits maybe when I see the dvd of the race I'll be able to get a few more.
W/ hindsight I wish I'd gone w/ Kent and tried to hang on instead I played safe and went for the "podium finish" as it was I wound up 7 seconds behind Kent but 6 seconds ahead of Mike at the end of the day I'd finished 2nd a far cry from where I thought I'd wind up a week earlier.

Post race it was off to the Ithaca Country Club for the awards banquet another Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile tradition.
It's always fun to watch the dvd of the days races as the runners get to relive them,arguably the best finish of the day was Conor O Driscoll holding off a late charging Peter Bottomley in the m50 elite.
And so to the awards as I said I've been fortunate enough to have made the podium three times in four races,2nd in 07,3rd in 09 and technically 2nd today in the race but third in the awards.
It's always an honour to be asked to say a few words when picking up my award and I'm always on my best behaviour when at the microphone,I couldn't resist a Ricky Gervais Golden Globes comment{always open w/ a joke!!!} but in seriousness thanked Tom Hartshorne for not only hosting such a wonderful event but also for inviting me back after my woeful 2010 performance and for declining my invite last year in order to run a 5,000m at The Armory 2 nites earlier.

Kent Lemme made a great comment in his speech about winning the race but finishing second while Charlie not to be outdone said he actually finished second in his college mile race but ended up winning the elite m40 title thanks to a 4.28.1. time next to Kent's 4.32.7.
Hopefully I'll be back next year to compete,I may have to wait until my 50's b4 I claim a Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile victory......somethings are worth waiting for!!!

Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile

2012-01-21T14:25:00.001-05:00

Cliff Notes
2nd
4.39.9.
Full details to follow

A Little MSG Never Hurts.....

2012-01-19T09:06:00.002-05:00

Nice easy 8 miler this evening to keep me on schedule for the week,tomorrow will be a rest day as it's also my travel day to Ithaca for this weekends Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile,I'll bring you all up to speed on that Sunday.
While I try never to look beyond the race in front of me it's be remiss of me not to mention next Saturday as yours truly once again gets to tread the boards of Madison Square Garden.

For those not familiar w/ my love affair w/ Madison Square Garden here's a quick refresher course,my track career began in the summer of 1976 as a freshman in high school later that summer I watched my first Olympics the 76 games from Montreal where I saw Eamonn Coghlan run for the first time in the 1,500m from then on I followed his career w/ a fervered passion and saw many of his races at Madison Square Garden in the Wannamaker Mile courtesy of ITV's "World Of Sport" on Saturday afternoons and dreamt of one day also running at MSG.......

Fast forwarding 30 years in January of 2006 I did run on those famed boards even though it wasn't a race my club GPTC had just missed the cut for the masters 4x400m relay but made the short trip from Philly to NYC on the off chance one of the 6 teams failed to show and we could replace them it wasn't to be but I did get to run a few laps on those hallowed boards......
There was a sense of "unfinished business" w/ the Millrose Games and 2 years later we finally made the cut of the 6 teams lucky enough to compete.....however I suffered a stress fracture on my left foot in December and would be in a cast for three weeks,there was no way I could run now???????
After convincing my team mates I'd be ready I did anchor the team only to have bronze snatched away from us coming off the final turn as a lack of conditioning proved to be my undoing.

4th again in 09 it was looking like a Millrose Games medal was not in my future and when I failed to make the 2010 team it looked like that dream was over......a lack of entries that year meant Greater Philly Track Club fielding two teams and while the A team won the gold I anchored the B team to a bronze,not only had I lived the dream of running at Madison Square Garden in the Millrose Games but I also had a Millrose Games medal in my collection,I could close the chapter on that book.
In recent years the Millrose Games has declined in it's once proud popularity so when the decision was made last summer to move the Millrose Games from MSG to The Armory it seemed like that was it I had 4 races there between 08-11 and one medal I had little to complain about.

In November it was announced that the USATF would be hosting a meet at Madison Square Garden in January called the US Open at the time details were slow in regards what events would be held,I knew a masters mile would be too much to hope for and when it was tentatively announced there would be a relay I figured that was that........
Out of left field on Tuesday the club received an invitation to compete in the Sprint Medley Relay next Saturday,I jumped at the opportunity to run on that track again and threw my bandanna into the ring for consideration.
As of today we're entered myself Nick D,Bruce and Lamar will contest this seldom ran relay after Hartshorne I can start to focus on it but once again yours truly is heading to the bright lights of Broadway

It's A Cat's World(We're Just Trying To Live In It)

2012-01-18T09:11:00.003-05:00

A nice easy 8 miler,conditions were a little on the "ber" side but considering I'm heading to Ithaca this weekend I can consider it good practice!
I remember my first Hartshone Memorial Masters Mile in 07,I don't think I'd ever witnessed anything as cold as Cornell on race day that year,it was so cold we ran from the car in the parking lot to Barton Hall to get out of the cold,the second coldest thing I ever witnessed was two years later sitting on the plane at Itacha airport waiting to fly back to New York the plane had just landed and I guess coming out of the cold air thousands of feet above on a frigid day meant the plane felt like a meet locker,I should look up this weekends temps in Ithaca b4 hitting the road on Friday.

I'm always amazed how comfortable Precious looks when my alarm goes at 5am,as I brace myself for another day at work which is no day at the beach at the best of times I now have to deal w/ the cold and then come home and go and run in the sometimes just above freezing temps,all while she sleeps on the bed or is curled up on the radiator....I should've named her Riley,cos she sure lives the life of Riley!!!!

Big In Russia/From Russia W/ Love

2012-01-17T08:39:00.004-05:00

"There's a lighthouse in the middle of Prussia a white house in a red square
I'm living in films for the sake of Russia a kino runner for the DDR
And the fifty two daughters of the revolution turn gold to chrome
Gift nothing to lose stuck inside of Memphis w/ the mobile home,sing
Mother Russia,Mother Russia,Mother Russia rain down down down"

Mother Russia- Sisters Of Mercy

For once rain on a Tuesday didn't mean a missed training run,by the time I returned from lunch it had stopped raining and the "currant bun" was out which was a nice touch,I was on the road by 4.17pm for a second 10 miler in 2 days,I'll begin to back off the mileage tomorrow by dropping down to 8 miles tomorrow and Thursday giving me a modest 36 miles going into Saturdays race,providing I get home at a decent time on Sunday I could log another 10 miler to round out a 50 mile week but let's worry about that nearer the time.

So here's one I've been meaning to address for a while,for some reason I'm big in Russia.....or at least my blog is,for whatever reason I have a large readership in Russia,all time since I switched to Blogger Russia ranks 4th in views behind America,Australia and Germany and currently is second in views for the month and week.

Why Russia?beats me growing up it was a country that always intrigued me......now I'm just intrigued by Russian woman.....oh don't judge me!!! but I salute my former Soviet comrades for logging on to Runningfree long may it continue.

Lost Weekend

2012-01-16T08:44:00.004-05:00

"It took a lost weekend in a hotel in Amsterdam and double pneumonia in a single room.
And the sickest joke was the price of the medicine are you laughing at me now?
May I please laugh along w/ you?"

Lost Weekend-Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

B4 anyone gets the wrong idea no I haven't fallen off the wagon,trust me when I say I had enough of those lost weekends to last two lifetimes thank you very much!!!

The simple truth was I took the weekend off,it wasn't planned but I opted for a "less is more" approach this weekend,it was below freezing Friday which kyboshed that but I was still on for a 40 mile week providing I got 6 in on Saturday and 10 in on Sunday.....or vice versa.....I managed neither!!!

I never left the house Saturday for whatever reason,I "just wasn't feeling it" and enjoyed an all too rare fuck off day I can't recall the last one of them I had and frankly if the last one was that long ago then maybe I really it afterall,a little internet time,some catching up w/ my backlog of dvr'd tv shows and the Olympic Marathon Trials,Sunday was shaping up for more of the same but "cabin fever" was beginning to set in I got home at 4.05pm on Friday and it was almost 2pm yesterday b4 I coaxed myself to get out for an hour if only for some fresh air,and fresh was the operative word,it was colder than Friday for crying out loud!!!

I've said b4 runners tend not to subscribe to the "less is more" mindset but maybe a low mileage week was just what I needed,this Saturday sees me return to Itacha and the Hartshorne Memorial Masters mile so halving my weekly mileage the week b4 might mot be the worst thing in the world,I'm happy to report I was back out being more like Mo Farah this evening and less like Howard Hughes w/ a 10 miler.....business as usual,nothing to see here people,let's keep moving!!!

Going W/ The Flo

2012-01-13T08:41:00.001-05:00

COYS

2012-01-12T08:58:00.004-05:00

Wasn't sure if today would happen in terms of getting my run in but thankfully the rain stopped b4 I left work so it was off w/ the horns and on w/ the show come 4.30pm to log a third 8 miler in three days.
Half way to another 50 mile week,8 again tomorrow,6 on the track on Saturday and 12 on Sunday will not only give me 50 miles for the week but also my 15th week in the last 22 weeks.

For the second week in a row I got my run in while my beloved Spurs played,last week it was the West Brom game yesterday it was Everton,frankly if we keep winning games {1.0 vs West Brom,2.0 vs Everton}while I'm out running I may have to time all my runs during Spurs games!!
Come On You Spurs.

Tired Of Waiting

2012-01-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

It's almost a week now since the first Thursday Nite @ The Races at The Armory and the website is no nearer putting up the results so I'll just have to give my account w/out a bunch of data that frankly would make for a better entry......since I won't be taking part in next Thursdays meet due to a schedule conflict w/ the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile it'll be Feb 9th b4 I race at The Armory again.....let's hope they've gotten their act together by then to post results!!!
Big shout out to Lauren Valentino for the photo I have 2 more that she sent me I'd like to post over the coming days.

So the race,as is my won't my indoor season officially kicks off on the first Thursday of January each year w/ the first of 4 scheduled "Thursday Nite @ The Races,5 times in the last 6 years I've made the short journey to New York to run the mile,I had side step the 08 series due to my stress fracture.
There have been highs and lows a win in 07 in 4.33.2. 3rd in 09 in 4.28.1.{my track mile pr I have faster 5th Avenue Mile's} and who could forget the infamous 8th 4.51.2 in 10 or as it's widely known as "the bitch slap heard around the world" last year I finished 8th in 4.33.7. and based on my 4.15.8. 1,500m 9 days earlier I felt a 4.33/4.35 was a reasonable pre race expectation.

W/ hindsight I'd have done better to get into the seeded heat w/ each heat being contested at 12 men per heat heat #1 was already at 8 when the track official asked who had a 4.35 time,several hands were raised but I thought I could take my chances in heat 2 and still run 4.35.....this would prove to be my undoing.
One of the reasons I've held out for several days in posting this is I wanted to see the results of heat one to see the times the mid pack ran,had I have gone w/ them in heat# 1 I'm confident I'd have been pulled to a 4.35 at the very least.

As it was I drew the rail in heat 2 and remembering my poor reaction to the gun in the 1,500m I knew the need to get a good start and surprised myself taking the lead going into the first turn.....start as you mean to go on!
Another issue I've had w/ The Armory in both meets is the lack of a clock at the start/finish it's all well and good having a timekeeper calling out splits each lap but frankly they went in one ear and out the other at least w/ a clock at eye level I'd have had a chance to eyeball my splits and maybe recall a few post race.

Having lead from the gun I was hell bent on staying there,I was very aware someone was breathing down my neck throughout the race,it turned out to be Tom Fitzpatrick who down the back straight on lap 7 pulled up along side me but he left me enough room on the rail to squeeze through and reclaim the lead going into the turn,but coming up to the bell the runner from Siena collage{4th in the photo}hit the front and pulled away,having done all the pace making for almost 7 laps I just didn't have it to respond but held off Fitz to claim a second runners up finish in two races.
4.39.8. was well below what I was looking for,it may've cost me a trip to Boston in early February as the cut off is 4.35,I do still have the Hartshorne Masters Mile on Jan 21st where providing I can clock 34 seconds per lap I could run a 4.32 mile so I'm not writing off Boston just yet.....but!

It wasn't all doom and gloom rounding my time up to 4.40 that's 35 seconds per lap,not earth shattering for the mile.....but over 3,000m that's sub 9 minute pace,something to work towards for the Feb 9th meet.

Careful Vincent,You Might End Up Getting Popped!

2012-01-10T09:44:00.003-05:00

Well the good news was I was able to run today,good news for me and good news for everyone else!
As far as the achilles is concerned I'll keep monitoring the situation,if I think I need to check in w/ Ira my foot doctor I've no problem doing so.
Easy 8 mile run this evening,I have 8's scheduled across the board through Friday providing everything is all ticketybo.

W/out going all TMI there's tension brewing in the house again and once again my cat Precious is the source of the issue,I've saved my real anger on the matter for my diary but the bottom line is we have a mole in the house who I lovingly refer to as "our man in Havana" as he loves running his mouth to the landlord,what goes around comes around "Havana"maybe you should check out "Tinker Tailor Solider Spy" to see what happens to spys and double agents,two words Bill Haydon!!!

I enjoyed the movie,I hadn't read the book or seen the tv version from the mid/late 70's when Alec Guinness played the role of George Smiley and truth be told had "my mate" Gary Oldman not had the lead role of George Smiley I may not have bothered to see it but I've been a huge Gary Oldman fan going all the way back to 1986 and his incredible role as Sid Vicious in "Sid and Nancy" and have seen most of his movies since.
Hard to believe he's never even been nominated for an Oscar given some of the roles he's had Sid Vicious in"Sid & Nancy" Lee Harvey Oswald in "JFK" Count Dracula in "Dracula" Norman Stansfield in "The Professional" and Ludwig Van Beethoven in "Immortal Beloved" to name five.
I for one will be anxious to see the Oscar Nominations in a few weeks time.

Who Said The Art Of Conversation Is Dead?

2012-01-09T08:24:00.002-05:00

Add getting my hearing checked to my list of "To Do" this year as I thought I was going deaf today.....turns out I was just getting the silent treatment for my co workers.....seems short term memory isn't what it used to be they both had Tuesday off and effectively got a 4 day weekend last weekend,I took Friday off after my race at The Armory to allow myself a three day weekend.......and bingo!! I'm the bad guy!!!!!whatever bitches!!!

On the subject of The Armory still no official results online from Thursday.....and yet the meet at Delaware yesterday has it results posted already......wtf!!!!!!
I'm beginning to get a tad miffed w/ The Armory don't get me wrong great track to run on however the recent Holiday meet not only charged $25 to enter but also charged $6 to watch if you weren't running,granted for $25 you could run as many events as you wanted but what about those of us who only want to run one race,$25???
Then they jacked up the price for the Thursday Nite Race series from $10 to $20,again they charged $6 to watch and again the clock wasn't running so the question begs to be asked where's all the money going if there isn't a running clock at the start/finish line????

I reluctantly but wisely sat out today,I awoke to a tender left achilles which is nothing new,it's not unusual(cue Tom Jones!!) to be a little tender,stiff and sore when I first wake up it goes w/ the territory but unlike the norm when the discomfort subsides and I get on w/ the day today even walking was bothersome so running was out of the equation.
As well as taking a day off I iced,stretched took anti inflammatory pills and hoped for the best,the last thing I need is a repeat of the 09 achilles injury that ruined my outdoor season.

Tough Day At The Office

2012-01-08T20:07:00.002-05:00

What to do when when the barrel runs out of monkeys?
Perhaps w/ hindsight I spread myself too thin this week but that's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes,afterall isn't it"better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all"???

I arrived at Temple just after 10.30am conditions were sunny and in the mid 40's but a strong wind blew across the track as I warmed up,the writing was already on the wall....I just didn't know it yet!

#1 mile 1.17-1.22-1.26-1.19-5.24.3.Things started well enough w/ a 1.17 but the 1.26 on lap three just killed it.....little did I know this was as good as it was going to get

#2 mile 1.22-1.29-1.30-1.26-5.47.1.I knew I was in trouble b4 I even clocked 1.22 on the opening lap,the wind was a factor but frankly I just didn't have it in me today to fight the wind.

#3 mile 1.23-1.30-1.32-1.28-5.53.8.Oivay,I just didn't have it today but hell no I wasn't stepping off the track and calling it quits,sometimes being a hard headed paddy has it's perks!!

#4 mile 1.27-1.28-1.28-1.18-5.41.5.Well at least I finished strong!!!

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and w/ hindsight I just hadn't cut my cloth accordingly but I owed it to myself to try at least.
Given that there are only 9 more weekends b4 Indoor Nationals I can ill afford to screw up any more repeats but given that this time last year I couldn't even get on a track till mid February I'll take a bad day on the track over no day on the track to begin w/ plus the knowledge this coming week is more forgiving which should allow for a better repeat session next Saturday.

There's No Such Thing As Too Much Sex{Dwarf}

2012-01-07T10:31:00.003-05:00

As is my won't after a five hour 80's dance nite at Sex Dwarf I took it easy w/ a 10 miler since this time around I had some leverage w/ my schedule.
After the New Years Eve bash at Sex Dwarf I had no choice but to run 12 miles to round out my week at 50 miles and trust me after dancing for 6 hours the last thing I needed was a 12 mile run but somehow I got through it....albeit rather slowly.

Fast forwarding 6 days and a second 80's nite at Sex Dwarf this time the regular first Friday of the month dance party I knew the prospect of a 12 miler b4 Sundays scheduled 4x1mile repeats was not what I wanted to do,had I've not had yesterday off work I may not've gotten my 12 miler in but since I did have the day off I was able to make that happen sometime you have to make your schedule work for you,this week w/ a race scheduled on Thursday and the prospect of Sex Dwarf the following nite there was a lot of juggling my schedule this week the bottom line is thus far I got a 10 miler and 8 miler on Monday and Tuesday, a total of 4 miles on Thursday,12 miles yesterday 10 today leaving 4x1mile repeats w/ a mile warm up and mile cool down.....50 miles cue Hannibal of The A Team"I love it when a plan comes together"

Onto The Next One

2012-01-06T19:09:00.002-05:00

I'm still waiting for the official results from last nites Thursday Nite @ The Races b4 doing full justice to the evening,I will say I'm less than happy w/ my time of 4.39.8. given my 4.15.8. 1,500m last week but once the data is at hand I will elaborate on that.

Took full advantage of having the day off today,slept till noon b4 going out at 1.30pm to run 12 miles,Tuesday and Wednesdays sub zero temps seemed a distant memory as it was in the mid 50's this afternoon,more of the same tomorrow and Sunday would be nice as I look to complete another 50 mile week beginning w/ a 10 miler tomorrow.

Thursday Nite @ The Races

2012-01-05T14:22:00.003-05:00

Cliff Notes
Mile
Heat 2
2nd out of 12
4.39.8.
More detailed account to follow

Twice The Fun

2012-01-05T09:28:00.003-05:00

As if 6 hours of dancing to my favourite 80's tunes on New Years Eve wasn't enough,the first Sex Dwarf 80's dance party of 2012 tomorrow spotlights Duran Duran and hopefully some Arcadia and Power Station thrown in for good measure.......

Warm Thoughts On A Frigid Day

2012-01-04T08:30:00.004-05:00

I was glad today was a rest day,strewth anytime the temps are only 26 degrees and you're being told it feels like 16 that's friggin' cold!!
Note to self next time the temps are below freezing remember to dig out thermal socks my feet felt like two blocks of ice out on the loading dock today,I'm working in a glorified concrete box which means in the winter it's like a walk in freezer and in the summer it's like a brick oven,maybe if I hadn't goofed off all those years ago in high school I'd have a better job!!!!

Today marks 26 years since Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy passed away at a mere 36 years old,a tragic waste as his best years were probably still ahead of him.

Thin Lizzy were the first modern Irish band I ever discovered in 72 when they released "Whiskey In The Jar" I can remember walking up and down St Patrick Street in Cork city looking for a record shop to buy it,it was in a plain pale blue and white sleeve w/ the Decca record label showing,not sure I still have that a original 7'' vinyl but I have several Thin Lizzy albums and cds.

Phil Lynott was a truly great frontman his swagger was the stuff rock and roll was made of,one of the great all time lines in rock and roll was Phil Lynott on the classic Thin Lizzy live album/cd "Live And Dangerous" recorded at Hammersmith Odean on their 76 "Johnny The Fox" tour and also in Toronto in 77 on the "Bad Reputation" tour when Phil asks the crowd in his unique Dublin drawl "is there anyone here w/ any Irish in them?.....are there any girls who'd like a little more Irish in them???!!!!" only Phil Lynott could use a line like that and get away w/ it.

Rest in Peace Phil you are sorely missed,slainte

Brass Monkeys & Muppets

2012-01-03T11:08:00.004-05:00

I've always had to laugh at the expression "it's cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey" but frankly there was very little to laugh about this afternoon on my 8 miler.
I should count my blessings that on a day that was below zero out there I was able to conduct my run an hour earlier than usual.

Thanks in no small part to some crap scheduling(seriously,in a three man department when one person has off why would you grant someone else a day off also??????)I had the prospect of having to do all the spade work on the dock today but rather than get pissy about it I turned it around to my advantage,I'd known for a few days that today was going to be below zero so I knew I had the chance to"have it away on my toes" at 2.30pm instead of 3.15pm and w/ that I was out running at 3.25pm and utilizing the fact that the sun was out,even if it was only 27 degrees.
Tomorrow is another sub zero day but I have the day off w/ Thursday's mile at The Armory on tap so no worries about freezing tomorrow.

As for the muppet comment,I'm sorry to say I work w/ a bunch of muppets,seriously if arseholes were aeroplanes the storeroom would be an airport they are so stupid it's beyond belief....Einstein by name,but not by nature!!!!

In W/ The New

2012-01-02T09:49:00.001-05:00

Apologies for no post yesterday, a combination of six hours on the dance floor at Sex Dwarf to celebrate the New Year and then a 12 miler to round out the week at 50 miles meant I was well and truly "Cream Crackered" yesterday afternoon and ended up crashing out by 6.30pm, Happy New ZZZZZZZZZZZ's!!!

Up today by 8 am fully refreshed and batteries recharged to take on the rigours of a whole new week beginning w/ a 10 miler along the extended out and back course on Cobbs Creek Parkway.
It was nice yesterday for a change of scenery to run along the river,of course I'm knackered as all hell and when I got to Locust Point the gates at the railroad tracks were locked due to a CSX freight train so up and down the steps at Walnut St out and back.....just what I needed w/ my butt draggin'!!!
Let's hope when I revisit the 12 miler along the river on Friday the railroad tracks are clear,but if they're not at least I'm won't be coming off a 6 hour stint on the dance floor.....although Friday nite is Duran Duran tribute nite at Sex Dwarf so I would imagine more groovin' by yours truly!!

