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This Year’s Fastest Run! Yeah Me! Music by Damon Fowler!

Over the last six months I have made a conscious effort to manage my ADHD. Although just now as I started to write this post, I started to check the books I read in May to add to a page I made for books I’ve read in 2021! The good thing though is I stopped myself!! So why is managing my ADHD relevant today? Well, last night in my mind I planned to run this morning. However, in typical fashion I forgot I also needed to take wash to the laundromat. So should I run first then do the laundry? Do the laundry and put off running until later today or tomorrow? Or do the laundry and run while it’s drying? In the past I would have done the wash and put off running until later. Then later in the day when it came time to run, I would ultimately put it off until tomorrow. That decision would mean I wouldn’t be able to run again until Saturday! Anyway, I chose option three. Which actually resulted in me having a light breakfast and running around 10 o’clock. I know that doesn’t seem like much but it’s a little win for me! As an added bonus the run was my fastest of the year! I started my run pretty well and at the half mile mark my place was right around 11 minutes per mile. Running comfortably I hit the mile mark in just under 11 minutes.I held steady and even…

Alex Lopez -Rising Up and a Good Run

Rising Up Lifts Me Up on a Good Run Yesterday, after I finished reading The Residence, I decided to go for a run rather than do my typical workout. I was doing pretty well running last year up until November. After November 8th I didn’t run again until March3rd. After that run it was another month until I ran again on April 15th. In my defense, I have worked out regularly almost every day over those four months. And thanks to some changes in my diet, that include focusing on reducing the amount of sugar in my diet. My weight is actually close to my optimal running weight! That actually makes starting to run again a little easier. I told myself it was going to be a walk/run. To me that means I would run just a little faster than walking. However,I started out jogging just a little faster than that. I finished the first mile in a slow but respectable time of 11:55. A little after the first mile Mark I made a right hand turn to follow the course I had run in my first two runs of the year. I followed that course until I came to another street where I need to make a decision. A left hand turn would keep me on the same course, while a right hand turn would send me up the steepest hill in our town. I felt pretty good and while the run up the hill would be challenging I…

Thought about this Blog, My Latest Run and Ally Venable

When I started my first blog I titled it Me, Myself, Music and Mysteries. The idea was that there would by posts about Me, the music I listened to and the books I read most often which were mysteries. The “Me” part would include; posts about my family both my present family and also my ancestors. As well as posts about my attempts to turn back the hands of my biological clock. I attempt to turn those clocks back by eating right, and exercising regular. My exercising includes yoga, running and indoor cardio workouts. So why am I writing all of this? Well quite simply I don’t think I can limit myself to only writing about books and music. My ADHD brain just won’t allow it. The bottom line is I want to open this blog up again to encompass ALL of my life. And maybe just maybe I can post a little more often. For now and until such time as I can think of another name for this blog, I’m just adding “and More” to the title! Now with all of the above out of the way I can write about runningI have been putting off running for most of 2021. I ran one time back in the beginning of March, but since the weather has been getting nicer the running itch has gotten stronger, so the other day I gave in and ran or at least traversed 2.8miles as fast as my 69 year old legs can carry me….

Mothership Provides the Soundtrack for My First Run of 2021!

Ok so I’m thinking about going back to a larger variety of posts. The problem is my undiagnosed ADHD will not let me focus on just Books and Music. My life is too much more than just those two topics. Anyway l, while I still ponder how I want to expand the topics addressed on this blog here’s a post with a musical tie-in. Yesterday was a fairly nice spring like day with a high temperature in the mid 50s. So getting the running spring fever, I decided to go for a slow walk/run. I also decided to limit myself to whatever I could do in 30 minutes. Ok so even though I have not run since the first week in November of 2020, I have been working out on a regular basis. Three days a week I usually do a 50-60 minute Cardio workout that burns around 400-500 calories. On the off days I do yoga. I have a 30 minute Hatha routine I usually do. lately thoug I have been doing a Kundalini yoga Kriya, at least one day a week. As a result my weight is about 3 pounds shy of my optimal running weight. The Run Anyway, I set off yesterday for my slow walk/run. I started off slowly and didn’t feel too bad. So the walk/run became a slow run. I maintained fairly slow but steady pace and ran the first mile in a surprising 11:31! By the mile and a half mark my pace was around…

A Workout to Books – Jimmy Vaughan to Michael Hayden!

My morning yesterday went from a cardio workout to books at Barnes & Noble. From Jimmy Vaughan’s “Boom Bapa Boom” to Michael Hayden’s Playing the Edge. Initially I was going to start my day with a run. However, I forgot that my wife wanted to go to Home Goods. So rather than running, I began my morning with a 40-minute plus Cardio exercise routine. The routine’s soundtrack was created on Spotify. My Morning Cardio Workout Soundtrack The soundtrack consists of seven main songs and is 35 minutes in length. Typically, I extend the routine to slightly more than 45 minutes by just using the songs that Spotify randomly adds to the playlist. Heres’s the playlist and the accompanying cardio. “Boom Bapa Boom” Jimmy Vaughan – 4 sets of jumping jacks 25 each set- 100 total “Flip Flop and Fly” Ellis Hall – 5 lb weights curls, standing press, lunges, etc “Feel So Good” – Faces – step ups with step stool and squats with resistance band ”Feelin’ Allright” Traffic – various movements with Kettle Bell ”Bad n’ Ruin” Face – twist and bends with arms at shoulder height. ”Congo Square” – Sonny Landreth – various movements with double resistance band “Stay with Me” – Faces – four sets of 25 arm twists and snatches. Then movements with light weights. The soundtrack officially ends at “Stay with Me”. However most times, I keep going with a cool down that typically last another ten minutes. Here’s the soundtrack…… Yesterday, the workout was 42…

