Category: Morning Workout

A Good Run, Great Blues and some Explaining!

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What’s Been Happening….
Ok so no long recap of why I haven’t posted here for a long time. I’ll just say I had some health issues that appear to have been resolved favorably! The biggest being a high PSA level which is a test used for detection of prostate problems. But after a retest and a normal exam by a urologist, it appears I am good to go.
One of the positives that has happened between the initial PSA test and the retest is switching my aerobic exercise from my heavy dance-Kundalini- cardio workout to running. Another is that I have added a 25-30 minute before bed yoga routine.
Many of the asanas in the nightly routine are ones that are good for my prostate. Additionally, I have made some dietary changes, adding foods like avocado to my diet! On the downside, but good side, I also tried to eliminate sugary cakey snacks and potato chips!! Anyway, I think all of the above helped to reduce my PSA level. I still think that the main reason that my PSA level was high in the first place was excessive exercise over the weekend leading up to the test. But that’s neither here nor there, the bottom line is hopefully things are good. And the changes that I made to my exercise routines and diet are positive!
A Return to Running
So let’s get to some new stuff and then I’ll try to catch up on some older stuff as we move on! My plan when I started to run again was to return to my old running routine. That routine was running four miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays and then a 5-8 mile run on a weekend day. So far I have only been running a 3.1 mile course and I think I have made three days a week once.
However, my minute per mile pace has been much faster than anticipated. Typically, in recent years when I start back running after a layoff my pace hovers around 11:30 minutes per mile for a long while. This time my pace was only around 11:30 for the first two runs. By the third run it was around 11 minutes/mile and it has gone down from there!
I think the major reason for that was that was the pretty hard dance-cardio exercising I did from July up until the fateful PSA test. I believe that through that exercising I was in great aerobic shape and that made the transition to running easier than in the past. My average pace for today’s 3.1 mile run was 10:27 min/mile. Here are the stats for the run…..
Mile Splits— Mile 1 – 10:24 Mile 2 -10:39 Mile 3 – 10:30
Mile 0.15 – 9:13
Average HR – 141 bpm  Max 172? Calories Burned -419
So hopefully, I can keep running through the winter and not have to start over again next spring! But at least now I know if I do my dance cardio in those super cold or snowy days I will remain in pretty good shape!!
The Soundtrack
The soundtrack for today’s run was Hold On the latest release from blues guitarist Kirk Fletcher. Kirk Fletcher is one of the world’s best blues guitarist. He is a four-time Blues Music Award and a 2015 British Blues Award nominee and has played with a variety of popular artists, including Joe Bonamassa and a three-year role as lead guitarist of The Fabulous Thunderbird. Additionally,not that anybody cares, he has played on many of the albums that have been in my music rotation over the last several years.
About Hold On
Hold On is a great album. It had me from the first track “Two Steps Forward” and it wasn’t Fletcher’s guitar that caught my attention. It was the organ! Subsequently, I have discovered the keyboardist was Jonny Henderson. Henderson is a well-respected British keyboard artist who has been a member of the Matt Schofield Trio since 2004.Additionally, he has been voted Keyboard Player of the Year at both the 2010 and 2011 British Blues Awards. The other member of Fletcher’s band is drummer Mack Brown. Brown has played with Henderson many times. The trio first played together a year or two ago at the Bristol Jazz Festival and as they say the rest is history. It’s my hope that they will be playing together a lot more!!
Hold On will certainly be in my music rotation over the next several weeks and beyond! The songs on the album are varied and Fletcher’s guitar work is perfect on each track. Here;’s what Matt Koehler said about the album….
Hold On as an album is so solid, so listenable and so moving that the word
“monumental” comes to mind. It sets the bar for modern Rhythm & Blues albums to come, from Kirk or otherwise, and it reminds the world that the genre is still as strong and meaningful as ever. ~ by Mat Koehler
Currently, Hold On is number 24 on the Roots Music Report Blues Chart. So Check it Out!
Links for Further Exploration of the Music of Kirk Fletcher
 Here’s the official video for “Two Steps Forward” from Kirk Fletcher

An Oliver Walking Challenge Leads to a 5K with Grand Marquis.

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Today I had a great run accompanied by Grand Marquis and their album Brighter Days Here’s how I got there .

