Today’s Run : July 9, 2017 – Four Miles – a struggle over the last mile
The temperature was right around seventy degrees this morning so I decided it was a good day for a run. Looking back at my posts,I see that the last run I wrote about was way back on June 8th. Just because I haven’t posted, doesn’t mean I haven’t been running. While I haven’t been running as much as I should, I did run four more times in June Here are the results….
1 – June 15 – distance 3.26 miles, overall pace 10:45 min/ mile
2 – June 22 – distance 3.28 miles, overall pace 1049 min/ mile
3 – June 25 – distance 4 miles, overall pace 11:13 min/mile
4 – June 29 – distance 4 miles, overall pace 10:53 min/ mile
While you may not realize it, three of those four runs were on a Thursday – June 15,22, and 29! The reason is simple, it’s my day off from babysitting and Target.
The last two runs were both four mile runs and that’s a good thing. Now all I need to do is get another weekday run in and then a longer weekend run! Ha!
Today’s Run Prep
As I said at the start of this post the temperature this Morning was relatively cool (70 degrees). The only bad thing was that it is also very sunny! On days like today, I try to plan my run so that it has a good amount of shade in it. The bad thing about that is that the most heavily wooded area in town is also the area at the highest elevation . Which means it’s uphill to get there!
The Run…
Anyway I took off telling myself to take it easy because there will be a hill coming. So I was buzzing along feeling pretty good like I could keep this pace up for the whole run But when I finished the first mile in 10:25 I began to worry. At the 1.5 mile mark my pace had dropped to 10:38 (mid-way up that hill) and by the time I was at the top of the hill and heading toward the second mile mark my pace had dropped to 10:53! Finally I made the turn and headed back to the hill, but this time I was going down hill so I got to recover a little but the rest of the run after my descent was a struggle! My only thought was I don’t care about time just let me finish – which I did!
Calories burned 591 Average Heart-rate 143 bpm Max Heart-rate by 156 bpm
Overall, I am going to rate today’s as a B – The first mile gets an A and the last a C The to middle miles a B. So that’s the average which is fine by me! AndI just need to remember each run makes me a little better than before!!
The Soundtrack for the run was Erosion the latest from the Prog Rock band Cydemind. I will be reviewing the album in a bit at FreeWheelin’ Music SafarI
We went to the Jersey shore yesterday for a small family gathering ( no beach) Just the way I like it! Anyway as a result I didn’t get to run. I did get in an abbreviated morning workout though. I did the first twenty two minutes of my 60 minute workout. The routine included a 4 minutes dance cardio warm up and a tabata routine was made up of….
1 -4 – 20 second sets of jumping jacks (25 per 20 seconds ( 100 total)
2- 1 – 20 second mountain climbers -35 total
3 -1 – 20 second squat thrusts – 10
4 -1 – 20 second push-ups
5 -1 – 20 squats
6 -1 – 20 second squat kicks
7- 1 – 20 second squat steps
8 – 1 – 29 second squat together
9- 1 – 20 second hydrant
10- 1 – 20 second chair kickbacks
11- 1 20 second curls with 15 pound weights
12 -1 20 second overhead press 15 lb weights
13 -1 20 second lunges 15 lb weights
14 – Two rounds of various weights with a kettlle bell
15 – 2:00 minutes per round 4 total
At the end of those exercise I was just shy of burning 200 calories so I add some dance cardio with some jumping jacks included for 3 minutes or so bringing the total routine to 24 minutes burning a whopping 205 calories! Can you read the sarcasm in that statement?
July 3rd Morning Workout
Anyway this morning I replaced the 15 lb weights with 5 lb weights for 4 minutes. Then resistance bands for four minutes and a closing dance cardio with some kettle bell and jump rope. The routine totalled about 24 minutes and burned
about that same 200 plus calories. I don’t know precisely because I never stopped the Fitbit! So if you through in my shower and getting dressed the workout lasted 54 minutes and burned 314 calories.
I may be able to get a run in today, but with the hot weather I don’t know. Maybe an after dinner bike ride? That would be something a little different.
Ok so me today’s workout begins in earnest. Zoe is up! Just kidding! Watching Zoe is not a hard task and certainly doesn’t burn a lot of calories- now Oliver that’s a different story! After Zoe got up we spent some time cutting shapes.The featured image shows Zoe cutting the shapes by herself. She will turn three in September!
Ok so last night was my second comeback run and my second run of the week. The last one was ok and there has been no major pain. just the normal little soreness you can expect after not running for a while. I decided that I would run a route that is a little over 3 miles long. It is a loop run with only one small hill near the end of the run.
