Category: Life

Today’s Run 4 Miles with a Hill! Music Murder Creek by Wicked Grin

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The Run – Four Miles with a Hill!

 

So after two very cold days the temperatures today rose into the high 40s. As such, it became the first running day of the week. Since I do t like to run on back to back days and Friday is a Target work day, it’s looked like today would be the only run until the weekend. I therefore decided I would make it a tougher run than my normal 5K run. I decided the run would be four miles and would include a run up the highest hill in the area.

The run ended up being another amazing run. I ran the first mile in 9:28. And while the hill, on the second mile, was a struggle my overall pace coming down the other side of the bill was still under 10 min/ mile. I held a steady pace over the last two miles and finished the run with a fairly strong kick. My overall pace for the run was 9:56! Go me!! Here are the results.

The Nerdy Details

Total Distance: 4.01 miles. Total Time: 39:51 min Pace: 9:56

Avg HR: 142 bpm Max HR: 155 Cals Burned : 521

The Soundtrack – Murder Creek – Murray Kinsley & Wicked Grin

I had never heard of Murray Kinsley & Wicked Grin until I saw their latest release Murder Creek sitting at number 38 on the Roots Music Report Blues Chart this week. But a brief   the album told me it was going to be an album I would like!

Murder Creek is the fourth release from this Electric blues roots rock band. Where have they been? Oh, they’re from Ottawa Canada! Anyway it appears that they have made an impact on the Canadian blues scene. From the band’s website:

Murray Kinsley & Wicked Grin are an Ottawa based original roots blues/rock band. Gritty vocals and guitar and an “in your face” groove that doesn’t quit!
The band received the 2014 Maple Blues Award for Best New Group. Bassist Leigh-Anne Stanton received the 2015 Maple Blues Award for Bassist of the Year. Their last two discs have both been named “Blues Rock Disc of the Year” by the Blues Underground Network in Western Canada.
They have been touring steadily from 2014 – numerous Canadian and U.S. tours and a recent, very successful tour through England and Germany.

The band performs as a quartet, trio or duo depending on the availability of musicians. The quartet, currently performing in Memphis at The International Blues Challenge,  is composed of. Murray Kinsley on guitar and vocals, Leigh-Anne Stanton on bass, Rod Williams on drums and  rice Stanton harp. And they are damn good! So Check out Murder Creek. As for me I have three other releases to check out!

Links for the Further Exploration of Wicked Grin….

Artist’s Website

Facebook

Twitter

Amazon

Here’s the title track from Murder Creek  by Murray Kinsley & Wicked Grin

 

 

 

The First Run with a Hill! Music by Aton Five

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So I will be writing about She Rides Shotgun the second book I’ve finished in 2019 shortly, but tonight I think I’ll just write about today’s run.

The Run – 4.25 Miles

Today I decided that I would do a short Cardio-Dance workout, The do some chores and run in the later morning early afternoon. Initially, I was thinking about running 5 to 6 miles. But late morning turned to later in the afternoon than I planned, I decided I would only run a 4.25 course. The course I chose was in I call Harper Loop and it is the only course that goes up the steepest hill in the area. So even though I wasn’t going as far as I planned, The course was more challenging. It became even more challenging I’ve rhte second half of the course when I was running into the wind!! That’s the main reason the last two miles were a struggle. Of course the fact that I ran the first mile too fast didn’t help those last miles either!!! Anyway here are the results….

The Results

Total Miles 4.26. Total Time: 43.21 Pace 10:10 min/mile

Mile Splits. Mile 1 9.32 Mile 2 10:23 Mile 3 10:10 Mile 4 10:38 Mile 0.26 10:04

Avg HR  147. Max HR 156  Calories Burned 573

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the run was Solarstalgia from the band Aton Five. The band is a Psychedelic/Space Rock band from Russia. From ProgArchives

ATON FIVE are an instrumental psychedelic quartet, true to the spirit of the 1970’s. In 2015 the band released the first EP called ‘Long Forgotten Tales’, followed by the live in the studio EP ‘Live At Mars’ in 2017. After three years of writing and one more of production their full-fledged debut album ‘Solarstalgia’ saw the light of day in November 2018. The seven songs are similar to the likes of Moonwagon and Hidria Spacefolk More

I had listened to the album last night and I enjoyed it. Even though the album has only seven tracks it lasted for the whole run , partially because two of the tracks are more than 15 minutes long!!