A few weeks after I started my 21-day Yoga Challenge I realize that wanted to add some more to my exercise regime. I thought back and remembered how I started to gain weight, when I stopped babysitting Oliver two plus years ago. While I was babysitting I would take him for two or three 30 minute walks during the day.

Once those walks stopped on came the weight! Anyway I thought even though you won’t be pushing a stroller you can walk twice a day numb nuts! So I created the 30-day Oliver Walking Challenge. The aim of the challenge was to use walking to help me get back into shape with the idea that I would then be able to start and run again.

Well the Walking Challenge worked so well that within two weeks or so, I was running again.

The Run: 3.1 Miles….

Yesterday I ran for the third time this week. It’s the fourth week in a row that I have done such! The first week I ran 3.1 miles on Sunday and then did the same on Tuesday and Thursday. On the following three Sundays, including this past Sunday, I ran four miles and 3.1 miles on the following Tuesday and Thursday.

The end result is that I ran 11 days in May and have run 3 days so far in June. Yesterday’s  run was my fourteenth since May 1st and one of my fastest. I completed the 3.1 mile course in 33:53 about two minutes faster than the first 3.1 mile run I ran on May 6th.  One of the better things is that I am running faster with a lower average heart rate.

Yesterday’s  run was over the 5K (3.1 miles) course that I have run the majority of May and June. I completed the course in 33:53 as mentioned above. That calculates to an average pace of  approximately 10:53 minutes/mile. Here are the mile splits…

Mile 1 – 10:49 Mile 2 – 10;56  Mile 3 – 10:46  0.13 Miles – 10:00

I think this may be the first time that the pace for all three  Miles was under 11 minutes per mile. And it certainly was one of the few times that my last mile was faster than the first mile!

I don’t think that I have ran three days a week for four weeks in,well,  probably,  more than four years. But hopefully like my yoga routine I hope I can keep this up!

Better Days - Grand Marquis - a Run Soundtrack

The Soundtrack: Brighter Days – Grand Marquis

The soundtrack from yesterday’s run was provided by a band that I am unfamiliar with, Grand Marquis. I listened to their latest release Brighter Days. Grand Marquis is a blues and Americana roots band hailing from Kansas City. The band formed in 1998. Since then they have become a mainstay of the Kansas City music scene. They have also released eight albums and performed coast to coast.Their music is their own brand of Americana Roots, Blues and Prohibition-Era Jazz

grand marquis

Members of the Band include:

Ben Ruth: upright bass, sousaphone, backing vocals;
Chad Boydston: trumpet, backing vocals;
Ryan Wurtz: electric and acoustic guitars;
Trevor Turla: trombone, backing vocals;
Fritz Hutchison: drums, backing vocals;
Bryan Redmond: lead vocals; soprano, alto, tenor & baritone saxophones

Currently, Brighter Days is No. 8 on the Roots Music Report’s Blues Charts.

I never get a true listen to an album on a run, but I did like what I heard. So Brighter Days will go into my music rotation and I’ll let you know in a bit what I think!

A Video to lead to  “Brighter  Days”……..

 

Links

Artist’s Website
Spotify
AllMusic

grand marquis

About Grand Marquis

Grand Marquis epitomizes the fusion of tradition and innovation, infusing the essence of American roots from Kansas City blues to Memphis soul with the vibrant spirit of a New Orleans second line revelry. Their music resonates as a testament to the past while embracing the pulse of the 21st century. A symphony of resounding horns harmonizes with a rhythm section that grooves intensely, all set against the backdrop of soulful vocals, creating a captivating soundscape that showcases their masterfully crafted originals More

 

A Fine Morning Meditation, A Good Run, Then the Fall….

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And I Don’t Mean the Season…..

Morning Meditation Music

Yesterday morning I started my day with a 30-minute meditation. The soundtrack for the meditation was Weightless (Ambient Transmissions Vol 2) from the Ambient New Age band Marconi Union. According to their website Marconi Union….

…… were asked to write a piece of relaxing music in consultation with Lyz Cooper, the UK’s leading sound therapist and founder of the British Academy of Sound Therapy. During the process of recording the track, a number of musical ideas captured their imagination. Unable to explore them all in a one piece but keen to work further on them, it soon became apparent that this was turning into an album-length work. Feeling like this was a natural follow-up to Beautifully Falling Apart (Ambient Transmissions Vol.1), it was decided that this album should become part of their Ambient Transmissions series.