I had planned to use Selwyn Burchwood’s latest release Pick Your Poison as the soundtrack for the run. However I have been using my old iPhone On my runs because I still do not haven’t a case for my new iPhone. Anyway the old iPhone wouldn’t download any songs. Therefore I went old school and ran without music.
The Run
Once again I told myself to take it easy. The first block of the run, which I usually find the hardest , was a little of a struggle. But it was actually completed a little faster than my previous run.. After that point I was running a little easier, but I was shocked when I looked down at the first mile mark and saw that my time was 10:37!
I thought that’s pretty fast, so I better slow down. I thought I did, but as I kept looking at the time, my pace was hovering right around 10:40 minutes per mile. That was what the pace was when I reached the two mile mark and the three mile mark! And actuallly I was still running pretty comfortably. I was even comfortable enough to get a little sprint at the end. That sprint brought my average pace down to 10:37 for the run!
Here are the splits: Mile 1 10:37 Mile 2 10:40 Mile 3 10:40 last 0.27 10:14!
Hmm I was just thinking if. I better off running without music. That’s the way I ran for years and sometimes I think it helps me be more in tune with my body and my breathing. So maybe I’ll try it in my next few runs and see how it goes.
This Morning’s Workout
This morning I didn’t want to do a full 60 minute workout, but I still wanted to get in a good workout that would burn a few calories not just a yoga strecting workout. So I designed a modified 27 minute workout which combines a little tabata with my regular stuff
. It ended up being a 39 minute workout that burned 236 calories. But the most importantl thing is that my morning workout seems to get my body started in the morning.
Oh by the way i intent to write about Selwyn Birchwood‘a album in a bit so stay tuned. Now I want to go hear what Mr Comey has to say!
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
A Tabata Workout Followed by the peaceful music of Nathan Speir
This morning I really did not feel like doing a full 60 minute workout. I seriously considered only doing a light yoga workout. But the. I thought maybe a short 20 minute Tabata workout. So I created one on the workout app that I use. It consisted of 8 – 20 second intervals followed by 10 second rest of the following
Jumping jacks
Squat thrusts
Sit ups
Mountain climbers
Push-ups/ squats 5 push outs 3 squats
Of course I counted how many of the exercises I did in each interval. If you had told me T the beginning of the exercise I would be doing
200 jumping jacks
64 sit-ups
64 squat thrusts
240 mountain climbers and
40 push ups
I would have said you were nuts! But that’s what I did. And although the workout only burnt. Calories according to my Fitbit I think it was pretty damn good workout!
I followed it with a 10 minute meditation and 5 minute savasana
( had to sneak in a little yoga!)
Today’s Meditation Soundtrack: Part of a Kindly Plan – Nathan Speir
The soundtrack for the meditation was a New Age album that’s been in my music rotation for a while now but I haven’t written about it yet. Big surprise I haven’t been doing a lot of writing about anything recently. So in an effort to break out of that rut,let me tell you about Nathan Speir and his album Part of a Kindly Plan.
Nathan Speir is a pianist, multi-instrumentalist and composer. He was born in southern California but was raised in Florida and Connecticut. Currently he calls Winston-Salem North Carolina home. Part of a Kindly Planis Speir’s eight studio release. His music style is eclectic and varied. He cites among his influences the music of George Winston, Keith Jarrret, Pat Metheny, Steve Roach, Harold Budd, R Carlos Nakai, Chopin and Erik Satie. His is inspired by his family, poetry, fine art, space and astronomy, the study of religion and nature.
From his Website Biography…
“I have a perpetual need to create,” explains Speir, “and making music teaches me many lessons in life. I hope that my creations enhance the ambience in the listener’s life, and in doing so, the listener holistically benefits. This kind of music lends itself to solace, relaxing, thinking and reflecting on life. Studying your inner life and identifying your personal beliefs is serious business, but I believe that serious things can bring great joy. I want the music to feel like taking a pastoral retreat, or going to space and then returning to earth, but afterwards feeling more at one with things. I feel strongly that each person needs to contribute in some way to our world. With my music I try to do my small part.” Read More
About Part of a Kindly Plan
Part of a Kindly Plan contains mostly acoustic instruments – acoustic piano, steel and nylon string acoustic guitars, wooden flute, cello, harmonica, rain-stick and singing bowls. A couple of the tunes also include a little synthesizer (primarily replicating a string section.)
