Last Friday I did a 2/2 for 8 miles. Again on Monday and Wednesday. Took it easy today (friday) and just did a 2/2 for 5 miles. Found to my surprise I weigh just 202 pounds. My lightest in 19 years. Must remember that people don't want to hear about it. Have been trying to eat a bit better since watching Forks over Knives. Plus this running is getting sufficiently hardcore.

I've grown to love beer. Drink one or two each night. And I'm really feeling good. Sleeping well. Running well. Etc.

Went to a play in DC with S. Just me (a married man) and this attractive single lady. In the islamic theocracies, a woman may never be alone with a man who is not of her family. This because they're disgusting barbarians. The men see an ankle and start slobbering. Perhaps the women are exactly the same? Perhaps there's some truth to 1001 Arabian Nights and perhaps this in turn exactly led to FGM and completely hiding their bodies and so on. Maybe it was either dump a canvass over them, cut off their private parts and chain'em up, or orgies in the streets!

Nothing remotely inappropriate happened with me and S. 8 hours in a car together. Dinner, wandering around Georgetown and watched Uncle Vanya. It's as if we're actually civilized people.

OTOH, neither of us have reproduced and possibly neither of us ever will.

Uncle Vanya was like a formulaic-for-the-masses story but old Russian style, which is to say it has comedy, and romance, and a heavy dose of existential nihlism. Uncle Vanya is basically having a midlife crisis. Strangely while getting a buzz drinking 8.5% ALC at dinner before it I basically said exactly what it was saying, about just do something, divert yourself from the cold, awful reality and soldier on. Basically summarizing the movie, (minus the comedy and romance). I've never read Chekov. Wasn't familiar with the play at all.

Aren't I special?

Today I've eaten 3/4ths a loaf of bread, some peas (with garlic and tomatoes) and had a beer. I don't crave anything bad. Feel good. But I don't want to fall below 200 pounds.

Read The Hellbound Heart and The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker.
Quickly... I really liked Hellbound Heart, the basis of the Hellraiser movies. Very serious tone to it combined with a lot of character depth, which unforunately TGaSS didn't have as well. The dialogue there become unserious at times, making it all just too light unfortunately. Too often had people going to their potential death while exchanging lighthearted banter. Really enjoyed Hellbound Heart though.

Liked the new Planet of the Apes movie. Liked the CGI facial expressions. Thought it was better acting than what is seen from the vast majority of real actors. Wouldn't mind seeing CGI actors generally replacing most actors. Had lots of "power moments", with Caesar finally speaking, and here and there showing how intelligent he was, sticking it to Malfoy, etc.

We're done?


Yes!

Finished!

:)

I figured out on my own that I really need more resin on the bow here recently. Just wasn't getting a good sound out of the c and g string and was getting frustrated. I think this is the sort of thing my teacher should have been more help on, but I had to figure it out on my own. The same as previously I had to figure out on my own that being 6'5" makes proper positioning very difficult and I needed an adjustable chair and the pegs sawed off on one side. As she's not 6'5" I'll give her that one, but I dunno, seems like I'm having to figure a lot of things on my own. She seems to think the way to do it is to practice for decades till it's just instinctual. When I ask her questions about things, she can't answer because that's what it is for her. She's a good cellist, but a so so teacher. I guess a positive is that she's always a nice, pleasant person. Although very flaky. Usually I can't stand the flakiness (by which I mean she says she'll do things and then doesn't.) But in her case it's relatively small stuff for the next lesson that she never follows through on, but if it really mattered to me I'd just remind her beforehand.

I suppose all in, she's decent enough. Not how I would teach, but decent enough. I like her as a person.

Anyway, I really ought to be trying to manage on my own. I shouldn't rely on her to push me along, putting everything out there on a silver platter for me.

I think too much about how each day, they fail anew. Each day, they do absolutely nothing, and fail.

Keep thinking to send this to one person in particular. But really plenty of others. Over the years has occurred to me to send it to quite a few people. But I never have. And never will.

Monsters are monsters.

Today ran a 3/1 3 miler in 25:18, which was 11 seconds slower than last week. This week on Mon and Wed I had ran 3/2's for 6 miles each. The week before I had run 2/2's for 6 miles. I think perhaps 2/2's are better than 3/2's, although it could be more complicated than that.

This week I felt as if my intensity was less on the 3/2's. I finished both of them much easier. Could have gone farther. 3 minutes is just too long to run really hard it seemed... So instead my intensity came down. And so today I didn't effortlessly shoot out like a bullet. Today my body was used to running a bit slower and today's run was not fun at all. Bit chilly also which was quite painful on my throat and sinuses.

I had been expecting very good things from the 3/2's, had been expecting to break 25 minutes finally. But no. So next week back to 2/2's.

Probably shouldn't time the 5k every week also.