Solarstalgia is the fourth highest rated album on ProgArchives list of 2018’s Best Prog Albums. So I guess others enjoyed it, too! So Check It Out!

Links  for the Further Exploration of the Music of Aton Five

Bandcamap Site

Facebook

YouTube

Instagram

Here’s “AChain of Events” fromAton Five’s Solarstalgia

Another Great 2019 Run! Music by The D Project

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Yesterday’s morning temperature  was 41 degrees at 9:00. That’s just about 10-15 degrees higher than normal morning temperatures in January. So with a temperature like that there was no way I wasn’t running.

I decided to run a four-mile course and followed through on that decision! The only bad part of the run was it was slightly windy when I was running in a southwesterly direction which was for about half of the run. Oh and when I had to stop and tie my shoes!!

The Results

Miles- 4.02     Total Time: 40:36    Pace: 10:05 min/mile

The Splits: Mile 1 10:11  Mile 2 9:59 Mile 3 10:09 Mile 4 10:01  .02 -9:17

Avg HR 141     Max HR 156    Calories Burned: 513

The Soundtrack  Find Your Sun – The D Project.

The soundtrack for the run was Find Your Sun from The D Project. The D Project  is a  Neo Prog band from Canada founded by singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Stéphane Desbiens and author Francis Foy. From their website:

The first album « Shimmering Lights evoked a mix of different music styles; progressive rock, classical, metal including jazz.In 2008, was the release of the album Sagarmatha Dilemma , for which the music was inspired by Mount Everest images and its conquest by the climber Maxime Jean.

In 2011, D Project offered a more rock and direct sound with the album « Big Face. Then came the album  Making Sense which arrived just in time for the band to offer a memorable performance at the 2014 Quebec Summer Festival with Marillion.

Moreover, part of the sound of the last three albums was produced by Andy Jackson, Pink Floyd sound engineer. D Project always surrounded themselves with prestigious musician and artists.D Project is a mix of Pink Floyd, Genesis and King Crimson, but with a personal touch and characteristic sound. ‘’Pink Floyd meets Classic rock’’

About Find Your Sun

Find Your Sun is The D Project’s fifth studio album. Throughout the life of the band  special guests have played an important part in the band’s sound. Artists like: Tomas Bodin from Flower Kings, Martin Orford from IQ and Fred Schendel from Glass Hammer have all contributed to the band’s work.

The core band on Find Your Sun is Stéphane Desbiens / guitars, keyboards, vocals, composer, Isabelle Cormier / violin, backing vocals, Philippe Desbiens / bass and Jean Gosselin / drums

Special guests include:

  • Peter Falconer / vocals
  • Fred Schendel / keyboards
  •  Romain Thorel / keyboards
  • Marie Noelle Harvey / violin
  • Laura Laberge / cello
  • Sylvain Laberge / flutes
  • Nathalie Gobeil / bassoon
  • Daniel Simon / sax
  • Chorale de Saguenay / chorus vocals

Overall, I really enjoyed the album and look forward to.becoming more.familiar with it over the next few weeks. during the first listen both the guitar of Stéphane Desbiens and the violin of Isabelle Cormier caught my attention.

So Check It Out! Again,as for me, I will be checking out their back catalog!

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of The D Project

Artist’s Website

Facebook

Instagram

YouTube

Here is the  video for “Find Your Sun” from The D Project…..

My Fastest Training 5K-Music by Bryce Janey

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Tuesday night before bed I checked what kind of temperatures to expect yesterday morning. The temperatures were predicted to be in the mid-30s, which is perfectly acceptable, to this weather runner! My temperature law is that anything below 30 is just a little too cold! Anyway, I was thinking about adding some distance to my 5K run and running four miles.

I actually did a little work around the house before my run, so I decided to stay with my 5K run.

When I was contemplating my run I want to map the route before hitting the road. I previously would use WalkJogRun to create routes. However last time I tried to use the site I discovered it had stopped working. I had downloaded Map My Fitness, but I have never used it on a run. Anyway, I discovered you can map routes with it. So I checked the route I thought about running and the route would be 4 miles. But as you know I decided it’s to run the 3.1 miles instead.

I did decide however to run with both my Fitbit and Map My Fitness logging my run. Surprisingly, the distances measured were different. The miles logged by Map My Fitness were shorter than the Fitbit miles! They weren’t off by much but enough so that my average pace per mile was about 4 seconds faster on Map My Fitness.