In addition Speir states: “…. silence has a big part in my music and I pay a lot of attention to the space between the notes”
Some of the inspiration for Part of a Kindly Plan comes from the Thomas Hardy poem. “On a Fine Spring Morning” . The poem was written in the early 1900s and Speir has included it on the back of the album cover. Speir explains…
“At the beginning the poem asks a question: What is solace? Hardy says it is not this or exactly that, but at the end he is happy and content because he says everything is part of a benign or kindly plan that is proof that earth was made for man. I liked the sentiments expressed so I paraphrased the various lines for the name of the album and several tune titles”
You can read more about the various tunes also in his biography at his website. Here is the link.
Thoughts About Part of a Kindly Plan…...
I find Part of a Kindly Plan to be a nice quiet and relaxing album. It is a nice album to use for meditation, not a perfect meditation album but damn close. One of the tracks that I’ve heard the most and have really enjoyed is track two “As We Turn” The track features an acoustic-steel string guitar blended with piano, rainstick shaker some sampled tympani and synth strings. Speir says the following about the track:
“There are lots of turns in life, and as we grow older our perspective of life changes.”
As I was driving to Walmart this morning listening to the album, I thought about what Speir had written about the use of space between the notes in his compositions. I really noticed that in practice on the tune ‘Praxis” The song mixes nylon-string guitar and Native American flute with a rhythmic drum-sound created by Speir hitting the cello fretbound with his open hand. “The idea behind this piece”, relates Speir is that everyone should choose a discipline of some sort, seriously practice it, persevere, improve and also enjoy the journey.”
Anyway the album is, like Speir says a beautiful and varied collection of acoustic music and is well worth checking out. I think that it will be in my New Age rotation for quiet a while!! And it’s not just me who likes this album. The album was number 8 on the MusicZoneReporter.com Top 100 Radio Airplay Chart for April
Links for the Further Explorations of the Music of Nathan Speir
We have been lost in space and stranded on this planet for many years now… tired of that weasel Dr Smith and danger Wiill Robinson…. oops wrong status report.
Star Date 2017…..nope that doesn’t work either….
Donald Trump is still President! Arghhh! Danger USA!
My Morning Workout
Yesterday’a morning workout was a full 60 minute workout that burned 517 calories. Today’s workout was an abbreviated version of the same workout. It lasted 41 minutes, during which time I burned 309 calories . My average heart rate was 103 beats per minute and 69% of the time my heart rate was in the fat burn zone. All in all it was a good workout.
Today’s Adventures in Babysitting
When I arrived at my son’s house this morning, my daughter in law told me that my granddaughter was sick. She said she had a fever and to give her 5 ml of Tylenol after she finished her breakfast. She also said to tell her is was candy.
Usually my granddaughter is pretty good about taking medicine, but this morning she wanted no parts of it. The second time I offered her “the candy” she ran away to her playroom. When I came into the room she told me to leave so she could poop. (Yes someone is ready to be potty trained but wants no part of it.)
After watching TV for a while I tried to give her the candy again, which resulted in crying . My wife told me to ask her daddy what to do. I texted my son and he replied to tell her it’s candy juice. THis is how she responded when I tried that trick.
I don’t think she bought it. Do you?
What’s up for this afternoon?
Hopefully my granddaughter will nap this afternoon so I can get a little farther in my current read C J Box’s latest Joe Pickett adventure Vicious Circle. It is the 17th book in this excellent series.
The storyline features the return of Dallas Cates to Saddlestring and he is out to make Joe pay for what happened to Cates and his family. That story can be found in Endangered book 15 in the series. My suggestion is that you read it before reading Vicious Circle. I actually wish that It hasn’t been two years since I read Endangered.
Vicious Circle is book number 24 for 2017. I need to finish it quickly because I need to read another book before the end of the month to stay on pace to reach my goal of reading 60 books this year!
Just checked the Nest cam and my granddaughter appears to be sleeping. So it’s time to make some lunch and make my way back into the world of Joe Pickett!
One thing that has evolved over the last two weeks is my morning workout. When I decided to get in shape back in January my morning routine consisted of six minutes of Kundalini yoga, followed by six minutes of light weights and six minutes of resistance bands.
Evolution Number One – Dance
Then I added some movement. A few minutes of dance cardio. My weight started to drop and I started to loose inches. Soon my routine consisted of 12-14 minutes of dance cardio, followed by six minutes of light weights and kettle bell, six minutes of two types of resistance bands and four minutes using resistance boxing bands. The entire workout took about thirty minutes. I was.burning close to three hundred calories doing this routine.
Evolution Number 2 – Stabilty Ball and More Dance
Over the last few week I added more to the routine. First came a series of exercises using the stability ball. Then I added more dance-cardio. This increased the overall time of the workout to 40 minutes burning around 400 calories.