Trying to set my week to allow for a race and try to get 50 miles in has proved interesting as I also want to get on the track on the weekend for mile repeats and go dancing Friday nite so taking a leaf out of the Barbie playbook(cos Barbie has it all!!!) it's 10 today,8 tomorrow,rest day Wednesday,4 miles on Thursday w/ my race @ The Armory,12 miles Friday,10 miles Saturday and 6 miles on the track on Sunday w/ mile repeats,an ambitious but not unreachable goal.

Awesome Possum's Top Ten Races 2011

2011-12-31T17:16:00.004-05:00

I could've been forgiven for thinking there wouldn't even be 10 races to list this year when I finished 12th and dead last in the mile at West Chester on June 3rd but thankfully over the second half of the year I was able to get a grip on my anemia and turn things around,the fact 7 of my top 10 races came in the second half of the year somewhat underlines that!
Of my 31 races in 2011 here are my top 10

10,World Championships 5,000m
Perhaps an odd selection given I finished 12th out of 18 in a paltry 16.54.1. but I was glad I made the trip to Sacramento to witness Worlds first hand,it gave me an insight to what I can expect in future years when hopefully I'm firing on all cylinders

9,5th Avenue Mile
Initially I was far from impressed w/ my 8th place finish in 4.36 it wasn't till almost 12 hours later that I checked the results to discover I'd won a third consecutive M45-49 title thanks in part to a barn storming final 400m where I over took Chris Collins and Gladstone Jones,the moral of this race keep fighting till the very end!!

8,Masters Mile Boston
I've always loved running at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston two Masters invitationals and three Indoor Nationals have produced some great performances but to run in front of a packed and appreciative audience at the New Balance Games in February was something special,7th in 4.33.0 would prove to be my fastest mile of the season.

7,Brandywine 5K XC
I'd never had any success at the post Thanksgiving Delaware XC C'hips in previous years,I'd always said of the demanding course I'd like to come into this race well trained......on the back of 11 weeks of 50/53 mile training weeks in 14 weeks I finished 4th in 18.28 my first ever sub 19 there.

6,Armory 3,000m
When I lowered my 3,000m pr to 9.07.1 in August of 2010 the next target was to get as close to 9 mins as possible in the hopes of eventually going sub 9 sadly any hopes of that this summer went south and had I not gotten sick in the days leading up to this Feb 24th race I'm confident I'd have been closer to 9.05 at least but had to settle for an indoor pr of 9.08.3 a 3 second improvement on my previous indoor pr

5,Armory 5,000m
My first ever indoor 5,000m and a continuation of my sub 16s as I ran my second fastest ever time for 5,000m w/ a 15.47.3.
On the basis of this performance on Jan 20th I has great expectations for the coming season,sadly that wasn't to be but having scaled those heights once I believe I can do it again

4,Armory 1,500m
In a year that uncharacteristically saw no 1,500s for me until the Armory Holiday Meet on Dec 26th I did produce the goods when I had to
2nd in 4.45.8. I hopefully answered the critics who once again had sharpened their pens prematurely to pen my running obituary earlier in the year,I'm not going anywhere just yet people!!!

3,Nationals 5,000m
While my time(16.45.0.) was very little to write home about it was the manner in which I raced to earn a second consecutive 5,000m bronze that warrented such a high position for this race.
I always felt a bronze was winnable but it would come down to a three way battle between myself Jeff Mann and Damon Blackford for it ,at Worlds I'd more or less thrown caution to the wind and just ran I would NOT be so cavalier at Nationals and after languishing in the middle of the pack for the first half of the race I caught Jeff Mann w/ 6 laps to go and then passed Damon Blackford w/ just over 3.5 laps to go to earn another podium finish at Nationals

2, Nationals 10,000m
I probably had very little right to consider myself a favourite to win the gold in Berea given my entire 10,000m resume stood at 2 races, 40.41.4. in London in 1987 and 34.43.3.last April and yet somehow I had the fastest seed time of the field.
Much like my indoor 5,000m earlier in the year I knew physically I had it the question was could I handle the mental side of 25 laps......no worries!!
Gold in 35.27.4. and a third National Championship title to go w/ my 800m title in Orono in 07 and my 1,500m title in Spokane in 08,just need a 5,000m title to make it a grand slam.

1,Bridge Run 10k
While my heart and soul belong to track I had to give top billing this year to a road race.
B4 I won gold on the track at 10,000m in late July my thoughts had been towards early November and the Ben Franklin Bridge 10k road race and a chance to erase my oldest pr 1984's 34.53. my holy grail in some respects.
Thanks to weeks and months of hard work and dedication my dream came true, a new pr 27 years in the making thanks to a 34.24. time.

Out W/ The Old.......

2011-12-31T16:47:00.002-05:00

I began the year w/ a 16 miler on New Years Day and ended the year on New Years Eve w/ 5x1,000m to finish the year w/ 2,128 miles,93 shy of 2010's tally of 2,221.
I got lucky today the temps were in the mid 50's at 2pm when I arrived at a near deserted Temple track,being able to strip down to a base layer of clothing to run was an added bonus....I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities to bundle up like the friggin Michelin Man b4 the end of winter!!!

Mile warm up b4 getting into my flats one last time this year and having at it over 5x1,000m keeping in mind on my debut on Dec 4th I went :3.08.3-3.11.7.-3.10.6-3.14.5.-3.11.2.

#1 1,000m 1.17-1.19-35-3.11.4.Not a bad start if I say so myself,I was hoping to open in 1.16-1.17 and hold close to that.

#2 1,000m 1.16-1.20-35.-3.11.0.So far so good my splits may not be spectacular but they are at least consistent.

#3 1,000m 1.16-1.19-37-3.12.2.This should've been a third 3.11 when I saw 2.35 at 800m I probably eased off the gas a little instead of working the final turn.

#4 1,000m 1.16-1.20-36-3.12.3.Again a 3.11 there for the taking if I hadn't had to swing out into lane 3 20 meters from the end of my second 400m..... thanks bitches!!!

#5 1,000m 1.20-1.20-34-3.14.9.I was surprised and disappointed to see 1.20 after 400m I felt I was running as well as I had on my previous 4 opening laps.
At least I didn't go into the tank altogether as I notched a second 1.20 and had I not've tied up a little in the final 20 meters I could've gotten into the high 12's,low 13's.

All in all a satisfactory workout,they're still a work in progress,hopefully today bodes well for next Sundays 4x1mile repeats.

The Year In Review,Running

2011-12-30T09:03:00.006-05:00

After what could best be described as a "pig" of a day at work I was happy to get out and ease my way through 9 miles late this afternoon in the glorious sunshine,it sets me up nicely for the last "Land Of The Lost" this year on Wxpn at 7pm and hopefully tomorrows scheduled 5x1,000m repeats will have a similar effect on me going into the New Years Eve party at Sex Dwarf.

Anyway after a look back at the year in movies and music here's a look back at my year in races b4 conducting my Top Ten list tomorrow.............

January

Off of next to no speed work I opened my account for the season w/ a 4.33.7 mile at The Armory on Jan 6th I hoped this would bode well for the upcoming season.

2 days later at frankly one of the worst track meets I've ever attended I could only muster a 58.4 400m which effectively kept me out of the Millrose Masters 4x400m relay,frankly waiting around for 5 hours to run was hardly the best way to prepare for a race I had reservations about to begin w/.

My next trip to The Armory on Jan 20th saw me run my first ever indoor 5,000m but also continue a trend from 2010 of going sub 16 as I notched a 15.47.3(a time that would see me finish the year in 30th place in the world rankings my only ranking at world level for 2011)

I finished the month off running the 3rd leg of the Millrose masters 4x400m relay on the b team but could only muster a 59.7 as we finished a distant 4th,to be honest I had misgivings about running at all but when it was later revealed the famed Millrose Games was moving from Madison Square Gardens to The Armory in 2012 I was grateful for one final two and a half laps around the famous old boards.

February

7th in the Masters mile in Boston in 4.33.0 again w/ no real speed work to my credit due to all the snow we'd been having I had to be reasonably pleased w/ my performance but any and all good feelings from that race on the 5th went out the door 5 days later when I could only muster a 2.06 800m time at The Armory,my lack of speed work was sorely exposed

Had I've not gotten sick the week of my next visit to The Armory a fortnite later I'm convinced my 9.07.1 3,000m pr would've fallen as it was I had to settle for an indoor pr of 9.08.3.

March

W/ no Indoor Nationals to run things were barren to say the least as my indoor season came to an unsatisfactory conclusion w/ a lackluster 2.10 800m.

I said at the time I felt the 5 hour wait to run probably didn't help matters but I wonder w/ hindsight if the anemia that would derail my season over the coming weeks and months wasn't also to blame for such a poor performance.

After 2 less than stellar 800s I opted against pursing the 800m at worlds in July and began to focus on the 5,000m

April

Not the start I wanted to my outdoor season a 16.19.8 5,000m at Franklin Field in the Upenn Invitational, a year earlier I'd notched my first ever sub 16 here{15.57.7.} and I didn't think it was an unreasonable goal to run sub 16 again.

At the time I put my poor performance down to going out too hard in the opening mile but as next couple of races would prove all was not well under the hood.

May

From bad to worse a 16.25.9. 5,000m at Swarthmore at the Twilight Invitational where a year b4 I'd ran 15.56.5.,again I thought the meet running behind was the reason for a sub par performance but after a six week period since things had gone "pear shaped" at Upenn I was beginning to feel that all was not right.

Three nights later in New York I could only summon a 10.34. 2 mile in March of 2010 indoors I went 10.05.5. I knew something was wrong I just didn't know what.

June

Rock bottom a woeful 4.54 mile at West Chester almost brought my entire season to a standstill.

Even after my achilles injury in 09 I was able to register a 4.49 mile whatever was ailing me well and truly bollocksing up my season

Trying to get a doctors appointment or even having blood drawn to be sent off for tests proved to be next to impossible,when I did eventually get an appointment w/ my doctor it was for July 12th..... while I was in Sacramento at Worlds although at this point it hardly seemed worth flying half way across the country to "just make up the numbers" I was then "granted" a visit w/ an intern who inspite of my blood test results courtesy of team mate and friend Sean Harbison failed to diagnose my condition........

I managed a 16.48.9. 5,000m at Icahn Stadium 11 days b4 the 5,000m at Worlds,hardly confidence inspiring........

July

Worlds 5,000m, when you go into a race just hoping and praying not to finish dead last you know your confidence is at an all time low,12th out of 18 in 16.54.1. was perhaps the best I could hope for under the circumstances but at least I got to experience first hand what Worlds was about AND thanks to two fellow masters runners began taking Iron Pills to increase my hemoglobin count.......the turning point in my season

Three weeks later I won a bronze in the 5,000m albeit off a still painfully slow time 16.45.0. and then 2 days later won my 3rd National Championship title in only my 3rd ever 10,000m again it was slow 35.27.4. but given the heat at 10am that was to be expected

August

I could've been forgiven for not attempting to defend my Ironman Title at the Track Pentathlon on Aug 7th but frankly if I could fly cross country to compete at Worlds and go to Berea Ohio to compete in my 5th Nationals in 6 years I could make the effort to run 5 races in just under 2.5 hours.

I knew winning was a pipe dream at best last year I opened things w/ a 9.07.1 in 3,000m,this year 9.48. and had to settle for third but at least I showed up.

September

Traditionally only ever one race in September,but what a race 5th Avenue Mile,unlike the four previous years where I'd tailored my training for the 6 weeks leading up to 5th Avenue to the mile this year I found myself training through 5th Avenue Mile as my fall target race was the Ben Franklin Bridge Challenge 10k in 6 weeks time which may explain the 8th place finish in 4.36.however I did claim a 3rd consecutive M45 age group title to go w/ the 2 overall titles I'd won in 07 and 08.

October

Another tradition,Syracuse on the first weekend of October for the Masters 5k road race c'ships,while last year I was miffed they rounded up my 15.59 to 16.00 this year I was happy to finish 14th in 16.30.8. as the team took silver in the M40 team event,not only did I feel I was returning to form but 16.30 x2=33.00 and my date w/ destiny over 10k was now only 5 weeks away.

A return to xc racing after a two and a half year plus absence plus a rare Philadelphia race on my schedule as I slogged over the 5 mile xc course on Belmont Plateau to finish 50th out of 85 in a predominately college race field in 31.28.4.

A trip to Rochester for more xc this time 5k as I lead home the GPTC contingent finishing 21st in a field of 151 in 18.29.,this time we came away w/ a bronze in the team event,shit more National Championship bling to add to the collection.

November

This is what it was all building up to the Ben Franklin Bridge 10k on Sunday Nov 6th,after winning the 10,000m gold at Nationals I'd set my sights on erasing my oldest pr in the book 1984's 34.53. and thanks to several lung busting 8 mile runs out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway and several vertigo induced 3x2 mile repeats on Temple's track it all paid off,13th in a field of 3,030 2nd masters(worth a cool $250 thank you very much) and a new pr 34.24.

I could've called it a season right there but didn't two weeks later I went to Deer Park Path in Flemington New Jersey to finish 12th in 28.42 over 8k xc and snag sliver in the m45 age group b4 underlining my Lazarus recovery from that god awful 4.54 mile on June 3rd by finishing 4th out of 90 at the Brandywine Creek course in 18.29.9., a course I'd previously never broken 19 minutes on b4.....says a lot for my 50 miles a week training I feel.

December

One last race and back to the friendly confines of the track as I remarkably ran my first 1,500m race of the year on December 26th,such had been the turmoil this year w/ a loss of form and confidence due to the anemia I'd avoided the 1,500m,for so long a favourite distance of mine.

2nd in a field of 16 in 4.15.8. it signalled I hope the return to winning ways and the way forward for 2012.

We'll have to see what the next 12 months have in store for me when the 2012 season gets underway on Thursday January 5th at The Armory over the mile

The Year In Review,Music

2011-12-29T08:42:00.004-05:00

The year in music could be summed up in one word......Eighties,of the 13 concerts I saw in the past 12 months all but 4 of those bands were 80's acts.
B4 I delve into my music review I did log an easy 10 miler this afternoon to keep me on pace for another 50 mile week to wrap up the year,I lost yesterday due to the Market Frankford El being shut down around 3.30pm,that meant taking a bus home which obviously took twice as long and by the time I got home I knew I'd have precious little in the way of daylight to run in so I bagged it,it means having to do an easy 9 miler tomorrow evening and not getting a rest day b4 Saturdays 5x1,000m repeats but I'm no stranger to an easy 10 miler b4 repeats so I should be ok as long as I pace myself accordingly.

So music,the other great all conquering passion of my life,I tend to average 10 gigs a year,sometimes more(13 this year),sometimes less(8 last year) but you can always count on yours truly getting his gig on throughout the year,gigs this year were:The Church,Flogging Molly,Dropkick Murphys,U2,Berlin,OMD,Human League,Duran Duran,Howard Jones,Noel Gallagher,Pete Murphy,The Cure and Beady Eye.
For all those great gigs there were at least 2 dozen more I missed which always makes my end of year "Hits" and "Misses" mix tapes for "Our Kid" back home a delight to compile,maybe in the new year I'll list this years mixes,they are if I say so myself pretty damn good!!!

The Church performed three albums in their entirety including "Starfish" the album that introduced us to the Aussie wonders,Flogging Molly and Dropkick Murphys gave me my fix of Celtic punk in and around St Paddy's Day
U2 always put on a great show,Berlin was the rebirth of "everything 80's" for me,OMD was a trip back down memory lane I hadn't seen Berlin in 24 years and 25 years since I'd seen OMD.
Human League were a band I first saw in 1980,I've seen Duran Duran 10 times in the last 30 years,Howard Jones was the first time I'd seen him headline after seeing him open for Human League & Culture Club on the "Rewind Tour" in 98.
As a huge Oasis fan seeing Noel Gallagher was a no brainer,I loved Bauhaus so seeing Pete Murphy was too good to pass up,The Cure.....need I say more? and having seen Noel Gallagher I had to see Liam and the rest of Oasis who now form Beady Eye

Best show??? tough one to call U2 were simply awesome,Terri Nunn really did "Take My Breath Away"OMD were amazing,Duran Duran were as good now as they were in their heyday,Pete Murphy was a goth God and The Cure Robert Smith could've read the Yellow Pages and I've been hanging on every syllable.
It wasn't just in concerts the 80's ruled the roost I began to upgrade my cd collection to replace old classic vinyl w/ cds and also in my reading the 80's dominated,the last three of the eleven books I read were the autobiographies of Gary Kemp,Tony Hadley and Martin Kemp of Spandau Ballet w/ the Midge Ure autobiography on tap for early in the new year.

.....And of course my year in music review would be incomplete w/out mentioning the love of my life Florence Welch and her band Florence & The Machine,I predict BIG things for the "foxy lady" from Camberwell in 2012

The Year In Review, Movies

2011-12-28T08:25:00.004-05:00

Since it's "that time of year" I thought I'd look back over the last 12 months in movies and music b4 a look at my year in running b4 my annual New Years Eve Top Ten races of the year list,which I'm pleased to announce will take place this year........not something I thought possible in June when I wasn't even sure there be 10 races in my season muchless 10 good ones......but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Backtracking slightly if I may, since I didn't get home from The Armory till 12.35am Tuesday morning and I have to be up and at them by 5.35am I elected to take a vacation day for yesterday,this worked well on two counts,A getting a well deserved extra few hours kip and B allowing me to run in the daylight one last week day till next Monday
As luck would have it said 10 mile recovery run was conducted at 1030am which was just as well since come lunchtime the heavens opened for the fourth Tuesday in five weeks and I'd have been SOL yesterday afternoon,although I'll fall short of last years 2,221 miles for the year this year I am on course to notch 2,218,which given all the upheavals of the past 12 months is quite remarkable.

And so to the movies,I managed 7 in total which isn't alot but 2 more than my 2010 tally,the "Magnificent Seven" so to speak were: The Fighter,The Guard,Brighton Rock,50/50,Like Crazy,The Descendants and Sherlock Holmes Game Of Shadows.
As you can see I tend to gravitate more towards "Art House" movies,I am somewhat of a self confessed "Art House Movie Snob" I won't not go see a movie if it's not playing at The Ritz{The Fighter,50/50 and Sherlock Holmes} but I prefer to see movies that play at The Ritz.

At the end of the day it came down to The Fighter,The Guard and Sherlock Holmes for my movie of the year,what set them apart from the other four was I felt they were good all the way through where as Brighton Rock,50/50,Like Crazy and The Descendants were just good in places.
I felt Christian Bale was outstanding in his role as Mickey Ward's drug addicted brother Dickie in The Fighter and Amy Adams and Mark Walberg gave great performances.
The Guard was a riot from start to finish,Brendan Gleeson seldom makes a bad movie and the dialogue was to die for in this one,Don Cheadle gave a epic performance as the "fish out of water" FBI agent sent to Galway in Ireland to thwart the drug ring
Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law did a stellar job reprising their roles as Holmes and Watson in Sherlock Holmes Game Of Shadows,for me the best scenes were often the ones w/ just the two of them,their obvious on screen chemistry working well w/ a returning to form Guy Ritchie who's back to making great movies again after becoming sidetracked as Madonna's husband.

So who gets my pick for best movie?.... I went w/ "The Guard" it was just a laugh a minute,the sad thing is as a small independent movie it probably wasn't seen by the size of audience it deserved to be but hopefully by the time it reaches the likes of HBO,Showtime,Starz etc word of mouth will have gotten it the recognition it fully deserved.

It Must Be Something In The Water

2011-12-27T17:19:00.002-05:00

Don't ask me what it is about me running in New York City that just seems to raise the level of my game but since 2006 I've turned in some heroic performances either here at The Armory,along 5th Avenue in the 5th Avenue Mile and also at Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island,I often joke about being an "adopted New Yorker" this city has taken to me and my running in a way words cannot describe,I frequently talk about tapping into the great Irish spirit that runs thro New York City as a rich source of energy,whatever it is that allows me to invoke the traditions of the "the big three"Ronnie Delaney,Marcus O Sullivan and of course "the guv'nor" Eamon Coghlan long may it continue.

It's been a strange year for me not just w/ the whole anemia issue but no Indoor Nationals as I opted against going all the way to Albuquerque,the bad winter meant it was mid February b4 I was able to get a track workout in on top the fact last fall I opted to build base mileage in favour of speed which then coupled w/ the bad winter meant I lacking serious speed work for my handful of indoor races,hard to swallow as a miler that Dec 26th was my first 1,500m race of the year......like I said it's been that sort of a year!

I went into the traditional Armory Holiday meet w/ duel purpose,to bring down the curtain on a at times frustrating 2011 season but also get a jump start on the upcoming 2012 season,my focus on Indoor Nationals which are only 11 weeks away is the 3,000m and the mile so what better way to see where I'm at than a 1,500m b4 returning next Thursday for the mile,tonite would give me a firm indication of where I'm at and how I should seed myself.
Based on a pair of indoor miles in January and February of 4.33 I felt 4.15 was a reasonable expectation for the race and it earnt me a berth in heat 2,I may need to readjust my thinking this season and not jump into the seeded heats as has been my won't for the past several years,I need to keep the fact I'm now 48 very much front and center!!!!

So heat 2 it was,16 of us in total,three masters runners myself,Francis Burdett and Tom Fitzpatrick and threeteen high school/college runners,I may not know their ages until the official results are public but it was a safe bet I was the old man in the line up.
Certainly my reaction to the gun was that of an old codger and I was probably last coming off the starting line,unlike an outdoor 1,500m where you have the length of the straightaway to position yourself indoors it's straight into the turn but one advantage of being an old fart and entering my 36th season running is that I've been around the block enough times to have one thing the younger guys lack.......experience!!
Never wavering from lane 2 I quickly found my stride and w/out having to swing wide out into lane 3 I carefully maneuvered my way from the rear of the field w/ a pair of 33 second laps(props to my good friend Lt David Stein from the NYPD for taking my splits) to move up to mid pack.

After that I couldn't tell you who I passed or when,but I kept passing runners which is always a plus,35 and 34 seconds on laps #3 and #4 put me at 800m in 2.14.
The leader was way out ahead of me but I kept picking off runners between he and I never once feeling out of my comfort zone,34,35,34 for the next three laps as I eventually moved into second and closed the deal in 18 seconds to finish a distant second but in 4.15.86.
I said 4.15 was in my wheelhouse and I wasn't wrong,I know based off of this performance there are faster times to come,it's ironic my last scheduled race b4 Indoor Nationals is also a 1,500m here at The Armory on Feb 23rd in 8 weeks time,it'll be interesting to see where I'm at then w/ a potential for three mile races between now and then.

