Category: running

A Return to Running Music by Sean Chambers

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The Run –  30 Minutes – 2.75 Miles

So I stuck to plans for a run this yesterday afternoon and took off on a run at around 5:15. Which I guess is actually this evening. My plan was to run for at least 30 minutes. I chose a course that I usually run when I am returning to running. It’s  about 2.5 miles plus and takes around 30 some minutes.

Since it was my first run in over a month, I kept reminding myself as I was prepping for the run to take it easy! Anyway whether it’s old age or I just have learned over the years how to run slower, I was able to maintain a nice easy pace throughout the run.

Here are the mile splits: mile 1. 11:01, mile 2 11:17 the last .75 mile 11:19.I’ll take the last .75 mile being only 18 seconds per mile slower than the first mile any day.

The bottom line is that it was a successful start for a return to running. And so far my foot feels fine. The only thing that hurts tonight is my left shoulder, but that is from this morning’s tabata workout. I hate push-ups.

The Soundtrack: Trouble & Whiskey – Sean Chambers

The soundtrack for the run was Trouble & Whiskey, the latest release from Tampa based blues guitarist Sean Chambers. This album has been in my music rotation for several weeks now and is one of my favorites of 2017!

I first discovered the music of Sean Chambers in 2010 when I started blogging and exploring new music. He is the former lead guitarist for Blues great Hubert Sumlin. At that time, I explored his albums Humble Spirits and Ten Til Midnight. I enjoyed them both. More recently I listened to and enjoyed his album Live from the Long Island Blues Warehouse. And while I enjoyed all of the above albums I think that Trouble & Whiskey may be his best yet!

About Trouble & Whiskey

Both Costello’s vocals and guitar work are great on the album. Ben Elliott who has recorded classic artists such as Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons and Leslie West among others produced the album

The Sean’s band consists of obviously Sean on lead vocals and lead guitar. The rest of the band includes: Michael Hensley on Hammond B3 & keyboards, Todd Cook on bass and Kris Schnebelen on drums.

Special guests include Jimmy Bennett on guitar on track #8, John Ginty on Hammond B3 on track #4, (one of my favorite tracks!) and Andrei Koribaniks on percussion on tracks #1 and #7.

Seven of the tracks on Trouble & Whiskey new original Sean Chambers compositions. The remaining three tracks are covers: “Bullfrog Blues” by Rory Gallagher,(again one of my favorites), ‘Cut Off My Right Arm” by Johnny Copeland and “Be Careful With A Fool” by B.B. King/Joe Bihari.

So check it out! As for me I think I’ll create a playlist and give a listen to some of those other albums I haven’t heard for a while !

Here are some links …..

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of Sean Chambers

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Twitter

Amazon

Here is a video for. the title track from Trouble & Whiskey from Sean Chambers

A New Year – Back to the Basics and Running!

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Renaissance Granddad Returns to an Old Workout and Starts Running Again!!

 

Ok so I haven’t written anything here in a very long time! One of the reasons is that I switched and started posting more at my original website Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries, and most recently I decided that I was going to focus more on the books that I read, so I started a new website This Man Reads. The second reason is last year I sucked at turning my biological clock backwards. In actuality, I think the clocks moved faster last year! Anyway, I have vowed to do better this year.  So far that is happening and hence this post!!

Actually, the move to getting in shape and slowing down that speeding biologic clock started at the end of 2016!  For several years I did a simple 15-minute workout before work. The workout consisted of a 5-minute warm-up and tuning in using the Ek Ong Kar mantra. followed by 5 minutes of Kundalini exercises and then 5 minutes of light weights and resistance bands. Last year I stopped doing that workout and started doing more yoga in the morning. Additionally, for years I ran three days a week. Typically, I ran four miles to days a week and a longer run between 5-8 miles on the weekend. For a variety of reasons in 2016 I hardly ran at all.

Renaissance Granddad Postpones Yearly Doctor Visits!