Calisthenics are added
Finally over the last few days I added more to the last portion of the workout. During the dance cardio I have been doing jumping jacks, squats, burpees, and other other day I added push ups and sit-ups. Considering anytime I used to do squats of any kind I hurt for days after, the fact that I can do a couple reps of 12 and feel no pain is an improvement!
My last workout on Saturday morning was 54 minutes and resulted in burning 462 calories. Ok 60 minutes and 500 calories here I come.
Now over these last two weeks my weight has dropped to 170 and held steady there without running. My last run was two Sundays ago. I have had some pain in my right foot which seems to be better. I think I will give it this week to see if it goes away completely.
So while I stilll have a long way to go to be in the shape I want to be in I have made remarkable progress, in my humble opinion, since the start of the year! But I better watch out because it seems that I am moving towards an exercise addiction. But I guess there are worse things to be addicted to, eh?
More Changes to Come?
The one thing that has suffered is my meditation and yoga. Back in January Kundalini yoga was part of the routine. Prior to that my morning workout was mostly yoga. Plus whatever routine I did was followed by a 10 to 15 minute meditation.
What I may do is do yoga in the morning on the two days I work and on the other days try to do an evening yoga routine. I will follow each with a short meditation. That seems like a plan! So wish me luck!
Uh, I Think the Run was a wee more tiring than Zoe!
Ok so today was not a work at Target day. It was a babysit Zoe day, which is a little more fun. Watching Zoe is a cake job. I really don’t think you can say that about most 2 1/2 year-olds! When I arrived at 9:30, Zoe had just gotten up. She was watching TV and eating her breakfast. So I look at some stuff on my Kindle for a little while. After finishing her breakfast, she grabbed my hand and said it was time to play doll house. All that really meant was I had to sit by the doll house while she played. She basically played with the doll house for the next hour until it was time to pick up my wife for lunch. We came over to our house. Zoe played nicely with a finger-stamping set. She also had some yogurt.
No Nap for Zoe means No Nap for Granddad!
At 12 o’clock we took my wife back to work and headed back to Zoe’s house. She finished her uncrustable while watching Paw Patrol. I kept telling her it was going to be her nap time soon. A little before 1 o’clock she said she was ready for her nap. We went into her room she got her binkie and I put her in her crib and closed the door, Typically, when I watch her I watch her through the nest cam and when I initially turned it on today she seemed to be laying down.
The next time I looked I was looking not at Zoe but the curtains and Zoe was talking wildly! Hmm, wonder how the camera got moved! Anyway each time I checked for the next twenty minutes or so Zoe was talking a blue streak!! Finally things got really frantic and I went in her room. She popped up took her binkie out and said “I’m done my nap, done sleeping” I responded that she had not in fact – done any sleeping!! oh well!
Zoe on a prior visit to the library
Off to the Library
Since I had a book to pick up at the library, I decided that we would go to the library to kill some time until my wife was done work at 3:30. We had fun, Zoe played with some of the toys. Back in the summer the library had a ball toss set up in the children’s library. So today after playing on one side of the library, Zoe took off to the other. As I followed I could hear her questioning – where the balls were!!
Again , Zoe on a prior visit to the library!
Anyway, we made a quick stop ar Dollar General on the way home to pick up some hot dog rolls and then it was off to pick-up my wife. Because there were now a lot of people around to watch Zoe, i.e my wife, daughter Elizabeth and son Nicholas, I was now free to run. So off I went on a four-mile run……..
Now the reason that I have written all of this is that I always have good intentions to write about my run and the music I listened to after the run. But invariably, by the time I finish showering, taking Zoe home.making and eating dinner, watching Jeopardy, cleaning up from dinner, starting a load of laundry, my brain is fried! And now it;s time to get ready to go to bed. so I can go to Target in the AM!
Anyway, it was a good run and I listened to some really good acoustic blues. I will try to write about that tomorrow!! Static in the Wires from Martin Harley and Daniel Kimbro (Daniel plays bass!) was album that was the soundtrack for the run.Here is a video of them performing together. Enjoy! I know I did!