Post race I cooled down w/ Francis and James Harrison,James and I have been Facebook friends for a while now and James is an avid follower of Runningfree so when he mentioned being in New York from his native Australia it seemed too good an opportunity to pass up to meet one another,I was grateful for the chance to chat w/ him and warm up and cool down w/ him if not a tad guilty he'd brought his wife and son and daughter along to The Armory to watch,hopefully my performance was worth it!!!!
I can and will take great heart from this performance,there is still work to be done,off a 4.15 1,500m I should have a 4.33 mile in me next Thursday,4.35 is the cut off for the Masters Mile in Boston in early Feb where I ran an ok 4.33.0. off of next to no speed work this year,it'd be nice to go back and show a packed Reggie Lewis Arena what I'm really capable of,afterall I have some good Boston race in my resume......and Boston is a big Irish city also.........

Armory Holiday Meet

2011-12-26T11:16:00.001-05:00

Cliff notes(it's 1.10 am for crying out loud!!!)
1,500m
heat 2
2nd out of 16
4.15.8.
#12 on my all time list
More detailed account to follow

Just Another Day

2011-12-25T18:12:00.002-05:00

"There's razors in my bed that come out late at nite,they always disappear b4 the morning lite
I'm dreaming again of life underground,it doesn't ever move it doesn't make a sound and just when I think that things are in their place
The heavens are secure the whole thing explodes in my face
It's just another day,it's just another day,it's just another day,it's just another day,it's just another day when people wake from dreams w/ voices in their ears that will not go away"

Just Another Day-Oingo Boingo

A wise man{my father} once told me many moons ago when I was yea high to a grasshopper that quote"Christmas is what you make it" if you want to go all out and do the tree,lights,decorations that's fine....but it's also ok if you just want to ignore the calander and treat December 25th like a regular day,as is my won't more often than not I've gone w/ the latter.

My easy 6 mile run mid morning was all I had planned for today,a nice uneventful 6 mile run.....less than half a mile into said run some Mario Andretti type tries to run me over coming out of the drive next to St Cypians church.......what did I fucking turn sideways and you didn't see me??????
Some less than festive words were directed at "Mario" church grounds be damned!!! wanker was pretty high on my list of pleasantries and also a request to "open your fuckin eyes" not really how I wanted to begin my run but there you go!!!

At least the afternoon was less stressful as I took a "zen like" approach w/ my recliner and became one w/ it as I watched 4 80's music video dvds,Spandau Ballet,Visage,OMD and Ultravox now all that remains is making a brontosaurs bowl of seafood linguine for dinner and a little Doctor Who Christmas special to round off my day.....not everyones idea of celebrating Christmas but it works for me!!

Lights,Camera,Action

2011-12-24T22:41:00.002-05:00

Had things worked out differently today would've been a rest day but having a tooth yanked out Monday and rain on Tuesday and Wednesday meant that notion got shot to shit.
Easy 10 miler this morning,bloody hell it was brisk out there that early,I hope it's a bit warmer tomorrow when I conduct my 6 miler.

W/ my food shopping for the week taken care of post run I can now sit back and relax for the next couple of days,I have zero plans for tomorrow other than my run and Monday I'm up to New York for the Armory Holiday meet and all I have on my docket for Tuesday is another 10 miler and laundry,as you may've gathered I'm not the poster child for the holidays I let those who want to celebrate them get on w/ them while I go about my business.

I caught a couple of movies today one on my dvr and one at the cinema.
"Sex & Drugs And Rock & Roll" was the Ian Dury story which was pretty good,I always liked Ian Dury one of the great icons of punk who never allowed the polio that crippled him to hold him back.
My other movie was the new Sherlock Holmes movie "A Game Of Shadows",I'm not sure if it's as good as the first one from two years ago but still pretty good and w/ my South East London buddy Jude Law reprising his role of Dr Watson it kicked off the first of two "good old boy"movies on tap next up another South East London boy Gary Oldman in "Tinker, Tailor,Solider,Spy"

No Mo????WTF

2011-12-23T09:23:00.004-05:00

I have to say I'm a tad surprised Mo Farah only finished third in the 2011 BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards last nite.
No disrespect to winner Mark Cavendish but I thought Mo's silver in the 10,000m and gold in the 5,000m at this summers World Championship would see him crowned the winner.....I guess the great British public are waiting for an Olympic gold next summer in London b4 giving Mo his props................

Another late afternoon extended out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway,just like yesterday the 10 miler came as welcome relife from another day of carrying the freight all by my lonesome at work I swear the day my deliver person retires I'm dancing a jig on the dock that will put Michael Flattley to shame!!!!!
Two 10 milers down,one to go tomorrow morning...or at least b4 lunchtime and then an easy 6 miler on Sunday b4 heading to The Armory on Monday for the 1,500m

World Peace,A New Laptop Would Be Nice....But What I Really Want For Xmas Is......

2011-12-23T07:22:00.003-05:00

C'mon you didn't really think I could go a whole week w/out a Flo reference did ya????

Mixed Emotions

2011-12-22T07:53:00.006-05:00

"Dear darling,you were right about them all when my luck went bad they never came around or called

That's alright cause I don't miss them anyhow but it gets chilly over here sometimes it's a cold part of town"

Cold Part Of Town-Concrete Blonde

Finally a chance to run today.....even if it meant not watching the Spurs Chelski game live,oh well can't have it all I guess!!!
Spurs drew 1.1 which keeps us third and after a few days of kicking my heals I was able to get out and run a 10 miler.
By virtue of getting out of work 45 mins earlier I was able to get my run in during daylight which at this time of year is always a bonus,over the next few days {Friday thro Tuesday} I'll be able to keep doing that.

Today is the official start of Winter.....boo!!!!!! three months of crap weather and potential missed training runs but it's also Winter Solstice which means little by little it'll begin to get lighter in the evenings.....yea!!!! I'm sure for the first couple of weeks it'll hardly be noticeable but it's nice to know sunset will begin to edge it's way back from 4.39pm.

Frankly Kids,I'd Rather Starve

2011-12-21T09:03:00.004-05:00

Any day that sees me dial up "A Slight Case Of Overbombing" by the awesome Sisters Of Mercy usually means I'm in a spit nails,shit bullets,walk thro walls mood...........

Another training day lost to the rain,as the angst and anger levels begin to hit critical I need to get out and run and soon,orange is not NOT my colour and roadside trash pick up detail is not on my top ten list of favourite things to do but if something doesn't give soon there's a distinct possibility I'll kill someone here at work!!!!!!

The "social event of the year" was today.....the annual storeroom holiday party.....YEA!!! I should be honoured that this year I was actually invited since last year the powers that be saw fit to exclude me......yep I got excluded from my own departments holiday party........you know you're bad arse when that happens!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Frankly nothing screams ambiance like a party in storeroom below street level w/ no windows and dusty as fuck but I'm gobsmacked at the work ethic here,I've been fighting for weeks to have space in the back of the storeroom for the skids I take down every morning......now lo and behold this morning skids have been straighten up,consolidated and even moved......to accommodate a table for the food.........are you shitting me!!!!!!
When Joe who puts the skids away is off the skids sit for days and it's like pulling teeth to get stock put away......not this morning!!! all hands on deck putting stock away,throwing out empty boxes etc........where's this level of commitment the rest of the year???????

Needless to say I didn't join the festivities at lunch time,I'm here to work,after all aren't we here to provide patient care not stuff our faces w/ food and stand around all day talking shit????????

Substituting Toothache W/ Heartache

2011-12-20T09:08:00.004-05:00

"Hopelessly adrift in the eyes of the ghost again down on my knees and my hands in the air again
Pushing my face in the memory of you again,but I never know if it's real never know how I wanted to feel
Never quite said what I wanted to say to you,never quite managed the words to explain to you
Never quite knew how to make them believable,and now that time has gone another time undone
Hopelessly fighting the devil futility feeling the monster climb deeper inside of me feeling him gnawing away hungrily
I'll never lose this pain,never dream of you again"

Untitled-The Cure

I knew looking at the seven day weather forecast on Sunday that there was major potential for losing days to the rain this week,having nixed yesterday due to my oral surgery and now losing today to the rain I can kiss goodbye to a 50 mile week.

I had hoped to run Monday thro Friday and rest Saturday and Sunday b4 going to New York next Monday to run the 1,500m at The Armory,it looks like I'll be lacing them up on the weekend now we'll just have to see what the next couple of days bring in terms of what mileage I can get now for the week.

Today should be my 25th wedding anniversary w/ Erica,sadly it isn't because I pissed my marriage away,I always say Erica and I were guilty of "being in love w/ being in love"and not in love w/ one another all those years ago, we were young and probably inexperienced to be married but I also know I have to own the lions share of the blame for our marriage falling apart,we had so many hurdles and obstacles to overcome from when we first met in London in Jan 85 that by the time we got here to Philly in late October 87 things were already over between us.

I've had ample time since our separation and subsequent divorce to realize how badly I messed things up w/ Erica,my own parents separated when I was quite young and frankly you couldn't have put Eileen and Kevin in the same room unless you posted the National Guard outside in the beginning but as time evolved they not only settled their considerable differences but became very good friends I always wanted that for Erica and I,sadly that hasn't happened and isn't likely to and I have to own some major guilt to things I did and said while we were together that has meant we've sailed separate oceans since our separation and divorce.

I don't blame Erica's parents for "running interference" when I've attempted to contact her in the past,the Kevin they knew and had the misfortune to have as a son in law wasn't worth the time of day but I always hoped Erica would know I was genuinely sorry for the things I did and said back in the bad old days when I drank,I don't want forgiveness I just want her to know how deeply sorry I am for the terrible way I behaved back then,I can say w/ my hand on my heart that I hope whatever Erica did w/ her life after our divorce I hope she's happy,knowing that would ease my conscience somewhat.

So that's it for major Erica anniversaries I always knew this year would be a tough one 25 years since she moved from Philly to London to live w/ me,25 years since we got engaged in Greenwich on her 21st b'day and 25 years since we got married,there are dozens of Erica Songs that remind me of her,Cinderella's "Don't Know What You've Got Till It's Gone"might just be the one that says it all.......

Open Up,Say Agh!

2011-12-19T10:40:00.004-05:00

Nothing like a little lunch time oral surgery to remove a upper wisdom tooth to get your week off to a rip roaring start!!!
I'd known for a few days there was an issue w/ my tooth but I was hoping it would go away.....fat chance of that, on Saturday I took a mouthful of hot tea and almost went into orbit,several hours later I took a mouthful of Hawaiian Punch and the same thing happened so I knew I was on borrowed time w/ it,the final straw was during my repeats yesterday when the cold air hit my tooth and I felt like I'd copped a right hander off Floyd Mayweather!!!!!!

I knew if I didn't act quickly today I might miss the boat in terms of getting this treated, Thursday and Friday I'm holding the fort down on the dock by my lonesome and our Dental department is closed till after New Years so it was either get it taken care of today or keep being in pain till Jan 4th.
Following an examination and xray it was revealed it was my upper left wisdom tooth,I elected to have it pulled and w/in 20 mins it was over,that's all four wisdom teeth gone.

Needless to say three hours after oral surgery I wasn't really in the best shape to run so I elected to sit today out w/ every intention of getting out there tomorrow,the best medicine I could ask for is my girl Florence Welch performing on VH1 Diva's tonite from New York so that's my evening.

The Proverbial Game Of Two Halves

2011-12-18T15:26:00.002-05:00

Final repeat before the season opener at The Armory on December 26th but not my final scheduled interval session of the year,hoping to get to Temple's track on New Years Eve for a second 5x1,000m b4 heading into 2012.
If yesterday morning hadn't prepped me for how brisk it was going to be at 10am nothing would,and the trusty billboard in the Fresh Grocer parking lot revealed 30 degrees.......BER!!!!

A few hardy souls on the track when I got there just after 10.30am as I warmed up for a mile,while I was content to shed my hoodie and warm up bottoms come repeat time the hat and gloves were staying put,I'm not sure I could've operated the buttons on my new stop watch had I shed the gloves!!!
So 8x800m,I'm not 100% sure an 800m race indoors is on my schedule,right now looking at my tentative schedule{which is always subject to change}nor am I sure if I'll race the 800m at Indoor Nationals in Bloomington in March,I can always use my 2.06 seed time from Feb at The Armory if need be but irregardless of there being or not being an 800m race 800m repeats would benefit my 1,500m/mile races so I figured have at it!!
I felt 2.35 was a legit baseline to work off of starting out,2.40 felt too soft and too low to set the bar for starters.

#1 800m 1.16-1.15-2.31.5. Not a bad start if I say so myself but I knew I had to brace myself for the wind down the back straight coming off the bottom turn.

#2 800m 1.18-1.16-2.34.1. Guilty of going to sleep mentally on the opening lap,need to be turned on to the repeat fundamentals{focus,knee lift,leg turnover,working the arms}from the get go.

#3 800m 1.17-1.16-2.33.8 If nothing else I'd been consistent w/ my pacing thus far,but w/ only three down and five to go a tad premature to breaking my hand patting myself on the back.

#4 800m 1.17-1.1.17-2.34.5. Half way there,this would be when the decision to go for 8x800m and not 6x800m would raise it's self to the surface.......

#5 800m 1.17-1.20-2.37.2. Bollocks!!!! the combination of the wind,fatigue beginning to set in and working hard to stay 100% focused caught up w/ me,I was in this for the long haul,if the remaining 3 800s had to be taken one at a time,one lap at a time fine,no raising the white flag now and pussing out at 6

#6 800m 1.18-1.20-2.38.4. The giant Grand Piano had been delivered and seemed to nestled on my back on the second lap,I like a sing song like the next person but could we at least wait till I was done w/ the repeats????

#7 800m 1.20-1.19-2.39.1. Good to know the brain was able to respond to an opening 1.20 and allow me to dredge up a 1.19 if I'm going down I'm going down swinging!!!!!

#8 800m 1.18-1.16-2.34.9. Yea! Good to see the fighting spirit is still intact,I'll take five out of eight at sub 2.35. for my 8x800m debut.

Like the opening 5x1,000m and 4x1mile repeats today won't put the world on notice but it's an encouraging start and hopefully over the coming weeks and months I'll greatly improve on all three of my repeats as I get ready to launch an all out offensive heading into the 2012 season.
Nice to be back at 50 miles for the week again,let's see if that can continue.

I Guess That's Why They're Called Coldplay

2011-12-17T20:02:00.002-05:00

For an easy day I crammed a lot into it!!!
Up by 7am to go stand in line at the Wells Fargo Center in South Philly to score Coldplay tix for their July 6th show.
Man it was cold down there this morning,I think December 17th is probably the latest I've ever stood in line for tix,talk about brass monkeys.......fuckin ada!!!!!
Anywho it was worth it I secured tix for me and my mate Pete to see Chris Martin and co in July,though I'm not jazzed at dropping $80 a ticket for the 200 level but there you go,guess I should be grateful for scoring tix at all I guess yesterdays pre sale went so well they added a second show last nite b4 the tix went on sale today,this will be my 5th Coldplay show in 8 years.

Pleasant and unexpected surprise on the way home,ran into my old Bell Captain from my bellman days at The Bellevue and also my boss when I worked part time at the Wells Fargo Center in it's first two years Mark.
It's funny cos I had just recanted a classic bellman story to one of my housemates the other day and then bang! I happened to run into Mark for the first time in maybe threeteen years,hopefully we can stay in touch.

Easy 10 miler a little after 1pm,thankfully it had warmed up a lot since 8am when I was waiting in line for Coldplay tix,I have some leaway w/ my schedule tomorrow as the Spurs Sunderland game isn't being shown till 5pm so I can either crank out my 8x800m repeats mid morning or early afternoon and still watch the game.

One Year W/ The Love Cat

2011-12-16T07:56:00.003-05:00

No run today as I took a well earned rest day having notched 50 miles in the last six days,I will be back at it tomorrow w/ a 10 miler b4 hitting the track on Sunday for 8x800m repeats which will put me back at 50 mpw somewhere I've fallen short of the past 2 weeks.
My toe looks a lot better today not as swollen,not as red and purple,hopefully getting up on my toes during the 800m repeats on Sunday won't be an issue,the original plan was that yesterday would've been a 6 miler w/ repeats tomorrow and a 12 miler on Sunday,however w/ Coldplay tickets going on sale tomorrow at 10am I had to have a hasty rethink of my schedule,ergo a third week of Sunday repeats.

So it's a whole year since I adopted Precious,trust me the last thing I expected when I woke up on Dec 16th 2010 was adopting a 4 month old kitten who'd been left out in the freezing cold,if one of my house mates hadn't found her running around outside in sub zero temps I doubt she'd have survived,Terry has a cat and wasn't looking to keep the stray kitten and I had Hobbes so I really wasn't planning on keeping the "strange bundle of fur" that fitted in the palm of my hand but she grew on me and frankly the notion of putting her in a shelter or up for adoption didn't cut it w/ me so I bit the bullet and kept her......Hobbes was not best pleased 4 nites later when I first brought Precious into my room but in time came to accept the "little kittie" who's not so little any more!!!
For a cat who once sat in the palm of my hand she's become quite the handful {as if her 26 hour shut in the other nite didn't perfectly illustrate!!!!} but I wouldn't trade her in for the world.
I'm often asked why I named her Precious? simply because that first nite I sat on the living room steps w/ her in the palm of my hand I thought she was the most precious thing I'd ever seen,I still do but if I adopted her this December and not last December I'm reasonably confident she'd have been named Florence after Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine,it's ironic I'm sitting here blogging this w/ Precious on my lap and "Ceremonials" on my pc........

These Are The Things I Can Do W/out

2011-12-15T14:48:00.001-05:00

"In violent times,you shouldn't have to sell your soul in black and white,they really really ought to know
Those one track minds,that took you for a working boy,kiss them goodbye you shouldn't have to jump for joy,you shouldn't have to
Shout,shout let it all out,these are the things I can do w/out come on,I'm talking to you,come on"

Shout-Tears For Fears

The other title I had in mind was "A Rant In E Minor" it was "one of those days,in short..........
Almost breaking my toe
Precious getting locked in someones room for 26 hours
The Holiday Meal at work
The treat of rain to scupper my run

So my toe,in what can only be described as a freak accident I walked into the dining room sofa in the dark and cracked my toe into the base of it,it's my own dumb fault for not putting the light on as I went from my room to the kitchen,it hurt like hell and if you ever saw the "Simpsons" episode when Homer lets rip w/ a loud obscenity that scatters birds in the sky and cuts to Ned Flanders in his back yard saying"good lord,that's the loudest profanity I've ever heard" that sums it up.
When I looked at my toe b4 leaving for work this morning it didn't look like it was broken,I doubt I could've worked all day on a broken toe given I'm on my feet for several hours and although it's swollen and discoloured below the toe nail {a red/purple colour}I was able to run on it so I guess I'm ok.....note to self turn the light on next time I going to the kitchen!!!!

Precious getting locked in someones room for 26 hours,whoever said cats are meant to reduce stress not induce it never met my cat!!!
When I'm home I like to let her have the run of the house so it's not uncommon not to see her for an hour at a clip but as I was getting ready to go to bed on Tuesday nite I thought it was odd I hadn't seen her for a while so I went down to the living room,dining room and kitchen to look for her,no joy I figured she'd found a new hiding place I didn't know.........
I heard claws pulling at the rug and as I followed the sound I found myself outside one of my house mates room,somehow Precious had snuck into Jean's room and when Jean left for the evening at 8.30pm she unknowingly locked Precious in her room!!!!!
Fast forward 26 hours and Jean returned home at 10.30pm last nite and yours truly pleading to get my cat back,like my toe it was a freak accident but I was relieved to have my cat back in my room when I went to bed last nite.

The Holiday meal at work,I've been at the hospital for 12 years now so I've had to endure the wankathon that is the holiday meal for 13 years now since xmas 99.
Never have I witnessed such greed and gluttony over the years,we have a chronic obesity problem in this county not to mention people starving and yet once a year hospital employees act like they've never eaten a meal in their lives,I lost count of the number of employees I saw walking the halls today laden down w/ Styrofoam containers of food from the cafeteria,not to mention seeing various departments sending employees over to the cafeteria w/ trolleys to wheel food back to their department.....it's a disgrace!!!
I don't eat in the cafeteria any day of the year so I can't be a hypocrite and show up for the holiday meal,that's just me but I do get the point of view that a lot of employees feel they're over looked,over worked,under paid and under appreciated so if they can get something for free why not grab it w/ both hands?.....but if they were giving away a dog turd in a tote bag for free would they show up in droves?????
I say nix the holiday meal,take the money it costs to provide it and donate that food and money to Philabundance or local homeless shelters to those who need a free meal.

The treat of rain this afternoon,I needed a run on several levels,knowing my toe wasn't broken,wanting to blow off some steam after the holiday meal and the issue of Precious,the ghosts of Xmas past gathering and hovering above me,wanted to stay on pace for 6 day/50 miles,notching a 6th day in a row.
When I returned from lunch at 2pm it was raining.....great! but when I left at 3.15pm it had eased off and when I got home by 4.15pm it had stopped so I had at it,my third consecutive 8 miler to put me at 34 miles for the week w/ a rest day on tap tomorrow b4 another 10 miler on Saturday b4 8x800m repeats on Sunday to round out my week at 50 miles.

Blah Humbug

2011-12-14T14:05:00.004-05:00

It must come as no major surprise to those who know me that I am NOT the poster child or spokesperson for the holidays,I am very much anti holiday that said I try not to rain on the parade of the majority who seem to revel in this time of year.
I'd been surprised how deep into December I'd gotten b4 my "holiday blahs" surfaced,I think it's safe to say w/ 11 days to go that "cheque is no longer in the mail"

Another 8 miler this evening,another tomorrow will set me up nicely for a 6 day/50 mile week
This time last year it was a lot colder when I was out running as I recall the nite of Thur Dec 16th vividly.........
After a couple of weeks where my Tuesday and Wednesday runs fell by the way side due to the rain it's nice to have a sense on continuity going this week,backing up to last week since Saturday I now have 5 consecutive days which is something I took for granted when I routinely cranked out six day weeks week in week out.

If Time Magazine Thinks So...................................