Actually timing myself for the 5k is easy compared to 2/2's for 6 miles. But mentally it's a PITA giving such a hard effort for 25 minutes hoping to shave a few seconds off. Would be better to time it every two weeks and possibly shave off more than a few seconds....? Although if I had run 3/2's for 5 runs I might have been quite annoyed at having wasted two weeks....

Ran 3/2s for 6 miles on Monday and Wednesday and feel pretty good. The first 3 miles on Monday took 27:00 and finished in 57:45 or so. This time the first 3 miles took 26:32 and finished again in about 57:45. But both times took longer rests at the end. Pushed myself a bit harder the second time, to the point where I wasn't quite managing to run in a straight line at times and my head was bobbing all around. I think that's the sort of intensity it takes though to really improve, unlike these people who after ten years of running marathons still take more than 4 hours.

I think you've got to push harder. You have to find yourself needing extra sleep, etc, if you actually would like to get faster. This run I did the first half mile in 3:40, (last 40 seconds walking of course and just the beginning of a six mile run) 2 and half lights short of the end of the tunnel.

So at the house my projects so far were:
-120 feet of nice looking book shelves, (although now I usually use the kindle instead.)
-Building a pond for probably a bit over a 1000 dollars, which I'm really happy with.
-A raised bed enclosed garder, which is looking pretty nice, now that things are coming up. Have sunflowers, hydrangas, wild flowers, blueberry and blackberry bushes, peas, beans, cucumbers, carrots, broccoli and a few peppers. Still not sure what to put in the middle, thinking a wind powered musical instrument...
-And now a grow room, bought a metal halide lamp and tables. Today planted some lemon seeds. Working on blackberry and cherry (both need refrigerated for about 8 weeks). Blueberry... may do that later today..? Avocado and so on. That sort of thing has always fascinated me.

In music, feel a tiny bit like I'm floundering with the cello. Not really so bad but been a little tired of it lately. Only praticing 2 to 3 hours a week and feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. Turned to playing the piano a bit, trying to memorize Moonlight Sonata, a song I could play by sight reading many years ago and the ability hasn't left me much... but was thinking it would be a nice song to memorize.

Haven't gotten to serious work on being a "noise architect" through simple laziness. Well, the running makes me want to just go lay down and read. Which I've been reading some Clive Barker. First actually enjoyable reading I've done in a while.

PR of 25:07 for a 3/1 5K. Went out like a bullet thanks to the 2/2 but didn't have good stamina. Think I'll try a 3/2 next time. This time did an extra mile afterwards as my overall ability to knock out miles is improving.

From The Runner's Body, the first 283 runners were analyzed at 15k of a race in Japan in 2004 and 75% landed on their heel and only 4 landed on the forefoot. This being the opposite result of what Pyrie claimed some guy found at the olympics in 76 I think. But better technology may have been used in 2004 and also possibly the other guy was looking at sprinters? Sadly Pyrie isn't considered the most reliable guy.

Seems slightly worth remarking that I feel very good today. Why?
Don't really know. Did a really hard run on Monday. A 2/2, 2 minutes of high intensity running then 2 minutes walk, for 4+ miles, then gradually going down to a 1/3 as I got really tired for 6 total miles. I've never done that much intensity for that far and I didn't feel great the next day. Head very slightly hurt. Not sure if it was related. Very slightly hurt with very slight nausea. Like a migraine except just the faint shadow of one, which lasted more than 24 hours.

Reading so many bits of books at once. Trying to read Bleakhouse using the audio function of the kindle. But not working well as the pausing is inconsistent. Sometimes no pause after questions or in the middle of dialogue, making it very confusing. Sometimes no pause at periods, while large pause after commas. Inconsistency is ultimately the problem. Then I glance at the page while driving which is dangerous.

Reading The Runner's Body by Matt Fitzgerald, et al. Which goes with this site:
http://www.sportsscientists.com/
Some useful stuff in it. Such as....
the dehydration myth. Very good to know as I guess I was worrying a bit much about staying hydrated. A lot of stuff I already know though.
Alcohol has anti-inflammatory properties and lately I've been having a beer with lots of ice in it late in the evening, maybe 3 times a week. Thinking about doing that every night. Beer never tasted so good and I think it's why I feel so good. In the past beer left me feeling too hot. And gave me insomnia. But I think it was somewhat psychosomatic. I thought it wasn't good for me and then imagined bad stuff going on in my body. Now I'm thinking it's good for me and feeling quite good.

I do think that aside from placebo effects, etc it really does help my running. Have started reading a ton of other books which I may or may not get into.

Checked BP at work other day. 107/72 Resting HR goes from 50 to 56.

We, our group, set out together, with the sun shining in our smiles, with bravery and hearts of steel, ready to face anything, we set out to change the world. But along the way, one by one, he found that the members were false, that they never cared about changing the world, that they had just pretended otherwise for various selfish reasons. One by one they were found unworthy. Till finally he was alone. And there was no reason left to change anything.

Partch's 43.