Weightless (Ambient Transmissions Vol.2) comprises of six tracks, simply entitled Part 1 to Part 6. The tracks are minimal, combining warm drones and drifting sounds with occasional sparse rhythms.

About Weightless Part 1

Part 1 is the original commissioned track which has been hailed as ‘the world’s most relaxing song’. Created instinctively and intuitively by Marconi Union it has been claimed by others to have therapeutic properties in the way the track almost appears to have a heartbeat running through it which slows down very gently throughout the piece, encouraging a deep sense of relaxation in the body. Its use of specific rhythms, deep bass tones, frequencies and intervals induce an almost trance like state in the listener. It has already attracted over 12 million worldwide views on YouTube and over 4 million followers on Soundcloud.

Basically, the reason that I used the album was because of the highlighted statement…..how can you NOT meditate to the world’s most relaxing song!! Anyway the meditation was relaxing and after a short yoga routine with lots of stretching of my legs I was ready for my run.

The Run’s Soundtrack – Spotify Cardio Playlist

When I thought about the soundtrack for the run, I decided to do something different. I decided to use a playlist instead of a full album. So I went to Spotify and downloaded the Cardio playlist. Now there’s no question that the music contained in this playlist is not the music that is typically in my music rotation! The reason that I went with the playlist was that I knew it would contain music with a strong driving beat that would keep me moving!!

The Run

So I was off on a four-mile run. I chose one of my newer courses. (Click here to see route) The course is fairly flat and has a good amount of shade. And while it was a fairly cool morning the sun was bright and that usually causes may sweat glands to start working!

My pace was under 10:30, 1027 to be exact. and while I slowed down a little over the third mile, I still crossed the 5K mark at 32:55 which was not bad. After that I was hot and tired and I still had almost a mile to go. Since I had modified the run from the original course I have aid out for that course I needed to just add a few turns to make up the necessary distance.

Then it happened I was probably less than a quarter-mile from finishing, when I tripped on the sidewalk and went down! Luckily, I only received scrapes on my hand, elbow and knee. And the Speck case on my iPhone 7S+ did its job and kept my phone screen in tact!! So I got up and completed the run very slowly and today I feel fine!! Anyway, here are the results.

The Results

Total Distance miles 4.0   Total Time: 43:20  Average Pace: 10:49 (m/m)

Mile Splits Mile 1: 10:23 m/m Mile 2 – 10:30 m/m   Mile 3 10:52 m/m Mile 4  11:31 m/m

Average Heart Rate ; 151 bpm Max Heart Rate 170 bpm

Calories Burned: 593 cals

Note that last mile! I’m just glad that I got up and could finish the run!! In closing I will say that the FALL wiped out any memories that I had about the soundtrack! I didn’t hate the music and at different times in the run I was able ti get my stride in rhythm with the music!! So maybe I’ll try other pop music soundtracks!! Or maybe an electronica or dance playlist!! Any suggestions????

Here’s is “Weightless Part 1” Is it the Most Relaxing Song ever? Check it Out!

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A Fine Day for A Great Run – Music by Karibow

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A Fine Run Highlighted by a 9:52 Mile! – Music by Karibow

Over the last few weeks I have been checking Weather.com’s rating for going for a run. Considering the conditions, clear skies, low temperature and humidity I figured it would be a high rating. It was 8 out of 10. That was slightly lower than I thought it would be, but still great. No excuses if today’s run wasn’t a good one!

The Run

But with that said the run didn’t start out too well. I wasn’t too far into the run before I realized I forgot my Fitbit! I had left it in the house charging. So I turned around and walked back home! I know I never ease into runs like I should so I considered  this minor delay my easing into this run.

So I see out again when I passed the first half-mile mark in under five minutes I thought to myself” could this be the day I run a mile under 10 minutes! Sure enough I ran the first mile in 9:52! Now came the hard part not sucking wind over the next 3 miles!