2011-12-13T09:49:00.002-05:00

"You are the hole in my head you are the space in my bed,you are the silence in between what I thought and what I said
You are the night time fear you are the morning when it's clear,when it's over you will start you're my head you're my heart
No light,no light in your bright blue eyes I never knew daylight could be so violent a revelation in the light of day
You can't choose what stays and what fades away and I'll do anything to make you stay"

No Light No Light-Florence & The Machine

An ex girlfriend once said my bedroom was quote"a shrine to Sarah McLaughlin",I guess these days my blog has become a shrine to Florence Welch......and I'm ok w/ that!!!!!

Time magazine said that "No Light,No Light" was their "Song Of The Year" and frankly who are we to argue w/ them,c'mon it's Time magazine not What's On In Stoke Newington for crying out loud, I'm delighted it's the new single even though xpn is now playing "Shake It Out",hell any Florence & The Machine on the radio is good and I also learnt she'll be appearing on "Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year" which I'll be dvring seeing as I'll be getting my New Years,New Wave on at Sex Dwarf that nite.

Needed my 8 miler this evening,there are five words that are guaranteed to screw up my whole day"Hill Rom beds coming in"and from 7am till 2pm the dock was tied up w/ a Hill Rom 18 wheeler backed onto the dock not to mention new Hill Rom beds,mattresses and headboards all over the dock.....not quite sure where I'm expected to put my deliveries......I'm not an unreasonable man,I realize you can't omelets w/out breaking eggs but there has to be a better way of getting 50 beds into the hospital w/out tying up the loading dock for 7 hours.

Different Gear,Still Speeding

2011-12-12T09:50:00.002-05:00

If it's Monday it's a 10 miler,always good to kick the week off on a good note and if I'm coming off either a long run or repeat on Sunday it's always good to have that nice easy 10 miler to get the previous days run out of my system.
I also feel it sets the week up nicely,miss Monday and there's the chance the week can get away from you,granted the last two weeks my Tuesdays and Wednesdays have been rained out but I'm hoping this week to get back up to 6 days a week/50 miles a week so kicking things off tonite w/ an easy 10 miler helps sets that up.

Didn't get the chance to mention the Beady Eye show at Terminal 5 on Friday,I was a mega Oasis fan,saw them at least 9 times in 13 years including two memorable Wembley Stadium shows in 2000 that make up their "Familiar To Millions" cd and dvd.
Wasn't surprised to hear they broke up last year,if anything I was surprised it didn't happen sooner given the fractious relationship between Noel and Liam Gallagher but from the ashes of Oasis came Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and Beady Eye.
Having seen both bands and heard both cds I have to give the nod to Noel,better singer,better song writer,better stage presence but that's not to say Liam and Beady Eye don't have their charm,the bigger question is how long b4 Noel and Liam settle their differences and reform Oasis???

Always Up For A Little Afternoon Delight

2011-12-11T22:21:00.002-05:00

OK so first up it should be stressed that Kevinrunningfree hasn't become that sort of a blog{I save that material for my diary thank you very much!!!}but now that I have your attention here's my 4x1mile repeats.........

Try as I might I could not force myself out of bed at 8am when the alarm went off and w/ a Spurs game at 11am I was now looking at hitting Temple's track at 2pm for my repeats.......see see what I did there, a little play on words,afternoon workout,afternoon delight!!!!!
I arrived at Temple at 2.05pm minus the dozen or so guys on the infield playing football I had the track to myself so barring a wide received going out of bounds to make a play and ending up in lane 1 I was good to go!!
Mile warm up,warm up being the operative word the sun might've been out but it was a little on the brisk side,no shedding my 1/2 zip fleece this Sunday!!
Having not done mile repeats for a while I felt 5.10 per mile was perhaps a bit too rich for my blood this early on so 5.20 per mile w/ 4 laps at 1.20 per lap felt like a good baseline to work off of.

#1 mile 1.19-1.23-1.24-1.18-5.24.2-I was pleased w/ the opening lap but just like on my 2 mile repeats it seemed the pace dipped on laps 2 and 3 but I was able to rally on the last lap,from little acorns big trees grow......

#2 mile 1.18-1.23-1.24.1.16-5.21.5-Signs of improvement on the opening and closing laps,I felt I was paying more attention to the fundamentals,working my arms knee lift and leg turnover and also focusing 100% on what I was doing rather than allowing myself to drift off mentally.

#3 mile 1.17-1.23-1.23-1.18-5.21.4.Two thoughts on this one,where did the 1.17 opener come from? and thanks to the skin of my teeth I was on for a repeat workout where each interval got faster than the previous one,was there enough juice left in the tank??

#4 mile 1.17-1.23-1.24-1.13-5.17.4-Nice finish,good to know a 1.13 is in my wheelhouse this early on into my repeats.

Like my 1,000m repeats last week I feel I've opened the campaign w/ reasonable repeats and while there's clearly room for improvement{eliminating those 1.23/1.24 laps for starters}I feel I can move on to the second round of 1,000s and mile repeats w/ a sense of optimism

Getting It Done

2011-12-10T22:37:00.002-05:00

Sadly time constraints yesterday meant no run,I was heading upto New York again for a concert to see Beady Eye at Terminal 5 and had to be on the 12.07pm R7 out of 30th St which didn't allow me the time to get a 3rd 10 miler for the week in,more's the pity.

Inspite of yet another late nite{seriously three weekends in a row now I've gotten home at 3am!!}I was up by 10am and out the door by 11am to run 10 miles on the extended out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway.
The pace might not've been brisk but the weather sure as hell was,seriously and I speak from first hand experience when I say this it was warmer at 2.15am this morning walking home from 30th St than it was when I ran at 11am!!!

I was quite content w/ the easy pace,yesterday had been a long day,sitting down on the 11.52pm train out of Penn Station felt so good!! and w/ a 4x1 mile repeat on tap tomorrow there was no need to balls out....even if I wanted to,which frankly I didn't I was happy to get the 10 miler in period,tomorrow when I run my first mile repeats since August 10th will be another matter.

Didn't See That Coming....

2011-12-08T14:10:00.002-05:00

Well the good news,it stopped raining.....,the bad news it got a lot cooler,my first reaction as the front door closed behind me this morning at 5.45am as I left for work was fuckin ada it's cold!!
And frankly 11 hours later it wasn't that much better as I set off for my 10 miler.

First nite I wore my thermal ski hat tonite and frankly I could've done w/ my gloves as my finger tips were feeling a tad numb by half way and b4 anyone scream wuss I'm not blessed w/ a great deal of circulation in my fingers so they tend to get numb quicker than most people.

I have the luxury of having tomorrow off from work as I'm off to New York City again for a concert {Beady Eye} so there's major potential to squeeze my run in b4 leaving at lunchtime which would be nice given how I lost two days to the rain.

Tuesday nite saw the season finale of "Sons Of Anarchy",I've loved "Sons" since I discovered it in season two and this season has been an unbelievable roller coaster ride,I gave up trying to predict how I thought it might end weeks ago as every episode left my jaw dropping closer to the floor but frankly I could not've predicted the way this season played out......damn now we've got to wait till September for season five.....son of a bitch!

Warm Fuzzies On A Damp Dreary Day

2011-12-07T12:05:00.002-05:00

"Just one beat of your heart and stranger than fantasy,I knew from the start it had to be the place for me
Someone that I would die for there's no way I could ever leave
Is your love strong enough?like a rock in the sea am I asking too much?
Is your love strong enough?

Is Your Love Strong Enough-Bryan Ferry

Man, I thought I was upset that The Cure didn't get into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame,seems the Gods were so overcome w/ grief they cried all day.......hence the rain!!!
Clearly no run again today I'm not risking getting sick for the sake of a 10 miler,there will be other days this week I'm confident I'll be able to get out there and do what I have to do.
Couldn't resist another picture of Florence Welch,the love of my life right now,was so happy to hear "No Light,No Light" on WXPN just b4 lunchtime.
I'm guessing it's too late in the day to convince/bullshit the "Jolly Fat Man" I've been good all year to expect to find Flo in either my Christmas stocking or under my tree Christmas morning but a boy can dream yeah?? after all didn't someone once say"don't tread on my dreams,my dreams are all I have"???!!!

To Cut A Long Story Short

2011-12-06T07:14:00.003-05:00

No run this evening as the rain had other ideas,tomorrow's isn't looking champion either......poxy weather!!!
However when life gives you Lemons.......

I used my unscheduled down time to finish off Tony Hadley's autobiography "To Cut A Long Story Short".
Having previously read Gary Kemp's autobiography "I Know This Much" I felt compelled to read Tony's version of the split of Spandau Ballet in the late 80's,unlike Gary's revised and updated autobiography which includes the bands successfull reunion in 09 "To Cut A Long Story Short" doesn't go that far, when the book ends in 04 Tony was approached about a potential reunion,given the acrimony behind the lawsuit Tony Hadley,Steve Norman and John Keeble filed against Gary Kemp and lost it's a miracle those former band mates ever spoke to each other let alone reformed so at a time when the potential train wreck of Guns N Roses being inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame looms large and has the naysayers doubting things can go off w/out a hitch in Cleveland next year I say stranger things have happened.....

You Can Take The Boy Out Of South East London......

2011-12-05T11:36:00.003-05:00

.....But you'll never take the South East London out of the boy!!!
Nice easy 10 miler to kick off the week and also get any residual gunk out of my legs from yesterdays 1,000m repeats.

I've never hidden my love of my South East London roots,born in East Dulwich in SE 22 and spent most of my 24 years growing up in Lewisham SE13 South East London will always be home for me even though I left 24 years ago and haven't been home to visit since 03.
While I'll be a Spurs fan till I die I have a soft spot for the three South East London teams Millwall,Charlton and Crystal Palace and still keep tabs on my birthplace's side Dulwich Hamlets in non league soccer,we're currently third in the Ryman Isthmian League One South,it's highly unlikely they'll ever make the Football League but the Hamlets will always be near to my heart.

We've also produced several musicians and actors over the years,Jude Law is from Lewisham,Gary Oldman is from New Cross and Michael Caine is from Bermondsey and musically there's Squeeze,Status Quo,Bowie,Billy Idol,Siouxsie Sioux,Japan and now Florence Welch of Florence And The Machine.
I read somewhere she was from South London which instantly drew me in like a moth to the flame,upon closer research{wikipedia} I discovered Florence is from Camberwell in SE 5 which means she has my undying love and support,I was gutted to discover she played Philly this summer at Festival Pier b4 she made it on to my radar but w/ the release of her sophomore effort "Ceremonials" I keep checking her website for news of a US tour,it'll either be Jan/Feb b4 her European tour kicks off or next summer afterwards either way I look forward to having a fellow South East Londoner here on these shores.

Not Too Shabby If I Say So Myself

2011-12-04T17:33:00.003-05:00

After a seven week absence from the oval{ the track not the Surrey cricket ground!!!}it was back to the wonderful world of interval and track repeats.
For me indoor season kicks off in just over three weeks time at the Armory on Dec 26th in what will probably be the 1,500m followed closely 10 days later w/ the mile when the Thursday Nite At The Races series kicks off also at the Armory so it was always my intention to return to the track on the weekends to get some speed under me.

Today's form of torture.....I'm sorry bill o fare was the always fun 5x1,000m I figure it serves a couple of purposes,gets me ready for the 3,000m and maybe 5,000m if my schedule allows it but also helps w/ the 1,500m/mile so it felt like the ideal repeat to kick off the preparation for the upcoming 2012 indoor season.
Given my seven week hiatus from repeats on top of the fact that pre and Post Worlds and Nationals almost all my repeats were either 3x2 miles or 4x1 mile mixing it up w/ a return to an old staple was a good way to reintroduce myself the fray.

Couldn't have asked for better conditions,I didn't check the official temperature b4 I left home around 10am but the sun was shining brightly enough to warrant shades which is always good even if only from a psychological standpoint and after shedding my hooded sweatshirt and warm up bottoms post mile warm up I then ditched my fleece after repeat #1 to conclude proceedings in a long sleeved running shirt{w/ sleeves rolled up of course!!} and three quarter length bottoms,it remains to be seen if I get that lucky the next two weekends.

The target was 5x1,000m in 3.15 and under,given I was averaging 1.20 per lap during my 3x2milers I felt 1.20,1.20,35 was a reasonable target and expectation........

#1 1,000m 1.14-1.17-37-3.08.3.Woah! wasn't expecting an opening lap of 74,YES I know I need to run much faster in the 1,500m and mile but after being away from this particular repeat since March 26th b4 switching up to 8x1,000m I was mildly taken aback.

#2 1,000m 1.15-1.21-35-3.11.7. Another brisk opening lap,but clearly work to be done over the coming weeks and months on that 1.21......perhaps the memo to my brain and legs that this was a 1,000m repeat not a 2 mile repeats had gotten misplaced???

#3 1,000m 1.14-1.21-35-3.10.6. More of the same,coming off the first turn and down the straight two words leapt to the forefront of my brain.....lactic acid followed by two more in double quick time oh shit!!!!
Granted my second lap was becoming a concern but I could not have predicted or expected opening laps of 1.14,1.15,1.14 and I was still after all sub 3.15......

#4 1,000m 1.16-1.22-36-3.14.5.Ah that time honoured Grand Piano falling out of the sky on the second to last repeat and that oh so pleasant hands on knees while bent over in two at the finish line sensation......how I'd forgotten you!!!!

#5 1,000m 1.15-1.21-35-3.11.2. Good to see the white flag didn't go up and that while I'm somewhat rusty on leg turnover and knee lift the brain knew to respond to the "no damn it I said faster" battle cry!

All in all a good start to my return to repeats,granted there's work to be done over the coming weeks and months but for someone who thought 3.15 was a legit target time these weren't bad numbers to post,that said when I next revisit this repeat I'll look to run 3.10's.
Not a bad week,35 miles and more importantly back on the track.
PS for the record on March 26th I went:3.05.2.-3.11.7.-3.13.9-3.15.4-3.12.5.

Real Life

2011-12-03T20:05:00.002-05:00

After a 5 hour dance marathon at Sex Dwarf last nite there was no way I was attempting a track workout today,it was 3am when I got to be bed again and the prospect of hitting the track seemed about as appealing as an IRS audit or Root Canal w/out the Novocaine so I elected to make today a 10 miler on the extended out and back course along Cobbs Creek Parkway at lunch time.

The sun may've been out when I hit the road around 12.30pm but I'm glad I got my wardrobe selection right for this run my new Adidas half zip running shirt over a long sleeve shirt,not quite hat and glove weather yet....but it's coming!!!

Time was not an issue today,which suited me as I was still feeling the effects of my late nite but hopefully tomorrow when I hit the track I'll be well rested period much less about to conduct my first winter track repeat and also firt repeats since October 15th.

Europa And The Pirate Twins

2011-12-02T10:21:00.002-05:00

No run on tap today......but a 5 hour aerobic workout on the dance floor of Club Fluid for the December edition of Sex Dwarf,I can thank my stamina of lasting the whole nite on the dance floor to my running I guess!!

Well the soccer Gods paired Ireland w/ Croatia,Spain and Italy in the group stage of the Euro 2012 C'ships,let's not kid ourselves it won't be easy I mean Spain are only the current World Champions and defending European champions!!!
Kind of a given we'd get Italy,Giovanni Trapatoni's home land and we had them in our group for the last World Cup qualifying stage and it should be noted Croatia have three Spurs players in their squad.
For the record England have been drawn w/ France,Sweden and Ukraine,the fun and games begin on June 8th.

Gettting Ready For The Great Indoors

2011-12-01T14:52:00.003-05:00

W/ the calender saying December 1st I felt a sense of duty to get out there tonite and clock a 10 miler.
I skipped Tuesday,I think I'd have fallen over if I tried to run as the events of a long weekend caught up w/ me and if I'm being 100% honest I just wasn't feeling it yesterday,but I of all people know those days can't be allowed too often so it was back on the horse this evening for a 10 miler on the extended out and back on Cobbs Creek Parkway.

The indoor track season is beginning to take shape,it looks like most of my races prior to Indoor Nationals in Bloomington Indiana in mid March will be in New York(ohh there's a major surprise!!!!!) it's just a matter of which eight meets I pick my six races from.
There are a couple of meets that have yet to be determined,the US Open at Madison Square Garden has yet to say if there'll be a Masters race{what I wouldn't give for them to offer a Masters Mile!!!!!} and also the new Millrose Games at The Armory has a Club DMR on the schedule,I've gone on record as saying I have no desire to run the Masters 4x400m relay so we'll see if a Distance Medley Relay can come together.
Once those two meets get resolved I can flesh out the rest of my indoor season.

A Night Like This

2011-11-30T08:37:00.003-05:00

My love affair w/ The Cure can be traced all the way back to the early 80's,it may not've actually been "10:15 Saturday Night" when I first heard them but it was a Saturday nite in the living room of my best friends parents house in either 82 or 83 when I heard "Seventeen Seconds" and "Faith" on a C90 cassette,I'd never heard anyone like them and thus began a relationship that's lasted almost 30 years and shows no sign of ending......if only the same could be said of my personal relationships!!!

Fast forwarding to 1989 and the release of their magnus opus "Disintegration" this was a game changer,I suddenly went from liking The Cure to becoming a fully paid up member and card carrying Disciple Of The Church Of Robert Smith so much so that a former girlfriend once accused me of loving Robert Smith more than I loved her....she was probably right,the fact is she's long gone and Robert and The Cure are still very much a huge part of my life.

It would be another 3 years b4 I got to enjoy seeing The Cure live at The Spectrum in 92 on the "Wish" tour but it began a run of 9 shows in 19 years and counting and it was also when I got to meet them,more by luck than design I happened to work at the hotel they stayed in for the two Philly shows and got to meet the whole band,Robert,Simon,Porl,Boris and Perry that signed picture is a treasured possession along w/ the one of Robert that I had matted and framed complete w/ "To Kevin Best Wishes Robert Smith" signed in orange......in case you're curious why I always write The Cure in orange that was the title of their first ever live concert video and ever since then I've always done that.....Robert got a kick out of it when he signed the picture.
For as long as I live I'll Cherish the conversation Robert and I had outside his room,just two guys talking football,shooting the shit.

In 96 I flew home to London to see the "Wild Mood Swings" tour at Wembley Arena having already seen them here in Philly earlier that summer,in 98 I had second row seats at The Tower,in 2000 the "Bloodflowers" tour at Tweeter Center followed by the Curiosa Festival also at the Tweeter Center in 04 and then back to The Spectrum in 08 on the "4.13"tour a show that impressed me so much I went to New York at he end of the tour to see then again at famed Radio City Music Hall.

As you can see there tends to be a four gap between tours so I was thinking 2012 for the next Cure tour when out of nowhere it was announced that due to overwhelming demand to their two Australian "Reflections" shows they would perform seven more shows one in London,three in LA and three in New York at The Beacon,no stranger to a road trip to see The Cure I made sure to secure a ticket for the third and final show at The Beacon on Sunday and made plans to stay overnite as I knew from past experiences that a Cure concert can last over three hours.....

"Three Imaginary Boys"''Seventeen Seconds" and "Faith" have never sounded so good,"Faith" is one of my favourite Cure albums so I tend to listen to that alot but it was good to go back and listen to "Three Imaginary Boys" and "Seventeen Seconds" again "10:15 Saturday Night" and "Three Imaginary Boys" are live staples of a Cure concert,"A Forest" is one of my three all time favourite Cure songs and ever since the live "Paris" cd in 92 "At Night" has become a favourite,on "Seventeen Seconds" it's an ok album track but the live "Paris" version ROCKS so to see them perform it live was extra special
''Primary" is another live staple off of "Faith" but to hear "The Drowning Man" and "Faith" live was worth the price of admission alone.

The encores were to die for,three of them,17 songs in total:World War,I'm Cold,Plastic Passion,Killing An Arab,Jumping Someone Else's Train,Another Journey By Train for the first encore
Descent,Splintered In Her Head,Charlotte Sometimes,The Hanging Garden for the second encore followed by
Let's Go To Bed,The Walk,The Lovecats,The Caterpillar,Close To Me,Inbetween Days and Boys Don't Cry for the third and final encore,I was almost speechless when I left The Beacon.....and that takes some doing let me tell you!!

Will there be a new Cure album and tour next year? we can only hope,there is the upcoming "Bestival 2011" double live cd from this summers Isle Of Wight show to look forward to next week and the original "Reflections" show from Sydney to look forward to on dvd sometime in the not too distant future.
Fingers crossed a well deserved place in the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame next year,we'll know in a few weeks if they've been elected,for a band written off after "Disintegration" in 89,"Wish" in 92 and again in 2000 w/ "Bloodflowers" they seem to go from strength to strength and frankly show little or no signs of slowing down or stopping.

Lovecat Sighting In Central Park

2011-11-29T09:21:00.004-05:00

Regular readers of my blog will know I'm no stranger to visits to New York City,this was my 10th trip this year w/ 2 more on tap in the next 5 weeks.
Granted most visits are for races and see me heading home straight afterwards but for my last trip the Human League,5th Avenue Mile double I stayed overnight and knowing The Cure concert would run late I booked a room at Jazz On The Park again Sunday.
In that time honoured tradition of ''Location,Location,Location" Jazz On The Park is right there on 7th Avenue and 106th St,Central Park is literally on it's front door,it was for that reason I booked it in September for 5th Avenue Mile.

Post concert and a nites kip I was up by 8.30am and dressed in my running gear to take full advantage of the chance to get a 10 miler in through Central Park,minus warm ups and cool downs either side of 5th Avenue Mile I've never ran in Central Park* so this was too good an opportunity to pass up.
*Actually I have,I ran 2 New York City marathons in 90 and 03 and I also ran a 5 mile race there in 03.
Blessed w/ great conditions I set off from 106th st through the park down to 59th st and Columbus Circle I was tempted to do several loops of the reservoir but A I'm not Dustin Hoffman in "Marathon Man" and B when you've got the whole of Central Park to run in to only loop around the reservoir is like being given the keys to the Playboy Mansion and only checking out one room!!!

I'd never ran in Central Park this late in the year b4 so to witness the leaves changing was kind of neat,on my way back up towards 110th st my route took me through the Central Park Zoo just at 9am so I got to hear the chimes and also see the lights and decorations being put up,for a non lover of the holidays to notice this is quite something trust me
Heading along 110th St I saw a runner wearing a Central Park track jacket,not unnatural for these parts but upon closer review I realised it was my good friend Sid Howard,a minute either way we might of missed each other.