 

When December rolled around and I was faced with my yearly physical and my visit to my cardiologist, I put them both off. until after the holidays. It’s not that I am in bad shape, just not the shape I am normally in. My weight is about 5-6 pounds over my  typical weight and 12 pounds over my running weight. Additionally, I have not been eating all that well!

So near the end of December I decided to go back to the old routine on a daily basis. On days that I work at Target I do the routine in segments of  3, 6, and 6 minutes. On the non-Target days I do the routine as follows 3  minute meditation, 6 minutes Kundalini, 6 minutes light weights ( 5 and 15 lbs) and a kettle bell and 6 minutes using a variety of bands. The result has been that while I have not lost weight I have lost some inches, I think!

A Return to An Old Workout Leads to a Return to Running – Hopefully!!

Anyway, I feel better and this has led me to the streets!! Yes this week I have run twice, so far! I hope to make it three days with a run tomorrow. And while I have not run far, both runs were 2.1 miles, my overall pace  was not bad the first day was 11:22 and the second 11:15 min/mile. Both times were better than I ran back in August and October!

And Doctor Appointments!

I also made an appointment with my doctor for my yearly EKG and blood work in two weeks and will make an appointment with the cardiologist  for a week or so after that, so I can take all the results to the appointment!

So the plan is to watch what I eat and see if the added running can help me lose a few pounds within  the next two weeks. So that I go to both appointments feeling good about myself! And maybe I can start moving  my biologic clock in the reverse direction!!

Wish Me Luck!! Don’t worry you’ll hear about the running!

Update:Two Runs, Music From Armik and Stubblefield!

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The Guitars of Jim Stubblefield and Armik Power Two Runs!

The Run – Sunday October 25, 2015

So the last two runs I need to catch you up on are from Sunday and Tuesday of this week. I didn’t get to run on Sunday until almost five o’clock and since I knew the sun would be setting a little after six o’clock and I was a little tired I decided not to run a full 10 K! The first three miles of the run were great the splits were: Mile 1 – 10:00/mile. Mile 2 10:07 /mile Mile 3 10:09 / mile. I started to struggle a little on mile four with the pace dropping to 10:14 /mile. Then the bottom fell out on mile 5 with the pace dropping to 10:42 / mile. Since my overall time was close to an hour I decided that was when I would stop!. The overall distance was 5.80 miles at an average pace of 10:20 /mile. Which is really good! The other good thing was my maximum heart rate on the run was 152 beats per minute (bmp) and the average was 148 bmp.

The Soundtrack – Encantato – Jim Stubblefield

The soundtrack for that run was Jim Stubblefield’s latest release Encantato. The opening track was a great way to start a run! You can read more about the album here.

The Run – Tuesday – October 27, 2015

Tuesday’s run was not the fastest of the year, I just missed going under 40 minutes over my flat Creek Out and Back course, but it may have been one of my most consistent runs. Th splits were 10:07, 10:03, 10:08 and 10:01 /mile!! The good thing was that it was actually a fairly comfortable run with an average heart rate of 142 beats per minute!!

So  overall after 3 months of running I am training fairly comfortably at  a 10 minute per mile pace, which I actually didn’t think I could do back when I started in August!! Now the trick will be to keep it going through the winter! See,. I hate running in the dark! I don’t feel comfortable at all if it’s not the cars, it’s the street and the sidewalks. Even with a vest and a headlamp or flashlight I’m still afraid of falling!! But now I can run in the afternoons (see I don’t like the morning cold either!) either on the days I’m off or the days I work in the mornings!