I slowed down a little but I still felt pretty good. I ran the second mile in 10:19, with an average pace of 10:05. Once again I slowed down a little more but again I still didn’t feel too bad! Mile 3 was completed in 10:38. I looked at my time when I hit the 5k mark and my time was 31:56!

Since at this point in the run I had run my fastest mile and 5K this year I had no problem with slowing down some more. The last mile was 10:50. At the end of the 4 miles I felt pretty good so I gave it a little sprint covering the last 0.13 miles at a 9:33 pace!!
So I was really, really happy with the run!

The Nerdy Details

Total Distance 4.13 miles    Total Time: 42:54  Average Pace: 10:23 (m/m)

Mile Splits Mile 1: 9:52 m/m Mile 2 – 10:19 m/m   Mile 3 10:38 m/m Mile 4 10:50 m/m   0.12 -19:35 m/m

Average Heart Rate ; 150 bpm Max Heart Rate 172 bpm

Calories Burned: 595 cals.

The Soundtrack From Here to Impossible – Karibow

The soundtrack for the run was From Here to the Impossible from the Prog Rock band Karibow. Karibow is a Ctossover Prog band from Germany. From Wikipedia…..

Karibow is a German progressive rock band, the essential elements of the neo-progressive rock with the compositional characteristics of the Adult Orientated rock (AOR) connects. Karibows music is characterized by clear melodic lines, rhythmic complex arrangements and epic, sometimes futuristic text content. Musical relationship consists of bands such as Saga , Marillion and Toto . December 2014 Karibow were with the German Rock & Pop Prize awarded “Best Progressive Band”. Read More

I really like this album and will be writing about it soon! Until then here’s the album trailer!

 

A So-So Run Made Better By Age-Graded Running Times!

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Using An Age-Graded Running Calculator Helps Me Stay Positive…

 

So the only things that were rolling through my head this morning as I ran down Long Beach Boulevard on Long Beach Island were thoughts about the Robert Earl Keen song “The Road Goes on Forever”. And that’s what it seemed to do! The second part of that thought was  ” I haven’t seen a party yet!”  The run was a two-mile straight run from 7th street to 52nd street. At 52nd street, I made a right turn and went slightly uphill to Ocean Boulevard. There I turned and headed north back to my starting point. The total run was four miles. And while it wasn’t that warm out, it was very humid. As a result, I was drenched in sweat when I stopped!! But it was a good run overall!

The Results

Total Distance:4.1 miles    Total Time: 44:55 Average Pace: 10:56 (m/m)

Mile Splits Mile 1: 10:31 m/m Mile 2 – 11:02 m/m   Mile 3 11:00 m/m Mile 4 11:16 m/m   0.1- 10:27 m/m

Average Heart Rate ; 144 bpm Max Heart Rate 163 bpm

Calories Burned:  593 cals.

My New Obsession Age-Graded Running Times

So my new favorite thing is Age-Grading, which is a way…..

….of putting all race participants on a level playing field, regardless of age or gender. This age grade calculator lets you compare your race times to older and younger runners, as well as those of the opposite sex. Simply input your data and your age-graded score and age-graded time will appear automatically.

As an example, a 40-year-old man who runs a 3-hour marathon would earn an age-graded score of 70.24%. To find your score, input your data in the dropdowns above.

Your age-graded score is the ratio of the approximate world-record time for your age and gender divided by your actual time.

Your age-graded time is your finish time adjusted to that of an open division participant using a factor for age and gender. Thus, the times for women and older participants are adjusted downward, while the times for most open division participants (such as 25-year-old men) remain the same. Read More at  Runner’s World

My Age-Graded Time Makes Me Feel a Whole Lot Better!

 

So here’s how this makes me feel good about my slow plodding along. When I input my time (44:54) for this morning’s run into the age-graded calculator I get the following…..

Age-Graded Score: 48.35%
Age-Graded Time: 34:57

That gives me an age-graded mile pace of 8:44 minutes per mile. Which is a to about the pace I could maintain 5 to 6 years ago! Anyway knowing that I am maintaining an equivalent pace considering my age makes me feel better. Now that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to get my race time lower (remember this was just a training run) because I do want to and now I think maybe I can!!

So if you’re an older runner like me, after your next run put your time and age into this calculator and see if it makes you feel a little better and makes you want to go out and run again!!