I finished up my run w/ a loop of the reservoir to round out my 10 miler,who knows when I'll next get to run in Central Park but the memory of this 10 miler will last a while.

The Road To Indoor Nationals Begins Through Central Park

2011-11-28T19:34:00.002-05:00

W/ the Delaware Open now behind me and the 2011 outdoor season over it's time to get ready for the 2012 indoor season,although in fairness since I stepped off the track after my leg of the 4x800m relay at outdoor Nationals in Berea on July 31st I've been planning for indoors.
Following last nites Cure concert in New York City I spent the night in Manhattan and allowed myself the unique chance to run through Central Park this morning.
Over the next few days I'll elaborate on both.

And The Good Lord Said,Come Fourth

2011-11-27T10:27:00.003-05:00

Final outdoor race of the 2011 season and were it not for the Armory Holiday meet on Dec 26th{or Boxing Day as I knew it growing up} my season finale.
As I stated for the record in my previous blog entry I'd never had much luck at this race but I always said it would be nice to come into the Delaware Open w/ a good level of training under my belt,post Nationals I've logged eleven 50 mile training weeks{2 were actually 53 mile weeks} so even though I've eased off the gas a little in the weeks either side of The Bridge Run I felt coming into my first Delaware open since 08 that I was ready to set the record straight.

Starter for ten,who ordered the great weather?most of my memories of this race which is always ran the Saturday after Thanksgiving are of freezing my arse off,not this year sunny and warm,not sure of the official temps at 11am but it was singlet and shorts weather,no gloves or arm warmers today.
Pre race I jogged the new course,eighty sixing the creek and halving Maintenance Hill suited moi and the new finish meant a serious downhill to the finish line,yeah I could live w/ this!!

In a field of almost 100{official results show 99 finishers} I got out to a good start,Matt Sandercock took off like he'd been listening to Meatloaf......"Bat Out Of Hell" and the field gave chase I eased my way into 5th very early on and never looked back.
5.32 at the mile marker Matt was gone Greg Watson followed and though I didn't realise it at the time 3rd and 4th place runners Tim Suchler and Mark Kamaway were team mates from Inside Track.
I moved into 3rd as we cut back on to Maintenance Hill roughly half way up it,it's still a beast hill but I was moving well,could I really be 3rd???was this some sort of dream? 8th was best ever showing in 08,what about the lunatic who ran a 5 Mile Turkey Trot 2 days b4 his 05 Brandywine debut and was toast after the opening mile and finished 16th in 19.43.3?who in 06 finished 14th but in 20.05.0? or who finished 8th in 07 in 19.02.2?? or 9th in 07 in 19.10.6?.....well if this was a dream,don't wake me!!!!!

Freewheeling the downhill off Maintenance I closed some ground on Greg Watson but he opened up a lead on me I could never reclaim,Greg's tough,how tough? routinely each year he runs both the Masters and open races which are half an hour apart,if he's lucky he gets 10 mins recovery....and I think I'm hot shit cos I jog the course after the race as my cool down run!!
No clock or marker for 2 miles,along the long stretch that's known as Suicide I had Tim Suchler and Mark Kamaway breathing down my neck,I could've said feck it 5th is better than I've ever managed here go ahead chaps......but that really would be a dream so I hunkered down and dug deep.
Tim got me but I was hell bent on retaining 4th and using the downhill to the finish line I put daylight between Mark and myself,4th in 18.29.9. a 5.57 per mile average and finally a Delaware Open 5K XC race to be proud of.

There's a healthy debate amongst us who've ran both courses as to which is the tougher, the old course or the new course,I never broke 19 on the only course,then again I never came into Brandywine State Park w/ a slew of 50 mile training weeks under my belt either so I guess the debate will be ongoing.
It's been an up and down season after my 15.47.3. indoor 5,000m in mid January I felt a kick arse season was on tap but little did I know that anmenia was about to derail my hopes and dreams,the low point of my season was my 4.54 mile at West Chester on June 3rd from there there was only one direction and that was up and slowly but surely {or in my case surly!!}I've been clawing my way back,there's some signs of life now as I close out the year so I just have to keep doing what I'm doing,maybe fine tune a little bit here and there and who knows what's on tap in 2012?

Delaware Open 5K XC

2011-11-26T19:16:00.002-05:00

Cliff Notes
4th overall
18.28
Best ever finish here,first time under 19 on this course
Longer version to follow

Spiritwalker

2011-11-23T12:52:00.003-05:00

"Let it be beautiful when I sing the last song I will give you even my body spiritwalker
Let all the children kiss the sun before they sing their last song
I will give you even my body spiritwalker
Let the sun shine on me when I sing the last song I will give you even my body spiritwalker
Let all the children kiss the stars before they sing their last song
I will give you even my body
Spiritwalker"

Spiritwalker-The Cult

It should come as no great revelation to anyone who knows me that I'm not the poster child for the holidays,but rather than piss all over them for those that actually enjoy them I'll just keep my feelings to myself but I think you can guess from The Cult lyrics where my loyalties lie in reference to Thanksgiving.....
Finally got out to run yesterday,an easy 9 miler,Monday got shelved due to a combination of the threat of rain,my stomach acting up and if I'm being 100% honest the Spurs Villa game being on(2.0 to Spurs to put us 3rd in the Premiership.......COYS C'mon You Spurs!!!)
Tuesday it just pissed out of the heavens and frankly by Wednesday I knew I wasn't getting anywhere close to 50 or 55 miles this week so I figured why not rest my legs for Saturday's Brandywine 5k xc race.

I've never had much joy or success at the Brandywine race in my 06 debut I went out way too hard in the opening mile and paid for it over the final 2.1 miles,I believe the quote in my blog was going up Maintenance Hill at roughly half way through the race I feared I'd fail my MOT and that AAA would have to come and pick me up!!!!
I fared slightly better in 07 but it was still nowt to write home about,at that stage I was still a 800m/1,500m runner on the track who only ran 30 miles a week in training I hadn't come to grips w/ 5k on the track,road or xc and in 08 when I felt I was coming into the race w/ a decent bit of training under my belt I lost a bit of my momentum due to having to work 9 hour shifts on the dock by my lonesome as my wingman Chris had undergone nuruo surgery in mid November.
That was also the year the bastards who organise the race moved the goalposts which I believe was the title of my blog entry.

The previous year I finished 9th and the prize money went 8 deep,in 08 I finished 8th..... and they only went 7 deep w/ prize money and don't even get me started on the post race raffle,one year 06 I think after I'd left my race number finally got drawn after all the really good shit had been claimed and guess what I won????an oil change.....sure the guy who doesn't drive wins a sodding oil change......bit like giving a non drinker a case of beer or a blind guy tickets to the Art Gallery!!!
In 09 I skipped xc races altogether coming off the achilles injury and last year I was building base mileage in the fall so I side stepped all the xc races on the schedule but this year I've ran 3 xc races St Clare,Rochester,Deer Park so it's full steam ahead to Brandywine on Saturday morning.

They've changed the course from when I last ran in 08 and 86ed running along the creek which is fine by me as that part of the race was full of rocks and slate,I always said of Brandywine that it's a race I'd like to run in good shape and frankly this year at my fourth crack at it I think I am in good shape,w/ the Off Road Grand Prix hanging in the balance between ourselves(GPTC) and our perennial rivals for the Off Road Grand Prix crown Rosemont Running Company there's a little extra at stake tomorrow so we'll have to see how it all unfolds when the gun goes off at 11am as my Grand Slam weekend begins to unfold.
Last Friday of the month tonite so....Land Of The Lost on WXPN tonite,Brandywine tomorrow morning,then my good friend Robert Drake is taking his unique 80's collection to Kung Fu Necktie tomorrow nite and I'd like to be there as most of the Land Of The Lost/Sex Dwarf crowd will be there and then Sunday The Cure are in New York at The Beacon performing their third and final nite of the Reflections tour as they perform their first three albums "Three Imaginary Boys","Seventeen Seconds" and "Faith",seriously who has time for Turkey,Football and Black Friday w/ all this going on???

All Hail The Gothfather

2011-11-21T11:02:00.008-05:00

"You know the way it throws about it takes you in and spits you out
It spits you out when you desire to conquer it to feel you're higher
To follow it you must be clean w/mistakes that you do mean
Move the heart switch the pace,look for what seems out of place"

Cuts You Up-Pete Murphy

I've stated in previous blog entries that I was a late developer where xc is concerned but in 08 I ran the Deer Park 8k xc and fell in love w/ that course and that race then came the achilles injury to kybosh 09 and base mileage in 10 and 11 wasn't looking good either,the original date Oct 28th clashed w/ a trail race which meant my ride to Flemington was heading to Evansburg.....till the freakish weather that weekend when we got rain and snow and the USATF NJ 8k xc c'ship got cancelled,the tentative rescheduled date was Nov 5th....same day as the Bridge Run 10k and that had been my target race for ages so it wasn't looking like it was going to happen....till the race was re rescheduled for last Saturday,Chuck (Mr XC I swear that man is the only runner I know who uses track season to get ready for xc season!!)said he was going if I wanted a ride...hell yeah! and w/ that we were off to Flemington New Jersey.

Out to Flemington b4 10am which allowed enough time to register ($20 a far cry from the $45 the Rothman 8k was asking for this morning) and a jog of the main loop that makes up the course,it was pretty much how I remembered it from 3 years ago if only a lot muddier but it's a sad day when you start bitchin' about mud at a xc race,you might as well take up mall walking when that happens!

Opted for arm warmers and gloves even though the sun was out when the gun went off at 11am,the last thing I needed was my finger tips feeling numb on either of the two loops w/ said gloves and arm warmers in my backpack in the trunk of Chuck's car!quite why most of the 175 runners lined up to the left of the starting line when the course narrows at the top of the first hill was somewhat of a mystery to me Chuck and Brent as we looked for a straight run to the first hill,the course narrows a bit early on so it's key to get a clear start and I did just that,I knew from the Jack St Clare xc 5m at Belmont that I couldn't live w/ Brent.....I'm giving the guy 13 years but if I adopted the same tactics as I did at the Bridge Run and tucked in at the rear of the chase pack I could be in for a good day.

As the course unfolded I could see the leader already ahead of the chase pack of 9 runners w/ me back in 12th,w/hindsight I wish I'd gotten on to the rear of the pack as they might've pulled me along to a slightly quicker time,except for a brief battle w/ one of the Garden State Track Club runners as we duked it out for 11th I spent most of the 8k race in no mans land,there were no clocks or mile or kilometer markers out on the course so I've no idea of my splits,according to the post race results I ran 5.44 pace throughout the race.

I knew from our pre race jog of the loop where the mud was out on the course and made sure to keep my footing,heading into the second loop I could hear footsteps behind me and managed to keep my would be opponent at bay until we rounded the batting cages where he opened up a gap on me I was never able to close,back to 12th but every once in a while where the course would twist and turn I could check behind me where the 13th place runner was.....roughly the same distance behind me that I was behind 11th place so providing I stayed on my feet I'd be good for 12th.....that's easier said than done in xc racing as holes,mud,tree roots etc tend to pop up along the course but I kept my footing and finished 12th in 28.45.5.

Pre race I'd set a target of 28.30 so to only be 15 seconds off given the conditions underfoot seemed acceptable,12th out of 175 runners 4th masters finisher overall 2nd in the 45-45 age group and my second fastest 8k xc time, my pr was here in 08 28.16.6. all in all a good mornings work.....but my day was only half way through.

Pete Murphy has sung two of my all time favourite songs "Bela Lugosi's Dead" w/ Bauhaus and "Cuts You Up" from his "Deep" album,I was lucky enough to catch Bauhaus in 98 when they reformed only to split up again but Pete has continued to put out great solo albums throughout his career although his recent solo offering "Ninth" is his first solo effort in several years,the chance to catch the "Godfather Of Goth" or as we like to call him the Gothfather was too good to turn down....although driving back to Philly in the afternoon having gotten up at 7am and now looking at a few more hours on my feet didn't seem like the great idea I had originally dreamt up but you only live once and who knows when he'll next tour again......bollocks to being tired!!!

If I've learnt one thing in almost 31 years of concert going it's that it's often well worth getting to the gig early to catch the opening act,sometimes they blow(Yip Yip Coyote,Coyote Shivers) sometimes they go on to headline(The Alarm,Talk Talk) and sometimes they're really good.....my recent list of gigs have had several note worthy opening acts and tonite was no different.
The Hustle Club weren't originally listed on the bill but I enjoyed their high energy short set"Children Of The Underground" and "Fuck Shit Up" were two songs that stood out from the New York based 5 piece.
Five years ago when I went to see Placebo at The Electric Factory on the "Meds" tour She Wants Revenge opened,9 times out of 10 if you read an article on She Wants Revenge it'll mention Joy Division,kind of how almost all articles on Interpol do likewise,Interpol really impressed me when they opened for U2 this summer and second time around w/ She Wants Revenge I came away from their set as a fan of this California based foursome,I've already ordered their first two cds used on Amazon and in time their new offering "ValleyHeart" will find it's way onto my ''must have" list,while I doubt Hustle Club have any Youtube clips I'm confident SWR do,if you like your music dark,moody and w/ a dance vibe She Wants Revenge are worth checking out.

And so to the main event,Pete Murphy rocked The Troc no if,ands, or buts backed ably w/ a tight 3 piece band Pete and his band plundered Pete Murphy solo songs old and new and old Bauhaus favourites.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that "Seesaw Sway" off of "Ninth" didn't make the setlist in Philly but "Peace To Each" and "I Spit Roses" both did and his encore alone was worth the price of admission,"Cuts You Up" and "Ziggy Stardust"
Watching Pete in full flow it's hard to miss the David Bowie and Iggy Pop influences and in a year we mourned the tragic loss of Mick Karn if you haven't checked out the 1984 collaboration of Pete Murphy and Mick Karn on "The Waking Hour" by Dalis Car you might want to give it the once over

Six Of One,Half A Dozen Of The Other

2011-11-21T09:13:00.003-05:00

First up please forgive the tardiness of my entries of late,a full dance card this weekend meant not as much down time at home as usual and when I was home there was either a ton of stuff that needed my attention or I was taking a leaf out of Precious's book and taking a cat nap!!!

I'll do Saturdays race justice later this evening and give props to She Wants Revenge and Pete Murphy also but yesterday I went out for my Sunday long run w/ a twist.
Since it was the Philly Marathon and half marathon I figured the river was probably off limits since it's part of the marathon course so I revised the same 12 miler I used the last Sunday a big race in Philly conflicted w/ my 12 miler for the old PDR(Philly Distance Run) Rock and Roll Half Marathon.

Out by 10.30am on a sunny and warm day,I keep harping on about being able to enjoy t shirt and shorts conditions and sooner or later that train will have left the station for the last time in a while but while I can enjoy that I will.
Down to and across South Street bridge b4 turning and heading back,South St bridge is roughly 3 miles from my front door so there and back would give me my first 6 miles.
Clipping by the front door I continued on my way out to Cobbs Creek Parkway to run what's essentially my out and back 6 miler hence the title.

Heading up the hill in Cobbs Creek Park I began to second guess my desire to make this 12 miles,Saturday had been a long day getting up at 7am and getting to bed at 1.20am and now running 12 miles but I'm damn sure Mo Farah never bags the last 2 miles of a long run so I gritted my teeth and tried to ignore the "dead from the knees down" feeling going on..
After a few weeks off I'm back up to 6 days a week,50 miles a week again....just in time to make this coming week 55 b4 launching into three potential 60 mile weeks leading up to indoor track season,the seasons may change but the mileage keeps building........

Little By Little

2011-11-18T09:31:00.003-05:00

'' Cause little by little we gave you everything you ever dreamed of,little by little the wheels of your life have slowly fallen off
Little by little you have to give it all in all your life and all the time I just asked myself why you're really here?"

Little By Little-Oasis

If Wednesday was about digging out my newly acquired half zip running top to combat the rain then Thursday saw me having to dig out a pair of 3/4 length bottoms as the rain had now been replaced by a somewhat milder afternoon and w/ daylight now fading much sooner than a few weeks ago I made sure to be warm enough for my 7 miler.

The only other noteworthy thing about today's run was the retirement of my Puma Ryjin's,following my 7 miler I had 406 miles on them and my new Asics Gel Speedstar 5 shoes just arrived,I'll look to brake them in on Sundays long run following Saturdays 8k xc race at Deer Park in Flemington New Jersey.

It's looking like back to back busy weekends for me,since my dance card is full on Saturday w/ the race at Deer Park first and then She Wants Revenge and Peter Murphy at The Trocadero the only chance I had to catch the new George Clooney movie "The Descendants" was after work and while it wasn't the greatest movie I saw this year{right now that's a neck and neck battle between "The Fighter" and "The Guard"} it wasn't a bad way to spend a few hours.

Wrestling W/ My Conscience

2011-11-16T19:44:00.001-05:00

Take one part being slightly neurotic{it comes w/ the territory as a runner}add being a headstrong driven individual,sprinkle in a fair size portion on Irish catholic guilt and mix them all together and presto,the ideal ingredients for yours truly out running 7 miles in the rain this evening!!!!

Given it had pissed down w/ rain all day the prospect of running seemed remote when I left work at 3.20pm,however exiting the el and walking home the heavy rain had stopped and was replaced by a fine soft misty rain that frankly held zero threat to my aspirations of getting some miles in.
Opting to brake in my new half zip running fleece I was out the door by 4.20pm and heading towards CCP I figured a 6 miler today and then maybe 8 along the river would bring me out at 30 miles tomorrow b4 a rest day Friday and then the USATFNJ 8K XC C'ships Saturday and 12 miles Sunday.

W/in a mile of the run the rain returned,I could just picture the weather gods laughing"Forde's out running,turn the sprinklers back on!!!!" but just like Magnus Magnuson on the old tv show "Mastermind" I've started so I'll finish, I kept going.
In fairness the rain was never that bad,I've ran far longer in much worse condition and I was glad I'd opted to run rather than bullshit myself that I was "saving my legs for Saturday"
After the turnaround it dawned on me that providing I made it through Cobbs Creek Park b4 daylight faded I could not only tack on an extra mile at the end of today but follow the same route tomorrow thus giving me 4 runs at 6,10,7,7 which comes out to 30 miles and another few days avoiding the clusterfuck that is Spruce St below 36th,I won't be so lucky next week as in order to front load my mileage early in the week b4 the off road finale at Brandywine I'll have to go 10,9,8 which not only means along by the river but down Spruce St....but that's for another day.

I Hope They Have Enough Guinness In Poland & Ukraine

2011-11-15T19:02:00.005-05:00

As a man of my word I was out mid morning to get my 10 miler taken care of,I guess an upside to being low key/non plus w/ my b'day is not nursing a hangover or being bleary eyed from a night out on the town!!!
Post run I made tracks towards center city and enjoyed a venti Green Tea at Starbucks as I penned my latest diary entry and also began reading Tony Hadley's autobiography "To Cut A Long Story Short"
The plan was to read Martin Kemp's autobiography "True" next in the Spandau Ballet trilogy having read Gary Kemp's compelling "I Know This Much" first,however I'm still waiting for "True" to arrive in the mail and my brother kindly sent me "To Cut A Long Story Short" as a b'day present so I began reading that.

Spent an enjoyable afternoon at Fado's one of the Irish bars in center city watching the second leg of the Euro 2012 playoffs vs Estonia.
Having done the hard work in Tallinn on Friday beating them 4.0 tonite in Dublin was about being professional and finishing off the job which they did thanks to a 1.1 draw....or tie as my American brethren like to refer to it.
Making the finals of a major soccer tournament may come natural to the likes of Brazil,Argentina,Germany,Italy,Holland even England{most of the time!!}but for Ireland it's not something we can lay claim to all that often,I can recall in November of 87 not long after I'd gotten here that we reached the Euro 88 finals, a first and the beginning of the Golden Era of Irish soccer,Italy 90,USA 94 followed b4 a few barren years till we reached the 02 World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

For the past 10 years we've been nearly rans, a series of play off losses have kept us from "the big dance" but not this time,the Green Army are heading to Poland and Ukraine next summer,I'm under illusions of us winning the whole shebang although Greece managed it in 04 and Turkey went all the way to the semis in 08 so anything is possible but just getting there is a great reward for a small country w/ a limited pool of players to pick from....I just hope the powers that be have ordered enough Guinness for the thousands of paddies who are about to invade both countries to cheer on Trap's Army,we'll see who we play and where on Dec 2nd when the 4 groups get drawn.

Just Another Day

2011-11-14T11:50:00.005-05:00

"Sleep on and dream of love,why?Because it's the closest you will get to love
The poor twisted child you're so ugly,you're so ugly,the poor twisted child
Please hug me,oh hug me
One November spawned a monster in the shape of this child who later cried
But Jesus made me so he should save me from pity,sympathy and idiots discussing me
Yes,I am a freak and nothing can make good or bad that's been done"

November Spawned A Monster-Morrissey

A toss up between Oingo Boingo's "Just Another Day" and Morrissey's "November Spawned A Monster" to celebrate my b'day,if celebrate is the right phrase.

I'm not a big fan of my b'day,it is as the Oingo Boingo song says "Just Another Day" so I try not to draw attention to it but I'm grateful to the family and friends who sent cards,emails and the extended "Facebook Family" who were kind enough to post on my wall,but other than that it's the same day as the day b4,I get up,I go to work,I come home,I go out to run,I come home I blog.

To that end this evening was a 6 miler along Cobbs Creek Parkway,since I have off tomorrow for the Ireland Estonia game I can get a 10 miler in to give me 16 miles,exactly where I'd be if I'd gone 8 miles,8 miles as usual,I will have to run 8 on Wednesday which is fine but I'd be a lot happier on that 8 miler down to the river and back if both sides of the sidewalk on Spruce St were open along Upenn and HUP{University Of Pennsylvania and Hospital Of University Of Pennsylvania} instead of piling everyone onto one crowded sidewalk but hopefully both sides of the sidewalk will be open sooner rather than later because I'm not sure how much longer I can squeeze 6 milers in along CCP b4 it gets too dark and looking at my rough draft for next weeks schedule 10,9,8 next Mon,Tue,Wed they'll all have to be down by the river.