The Soundtrack:: La Vida – Armik

Armik (born Armik Dashchi) is an Iranian-Armenian world fusion flamenco and Spanish guitarist and composer. I have listened to his music before and enjoyed his playing immensely!!His music interweaves flamenco and classical guitar with Latin and jazz influences. He is one of the top virtuosos of the Nuevo Flamenco genre,. Armik has been among Billboard Magazine’s Top Ten New Age Artists  in  2004, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

La Vida is Armik’s 27th studio album was released on September 25 and already spent considerable time on Billboard’s Top 10 New Age Chart, climbing as high as No 2! From his website……

With LA VIDA, Armik’s 27th studio album, he offers a new musical calling card that reveals his stunning guitar virtuosity and the magical percussive layers of sound and soul of the Nuevo Flamenco genre. It is a testament to the continued relevance of Nuevo Flamenco sound that Armik’s global fans revere around the world. You will have the most extraordinary listening experience as Armik fuses the sounds of his flamenco guitar with different musical genres such as Latin jazz, and rumba. Read More

So Check out both Armik and Jim Stubblefield!! Here’s is the title track from Armik’s La Vida

Kori Linae Carothers’ Music and a four mile run ….

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….Perfect Together

The Morning Run……

So if there ever was a morning that had a good excuse for not running, today was it! We babysat Oliver last night and didn’t get home until 1:30 this morning!! While I knew it would be hard to get up at 7 to run this morning, I thought well maybe 7:30 would work. When the alarm went off this morning I thought “Do I really want to do this?” The answer was less than a resounding yes!  But at least it was a yes! The more  I thought about it I thought well I will be running tomorrow – that will be ok!  No – I said today was to be your long day – it doesn’t matter how fast you go, you just have to make it happen – so just do it!! My pre-run routine was the same as Friday, except for the head smack because today was not a Kundalini/Weights day, so doing the Meditation Preparation Routine was fine!!

Next came the music, I decided that a nice slow album would be great for the run. I had briefly listened Fire in the Rainstorm from Kori Linae Carothers a New Age album that is number 2 on the latest (July 2015) Music Zone Reporter’s Top 100 Radio Play Chart. The album is solo piano and I thought that was perfect for a lazy Sunday run!!

My goal was to just run comfortably and if that was at 11:20 or 11:30’/ mile pace that was ok. The goal was to run for distance, i.e. the four planned miles, and not for time.  One of the tricks that I use to keep my pace an easy one is to make sure that I could talk to someone who was running with me. As a result, I sometimes talk out loud on my runs just to make sure I’m slowing down a little! It also keeps people away from the crazy man!! Anyway I made the four miles and the total time was 44:25 at an average pace of 11:03/mile. Over the first mile the pace was 10:59, mile 2 was 10:45 /mile, mile 3 10:59 and mile four 11:25! Over the first three miles my pace was under 11 minutes per mile which was faster than I figured and the good thing was that I wasn’t really pushing it!!

Kori Linae Carothers

The Soundtrack: Fire in the Rainstorm – Kori Linae Carothers

Kori Linae Carothers hails from Cedar City Utah and grew up listening to the music of Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Carly Simon, Seals and Croft, James Taylor, But the John Williams’ soundtrack to Star Wars, really caught her ear! She says that

. “…the group that made me want to be a musician and compose music was the Beatles. I absolutely loved their earlier material.” –

But her musical journey had a rocky start, at the age of 5 years old it was discovered that she was deaf in her left ear!

From her website….

….. Her young peers found out and the teasing began. In addition, throughout elementary and high school, Kori was constantly told she would never become a musician. Undeterred, she kept learning and practicing, never surrendering her dream. Despite these discouragements, Carothers was passionate about her calling and now, 45 years later, she is an acclaimed pianist and keyboard player with four albums to her credit. Clearly, she is an example of a person following her muse with courage, humor, and determination. – Read More

I really like this beautiful album of solo piano tunes. All of the tracks were composed by Kori who started taking piano lessons at the age of eight and composing her own tunes at 14!! Will Ackerman of Windham Hill Records who co-produced the album with Tom Eaton and Kori says this about Kori…..