My 5K Time Goes Lower Again with New Blues

A Great Run, A Graph and Some Blues So it was another beautiful morning today and confirmed my decision not run yesterday, but to wait until today. Previously, I have occasionally done a short movement routine to loosen up for the run. I did so this morning. The short warmup gets my heart rate up and also loosens me up. It kinda serves to do the same thing as running slowly to ease into a run. I believe it works, as long as, I keep the warmup easy and short. Overall, I think it helps, not, as much as, the cool temperatures, but I’ll take all the help I can get. Today I started my run running comfortably and amazingly I ran the first mile in 10:36! I have not maintained for a long while. I slowed down over the second mile but still a respectable pace of 10:52 min/ mile. Today, I felt more like a runner than a plodder but I still have a ways to go yet. However, it is nice to plan how your going to run the last mile in your head during a run, rather than wonderful if you’ll make the last mile or so! I ran the last mile at a 10:42 min/mile clip and the old man sprint was fairly strong as I covered the last .15 miles at a 9:15 clip. Oh, if I could only run at the pace for a mile or so! The Nerdy Details Total Dist: 3.16 miles Total Time 33:46 Pace…

Hats Off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate Fuels A Good Run!

Nostalgia for Infinity - Hat’s Off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate

So once again in accordance with my new blog schedule I am way behind! I was supposed to write a post about the prog album that I had picked on Tuesday. The problem is I didn’t pick a prog album on Tuesday! So what I did yesterday was pick a prog album to be the soundtrack of my run. It’s Nostalgia for Infinity by Hats off Gentlemen, It’s Adequate. So, when checked the Weather Channel for Saturday and Sunday’s running conditions on Friday, I saw that both days would be great. However, I chose to run yesterday because I wanted the steps for last week! I had four days straight with over 10,000 steps for the first time in a while and I wanted five! Actually, I toyed with idea of runningf four miles, but decided to stay with my usual 5K course. The Run I started the run comfortably and ran the first mile at a 10:56 min/mile pace. Thanks to the coolness of the morning I was able to maintain the same pace through two miles. I was actually able to run the last mile slightly faster (10:51 min/mile) and still felt I was running comfortably. The old man sprint over the last 0.16 miles at a 9:56 min/mile pace resulted in an overall pace of 10:52 min/mile for the run! The second run at under an 11 min/mile pace! The Nerdy Details Total Dist: 3.16 miles Time 34:18 Pace:10:32 min/mile Splits Mile 1: 10:56 Mile 2: 10:56 Mile 3 10:51…

Age-Graded Running Makes a Good Run Better!

Ok, so I thought I’d lead off with some of the nerdy details from this morning’s run. The reason is because for the first time in a long time my overall pace for the run was under 11 minutes/per mile! Yes, lower temperatures and cloudy skies do make a big difference. While the overall pace was great the splits were even better…. Mile 1 1:08 min/mile Mile 2. 11:04 min/mile Mile 3 11:01 min/mile and the old man sprint over the last 0.16 of a mile – 9:25 min/mile! Additionally, my average heart rate during the run was 133 beats per minute (bpm).My peak heart rate was 149 bpm. So overall it was a great run. Not fantastic but compared to the last few runs which were struggles it was wonderful. EK Turns to an Age-Graded Running Calculator After those struggling summer runs, which most of them were, I needed to turn to an age-graded running calculator feel better about the run. An age-graded calendar uses an age-grading percentage to provide a method of measuring and comparing the quality of a running performances. So the calculator takes into consideration, that while I don’t think I am , I am old! Here’s how it does it! Calculating Your Age-Graded Running Percentage From Runbundle.com To determine an age-grading percentage… A calculation is carried out that takes into account the age and the sex of the runner and produces a single percentage value. This value can then be used to compare performances between…

2020 Psychedelic Rock Powers a Good Run!

The Universe Inside - 2020 Psychedelic Rock from The Dream Syndicate

Today was my second run this week. The first was on Tuesday, and it was my first in 11 days. It wasn’t a pleasant run. I struggled most of the way through it, but still I made it. Did I ever say I hate running in the summer? Well, I do. When I checked the Weather Channel app on Wednesday, i saw running conditions were going to be tough on Thursday morning. However, conditions were to be really good on Saturday morning. So it was a no-brainer that Saturday would be my next run. What’s a couple of more days off! Anyway, the forecast was right and conditions were really good this morning. The temperature was fairly low. Humidity was ok, and while the sun was shining, there was an ever so slight breeze blowing in my face, during certain parts of the run. Throughout the run I was able to maintain a nice comfortable albeit somewhat slow pace. The result was that I felt pretty good at the end of the rum. Here are the Nerdy Details! The Nerdy Details Avg HR 146 bpm Max HR 162 Cals Burned 491 The Soundtrack So over the last few days, as I have been writing about my favorite albums from 1968, I was reminded about how much I loved the Psychedelic music from those years. As a result this morning as I was trying to decide on music for my run, I Googled “the best psychedelic rock albums of 2020”to see…