We Be {Road}Trippin'

2011-11-11T12:54:00.004-05:00

Even though today was a non running day there were a few things worth blogging......
First up London was awarded the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships.
I'm delighted on several levels,London had the 2005 championships only to lose them during the whole new Wembley stadium yea or nay to a running track issue,once a track was voted against and the whole new running track at Pickets Lock fell through the IAAF awarded the 05 c'ships to Helsenki{again!!}
Fast forward a few years,London beat out Paris for the 2012 Olympics and the new Olympic stadium was built,but always w/ the understanding that the running track would remain something that didn't happen after the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and while the likes of West Ham,Leyton Orient and even my beloved Spurs have all lobbied to get the Olympic stadium post 2012 I feel very strongly that London needs a state of the art running stadium,now we have one and it should remain a running stadium,don't get me wrong I love soccer but if clubs want a new stadium they should build one,Millwall and Arsenal did so why can't West Ham,Leyton Orient and Spurs?{and don't even get me started on how a North London club like Spurs could even consider moving to East London!!!}
Anyhow,while a trip home next summer for the Olympics is probably wishing thinking the prospect of a road trip for the 2017 World Championships is one worth considering.

Another road trip I won't be making next summer is to Poland and Ukraine for the 2012 European Soccer Finals but barring the mother of all collapses in Dublin on Tuesday Giovanni Trapatoni's Green & White Army{Ireland} will be there......C'mon You Boys In Green!!!
Having spanked Estonia 4.0 this evening in Tallin we are 90 mins away from our first finals in 10 years since the 2002 World Cup Finals and first Euros since 88.
I won't lie when the FAI{Football Association of Ireland} first appointed Trap as the new head coach a few years back I thought it was a mistake.....I'm man enough to say I was wrong only a blatant handball by that cheating French git Henry cost us a place in the 2010 World Cup Finals two short years ago and after the dust settles in Dublin on Tuesday it'll be interesting to see where Ireland play and against whom when the group draw gets made next month.

W/ all this to celebrate it was small wonder I went off to paint the town red{or green,or even red white and blue!!}
Being a HUGE Oasis fan back in the day I was saddened but not surprised when they broke up two years ago as Noel and Liam Gallagher's often public "sibling rivalry" came to a head and saw them call time on Oasis.
I missed Liam and his new band Beady Eye when they came to Philly in the summer in June or July w/ finances being what they were heading to both Worlds and Nationals and truth be told I thought I'd miss Noel's new band Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds as I was still pleading poverty when tickets went on sale......however thanks to a cash injection from the Bridge Run on Sunday and a tip off that there were tickets available tonite for $25 I had to have at it and got myself down to the Academy Of Music for the show.
Given Noel wrote most of the Oasis songs there was no shortage of material to accompany his debut album and a good time was had by all,if you're an Oasis fan I recommend checking out Noel's new band.

In The Poppy Fields

2011-11-10T09:22:00.002-05:00

"In the poppy fields we come and go,in the poppy fields we lose control
In the poppy fields where we come from,in the poppy fields we are gone
In the poppy fields I remember,I remember everything I remember you and I
I remember stones on a window pain,and how you cut my hair
I remember everything as if it were today,in the poppy fields I remember"

In The Poppy Fields-The Alarm

It's often said you shouldn't discuss religion or politics and it's also a widely held belief that politics and sport don't mix....and yet they seem to end up together like Bert and Ernie,Peanut Butter and Jelly or Rice and Beans.

This Sunday in England is Remembrance Day a day set aside to honour those who gave their lives during world war one and two,I recall standing in Memorial Gardens in Lewisham on many a second Sunday of November as a wreath was laid at the war memorial and I always wore my poppy w/ pride,watch any English tv show leading up to Remembrance Sunday and the hosts will be wearing a red poppy it's a mark of respect for those who made the ultimate sacrifice so it's been a major sore point all week leading up to the England Spain game this Saturday.

The governing body of world soccer,Fifa banned England for displaying a poppy on their jerseys siting some bullshit rule but will allow then to display a poppy on their arm bands.......seriously somebody a Fifa made that a rule,let's not look into the mass corruption w/in the organisation lets ban a symbol that shows support for fallen war heroes,no wonder Fifa doesn't have a nativity play over the holidays......they can't find three wise men!!!

A nice easy 6 miler this evening,after three runs along the river I opted for the old out and back along Cobbs Creek Parkway this evening,I figured if I got out by 4.15pm I'd be home by 5.05pm while it was still light enough,I did however misjudge how cool it was after 3 days of 60 degree temps it was only 51 degs out there this evening w/ a heavy cloud covering,not quite jacket weather but a friendly reminder that we're heading closer to winter,looking forward to a rest day tomorrow b4 hitting the track on Saturday.

Lean Green Running Machine

2011-11-09T09:05:00.002-05:00

Yours truly heading towards the finish line at Campbell's Field on Sunday.
Another easy 8 miler out and back along the river this afternoon/evening,I know this weather can't last forever but I'm making the most of the t shirt and shorts conditions b4 the inevitable long sleeve running shirt and 3/4 length bottoms get broken out.
I'm also trying to utilize the daylight while it lasts,if I can get home by 4.05pm and out the door by 4.15pm I can get most of the run in b4 losing the daylight,I realize as each day goes by I lose a tad more daylight{roll on Winter Solstice} and pretty soon it'd be dark b4 I even hit South Street bridge but I'm trying not to think about that for now.

Still trying to confirm my next race next weekend I had originally considered the Rothman 8k but baulked at the $45 entry fee.....b4 I won $250 at the Bridge Run,there was talk of going to Van Cortlandt Park to run the NYRRC 5K XC next Sunday but that was only if we could get a team of 5 together and only three of us were game but now the twice postponed USATF NJ 8K XC C'ships at Deer Park have been set for next Saturday,I ran there in 08 and loved the course so if Chuck decides to go I'll gladly hitch a ride.

Everything Must Change

2011-11-08T10:02:00.002-05:00

"And like a dream alive a reason,everything must change and like a world this earth and seasons everything must change"

Everything Must Change-Paul Young

It'd be all too easy to kick back now that I've gotten my 10k pr and say "that's a season" but I'm not the type of runner to sit back and rest on my laurels so it's back to the tried and tested 50 miles a week this week the only difference being my route.

I did say last week I thought w/ the clocks going back my runs along Cobbs Creek Parkway were coming to an end and sure enough sitting in my recliner on Sunday evening at 5.15pm I looked out the window to see it was dark already which was enough for me to switch my route from CCP to Baltimore Ave,South St bridge and along the Schuylkill Banks to the Art Museum and back.

This week will be a "basic" week 8m Monday,8m Tuesday,8m Wednesday,6m Thursday,rest day Friday,8m on the track Saturday including repeats I'm thinking 10x1,000m and then 12m Sunday as I look to rebuild my mileage back to 50mpw after two week taper.

Well Worth The Wait

2011-11-07T08:42:00.006-05:00

Sunday Sept 11th 1983,my first ever road race,a 10k in Wimbledon South West London,my time was nothing to write home about a meager 38.58 but it was a start

I remember passing the All England Tennis Club where the tennis is played each summer and also remember being thrilled to get a medal post race.....from little acorns big trees grow....

Sunday July 15th 1984,10 months and two 6mile races later the landmark 10k that stood the test of time.

This was the race that taught me to have my bag packed the nite b4 as I over slept and had to run around like the proverbial headless chicken getting ready and rushing across London from my South East home to West London and White City for the race.

Finished 57th in a field of 228 in 34.53,little did I know then that my second ever 10k would hang around for 27 years as a pr....

Sunday November 5th 2006,in what would be my final road race outside of 5th Avenue Mile for three years I ran the Bridge Run in a disappointing 37.07.1.

After my first taste of masters track in 06 I'd made my mind up that track was where I wanted to run and road races would be not so much a thing of the past but fleeting.......

Sunday November 6th 2011,after winning the gold at 10,000m on the track in Berea this summer at Masters Nationals I had set my sights on the Bridge Run 10k as the race to erase my oldest pr in the books,just as I did last season after a breakout 5,000m on the track in April I bided my time till fall b4 laying waste to my 5k road pr now the distance was double,but so was the desire.

Armed w/ heartful of determination,a headful of belief and an earful of the Jesus & Mary Chain on my iopd I made the short train ride across the Delaware River over the same Ben Franklin Bridge I'd run the first three miles of the 10k on in just under an hours time.

Conditions were ideal sunny and 41 degs early November can be a crap shoot,I recall several years back in the precursor to the Bridge Run the old A To Z 10k{began at the Camden Aquarium and finished at the Philadelphia Zoo}my hands almost turning to ice crossing the bridge,to that end I packed gloves and arm warmers into my backpack,and while the gloves stayed put I probably didn't need the arm warmers after all but I was leaving nothing to chance,I'd waited long enough for this day,ever the boy scout "Be Prepared" $20 for a pair of arm warmers seemed a small price to pay if today was day I lowered my pr.

On the short walk from Campbell's Field to the start at the foot of the Camden side of the Ben Franklin bridge I remained calm, prior to my first masters National championship title my former coach told me"you've done the training have faith in your ability and the result will come" words to live by then in 07 so why not today?

Since stepping off the track at Berea after the 10,000m final on July 30th my focus had been on this race swooping mile repeats for 2 mile repeats on the track to get myself ready for this race.

In a field of over 3,000 runners it was important to get near the front and get a clear start if I had any hopes of getting my pr and w/ a relatively clear start I found myself latched onto the back of the lead group in 10th place

5.44 for the opening mile initially I thought it was slow given I went out in 5.19 at Syracuse but that was over 5k clearly even pace was going to be clutch,I averaged 5.32 per mile.

I dropped to 11th but wasn't too worried this was really about me and the clock.

13.11 at 2 miles and I'd slipped to 13th but stayed in contact w/ the two runners who'd overhauled me,one of whom was the first female.

Rather than let male ego get in the way I drew energy from the runners on the other side of the barrier who cheered for her and the three of us of us stayed close to each other.

16.41 at 3 miles just b4 the foot of the bridge a bit of quick mental math,2x 16.41 =33.12 +1.05 for the final .2 would give me 34.29.....PR....

W/ the bridge taken care of it was now 3 miles through Camden,having not ran the race since 06 I wasn't 100% sure where the course would lead me but it was well marked so as long as I followed the cones and arrows I'd be ok

The lead female runner was getting away from me but I'd passed one of the runners who'd peeled off the lead pack to move up to 12th.

21.52 at mile 4 for the first time I was beginning to feel it but as I passed the battleship that sits behind the Tweeter Center I thought about the nine 3x2miles repeats I'd done since the week b4 I went to Sacramento for Worlds and how no matter what I'd tried to give it all I had on the third and final repeat....it's just 2 more miles.

27.32 at mile 5 I had two concerns w/ a mile to go,footsteps behind me and my right shoe lace coming undone.

I thought the footsteps might be Bob Schwelm I'd seen him behind me as I made my way back across the bridge and worried my grip on second place in the masters race might be slipping away,it turned out to be the second placed female runner who went by me after I stopped to tie my lace.

Ordinarily I'd have left my lace undone and not worried about it but w/ my race chip on my right foot I could ill afford to lose that given I was in "the money slot" in the masters race,it cost me a few seconds but it was a classic damned if I do,damned if I don't case.

W/ Campbell's Field in view I began to amp up the pace coming off the asphalt and onto the grass of the outfield I was grateful for my cross country experience and also grateful that there hadn't been rain in the last few weeks to make rounding the bases in the outfield a bit less difficult.

Rounding the last turn I saw the finish line and the clock.....34.21.......34.22...34.23....

13th overall and second masters finisher but more importantly a pr,it'd only taken 27 years and 51 attempts but I found my Excalibur and that leaves my 02 Chicago marathon as my oldest pr in my record books followed by my 03 8k,I don't plan on a marathon just yet so that just leaves the 8k to consider

Post race I caught up w/ my team mates,having switched to track in 06/07 I don't see many of the road runners anymore so it was good to mingle and catch up b4 the awards.

On top of the finishers medal{career medal #135 and counting} I got a plaque for being second in the masters race and a cheque......for $250,my biggest pay day as a runner ever,I'd gotten a few $100 prizes for winning road races but $250....wow,but more importantly a 29 second pr.

I said after winning the M45 10,000m at Nationals that the next thing was to lower my 10k pr on the road now that I've done that it's time to focus to lowering my track pr{34.43.3.} if I have any medal podium aspirations in Brazil in 2013 at the next WMA I need to get down to the low 33's so that's the plan,w/ turning 48 just a whisker away it seems prudent to spend the next 2 years running 5,000m and 10,000m outdoors on the track,lets see if the 10,000m track pr and 10k road pr lower,and by how much?

At Last,At Last,At Last

2011-11-06T16:20:00.002-05:00

Norcross Bridge Run 10k Cliff Notes
34.24. 29 second pr
13th overall
2nd Masters
Longer account to follow

Keeping The Powder In The Keg Dry

2011-11-05T21:28:00.004-04:00

I believe I explained the origins of November 5th/Bonfire Nite in my blog last year which should make the title self explanatory given my long awaited crack at tomorrows 10k.
While last week I had no say in not running on Saturday this week was a welcome day off which given I didn't get home till 2.50am suited me just fine.
While there's a lot riding on the outcome of tomorrow's Bridge Run 10k for me I've remained relaxed all day, finished off the Gary Kemp autobiography "I Know This Much" and went to the movies to see "Like Crazy"
I've never made any bones about being a "self confessed art house movie snob"if it isn't playing at any of the three Ritz movie theaters in Center City I tend not to see it,that said I won't not see a movie I want to see if it's not playing at The Ritz{case in point 50/50}but I like Art House movies and "Like Crazy" was a movie that appealed to me, basic premise English girl meets American boy here in America they fall in love and deal w/ all the hurdles a long distance trans Atlantic relationship comes w/ having been through that w/ Erica myself I felt the movie was "preaching to the choir".
I enjoyed the movie period plus it was a couple of hours I wasn't sitting at home fixating about the race the only drawback of going to see movies nobody else I know watches is I'll have no one to talk to about it w/ but such is life.

As is my won't I made a huge bowl of seafood linguine for dinner and have been downloading cds on to my new 30gb ipod and watching the boxing now but once that alarm goes off in the morning{go figure I get an extra hours sleep and have to be up at the crack of dawn!!} I'll be 100% focused on the race.
Hard to believe my 10k pr has stood all these years,July 15th 1984 in only my second ever 10k I ran 34.53 and in the ensuing 27 years it's stood the test of time more to the fact that from 85-05 I focused on marathons and from 06-09 I focused on the 800m/1,500m on the track, after my achilles injury in 09 I upped my mileage to add the 5,000m and following my bout of anemia this year I opted to move up to 10,000m for Masters Nationals in late July so it's been on my radar to run a road 10k b4 the end of the year,10ks have gone out w/ the ark these days so the Bridge Run was one of my only options,come 8.30am tomorrow morning we'll see if after 27 years and 50 10ks I can turn back time.

Where The People Look Good,Where The Music Is Loud

2011-11-04T12:04:00.003-04:00

If it's the first Friday of the month.....and I don't have family in town then it's the 80's dance party at Sex Dwarf.
After a frustrating day that felt like I was in my own episode of "Pardon The Interruption" I'm looking to blow off a little steam on the dance floor tonite,after 2.5 hours of trying to match po's when I first arrived at 6.30am from 9am through 3pm it felt like whenever I'd finally get a minute to myself it was ding dong Avon calling....I have a delivery for you..... granted I'm there to work not research Bowie cds online but when I start making a list at 9am that still isn't finished by 3pm I can't help but feel tad short changed.
Talking of cds I swear Sonic and Amazon are in cahoots together to get me to buy more cds,having kind of given up on so called music television months ago when I'm not watching anything on my dish I hit up the music stations,one in particular channel 839 Flashback/New Wave that plays 80's music anyway of late I find myself adding more cds on my list of cds to buy by artists I missed first time around
Two in particular have gotten inside my brain and refuse to be shown the door,"Boys" by Book Of Love and "Just Another Day" by Oingio Boingo granted I can get the cds they are on dirt cheap used(trust me w/ a list as long as mine you can't afford them new.....) but everytime I cross a few cds off the list a few more go on!!

Tonite should be a treat it's a tribute to B52's one of the bands I recall my childhood friend John Kelly introducing me to,John was a year older and was getting into the hip bands that I as of yet hadn't discovered between B52's,Japan,Ultravox{John Foxx era} and The Cure John helped shape my musical landscape in 79/80 and frankly 32 years later I haven't looked back.
W/ a race Sunday that means I have no run/repeats scheduled for tomorrow so staying the course tonite till 2am is an option if I chose,it' the 6th annual "Wig Night" so I have chance to let my hair down .....so to speak I shall attending sans wig but maybe next year I can get creative w/ a wig and a pair of scissors and give myself that circa 1981 Phil Oakey look I always wanted.

Well what do you know Bowie just came on Flashback/New Wave.....I do believe this is where I came in.....

Beware Of The Cat!

2011-11-03T12:09:00.001-04:00

Another easy 6 miler this evening another sunny low 60's evening I've made the most of them this week as it's all about to change after Sunday.
I'm looking forward to my two days off now b4 Sunday's race the old runners adage that"the hay is in the barn" should ring true prior to last week and this weeks taper I logged 10 weeks of 50 mile weeks w/ a few races and several hard 8 miles and 3x2mile repeats thrown in so I feel all the hard work has been done all I can hope is that I'm illness and injury free come 8.30am Sunday when the gun goes off and that the weather gods are on my side.

Footsteps In Gabardine

2011-11-02T10:12:00.004-04:00

"Watching your window across the street we share eyes on your shadow you are unaware.
Picture a stranger footsteps in gabardine you sense the danger something unforeseen
Burning fires on your shore never open any door I'm wasting my time you don't hear my S.O.S.,the perfect crime to answer your S.O.S."

S.O.S.-Go West

Another easy 6 miler this evening in another glorious 61 degrees and sunshine.....I'm hanging on to these days cos as sure as Monday comes after Sunday I'm gonna miss the shit out of them when they go,probably next week after ye olde clocks go back

Not wishing to look beyond Sunday and my next race but it looks like I'll side step the Rothnan 8k here in Philly on Nov 19th in favour of the NYRRC 5K XC at Van Cortlandt Park the following day,the sticking point being the $45 entry fee,that's a lot of money and frankly needing new running shoes and needing flats for next season means that's $70 and $40 to shell out on top of $45 for Rothman,I'm not made of money and the fact when I went online today to book my trip to and from NYC for The Cure both Megabus and Bolt Bus have jacked up their fairs that weekend cos of Thanksgiving meant my trip cost twice as much as when I did the Human League/5th Avenue Mile trip in late September....grumble grumble!

On the subject of money for years I've searched for a cd of "Bangs & Crashes" an collection of remixes and live tracks by Go West that I've had on vinyl forever,it served as a stop gap between their self titled debut in 85 and their follow up "Dancing On The Couch" in 87,whenever I'd find a copy they wanted silly money for it,seriously we're talking $150,I spend that on groceries every two weeks for that kind of money I'd sing the songs myself and the would be seller could whistle for it!

Anyway a few weeks back more by luck than design I found a copy for well under $10,I couldn't resist and sitting in the lobby on my lunch hour the other day I sat almost in rapture as I listened to it for the first time in eons,I loved Go West their first two albums were great and while I've had them on cd for years"Bangs & Crashes" is about to get played once a week to make up for lost time.

Read It In Books

2011-11-01T12:34:00.005-04:00

A nice easy 6 miler this evening,November 1st glorious sunshine and 57 degrees,gotta love it period but when you know that this time next month you'll only be running in shades,shorts and a tshirt in your memory you have to cherish it and make the most of it.

Major weight off my shoulders today,I've had a satellite dish for over 12 years now and wouldn't be w/out it.....or so I thought till a week ago when Direct TV said as of Nov 1st they were dropping their Fox channels including Fox Soccer and Fox Soccer Plus....half of what I watch on tv is on those two channels,I couldn't imagine no Football Tonite/Sky Sports News,Fox Soccer Report,EPL games Champions League,strewth even A League Highlights not to mention if FX went bye bye no more ''Sons Of Anarchy" "Justified" ''Archer" shit this season of "Sons" is bubbling up nicely w/ 5 more episodes and to think I could lose all this didn't bare thinking about
Anyway common sense prevailed between Direct TV and Fox Corp and all my Fox channels are still on so I don't have to switch dish companies....phew!!

Been reading the Gary Kemp autobiography "I Know This Much" for the past week,that old expression "can't put the book down" applies to this book.
As a huge Spandau Ballet fan right from the start in 1980 when "To Cut A Long Story Short" was released this was always a must read book for me but aside from getting an insight to the whole New Romantic movement from it's humble roots of Billy's in Soho where Steve Strange and Rusty Egan in 78 began it's also shed light on things I never knew.
I always knew that Gary Kemp and Clare Grogan were rumoured to be seeing each other but I never knew Gary wrote most of the "True" album about her.
I also wondered how a guy from Islington North London could write such a heartfelt and poignant song about "the troubles" in Northern Ireland on "Through The Barricades" and then I read how the guy who worked for Spandau selling their merchandise was from Belfast and how he was shot and killed by a British solider.
W/ the band up to their second to last album, acrimonious brake up and nineteen years apart and bitter court cases between Gary and his former band mates still to come b4 getting back together in 2009 still to come I'm eager to read Gary's account of all this,I've already ordered "True" his Brother Martin's autobiography and will also read lead singer Tony Hadley's autobiography "To Cut A Long Story Short" to complete the Spandau trilogy.

Happy Halloween For Me

2011-10-31T11:39:00.007-04:00

"The cottage is windswept now there's only sorrow here follow evacuation signs
You're detached and broken and so sentimental now remembering how we passed out time
Ohh ohh,ohh ohh somebody waits for me ohh ohh,ohh ohh far beyond our halloween
Germanic forces marching on concrete squares our love is just defenceless sound
And could we believe all that you said was true we could be so determined now
Slowly emerging dividing Germany,everyone's lost in east Berlin
And only believing in just what you want to hear,we're waiting in stations once again
Ohh ohh,ohh ohh somebody waits for me,ohh ohh,far beyond our halloween"

Halloween-Japan

Well here we are again in "back tracking mode" been a lot of that recently,anywho Saturday's freakish weather not only put the kybosh on my track repeats but running period,in fact the weather was so nasty I said to hell w/ it and took a "zen like" approach to my recliner for the day,when life gives you lemons........however the fall out of that was come Sunday I now had all of Saturdays chores(pay the rent,go food shopping), on top of laundry and work everything around calling home to talk to my mother and getting a phone call from my brother,add in the clocks going back in England already that added another wrinkle to the whole thing and frankly fitting in my regular Sunday 12 miler seemed unlikely,I guess if I absolutely,positively had to get my 12 miler in I'd have worked around my schedule like I have countless times b4 and no doubt will countless times again but in a week that had seem me already miss a bunch of runs I figured one more wasn't going to matter,after all I'm meant to be in taper mode for this Sunday's race.