The Run

Anyway here are the results from the Fitbit App……

Total Distance: 3.11 miles Total Time: 31.57 Average Pace 10:16 min/mile

Mile Splits. Mile 1 – 10:26 Mile 2 10:20 Mile 3 10:10. Mile 0.11. 9:08

Avg Hr. 140 bpm. Max HR 150 bpm

Cals Burned: 402

The great thing about the run was that I wasn’t really pushing it over the last two miles but my times say otherwise!! That last mile is the fastest I’ve run in a long while!! Can I go under 10 minutes??

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the run was Brand New Day the 2018 release from blues rocker Bryce Janey. I have seen Janey’s name for a while but I have never listened to his music – mistake!

I really enjoyed this album, at least the times I drifted back to it! I am probably going to try to listen to the album of more times and then write a separate post about the album. Until then here’s Bryce with “Falling Down” from Brand New Day

Another Strong Run with Blues from Sean Chambers

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The Run

Yesterday it was pretty cold in the morning, so I put off running until the afternoon. It was actually pretty nice in the early afternoon but when the sun started to go down it got chilly pretty fast. I ran the same 3.1 mile loop that I’ve been running since I resumed running back in October. It was a pretty easy, nondescript run. The GPS seemed just on target. Here are the results……

The Nerdy Details

Total Distance: 3.11 Total Time: 32:39

Average Pace: 10:29

Mile Splits Mile 1. 10:32. Mile 2. 10:39 Mile 3 10:24 Mile:0.10 9:22

Avg HR. 140 Max HR. 150 Cals. Burned. 399

The Soundtrack – Welcome to My Blues

The soundtrack for the run was Welcome to My Blues by blues artist Sean Chambers. This is actually the second time this album has been used as a soundtrack for a run.

About Welcome to My Blues

Welcome to my Blues is Chambers’ 7th album on American Showplace Music. His last album Trouble & Whiskey was one of my favorite of 2017! The album was produced by Ben Elliott The list of artists Elliot has recorded includes classic artists like: Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Billy Gibbons, and Steve Miller among others.

The musician line-up on the album includes:Chambers on lead vocals and lead guitar, John Ginty on Hammond B3 & keyboards, (I am a fan of Ginty’s Hammond B3 and his work on this album on strengthens it). The rhythm section is rounded out by Todd Cook on bass and Moe Watson on drums. Special guest Jimmy Bennett plays slide guitar and backing vocals on track #6.

Welcome To My Blues contains 11 tracks and Chambers’ guitar work is great on each track. Eight of the tracks are new original Sean Chambers compositions. The other three are covers. The covers include: Luther Allison’s “Cherry Red Wine” “All Night Long” by T-Bone Walker and “Boxcar Willie” by John Ginty.

Welcome to My Blues will be in my rotation for a while now and will be in my music library along with Trouble & Whiskey and The Rock House Sessions.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Blues of Sean Chambers

Artist’s Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Amazon

Here is the title track from Welcome to My Blues

 

Where My November Reads Took Me -Part 2 -Reading Journeys

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After Dial D for Deadman, I reluctantly left the world of Dan Deadman and returned to Earth. I landed in Siglufjörðurhe a quiet fishing village in Northern Iceland. Here I met Ari Thor Arason In Ragnar Jonasson’s Nightblind.

Nightblind – Rgnar Jonasson

Siglufjörðurhe is an isolated village only accessible via a small mountain tunnel. The small close-knit town is one where no one locks their doors. In Nightblind their world is rocked when a policeman is killed at a quiet house with a disturbing past.

The murdered officer was Ari Thór’s partner. Thor would have been on-duty the night of the murder but he had called out sick. Thor and the town’s former police chief are tasked with the job of unraveling the mystery. It’s complex mystery involving the compromised new mayor.

Along the way the reader is also given glimpses of a psychiatric ward in Reykjavik where a patient writes about his confinement and the reason for it!

All in all, it was a good visit. I enjoyed both the plot and the characters. Nightblind is the second book in Jonasson’s  Dark Iceland series.and you can bet I’ll be visiting Iceland again

 

. First, to find out what happened prior to Nightblind in Snowblind and then after in Blackout! I can’t wait.