The Soundtrack for the run was Monuments from EdGuy.They are a heavy metal band from Germany. From The Metal Music Archives…..

Edguy is a power metal band from Fulda, Germany formed in 1992 and is currently signed to Nuclear Blast. The current lineup features Tobias Sammet on vocals (and occasionally keyboard), Jens Ludwig and Dirk Sauer on guitar, Tobias Exxel on bass, and Felix Bohnke on drums. They released their first album, Savage Poetry, in 1995 (re-recorded in 2000), and followed up with Kingdom of Madness in 1997, both when all members were still in their teens. Read More

 

A Good Morning Run Over a New Course with Old Memories!

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A Four Mile Run Some Shade, Some Sun, Some Memories – Good Music from Amplifier

So this morning I decided to creat a new course for my run. My training plan since my early 40s has been running four miles on two weekdays.! And then a five to eight mile run on the one of the weekend days. This year I have not run any distance greater than four miles. As a result there are portions of those five to eight mile courses that I have not run this year.

One of those places is along the Rancocas Creek bear its confluence with the Delaware River. So I designed the course so that I could have a four mile run that included that part of Delran and Riverside. Here are two pictures taken along the creek somewhere in the third mile of  my run. The second one is the view I had as I plodded along hoping for shade!

RancocasCreek – looking towards Delaware River

Rancocas Creek looking upstream

A little farther along on that third mile I came to Whomsley Field where my boys played Little League baseball. Needless to say a lot of memories came back when I passed there. I went back after the run to take these pictures.

I looked for the sliding board that used be out beyond right field fence on this field. The reason was that was the slide that our third son fell off of day at a game!! Got him a big knot on his field and a trip to the doctor!

The Run

But back to the run. The first part of the run had more shade than sun, while it was the reverse on the second two miles. The first two miles were completed in 10:37 and 10:39 While the sun shiney portions of the run were covered in 11:08 and 11:34. Yes I was sucking wind at the end. But I still managed to crank it up over the last 0.17 miles. Running that short distance at a pace of 10:41!! Here are the complete results!

The Results

Total Distance 4.17 miles    Total Time: 45:51  Average Pace: 10:58 (m/m)

Mile Splits Mile 1:  10:37 m/m Mile 2 – 10:39 m/m   Mile 3 11:08 m/m Mile 4 11:34 m/m   0.17 – 10:41 m/m:

Average Heart Rate:140 bpm Max Heart Rate: 152 bpm

Calories Burned: 580 cals.

The Soundtrack

The Soundtrack for the run was my first listen to Trippin’ with Dr. Faustus the latest from the Psychedelic/Space Rock ban Amplifier.

From ProgArchive

AMPLIFIER is a Manchester based space rock band. This three-piece makes extraordinary music which is quite similar to the, also Manchester based, band OCEANSIZE. The band consists of Sel Balamir who plays guitar and is also the band’s lead-vocalist. Than there’s Matt Brobin, who is the band’s drummer. Last, but not least, there’s Neil Mahony who is the bassist. As you can see there’s no keyboardist on board, so all the weird sounds and effects are played on the guitar, hence the name “AMPLIFIER”…..

….Their music is highly original. They combine deep personal lyrics with walls of noise, combined with stunning melodies.

This band has been hailed a lot in the media. Kerrang! Magazine said this was “.the British rock-scene altering record” when talking about their selftitled debutalbum. Metal Hammer said they were “.the future of rock.” and even Q magazine said that “.at present British rock doesn’t get much better than this.”  Read More

As with the other albums that have been soundtracks for recent runs, I hope to write about Trippin’ with Dr Fautus after listening to it a few more times. It may sound just a little different if I’m not half-dying while listening to it!!

But for now let’s listen to “Kosmos (Groves of Triumph) ” from Trippin with Dr Faustus by Amplifier

 

 

A Good Morning Run – Music by Jon Spear Band

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A Strong Four-Mile Morning Run with Some Great Blues from the Jon Spear Band

 

Yesterday morning was almost a perfect morning for a run.It was mostly cloudy and the temperature was in the low 70s. The only drawback was that the relative humidity was slightly high. It was also  the mid to low 70s. Because of the cloud cover I really didn’t need to worry about shade.I also knew I wanted to run a fairly flat course. So I ended up basically running a 4 plus mile course around town that I usually run but I ran it in reverse.