Putting all of last weeks woes behind me I got out yesterday for an easy 8 miler,this is an easy week,it'll be easy 6 milers tomorrow through Thursday b4 2 days off in prep for Sunday as I aim to erase my oldest pr in the books(27 years.....this sucker needs to go!!!) also this could be my final week of runs along Cobbs Creek Parkway,w/ the clocks going back on Sunday I may need to switch up my runs down Spruce St and over South St bridge for my 6 milers,out to the Art Museum along the Schuylkill Banks for my 8 milers and out along Kelly Drive to Girard bridge for my 10 milers as parts of my out and back along trusy and these days leafy CCP will be pitch black(mainly the section through the park after Baltimore Ave upto CCP and then in reverse on the way back) but this is an issue for next week but if this is my swansong along CCP till it begins getting lighter in the evenings next late Feb/early March then sobeit.

Given my born again black hearted celtic pagan nature it's no surprise that Halloween is one of my favourite days on the calender...it is after all a Pagan holiday!!! and this year I had two reasons to cheer,my beloved "Land Of The Lost" which got bumped from it's regular last Friday of the month time slot got a 3 hour slot tonite between 8pm-11pm,3 hours of the dark side of new wave lots of Bauhaus,Sisters Of Mercy,Siouxsie & The Banshees,and of course The Cure which was the other reason I was a happy camper.

Earlier this year The Cure performed their first three albums(yep there I go again showing my age.....albums...!)in two shows in Australia which were filmed for dvd release later this year but the clamour for them to reprise these shows resulted in a one off 7 show series,1 in London,3 in LA and 3 in New York at The Beacon over Thanksgiving Day weekend,tickets went on sale today(the irony ) and I managed to snag a ticket for the third and final show on Nov 27th,get ready Big Apple I'll be getting my goth on,christ upper Manhattan is going to resemble something like "the children of the corn" as the black clad masses descend from far and wide for those three shows.....happy goth? is that a massive contradiction?who knows,who cares,me a couple of hundred like minded souls and The Cure in NYC....it truly is a Happy Halloween!!!!

Twenty Four Twenty Four Split

2011-10-29T15:29:00.002-04:00

Well,so much for a final 3x2mile track repeat b4 The Bridge Run 10K next Sunday,I woke up to pouring rain which put the kybosh on that for me,then remarkably the rain turned to snow.....yep friggin snow at the end of October which reminds me a classic line from Colm Mealey in the movie "The Van" when him and his buddy are sitting on a beach freezing and he says"global warming me bollocks"!!!!!

W/ no run to occupy my day I had more time to ponder the other big anniversary of the week,24 years since I left home and everything I knew in South East London and moved to Philadelphia here on the east coast of the United States.
To say things didn't quite go to plan would be an understatement but here I am 24 years later still carving out a life for myself.
I recall a relative of mine saying b4 I upped sticks that "if you don't go 10 years from now you'll regret you didn't" well 10 years was a while back,tack on another 14 years and I find myself having lived here in Philly as long as I lived in South East London.

Do I regret it?......no,in life I've learnt that all the regrets in the world don't change the facts and while there are several parts I'd "do over" again in a heartbeat the fact is life doesn't come w/ a how to handbook you're going to make mistakes....and boy have there been some howlers but life's a learning process and hopefully you learn from your mistakes.
So next year marks a quarter of a century out here,a year later I'll turn 50,were I that way inclined I''d be planning a couple of blow out parties but I somehow doubt that'll happen......unless one of those unexpected curve balls life tends to hurl your way from the mound meets my bat and I hit the sucker out of the park.......hey after 24 years here in America a little baseball is bound to have rubbed off on me but as I always say and probably always will
''you can take the boy out of South East London,but you'll NEVER take the South East London out of the boy".....oi!!!!!!!!!!!

If It's The Last Friday Of The Month......

2011-10-28T15:08:00.004-04:00

"You go down,down past The Talk Of The Town you go down Greek Street then it's underground
Well it's Soho life for this mobile life it's the place to shoot,Friday night Beat Route"

Chant Number One-Spandau Ballet

At least in theory it was.....after a crap week and a long day all I could think about was getting my post work chores taken care of,showered and shaved, making dinner and then settling in for four hours of 80's tunes on ''Land Of The Lost" and hanging out in the chat room.........however nobody informed me this months installment of LOTL has been moved to Monday to accommodate the first of two 20th Anniversary concerts for Wxpn..........

Rather then get pissy about it it does mean Halloween just got a lot more fun on Monday nite!!!!!

Be Kind To My Mistakes

2011-10-27T15:01:00.003-04:00

"Sailing down behind the sun waiting for my prince to come
Praying for the healing rain to restore my soul again
Just a toerag on the run how did I get here?what have I done?
When will all my hopes arise?how will I know him?
When I look in my father's eyes,my fathers eyes
When I look in my father's eyes,my father's eyes
Then the light begins to shine,and I hear those ancient lullabies"

My Father's Eyes-Eric Clapton

We all have those pivotal dates I our lives when things changed,for me two of the biggest "game changers" fall w/in 2 days of one another and are separated by three years.
On Saturday October 27th 1984 I returned home from a rare Saturday at work on overtime to make the grim discovery that my father had died from a heart attack in his bedroom.
At 51 I hadn't seen that coming so it was a shock to the system to say the very least and suddenly life as I knew it had changed dramatically overnite.

Some 27 years have passed since then,there's not a day goes by I don't think about my father,had he not've died when he did I'm reasonably sure I wouldn't have ended up here in America three years and two days later but that's the kind of curve ball life throws you when you least expect it
and sometimes things happen for a reason that you just can't fathom how or why.
As a mark of respect every October 27th I go to the local catholic church in center city and lite a candle and say a prayer for him,gone but not forgotten and while I'm confident I've done things in the past 27 years he wouldn't understand or approve I'd like to think through my running I've made him proud.

My relationship w/ Kevin in running was often mirrored by that of Peter and Seb Coe,Peter Coe always said he had no running background to draw from but felt nobody was better suited to train his son than him,ditto for Kevin and me and like Peter Coe my father could be brutal after a race,the infamous post Moscow 800m final quote from Peter to Seb was a scene too often played out between Kevin and I,I resented his "second isn't good enough" approach to me when I was younger but in the subsequent years since his untimely passing that "fear of losing" has stood me in good stead,god forbid I went home after a race and hadn't won but his "tough love" attitude when I was younger is often the driving force these days to be the best I can be,it wasn't a fear of losing,it was a dread of facing him if I hadn't won that shaped my early running career these days his harsh attitude has molded me in to a tougher runner that I could ever of been if he'd sat back and placated me w/ a "you did your best,that's all you could do" attitude.

Surfice to say grey skies and the omnipresent threat of rain would not deter me from my 8 mile this evening,dead or alive that sort of attitude would not be tolerated by "the ould fella" so I got out and made the most of it,somewhere hopefully in heaven he's proud to see his iron fist in a velvet glove still holds court over a quarter of a century since his untimely departure

Every Picture Tells A Story

2011-10-27T11:44:00.002-04:00

Greater Philadelphia Track Club M40 Masters Nationals 5k XC Bronze medal winners
From left to right,Me,Gene Tung,Andy Shearer,Chris Caroll,Dave Brown.

It's Funny,Cos It's True

2011-10-26T11:01:00.001-04:00

Back tracking slightly,Sunday I ran 12 miles to round out my week at 53 miles
I had 41 going in and could've easily just ran 9 to round out my week at 50 but frankly if I was going to get out there and run 9 miles I might as well run 12.

Feeling the effects of a long week between Duran Duran,Howard Jones and Rochester I woke up Monday feeling run down,it felt like someone had put a faucet in my nose and sandpapered my throat when I woke up and at that time the prospect of a run post work seemed remote,getting to work to be informed my co worker had called out sick for two days meant I now had to pull double duty on top of feeling like crap,I knew a run was flying in the face of it so I sat out Monday.

Tuesday I felt better, the nose was still running but my throat felt better,I was tempted to run but thought better of it,w/ The Bridge Run 10k 11 days away now was as good a time as any to taper,w/ 10 weeks of 50 miles a week under my belt I could back off a little this week and next week,left to my own devices I might've looked at another 50 mile week this week but now having sat out two days this week hitting 50 mpw wasn't happening this week and there's no need for it next week either.

Wednesday out for an easy 8 miler, after two days off it felt good to be back out running again,having missed 2 days was bad enough but the fact they were in the low to mid 60's was galling,as we enter the tail end of October there's a feeling each nice day out there could be the last and missing one is a sin,two is unforgivable.
Fingers crossed I can get out there again tomorrow,I plan to rest Friday so that I can be fresh on Saturday for my final track workout b4 next Sunday plus it's the last Friday of the month which means "Land Of The Lost" on WXPN w/ Robert Drake which is a nite I like to be home early,chores done,showered and shaved b4 dinner and free to sample 4 hours of 80's tunes and the high jinx of the Land Of The Lost chat room.

I couldn't resist the photo of the kitten and the asperger caption,Precious has gotten a lot more vocal since turning a year old,maybe felines get "the terrible twos" early but she's becoming more of a handful these days but if memory serves me her big brother Hobbes was a rambunctious little devil when he was younger but he outgrew it and hopefully Precious will too,judging from the two hours of almost non stop running around after I returned from Rochester on Saturday she truly is my cat,and judging from the fact she's now curled up on my lap as I type she is a "daddies girl" and it's hard not to love her .....even if I'm getting called all sorts of names!!!!

Howard Jones An Everlasting Love

2011-10-25T09:06:00.003-04:00

"There was a time there was nothing at all,nothing at all just a distant hum
There was a being and he lived on his own he had no one to talk to and nothing to do
He drew up the plans,learnt to work w/ his hands a million years passed by and his work was done and his words were these
Hope you find it in everything,everything that you see,hope you find it in everything that you see
Hope you find it,hope you find it,hope you find me in you"

Hide And Seek-Howard Jones.

Much like Mondays show w/ Duran Duran where I wasn't blown away w/ their debut single in 1981 ''Planet Earth" but then fell in love w/ them afterwards fast forward some eighteen months to September of 1983 Howard Jones's debut single "New Song" was released,it was ok and w/out it we wouldn't have discovered Ho Jo but it was his second single,"What Is Love?" that really captured my imagination and thus began my love affair w/ Ho Jo and his unique brand of synth pop.
To my chagrin I never saw Howard live in his prime,his debut album "Human's Lib" was released in 1984 but sadly his London date on the Human's Lib tour at(where else Hammersmith Odean) clashed w/ The Alarm around the corner at Hammersmith Palais) I'd discovered The Alarm earlier that year and their Dec 23rd Hammersmith Palais was my 4th Alarm gig that year,meanwhile "Our Kid" went to see Howie w/ his girlfriend at the Odean,over the following 27 years we've often joked about that nite,he was gung ho to see The Alarm w/ me till he found out Lisa had tickets for Ho Jo,sure I busted his chops(that's what big brothers do!)but I sometimes wish I'd seen Howie.......

Somewhere in a shoe box in the basement is a 120 cassette of Howard Jones live in concert,back in the day Radio One used to broadcast either two half hour concert segments or one hour long concert on Saturday evenings in their "In Concert" series,that was as close as I ever got to seeing him though I was the proud owner of "Human's Lib" "The 12'' Album" and "Dream Into Action" and I'm sure several of his 12'' singles.

In either the summer of 97 or 98 I finally got to see him....barely! on the "Rewind Tour" that summer it was Howard Jones,The Human League and Culture Club finally a chance to see Ho Jo and Boy George and Culture club who I'd never seen and my first Human League gig since the first time time I saw them in 81.
I only caught half of Howie thanks to "cloth ears" my then and now ex girlfriend and her inability to listen to me"don't take 76 to The Mann Music Center the off ramp will be backed up to the hilt".....did she see listen.....NO! we sat in traffic forever,had to park miles away when we finally got there and subsequently missed half of Ho Jo,pissed was an understatement on my behalf while her defence was "I don't really like Howard Jones I didn't see the need to rush to get there".......and that dear ex is why you are an ex and Howard Jones is still a part of my life!!!!

Fast forwarding to the present when I learnt Howard was bringing his "Human's Lib/Dream Into Action" tour to America it was a no brainer,the chance to see him live after all this time and the opportunity to hear both albums in their entirety live was too good to pass up,I even found a way past my dislike for The Keswick in Glenside,I wouldn't say it's my least favourite concert venue but prior to Thursday I'd only been there once in 24 years,but Keswick or not I was going.
The whole album/albums tour is a good one,artists have been doing it for a few years now,last September Gary Numan performed 'The Pleasure Principle'' Stiff Little Fingers did "Inflammable Material" a few years back,earlier this year Echo & The Bunnymen performed their first two albums"Crocodiles" and "Heaven Up Here" a show I sadly missed but did catch The Church perform three albums "Untitled #23" "Priest=Aura" and "Starfish".

Each band has there own way of doing the whole album Stiff Little Fingers performed the whole album over the course of the show,Gary Numan did the whole album start to finish in the order it runs on album/cd but Ho Jo decided to mix up the running order of both albums
Opening w/ "Pearl In The Shell" instead of "Conditioning" Ho Jo would remark that performing the album in it's correct sequence would mean"getting all the hits up front" and then added w/ a smile"well they're all hits but you know what I mean!!!"
Ably backed up w/ a second keyboard player and drummer and using a video screen Howard faithfully performed his 84 debut to a grateful audience,I won't lie I haven't listened to "Human's Lib" or "Dream Into Action" in eons but did recently upgrade from vinyl to cd and will be downloading them onto my Ipod as soon as I workout why the pc won't recognise a new Ipod and allow me to sync the bugger,I may have to go "old school" and listen to them on my discman till then!!!

Taking a short intermission Ho Jo returned to perform "Dream Into Action" he dedicated "Look Mama" to his mother who used to run his fan club for him along w/ his father.
Hearing "Hunger For The Flesh" again after TOO long of an absence was worth the price of admission much like hearing "Don't Always Look At The Rain" and "Conditioning" off of "Human's Lib" gems I hadn't forgotten,just hadn't heard in way too long.
B4 calling it a nite Howie shed light on the fact that "not all 80's keyboard players idolized Kraftwerk" and how the Musician Union wanted to ban him back in the day for playing all the instruments on his keyboard" and the old chestnut that all he had to do was program his keyboard and not show up for his own gigs which was a frequent put down in the mid 80's.
B4 closing w/ "Things Can Only Better" Howard mentioned not really caring about winning awards or readers polls but how a 4th grade teacher had once emailed him and asked if she could use "Things Can only Get Better" as her class theme tune,that was an accolade he could live w/ the 80's might have been the era of Yuppies,the Me Generation and Gordon Gekko's "greed is good" but there was something wholesome about a 4th grade teacher using "Things Can Only Get Better" for he class theme tune.......and that's one of the reason's I still and always will love the 80's.

Another Road Trip,Another Team Medal

2011-10-24T09:12:00.003-04:00

It's amazing that I hadn't ran any cross country for well over two and a half years from Winter Nationals in Derwood MD in Feb 09 till the recent Jack St Clare race at Belmont Plateau and now I've ran two in two weeks.....much like waiting for a bus you wait for an age for yours to show up and then two arrive back to back!!

I don't have a lot of xc races to my credit,I shunned xc for a couple of years but after committing 100% to track in 07 I came to embrace xc as the bridge between the end of outdoor track season and the start of indoor track season and in 08 enjoyed my best set of times for xc over 5k,6k,8k,then came the achilles injury in 09 which put a major kybosh on running period but also meant it was prudent to avoid some of the rougher terrain that xc races can sometimes provide.
I will say the Rochester course felt like real xc,maybe it was the mud,perhaps it was the fact most of the 5k course was on grass but whatever it was there was a universal feeling amongst those gathered here for the Master National 5K XC C'ship that this was a real xc course.

Conditions were surprisingly mild for Rochester for mid to late October,in fact conditions were better than in Syracuse three weeks earlier although due to some bizarre announcement prior to the race temperatures went up several notches!!!!
I never understood why this meet was billed as a USA vs Canada meet,granted upstate New York means our cousins from the great white north are not too far away but if this was an international meet then fair enough but to announce less than half an hour b4 the 11.30am gun time that International rules dictate runners are only allowed 11 spikes in their running spikes just seemed out of left field.
If that was the case put it in the race literature,I'm sure runners would've taken the steps to comply,instead there seemed to be some anger and bewilderment amongst my GPTC team mates as spike wrenches were hastily dug out and the removal of a 12th spike began.
Personally I didn't have more than 11 spikes on both of my running spikes and since there was nobody checking the 151 starters spikes on the starting line I found the whole episode very Shakespearean......much ado about nothing but if it meant some of my team mates run w/ a little fire under them maybe it wasn't so bad after all!!??

One of the things I love about xc racing is the start,as a track runner unless you're running the 1,500m you're invariably going straight into a turn in xc more often than not you're looking at a large field straight ahead b4 making a first turn which allows you a chance to get into your stride.
I had no set position/time to chase this was purely a race to run and see where I stacked up,that said I did check my watch at the 1 mile marker and saw 6.00.for what it's worth at Belmont 2 weeks ago I went through the opening mile in 5.38.
Heading out of the woods and up and around a large field I was joined by Conor O Driscoll a good friend of mine from Westchester Track Club,Conor suggested we work together which seemed like a good idea as we not only put distance between the pack behind us but began to reel in and pick off a few runners ahead of us.

No marker or visible marker at 2 miles so no split,heading back into the woods and then back across the soccer fields back to the finish I began to feel the excesses of a long week and that coupled w/ the mud meant not finishing as strong as I would've liked but still quite content w/ 21st out of 151 runners,8th in the M45-49 age group in 18.29 which is my third fastest 5k xc time.
Post cool down we waited patiently for the results,the temperature began to turn and I for one was glad it had been a lot warmer at 11.30am than it was now.
After much deliberation it was announced we'd finished third in the M40 team race behind Genesee Valley Harriers and Westchester Track Club and just ahead of Central Park Track Club,the four way dog fight I had predicted on Thursday.

I have one more xc race on my schedule next month b4 calling it a season outdoor and one indoor race b4 the end of the year.

Masters 5K XC C'ships

2011-10-22T23:19:00.002-04:00

Short Version
21st overall
18.29
8th M45-49
3rd M40 team event
Long Version to follow....

Next Stop Rochester

2011-10-20T08:44:00.004-04:00

Well technically the next stop is The Keswick in Glenside for Howard Jones tonite,and then Rochester,but due to time restraints the Ho Jo review will have to wait till early next week after I return from Rochester and the USATF Masters Nationals 5K XC C'ships.
Backtracking slightly I did manage to get my 9 mile recovery run in yesterday,it looked like I might get rained out and while not being able to run wouldn't have been the end of the world it would've put me in a hole for getting another 50 mile week in,though not impossible but would've meant 9 tonite,9 on Saturday and 14 on Sunday but the heavy rain had quit so once again it was baseball cap and jacket weather as I took care of business.

Slightly better conditions this evening for my 6 miler but the first real chill in the air evening,it was noticeable w/ short sleeves and shorts how much milder it felt this evening,granted we're into the second half of October but none the less a stark reminder of what's around the corner in the coming weeks and months,the sidewalk along Cobbs Creek Parkway is becoming more and more covered w/ leaves.

On the subject of conditions I have no idea what to expect in Rochester Saturday but I'm betting wet cold and muddy,real cross country conditions unlike the recent Jack St Clare 5M XC which was ran in 75 degrees.
Due to a typo by someone at USATF Atlanta Track Club are in the M50 team competition not the M40 so it looks like a 4 way dog fight(no Michael Vick jokes please!....oh please like I'm the only one who went there!!!) for the team race,GPTC,Central Park Track Club,Westchester Track Club and hosts Genesse Valley Harriers.

Dancin' On The Valentine

2011-10-19T08:40:00.006-04:00

"Was I chasing after rainbows?one thing for sure you never answered when I called
And I wiped away the water from my face to look through the eyes of a stranger
For rumours in the wake of such a lonely crowd trading in my shelter for danger
I'm changing my name just as the sun goes down in the eyes of the stranger"

The Seventh Stranger-Duran Duran

Next month marks the 30th anniversary of my first Duran Duran gig at famed Hammersmith Odean,I'd missed their earlier tour in 81 when they played at The Rainbow in Finsbury Park but now on the strength of their debut album they were back on the road and at Hammersmith Odean, always a sign you'd "made it" to the big time when you were headlining at Hammy Odean.

I liked their debut single "Planet Earth" but I wasn't crazy about it,I thought their second single"Careless Memories" was all that but surprisingly it barely grazed the Top 40 at #37 but then came the game changer "Girls On Film",and as the saying goes "the rest was history" and I became a teenage Duran Duran fan.

It wasn't easy being a guy and liking Duran Duran,it was one thing to buy their records,pin their posters on my bedroom wall and see them in concert but going out in public w/ a Duran Duran tshirt or wearing a Duran Duran button/pin could be detrimental to your well being,I recall being surrounded in a pub by a bunch of knuckle dragging neanderthals after playing Duran Duran on the jukebox,the typical name calling ensued, Nancy Boy was one of the nicer names I was called,I can only imagine the carnage if these clowns had seen me on the nites I went clubbing and sporting eyeliner and mascara

Bands like Duran Duran,Spandau Ballet and Japan not only made it ok for guys to wear make up if they were brave enough to, they were great to dance to and they inspired me to dress better,having liked Punk and Heavy Metal b4 the New Romantic movement meant tarting up my wardrobe considerably,clothes horse I was not or will never be but some of the nicer clobber in my wardrobe came as a result of being a New Romantic,and the fact the likes of Duran Duran,Japan and Spandau Ballet were good looking blokes meant they attracted a bevy of women at their shows,I always used to joke the best reason to like Duran Duran was to meet women at their concerts....not that I ever did but I'll bet numerous hook ups and maybe even long term relationships were formed at Duran Duran shows over the years.

And so to Monday at The Tower,my 10th Duran Duran gig in 30 years,an average of once every three years,people always said back in the day Duran Duran were only good in their videos but I always said seeing them live was where they shone brightest,if you don't own Hammersmith 82 on dvd add it to your collection,what you see is a band beginning to hit it's stride between 82-84 Duran Duran were the best band on the planet.....I was tempted to say Planet Earth but didn't want to be too cheesy but believe me they were awesome then and still pack a punch now.