….With Some Great Music from Terra Guitarra and Joseph L. Young
The Morning Workout
So every non-Target working I try to do a workout that includes a tuning in warm up (Long Ek Ong Kar) followed by a 7:30 minute Kundalini and regular exercise set that includes
Lower spine flex
twists
side bends
shoulder shrugs
head rolls
alternating knee to chest
alternating leg raises
double leg lifts with a 5 lb exercise ball
arm lifts – on back legs at 90 to floor and extend up arms with the 5 lb ball (lifting head also)
bicycle
pick me up (butt raises)
expand and contract legs with legs on 45 degree angle
Each exercise is done to a recitation of the Mool Mantra (about 25 seconds)
That is followed by 7 minutes of light weights – a series of exercise with 2 – 15 lb weights, 2 5 lb weights and a 20 lb Kettle bell. The last 6 minute exercise set uses a resistance band, followed by a slightly aerobic set using a boxing type band and then another x-type resistance ban. The set ends with a 15 minute meditation. Total time is 40 or so minutes.So I typically have been starting my Fitbit tracker at the start of the routine and turn it off at the end. I end up with about 12 minutes of productive exercise and the rest well like resting (i.e the warm-up and the meditation.
This morning I started my routine with some rhythmic movement to get me moving and followed it with my regular routine. I stopped the Fitbit before the meditation. So I ended up with a 26 minute workout with 18 productive minutes. 17 minutes in the fat burn zone and 1 in the cardio zone. It was a good workout! I still did my 15-minute meditation but I just didn’t track it as exercise!
The Soundtracks: Terra Guitarra and Joseph L. Young
There was another twist to my exercise this morning. Typically, I use one album as the soundtrack for the entire workout. However, this morning I used two albums. Of Sea & Starsfrom Terra Guitarra was the album for the exercise portion of the routine, The soundtrack for my meditation was Etherium from flutist Joseph L Young. Both did their job splendidly! Of Sea & Stars kept my pace up during the exercising. While Etherium relaxed me during my meditation!
While I have listened to both of these albums several times, I think I need to explore more about both the players and the albums a little more before I write about them.
Terra Guitarra is an acoustic guitar duo composed of lead guitarist and composer Bruce Heckel and Julie Patchouli. Patchouli plays mainly rhythm guitar as a foundational base to Heckel’s blazing solo’s. On Of Sea& Stars she also plays drums and bass. Ok so have listened to this album several times and have heard their music previously. However, I have never seen then perform live or on YouTube The following video is the first time I have seen them and my first reaction to seeing Heckel’s playing was Wow!! I have another favorite!!!
So check them out! I on the other hand are going to go exploring and listening to find out more about this fantastic duo!! I’ll let you know what I find out!!
If you’d care to Explore you can start at here at Terra Guitarra’s website!
Ok so once again I need to apologize for not writing on this blog for a while….. (Short Break)
Ok I’m back I just had to figure out how to download an ebook from my library. I haven’t done it for a while and I needed to reinstall the Overdrive app on my iPhone to do it! Anyway I did it and just now downloaded the book! Now the question becomes do I want to read The Perfect Assassin, book one in the David Slator series from Ward Larsen first, or continue Assassin’s Silence book three in the series, that I checked out of the library yesterday!! Can you say too many books to little time!! oh, well, I think book one has to come first!!
Now back to my original comment about my lack of writing on this blog. When I did write a post a few weeks ago I wrote that won of the reasons that I had not posted anything was that I felt guilty because of my lack of effort in attempting to slow down my biologic clock! Well it appears that my efforts to do do over the first few weeks of 2017 may have erased that guilt!!
This Year’s Check-Up
Last week I went to my belated 2016 yearly physical and had blood work done and an EKG. My fear was that my cholesterol level would have climbed over 200! In 2015 it had reached its highest level at 196. So that is why I started eating a little better no late night cakes or cookies an d a few more fruits and veggies. It is also why I started exercising a little differently in the mornings by going back to my old routine that included Kundalini yoga, light weights and resistance bands. The exercising and dieting has also has made it easier to start running again.
The bottom line is that my total cholesterol level dropped to 176. That is the lowest its been since 2013! My triglycerides level also dropped 14 points from 106 to 91, The only negative was that my LDL Cholesterol level. It was still high, but the good news is that it dropped 15 points from a high of 125 to 110. The target level is 100, so I am not that far above the normal level. So I need to look for those foods that lower your LDL levels!
My EKG and blood pressure were both ok, so my doctor even suggested that I may not need to go back to the cardiologist! However, I think I will still make an appointment with him!
Running
So far in February I have run four times. The last two runs have been over a 3.25 mile course. They have both been slow steady runs with a pace between 11:20 and 11:30 min/mile. Today I will be hitting the road a little after noon and I will tell you about it later today! Maybe I’ll try for 4 miles!!
To keep me going I started to look for 5Ks scheduled near the end of April. The one that I think that I may shoot for is the Collingswood HS Athletic Hall of Fame 5k. It’s scheduled for Saturday April 22nd. And since it’s in Colingswood maybe I can even get my wife to go with me!!