Kori Carothers is, without question a brilliant pianist and composer. What sets her apart, however, is the broad range of styles she utilizes so gracefully. Kori moves between the worlds of achingly beautiful acoustic piano composition and lavish keyboard production with remarkable ease. –Read more

So check out Fire in the Rainstorm and the music of Kori Linae Carothers . As for me there are four other albums from Ms. Carothers that may be the soundtracks of future runs!!!

Links to Further Explorations of the Music of Kori Linae Carothers…

Website
Facebook
Twitter
Bandcamp
YouTube

Here’s Kori Linae Carothers performing “Time Passages” from Fire in the Rainstorm

 

Running with the Empirical Ghost of Lis er Stille

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The Run….

So while Elizabeth conquered the Broad Street 10 miler yesterday, I conquered the RG Riverside half a ten miler on Saturday, running five miles for the first time this year!! I had set out to run a 4.2 mile course I call the Harper Loop. I have not run that course yet this year mainly because it has a long ascent up Pancoast Avenue and then another shorter ascent up Fairview to Harper. Followed by a descent and short ascent along Harper followed by a longer descent down Cranberry Lane.  I did well keeping a slower and steady pace knowing that the hills would be a challenge. The first three miles were 10:44, 11:06, and 10:54 beat you can guess where the hills were!! I slowed down on mile four because I hadn’t really run a four miler with hills and I was tired. But when I stabilized my breathing thanks to the rhythms of Lis er Stille, I didn’t feel too bad, so I thought “let’s see if I can go five”, knowing that Lizzie was doing ten on Sunday! At least I could do a half of that!!

Boy did the mileage on the GPS on the iPhone increase slowly over that last mile!! I ended up going a lot farther than I thought I would need to go to make that last mile! My last two miles were in 11:47 and 11:39. At least the last mile was slightly faster!! My final time was 56:34. Lizzie’s split at the five-mile mark was 54:38 so I would have only been a minute and change behind her!!

When I told my wife that she said “You don’t have to beat her, you’re 63 and she is 24!” True I thought but hell I’ve been running for most of those years and she’s been running for two!, besides I’d like to be better than her at something!! Anyway, both my 5 mile run and Lizzie’s run have motivated me…. hopefully I can stay motivated!!

The Soundtrack: Empirical Ghost – Lis er Stille from Denmark

The soundtrack for the run was Empirical Ghost from Lis er Stille. Lis er Stille is a Danish prog rock band. They are cataloged in the Post Rock/Math rock sub-genre.

Lis Er Stille is a band from Denmark founded in 2004 as an art project between the painter Vindril and singer Martin Byrialsen. The idea of this project was for Martin to make Vindril’s paintings into music, but as time passed the music grew and a band was build from it….

…When looking at Lis Er Stille from the surface most of their compositions resemble that of post-rock bands as well as some alternative rock bands like Muse, Coldplay and others, but there’s also a prog rock undertone in them. Some people recall past prog rockers when hearing Lis Er Stille while most will likely see links with the modern prog and related bands. Highly recommended for fans of post-rock and the modern alternative / prog bands. Full Biography at ProgArchives.

lis er stille - press photo - by kasper hemme

lis er stille – press photo – by kasper hemme

The musician line-up for the album is….

Martin Byrialsen / Vocals + Keyboards
Asbjørn Helboe / Bass
Tue Schmidt Rasmussen / Guitars
Jon Gotlev / Drums

The music is distinctive and good and I kinda like the vocals. The one bad thing about the album is that is short for a progressive rock album clocking in at 52 minutes for the ten tracks. So the album is great for a four mile run but comes up short (in length only) for a slow five-mile run!! Now what may be a challenge is to complete the run before the end of the album!! To do that I would need to run the course at a 10:24 pace! A challenge for later in the year!!

Links for Further Explorations of Lis er Stille

Official Website: Bandcamp
Facebook
ProgArchives

Here’s a video for the track “Gold Future” from Empirical Ghost by Lis er Stille

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrY7w-MjFvc

 

 

 

Life’s Soundtrack – Running’s Easier with Blues from Lisa Mann’s Satisfied!!