In the day and age of the internet it's real easy to go online and find set lists,I do it post show to write the set lists but never b4,I like to be surprised so here's how Monday went down from start to finish.

Before The Rain-I'd have bet the house they'd open w/ "All You Need Is Now" but opted for the mellow closing track off the new cd instead,never a band to play safe Simon and co weren't about to start now.

Planet Earth-Oh snap from latest cd to first,I remember Simon saying he wanted Duran Duran to be the band people danced to when the nuclear bomb dropped(if you were my age in the 80's you lived in fear of a post nuclear fall out between America and Russia) the nuclear threat has gone but guess what? we're still dancing

A View To A Kill-I never go into a show these days w/ a laundry list of songs I want to hear because if you go in w/ the "I want to hear this,this and this" you set yourself up to be let down,View To A Kill was one song I wanted to hear and was delighted to hear it....best James Bond theme song ever!!

All You Need Is Now-Title track of the 12th studio album and a return to former glories,probably their best album since The Wedding Album in this humble Duranies opinion.

Blame The Machines-Another strong track off the new album,sorry I'm showing my age...cd!

Come Undone-A pleasant surprise,hard to believe The Wedding Album is 2 years shy of it's 20th anniversary,an album that put Duran Duran back on the map.

Safe(In The Heat Of The Moment)The 4th of 7 songs off the new album,it's rare a band will play that much stuff off as new cd in concert I think OMD and Human League only played 3 song off of "History Of Modern" and "Credo" but I wasn't complaining!!

The Reflex-I must've worn out the 12'' copy of this back in the day and it still packs a punch now some 27 years later,still hard to watch them performance this live and not half expect a giant wave to come cascading down from above the stage.

The Man Who Stole A Leopard-Girl Panic-Back to back tracks off "All You Need Is Now"

Tiger Tiger-Didn't see that one coming,gotta say it sounded as good live as it does on "Seven & The Ragged Tiger" will we ever hear "Tel Aviv"live at a Duran Duran show??

Is There Something I should Know?-After all these years it's still funny to hear the line"don't say you're easy on me,you're about as easy as a nuclear war"

Careless Memories-The second of three songs I was stoked to hear,why this wasn't a bigger hit back in 81 I don't know but it's still a kick arse tune.

Leave A Light On- When I saw Simon w/ the acoustic guitar I was thinking "Save A Prayer" but we got the seventh and final track off ''All You Need Is Now",I liked this song b4 but after hearing it live I like it even more now.

Ordinary World-Another trip back to "The Wedding Album"

Notorious-I won't lie "Notorious" wasn't one of my favourite Duran Duran albums,as it marks the beginning of the end of "the fab five" but the title track still stands out as a live song.

Hungry Like The Wolf-Finally something off the "Rio" album,but isn't that why we have "Hammersmith 82" on dvd?

(Reach Up For The)Sunrise-The lead off track off of "Astronaut" the reunion album that saw Simon,Nick,John,Roger,and Andy back together b4 Andy left again

Encore

Wild Boys-The third of the three songs I was psyched to hear and another song that the original 12'' vinyl got played over and over,these day the 12'' mix gets heavy rotation on my ipod,nice touch segwaying "Relax" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood into it

Rio-The finale and it was 1982 all over again complete w/ sax solo.

I have no gripe w/ the set list,sure the purists will cite no "Girls On Film" in the set but isn't that what "Arena" "Hammersmith 82" and "Live In London" are there for??,let's hope it's only a few years b4 the next album and tour.

PS Remember how I said one of the great things about a Duran Duran concert was meeting women?I actually got talking to two very nice women sat next me at The Tower on Monday and may have convinced them to come to "Sex Dwarf",after all if you like seeing Duran Duran live chances are dancing to killer 80's tunes every first Friday of the month is right up your alley way too!

Knot Too Shabby

2011-10-18T20:05:00.003-04:00

I'm not going to lie,standing in the bathroom at 5.40am brushing my teeth barely awake the prospect of a hard 8 mile in roughly 11 hours time was not exactly revving my engine but being tired after last nites Duran Duran gig or not I was still planning to run my hard 8 this evening and that was that,like I remembered back in the early 80's when I stepped up from 6 miles to 10 miles and 12 miles I knew when I got up at 7.20am that the last thing I could think about was running 10-12 miles come 6pm,you start the day thinking like that you're beaten b4 you start so the best thing to do is put it as far out of your mind as possible no matter how tired you are.

Come 4.30pm I was ready to lay it down,another sunny warm October evening for my second to last hard 8 miler along Cobbs Creek Parkway,after last weeks below par 49.10.6. I wanted something a little more potent as I close in on the Bridge Run 10k.
3.28 at Cedar and CCP,ballpark for where I've been the last few weeks,8.32 at Baltimore Ave and 13.26 at Whitby Ave,slightly down on last week but unlike last week no pesky rib injury to slow me down.

Made the turn around in 23.13 a potential 46.26 if I could hold this pace,33.49 at Whitby Ave,I was well ahead of last weeks splits.
38.10 at Baltimore Ave it was starting to hurt now but the hell I was backing off the pace,43.16 at CPP and Cedar,fortune favours the brave and fair maiden was never won by faint heart etc etc.
46.38.2. my third fastest time and only a second off of my 46.37.8. set back in week 3 on Aug 30th.

Next week is my last crack at it b4 the Bridge Run and while the mystery rib injury of last went as soon as it came it's now been replaced by the return of that knot in my left calf that first flared up this time last year.
I thought I was done w/ that as it had been dormant for weeks but w/ 600m to go on my final 2 mile repeat on Saturday it flared up again to the point I've been icing it and wearing a compression sleeve on it,if it ain't one thing it's another as a masters runner,trust me read any masters blog and we all complain of tweaks,aches or niggles at our age,it goes w/ the territory.

Some New Romantic Looking For The TV Sound

2011-10-17T09:13:00.004-04:00

"Only came outside to watch the night fall w/ the rain I heard you making patterns rhyme
Like some new romantic looking for the tv sound I'll see you right some other time love
Look now look all around there's no sign of life
Voices,another sound can you hear me now this is planet earth,you're looking at planet earth"

Planet Earth Duran Duran

A busy week on tap,on top of having to tweak my mileage to accommodate Saturdays 5k xc race in Rochester and also get my weekly 50 mpw I also have 2 gigs on my docket this week,Duran Duran at The Tower tonite and then Howard Jones at The Keswick on Thursday as my concert total for the year goes up to 9 w/ 2 more potential shows on tap next month.....both 80's artists....I know you're stunned given prior to tonite my last 4 gigs were:U2,Berlin,OMD and Human League!!!,it's like I always say"I don't just love the 80's,I lived them"there'll be more on tonites Duran Duran show on Wednesday and I'll do justice to Ho Jo early next week.

As for my run an easy 10 miler to get the week underway,originally the plan was to go,10,9,8,6 Monday through Thursday w/ Friday as my rest day/travel day to Rochester in upstate New York but in order to have my cake and eat it I'll keep Tuesday as my hard 8 day and allow myself three days recovery b4 duking out on the mud in Rochester w/ host club Genesse Valley,Atlanta Track Club,Central Park and Westchester Track Club for the club race.
Beautiful evening to run this evening low 70s and sunny,after ditching the shades and donning a cap and jacket on Wednesday and Thursday it was the fall version of "the three s's" this evening,shades,shorts and short sleeves.
Hopefully my butt won't be dragging tomorrow on the hard 8 after tonites Duran Duran show.

Shufflin' Along

2011-10-16T21:52:00.006-04:00

Another Sunday,another 12 miler along the river,another 50 mile week.
Also another glorious day in October to be out getting my long run in,as long as mother nature keeps sending them,I'll keep taking them.
For those not from "these parts" the above picture is of Kelly Drive just at the end of Boathouse Row,trust me this photo wasn't taken on a Sunday morning as it's always crowded w/ runners,joggers,walkers,cyclists,roller bladers,people w/ strollers etc,I've always enjoyed my runs along the river in the almost 24 years since I moved here and hope to continue to do so.

Felt weird to be home for the weekend,technically I was home last weekend but w/ Lynn and Chris in town I spent little time at home,the weekend b4 I was in Syracuse,the weekend b4 I was in New York and this coming weekend I'll be in Rochester.
I would've liked a weekend at home w/ my feet up relaxing and making inroads into my laundry list of dvr's shows but this wasn't the weekend for it,asides from my 3x2 mile repeats and Sunday long run there were the domestic chores that needed taking care of,food shopping,laundry and somehow I found time to squeeze in a movie.

"50/50" was playing at The Riverview which is my least favourite cinema to go to,mainly due to the hike it takes to get there w/out a car but I wanted to see it so I switched running shoes for hiking boots and made the trek into South Philly to see it.
It was an enjoyable movie,it's hard to make a comedy about Cancer but the movie does a stellar job of being funny w/out trivializing the illness,kudos to the writers and directors for that and hats off to Gordon Joseph Levitt,Seth Rogan,Anna Kendrick and Anjelica Huston for their roles.

On the way home I made the rare move of putting the ipod on shuffle and seeing what would come streaming through my ear buds next,I was pleasantly rewarded w/ the following:
Sex(Extended Version) Berlin
They Dance Alone Sting
Life's What You Make It(Live Version) Talk Talk
Fade To Grey Real Life
Numb/Encore Linkin Park & Jay Z
39 The Cure
Do Re Me,So Far So Good Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine
First Goodbye Scritti Polliti
MLK U2
How Was It For You? James
Lady W/ The Spinning Head U2
Underneath The Stars The Cure

The Return Of The Thin White Duke

2011-10-15T21:34:00.003-04:00

After a 3 week race induced hiatus from my Saturday date w/ vertigo.....or as I like to call it 3x2 mile repeats it was back to the track at Temple this morning for my second to last crack at them b4 the November 6th Bridge Run 10k in 3 weeks time.
While the sun might've been shining there was a strong breeze swirling across the track when I arrive at 10.20am,how strong you ask?....at the northeast corner of the track there are two poles w/ what look like miniature jet propellers on them my guess is they are a wind gauge of some sort,anywho those suckers were working overtime this morning I doubt they stopped rotating the entire time I was there this morning.
Following my mile warm up it was time to shed the long sleeve warm up and three quarter length bottoms don my flats and have at it a 9th time since I first began this workout a week b4 Worlds all the way back at the beginning of July (July 2nd)

#1 repeat 1.21.0.-1.24.7.-1.26.0.-1.24.3.-1.26.6.-1.25.4.-1.22.0-1.15.1-11.05.5.
An ok start,I came through the opening mile in 5.36.2. which told me a 4th sub 11 repeat probably wasn't going to happen but a negative split of 5.36/5.29 gave me a semi respectable 11.05.5.,when I opened in 11.05.8. on September 10th I could only muster 11.20.3. and 11.49.7. on #2 and #3,how much stronger am I now some 5 weeks later?

#2 repeat 1.20.5.-1.23.6.-1.24.8.-1.25.3.-1.25.3.-1.25.8.-1.26.9.-1.19.3.-11.11.8.
Coming through the mile in 5.34.3. it looked like I might challenge my opening 11.05.5. but somehow it managed to get away from me,I'm not sure I've ever strung together three almost identical splits like I did on laps 4,5 and 6.

#3 repeat 1.21.0.-1.25.0.-1.25.1.-1.27.3.-1.26.4.-1.26.0.-1.27.2.-1.14.0.-11.12.3.
Well if nothing else at least I was consistent,not just on #3 but throughout the entire 24 laps,if I could've keep laps 4 and 7 at 1.26 and not 1.27 I would've crept under the 11.11.8. on #2

While obviously disappointed I couldn't duplicate my previous outing(10.48.3. 10.54.5. 10.43.4.) that came as a result of 6 weeks of consistent chipping away at the previous weeks times it would be naive to think a three week absence from repeats would afford me the luxury of steeping back in where I left off,not to mention having to cope w/ a very strong headwind throughout most of the entire workout.
That said this still represents my second best set of splits on this workout and unlike the Sept 10th drop off after opening in 11.05.8. today I hung in there.

Another race next Saturday, Masters 5k xc in Rochester means I only have one more crack at the 3x2 mile repeat on October 29th b4 the Bridge Run,let's hope for a lot less wind that Saturday and the same level of consistency as today

There Must Be An Irish Pub In Tallinn

2011-10-13T08:30:00.002-04:00

"You dust the bottles on the bar counter you're writing screenplays on the side
Three nights a week can keep a girl workin sometimes it's good to lose your pride
These things we do to keep the flame burning and write our fire in the sky
Another day to see the wheel turning another avenue to try
It's in the luck of the draw baby the natural law
Forget those movies you saw little baby it's in the luck of the draw,the natural law"

Luck Of The Draw-Bonnie Raitt

Yes folks we're heading to Estonia,given the choices of Turkey,Bosnia,Montenegro or Estonia Ireland drew Estonia in the Euro 2012 playoffs this morning in Poland which is one of the two choices I would have made,Turkey in Istanbul will be hostile as all hell,Bosnia pushed France all the way in their qualifying group and only lost out on top spot by a single point,that left Montenegro or Estonia,neither are push overs but given Ireland's 1.4 playoff record since 95{losses to Holland,Belgium,Turkey and France and one victory over Iran in 01 to reach the 02 World Cup finals}we needed a slice of luck and got it w/ a trip to Estonia on November 11th and the return leg at home in Dublin on November 15th.

Another grey and overcast evening as I ran my 6 miles to put me at 30 miles for the week going into my rest day tomorrow{heading over to The Keswick at Glenside to get Howard Jones tickets for next Thursday}we'll have to wait and see what Saturday brings and my 3x2mile repeats.

Europe, After The Rain

2011-10-12T09:16:00.004-04:00

"It's time to walk again it's time to make our way through the fountained squares and the collonades
Your dress is shimmering,your voice is hiding things when you say I've hardly changed
In europe after the rain when the nights are warm and the summer sways"

Europe After The Rain-John Foxx

The first autumnal day I've felt this fall,grey and overcast w/ the heavy threat of rain,so much so that I opted for my baseball cap and jacket but managed to get the recovery run in b4 the rain fell,the rib cage issue didn't play up today but on a recovery run it really shouldn't,tomorrow will be an easy 6 miler and Friday is my rest day so we'll have to wait to see what Saturdays 3x2 mile repeats bring regarding this rib cage issue.

After losing to Wales in the Rugby World Cup quarter finals on Saturday Ireland has something to cheer in soccer,needing a draw last nite in Dublin vs Armenia "Gio's Green & White Army" reached the Euro 2012 playoffs w/ a 2.1 win to put them in Thursdays playoff draw along w/ Portugal,Croatia,Czech Republic,Turkey,Bosnia,Montenegro and Estonia,anyone of them will be difficult,we've been spared Portugal,Croatia and Czech Rep as along w/ them Ireland they are the seeded teams so it's either a trip to Turkey,Bosnia,Montenegro or Estonia on November 12th b4 the return leg at home in Dublin on November 15th,we'll know for sure tomorrow morning at 7am when they make the draw where "the boys in green"are heading I just hope where ever it is there's enough Guinness!!!

Sometimes A Really Good Idea.........

2011-10-11T10:29:00.001-04:00

A frustrating evening{at least on the running front}thanks to some sort of stitch like pain under my right rib cage.
I experienced this once b4,it came out of nowhere,hung a round for a few days then disappeared, I'd like it to disappear again now.
It showed up on Sunday early into my easy 12 mile run,at first I though I hadn't given myself enough time to digest breakfast so didn't read too much into it,it showed up again yesterday on my easy 8 miler and it raised a flag,throughout the day today I could feel what ever this thing is even when I wasn't running and for a while I contemplated pushing back my hard 8 miler till tomorrow I figured going for it today was as good a plan as any so I went for it.

3.24 at Cedar & CCP b4 clocking 8.28 at Baltimore Ave,I was 14 seconds behind last weeks split and feeling like I was running compromised compared to last week.
13.22 at Whitby Ave b4 making the turn in 23.55,68 seconds behind last weeks turnaround split.
I already knew I wasn't going to be able to get close to last weeks 44.57.4. and while I didn't throw in the towel I was guilty of not being 100% focused so I wasn't surprised to see my splits continue to slip away from me,35.08 at Whitby Ave,40.08 at Baltimore Ave and 45.45 at CCP and Cedar b4 clocking 49.10.6. at the finish.
Remarkably not my slowest run over the last 7 hard 8 milers,my last hard 8 b4 last week was a 49.16.3. on Sept 13th and when I began these hard 8 milers I opened in 49.46.1.

I'm frustrated that w/ only three quality hard 8 milers left b4 the Bridge Run 10k I pissed this one away but it was something out of my control so I won't beat myself up too much,fingers crossed whatever this rib cage issue is it goes away and soon.

A Blast From The Past

2011-10-10T14:16:00.003-04:00

A nice easy 8 miler today to not only kick off the week but also get any residual gunk out of my legs from Saturdays St Clare 5m xc.
No race this week so back to the conventional week of training,8,8,8,6,8,12 w/ the intention of tomorrow being a hard 8 and Saturday being a return to 3x2 mile repeats.

Unseasonably warm again today,hell it's mid October I'll wrestle an Alligator to get days like these{see what happens when you blog during "Hart Of Dixie"!!!}in the coming weeks.
While today saw me returning to normal training weeks it was also a day to get back to the tried and tested routine of life,my sister Lynn and brother in law Chris were in Philly over the weekend to visit me on their way to Australia,via Nashville,Argentina and New Zealand,when ever Chris works in Australia they fly west from London and then west back to London.
It's always good to hang w/ any of my family,as I approach the 24 year anniversary of leaving home and coming to America it's nice to connect w/ those guys in person and not over the phone or via the internet,if I didn't appreciate the value of family when I left home at 24 I sure do now at almost 48.
My final words to Lynn and Chris last nite were to give my best wishes to Australia and let them know I'm on my way there in 5 years time for the 2016 WMA C'ships in Perth plus my "guided walkabout" afterwards it's a long way off but I'm already planning for it.

And from the future,to the present and my past after citing Elizabeth Fraser in my Top 20 female vocalists of the 80's my Cocteau Twins songs on my ipod{Heaven Or Las Vegas,Pearly Dew Drops Drop,Sugar Hiccup,Spangle Maker and Song To The Siren technically This Mortal Coil but w/ Liz Fraser on vocals}have been on heavy rotation of late, there's something magical about Liz Fraser's vocals but don't just take my word for it check them out for yourself.

Another Week In The Record Books

2011-10-09T13:56:00.002-04:00

Another 12 miler to round out another 50 mile week,for those playing along at home or just interested that's 8 weeks in a row of 50 miles a week and 7 weeks of Sunday 12 milers,obviously last Sundays Masters 5k Road race c'ships in Syracuse meant no 12 miler last week.
Won't lie,I was feeling yesterdays 5m xc race a little but was able to do what needed to be done today,glorious day to be out running period but along by the river in the sunshine in October it's a beautiful thing,each Sunday now in October will get treated like it might be the last as predictably these conditions can't last forever but I'll be grateful for each one I get b4 the long sleeve running shirts,running tights and eventually ski hat,thermal gloves and jacket get pulled out of the closet.

So yesterday,my first cross country race in over two and a half years,I initially though my last xc race was the inaugural Jack St Clare 8k xc race in Dec 08 but upon pulling my xc spikes up from the basement I discovered the D tag from Masters Winter Nationals in Derwood Maryland in Feb 09 still on them.
Why the hiatus from xc? coming off my achilles injury in the summer of 09 I wasn't sure xc was the right terrain to race on in the fall of 09,courses like Belmont and Van Cortlandt have a fair amount of gravel to run on,not exactly achilles tender friendly so I side stepped the 09 xc season and last year after the Syracuse Masters 5k Road race C'ships in early October I shut things down initially for 2 weeks which then became 3 b4 using the end of October and November/early December to build base mileage so no xc races last fall,I was kean to get back to xc this fall and offered to "take one for the team" at the St Clare 5 Miler.

This years race had become a college race w/ several college teams entered,fitting given the race is in honour of former Temple coach Jack St Clare and this years field of 85 runners is a far cry from the 08 race that only attracted maybe a dozen or so runners.
It sure wasn't xc weather,75 degrees and sunny as we took to the starting line at 1pm,frankly after getting soaked in 44 degree temps last week in Syracuse I wasn't complaining!!!
I knew not to get "sucked in" at the start and paced myself through the outside loop and opening mile in 5.38.
Second loop meant going up Parachute which is a lot smoother these days but still a bastard hill to negotiate on the 5k or 5m course,back out of the woods and up Flagpole a second time,after the fustercluck the first time the field had thinned out considerably the second time.

Entering the woods a third time I heard 17.46 for my three mile split,I think I heard 11.58 at 2 miles and while the field had thinned out at least I wasn't in no mans land as I headed down Dark Road towards the refurbished Nursey Hill section.
I was feeling it now but knew I was near to the finish......one more trek up Flagpole,pre race as we jogged the Parachute and Nursery section Chuck mentioned going up Flagpole three times might be tough and while I wasn't dreading it coming out of the woods a final time there was a sense of "fucking ada,Flagpole again!!!"

One runner went by me b4 we exited the woods and while I would've liked to go w/ him my almost 48 year old legs had other ideas,I settled for 50th overall in a field 85 in a time of 31.28.4.
By virtue of this being my first xc 5m race{I have 6 xc 8k races to my credit since 06}it's a pr for what it's worth,I'd like to come back next year a little more xc tough.
To that end there's the Masters 5k xc up in Rochester in 2 weeks time and then maybe a long overdue trip to the Bronx and Van Cortlandt Park in November and then the Brandywine 5k xc just after Thanksgiving b4 calling time on my 11 outdoor season.

A final foot note,if you're in the vicinity of Chestnut Hill College and you see a very disgruntled bunch of runners out there spare a thought for them,GPTC president Bill Kampf is also the coach of Chestnut Hill College and he told them pre race if they didn't beat "a bunch of old guys" from GPTC they'd be doing double workouts.....we finished 8th,they finished 9th.....enjoy those double workouts boys!!!

Jack St Clare 5M XC

2011-10-09T10:19:00.004-04:00

Cliff Notes
50th out of 85 runners
1st Masters
31.28.4.
GPTC 8th of 9 teams

Considering this has now become a college race I guess the above facts aren't too shabby,of course I'll get sweet FA for being 1st masters finisher but this was just another race on the schedule anyway plus my first cross country race since Masters Winter Nationals in Derwood Md in Feb 09,more detailed account to follow after my 12 miler to round out week 8 of 50 mpw