I actually did make one mistake on the run. Since I was coming in the opposite direction than I usually do along a street in the first half of the run, I turned on the street before my actual turn. That street turned out to be a cul-de-sac so I had turn around and go back, get on the street I turned off of and make the turn on the right street!!

I ran the first mile in 10:25 and the good thing was that while I slowed down over the next three miles the drop-off wasn’t nearly as great as it was the other day!! So when I arrived at the end of the run, I still had enough left to muster a little sprint!

The Results

Totals –  Distance : 4.23 Miles   Time 45:35   Average Pace 10:46

Mile Splits – Mile 1 – 10:25  Mile 2 10:41 Mile 3 11:02  Mile 4 – 11:05   0.22 – 10:24

Average Heart Rate: 144 bpm     Peak Heart Rate : 166 bpm    End of Run 156 bpm

Calories Burned: 598

The Soundtrack –  Jon Spear Band – Hot Sauce

Jon Spear BandHot Sauce is the latest release from the Jon Spear Band. Okay, so I must admit that I am unfamiliar with this band. But the minute I heard “Bottom of the Bottle”,the first track on this terrific album, I knew I was going to love this album. Hot Sauce is the third release from the band. The band’s debut album Old Soul was released in 2014. They followed that album in 2016 with a live album appropriately titled Live Music is Better

After the release of these two highly praised  albums,, the Jon Spear Band had a fantastic 2016. Here are some the highlights of the ban’s 2016……

• Our 2nd CD, “Live Music is Better” was nominated by Blues Blast Magazine and Blues411 for Best Live Blues Recording of 2016
• We were listed in the top 100 of the Roots Music Report’s Top Contemporary Blues Album Chart – for the SECOND year in a row!
• We were a “Reflections in Blue” Top Pick for 2016
• WMHB Top 100 Blues Chart, 2016
• 2016 WAMMIE nominee for best Blues/Traditional R&B Recording (Thank you Washington Area Music Association)
• International Blues Challenge Finalist for 2017 “Best Self-Produced CD” award

About the Jon Spear Band

The Jon Spear Band is a collaboration of some of Central Virginia’s finest blues musicians. The band calls Charlottesville, Va. home. The band is lead, of course, by Jon Spear. From Jon’s biography at the band’s website….

Award-winning singer-songwriter and guitarist Jon Spear doesn’t admit how long he’s been performing but here’s a hint: Jon was in a band that opened for the Isley Brothers at the Capital Theatre in Port Chester NY when Twist and Shout was top-40 hit….

A contemporary of Jon’s is the band’s drummer John Stubblefield. Again from the band’s website…..

Drummer John Stubblefield started playing drums around the time the Beatles made their US debut. His dad owned radio stations and he grew up loving all styles of music……

The two young guns of the band are bassist Bassist Andy Burdetsky and guitarist Dara James

Andy Burdetsky has been playing bass since his junior high school days back in the mid 70’s. Andy was born and raised in the D.C. area where he was influenced by such great musicians as the Nighthawks, Danny Gatton and Charlie Byrd….

Dara James is an amazing young talent with outstanding vocal, guitar and harmonica skills far beyond his years. Dara’s grandfather gave him his first harmonica when he was about 5 and he joined his first band with his father — Upland Express — at the age of 11,…..

Here’s what Peter Merrett, of PBS 106.7FM, Melbourne writes about the band….

“Not many groups can boast two virtuoso guitarists as The Jon Spear Band does and few can match the writing skill of Jon Spear and Dara James – obviously a first class band that know precisely how to play together.”

You can read the complete biographies of the band members at the band’s website – link

About Hot Sauce

But let’s get back to Hot Sauce. Like I wrote previously, this is one really good album. There’s a bit of everything I like in an album in Hot Sauce. Good vocals, great guitar work and catchy songs. Here’s what the band writes about the songs on Hot Sauce…..