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So I ran last night, but I didn’t write a post about the run. I ended up spending the evening  transferring my iTunes library from the desktop to my laptop, because I use the laptop more than the desktop now, while I watched the Phils lose, By the time I was ready to write, I was too tired! I think the trick is to write the post as soon after the run as possible!!

Anyway  I still am running a lot slower than I was in the  spring, but the run last night was the easiest since I’ve started up again. The proof of that is over the last two miles. Last Thursday the time for mile three was 10:47  and mile four was 11:34. Last night over the same course, mile three’s time was 10:24 and mile four’s was 10:50!! So there is improvement, no matter how small. The other good thing was that when I came home from work last night, I wanted to run, rather than feeling that know I should run- but !! I still feel like a slow jogger and not a runner yet!! There will hopefully come a time when I feel like I’m running and not plodding!

SatisfiedThe soundtrack for the run was Lisa Mann and her “Really Good Band’s new blues album Satisfied and I was more than Satisfied with the album and I think that her band is really good!!!

It didn’t take long for this album to hook me, on the first track “See you next Tuesday”,first there was Lisa’s vocal sounding really bluesy and then half way into the first song, what’s that I hear, oh boy, kick-ass organ and then a wailing guitar!!! The music stayed that way throughout the rest of the album, a great guitar riff here, a some organ or piano there, throw in some saxophone and harp’ and then a solid bass line and vocals that made it all hang together. And it hung together well through tracks like “Satisfied”, “Surrender to the Blues”, and two of my favorites “Till the Wheels Come Off” and “King of Black Coal”. Who am I kidding, I like them all!! Lisa Mann, who has been hidden away in the Pacific Northwest has earned a spot in my library, right along side musicians like Samantha Fish, JoAnne Shaw Taylor, and Laurie Morvan!!

Really good bandNow the folks in the Pacific Northwest have known about bassist Lisa and her band mates:  Jeff Knudson (Guitars, Backup Vocals, Co-Production), Michael Ballash (Drums, Backup Vocals and Bunny Wrangler??) and Brian Harris– (Keyboards, Organ and Backup Vocals) for a while now. In 2011, she and her Really Good Band represented the Cascade Blues Association (CBA) at the International Blues Challenge, where they made it to the semi-finals. From her website

.Lisa is a proud inductee into the Cascade Blues Association’s Hall of Fame after winning the Muddy Waters Award for Bass Player of the Year three times in a row. In Nov of 2012, Lisa took home the Muddy for Bass yet again, and to top that off, she took home Female Vocalist of the Year and her “Really Good Band” won Contemporary Blues Act of the Year.

Her latest CD, Satisfied, is currently the CBA’s choice for the Best Self-Produced CD competition through the Blues Foundation. Lisa also won the Portland Music Award for Outstanding Achievement in Blues in 2012. Read More

and if all that is not enough!

Lisa’s vocals appear on Canadian blues master Bill Johnson’s Juno Award nominated CD, Still Blue. (www.billjohnsonblues.com). She is also the voice of internationally acclaimed symphonic rock band Cry for Eden. (www.cryforeden.com)

Don’t some people just make you green with envy!! I listened to Cry for Eden’s album last night, a different genre and musical style and she nails the vocals on that album. too!! So check out Lisa Mann and her really good band!!! From the Blues Music Magazine Review of Satisfied!!

For the moment, Mann is mostly a Northwest regional secret, but I suspect that brighter days are within range for Mann, as she’s a talent to be reckoned with. With music that deserves to appear on North American radio charts, she should begin to receive an abundance of strong press reviews, and thus be in position to garner fans from coast to coast.

And I fully agree with that statement!!!  Here’s Lisa and the band tearing it up at the King of Beale competition in Memphis, TN. on Saturday, February 5, 2011!