Noumenon – Marina J. Losteller

Following Nightblind,  I traveled back to space with Marina J Lostetter’s Noumenon.  More precisely I traveled wit a convoy to the anomalous star LQ Pyxidis and back. A book Kirkus reviews calls “A striking adventure story that could hold a galaxy in its scope’

Noumenon chronicles humanity’s first adventures beyond the solar system,  The story is chronicles the aforementioned mission to visit LQ Pyxidis. The mission was the brainchild of Astrophysicist Reggie Straifer. Starifer thousands of others join a convoy of nine ships on a mission to reveal the origins of this anomalous star.

Since the mission would take centuries, it was decided that the travelers would not be frozen. Rather the mission would be composed of clones of Earth’s best scientists.

The story is told through a series of vignettes each featuring a different set of lead characters at various points along the journey. The only consistent character, and maybe the most interesting, is the ship’s A1 or ICC, short for Inter Convoy Computing.

I didn’t like these vignettes t first. It seemed, I would just be getting to know and like a character and boom they were gone! However, as the book progressed and I became aware of the length of the journey I saw the need for different characters.

The bottom line is that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading the next book Noumenon Infinity. Here is a great review of Noumenon from  BarnesandNoble.com.

Finally, I have caught you up on the six books that I read in  November. In addition, I’ve told you about all the great places I have visited without leaving the comfort of my home!

Next up my first two December reads!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Strong Four-Mile Run with Music by The Windmill

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Since I have restarted running back in mid-October, my weekend runs have mostly been on Sunday. However, with the Eagles-Cowboys looming at 4:25 tomorrow and the prospect of a cold Sunday morning, I decided to run today. In addition to changing the day of the weekend, I also decided it’s time to increase my mileage on the weekends. My plan was to run four miles. The course would be my old Creek out and back course.

The result was a strong steady easy run, I didn’t push it and I easily stayed strong throughout the run. The only problem was I think the GPS was having a bad day today. The splits were not at their usual spots. The distance seemed to be about .09 miles short. Consequently, my pace time was a little faster than it actually was for the run. It may take a few times over the course to see what’s what.

Here are the results as recorded by the Fitbit using my phone’s GPS.

The Results

Total Distance 4.19 miles  Total Time 44:16 Pace 10:32

Mile Splits: Mile 1 – 10:27. Mile 2- 10:36  Mile 3 10:41 Mile 4 10:34. Last 0.19 9:44

Average HR 141 bpm max HR 152 bpm Cals Burned 566

The Soundtrack

The soundtrack for the run was a progressive Rock album, Tribus from The Windmill. The Windmill is a  Norwegian heavy prog progressive  rock band.

About The Windmill

The band was formed in the fall of 2001, with Jean R. Viita (keyboards, vocals) as the leader. Other founding members included: Morten Clason (sax, flutes, guitars, vocals, keyboards) and Arnfinn Isaksen (bass). Band members added shortly thereafter were: Bent Jensen (guitars), Vidar Kleivane (drums) and Erik Borgen (guitars, vocals).

The Windmill spent the next several years rehearsing, writing material and performing live when possible. They started recording their first album in 2005. It took five long years and several changes of members of the band to produce their first album. In May of  2010 To Be Continued… was finally released.

The Windmill has released two additional albums since 2010’s To be Continued….. They released The Continuation in 2015 and Tribus this year.

The Windmil

The Musician Line-up for Tribus

Erik Borgen / lead vocals, guitars Stig André Clason / guitars
Jean Robert Viita / keyboards, backing vocals
Morten Clason / sax, flute, backing vocals
Arnfinn Isaksen / bass
Sam Arne Nøland (RIP) / drums*

* Sam passed away in September of 2018  prior to the release of Tribus

Thoughts About Tribus

I really enjoyed this album throughout my run. You know you’re listening to a prog rock album, when the first track lasts more than 20 minutes of a 44 minute run. But with all of the tempo changes it’s hard when you’re running to realize it’s the same song!

I liked both the instrumentals and the vocals on Tribus. I particularly liked Morton Clason’s flute playing. In my opinion, the flute fits into prog rock beautifully, says the fan of Ian Anderson!

Anyway, Tribus is a great album so Check It out. As for me I’ll be listening to not only Tribus but also The Windmill’s two other releases.

Links for the Further Exploration of the Music of The Windmill

Artist’s Website

Facebook

Spotify

ProgArchives

ProGGnosis

Here’s “The Tree” from The Windmill’s Tribus. 

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

 

My Yoga and Walking Challenges Lead to a Month of Runs…

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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!

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 MarquisMembers 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!

You can check out Grand Marquis’ website here. Or visit them on Facebook

Here’s the band performing  “Brighter  Days”……..