  • Natchez Burning (a moaning blues song about the disastrous 1940 Rhythm Club fire that killed over 200 people);
  • Hot Sauce (I’ve tried Tabasco and Cholula too, but none of them get me anywhere near as hot as you);
  • Hit the Quarter (a catchy beach house dance number);
  • Pierre Jourdan (the story of how one of New Orleans’s richest men became the Crescent City’s most famous ghost);
  • Geographical Cure (just what it sounds like);
  • Blues (a sad look at the decimation of African wildlife);
  • Blues for a Soldier (the ones who call for war the most are the ones who know it least)
  • Butt-Dial Kyle (hilarious butt-dialing faux pas including an errant 911 call); and more.

I have highlighted my favorites on the album. I would also add the opening track “Bottom of the Bottle”!

Bottom Line: Highly Recommended – So Check it Out!!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of the Jon Spear Band

Artist Website
Facebook
Reverbnation
CDBaby

Here’s a playlist with some of my favorites from Hot Sauce

Another Shaded Early Morning Run

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A Struggling 3.25 Mile Run is  Better Than No Run – July 19, 2017

 

As I  sit here now (12:19 pm) I see that the current temperature is 90 degrees and it’s very, very sunny. So I know that I made the right decision about running this morning. But it was a bit of a struggle to get out the door. The whiny, heat hating me said, “But it’s still going to be hot running, even though it’s 75 now. You know the sun is going to be hot!” The good me said “I know that so what I’m going to do is once again alter my course a little more to get a few more blocks of shade into the run!” The whiny me said “Okay you win!”

The Run….

So out the door I went with a slightly altered course that offered a little more shade than my last run. The course I had laid out was a four-mile, but I didn’t care if I made the whole four miles. I was ok through the first two miles, completing them both in 10:51. Then the wheels fell off the bus, and the sweat was pouring from my body!  And that put my distance at whatever it was when I got back to my house. The course I had laid out, had a run around the park, and some more, to make it a full 4 mile run . I knew that wasn’t happening!

Without the extra distance the course ended up being 3.25 miles. which I finished in 36:01. My average  average pace per mile was 11 minutes and 4 seconds. Typically, I would have tried to sprint to get my pace back under 11 minute per mile pace. But that was not the case today. What do they say “Discretion is the Better Part of Valor” I will live to run another day!

I decided that, like the other day, I would walk another 0.75 miles to make the total run/walk 4 miles. It wasn’t tpp long into my walk around Spring Garden Park that I stopped an said “Whoa!”

One of the largest and oldest trees in the park had been reduced to a stump!

Anyone care to count the rings?? I  bet there’s close to 150 or so. The tree is  probably as ol as the park!

The Results of the Run…..

Mile Splits: Mile 1 – 10:51 Mile 2: 10:51  Mile 3: 11:21 an 0.25 – 11:40 (out of gas on the last quarter-mile!

Total 3.25 Mile 36:01  – Average Pace 11:04 min per mile Average Heart Rate 142=3 bpm  Calories Burned: 475

The Soundtrack for the Run  Anu]bis – The Second Hand 

Anu]bis is a Neo Prog progressive rock band from Australia. You can read about the album here at ProgArchives The band’s album Behind Our Eyes (Live 2014) was the soundtrack of a previous run. So I think it’s time for a review at FreeWheelin’ Music Safari.

Third Run of the  Week Puts Weekly Mileage Over Ten Miles!

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July 15 – Three Runs in One Week! Yeah Me! Life’s Little Victories!

The Run

Ah, this morning temperatures were in the low 70s and it was cloudy a good morning for a run. And it was,but there was one thing that I forgot! That one thing was that the relative humidity was relatively high! That for someone like me who sweats at the drop of a heat is not a good thing. My first thoughts about the run were that I would run my most hilly four mile run. But that thought went out the window after the first mile. May second, thought was maybe I’d run my four mile Creek out and back 4 mile run.

As I got hotter and hotter that run did not appeal to me. So I finally, settled on my 3.1 loop that includes the out part of the Creek Out and Back run. But instead of turning around at the 2 mile mark I just keep going straight and loop around and come back home. As I ran down along the Rancocas Creek I thought maybe I would alter the run a little and make it a four mile loop.

NJ at Wathcase etc

Point of run going uphill the building on left is the Watchcase Bldg where I work for like 25 years!

Then I hit the slight hill at the railroad tracks and as I struggled up that hill I thought the hell with it lets just get a 3.1 plus mile in today! The final length of the run turned out to be 3.30 miles as I ran just a little past our house.

Post-Run Walk

When I finished I started my usual cool-down walk around the block. I got a little past halfway around the block, when I thought about increasing the length of my walk. It would only take .70 of mile to make the overall workout four miles. Then I thought how about I go down to the high school track and see how accurate the GPS is on a walk around the track.  The answer was pretty much dead on. When I started around the track I was at .52 miles and at the end of the lap .77, which makes one lap .25 miles!

I momentarily contemplated running some intervals. However, on the walk to the track I couldn’t see because of the sweat in my eyes.  I could just see it. Well maybe not! I figured on the quarter lap after a full lap, I i would be blind! Anyway, I’ll save intervals for another day or night!

So the question of the day what’s worse : Sunny and low humidity or cloudy and high humidity. My vote goes to the later. Any thoughts?

the results of the run……..

 

Mile Splits: Mile 1 10:37  min/mile – Mile 2 10:56 min/mile – Mile 3 11:24 min/mile – 0.30 mile – 11:20   Totals 3.30 miles – 36:24 min – 11:01 min/mile

Average Heart Rate : 142 beats per min (bpm)  Max 154 bpm  Calories Burned: 464 cal

Soundtrack of the Run: Behind Our Eyes (Live 2014) from the Prog Rock band  Anu]bis.

Here’s a Track from the Album. And once again I will try to write about the album later to day……

 

Featured Image: looking down Bridgeboro Street at the point where i cross it. Many times when I run down this street I think that the first time I ran down this street was as a member of the Burlington City Cross Country team in either 1968 or 1969? So I’ve almost been running down this road for 50 years! Oh  My!

A – Mile Morning  Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old! Three

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July 12 th – A Three – Mile Morning  Run Because It’s Hot and I’m Old!

 

Ok so this morning when I checked the weather it was sunny and almost 80 degrees. The forecast is that temperatures will climb into the low 90s today. It would not have taken much to convince myself not to run! But I fought the impulse to do that. Rather I decided that the best idea was to shorten my run to around three miles. Additionally, I decided to plot out a course that would maximize shade! The final thing I needed to do was to tell myself to take it easy!

The Run

So with all that in mind I set out.The first half-mile was fairly easy some clouds blocked the direct sunlight so it wasn’t too hot. By the time the sun did come out I was almost to shade. I reached that shade just a little before the first mile mark. I reached that Mile mark at 11:03 into the run.. Ah, shade and I was almost to the high point of the run. I reached that high point in another few minutes

 

Photo 1 - Going Up Oak Towards that Shade!

Photo 1 – Going Up Oak Towards that Shade!

Photo 2 – The Shade Along Moreland Ave. Heading towards the Highpoint along Fairview St.

Ah, now it was downhill in the shade for most of the decent. I was in and out of the sun for the second half of that mile. Again I had planned the course to maximize the shade and it worked. I ran the second mile in 10:39. Again most of it was downhill.

Photo 3 – Along the downhill on Pancoast Ave.

Now all I had to do was make it through the last mile. Most of that mile was in the sun. Luckily I convinced myself that I could go slow and no one would care!

When I was heading into the last stretch of the run I noticed my overall pace was just a little over 11 minutes per mile so I mustered what Speed I could get and I finished at 11 minute per mile pace. The time for the last mile was 11:28 but my sprint pace at least for .1 miles was 9:37.

When I finished the run my heart rate was 165, but within four minutes of walking around the block it was down to 116.

The Post Run Walk

As I walked and cooled down, I thought why don’t I try to stay in the shade and try to walk for a mile. I walked in the shadows at the school for a bit and the around the Spring Garden park and made the mile. Because my heart rate was still over 100 it was a good fat-burning walk!!

The Results:

3.1 mile run – 34:15. Average pace: 11 min/mile
Average heart rate 147 bpm – 443 calories burned.

1.0 mile walk – Average heart rate 118 bpm
215 calories burned

Not too bad!

The Soundtrack for the run was a blues album. The latest from Julian Sas – Feelin’ Alive and sometimes during the run I actually did!

I’ll review the album in a bit at FreeWheelin Music Safari.

To try to make these posts a little less boring., I thought I’d add a few pictures to show you where I was actually running! What do you think?