Love And Caring

AM: 8.3 Miles, 52:13, Fruit Loop, Blvd PM: 4.2 Miles, 27:04, Blvd

We had our first snowfall today. In all fairness to call it snow is a little bit of an embarrassment to actual snow coz it was really just a dusting and certainly nothing that required treadmill temptation or Skinny Ravenesque Ice Bugs. I was out at a Christmas party last night and I had a headache this morning. Not a hangover, just a headache. I hit up Starbucks for a clover and despite helping it didn't really get rid of it. But 8.3 miles of steady running listening to Crystal Castles did help and I felt amazing after about 800 meters. When I tell you that this morning was wonderful, I mean it was wonderful in a way that I didn't want it to end. I am so strict about staying on schedule that I felt guilty about the .3 on the end........Ray, I nearly threw caution to the wind but I showed great restraint and pulled up!

In the PM I did the old up and down of the Blvd and even though there was a freezing cold wind and it was kind of icy nothing was extinguishing the warmth I had in me. Listening to one of the best albums ever written (and I'll debate this with anyone) Radiohead's "OK Computer" the run went past with Usain Bolt speed. I actually was a little "Let Down" that the run had to end but like I said, I am sticking to the plan.

WEEK 6

Monday: OFF - Let the quad pain settle down
Tuesday: AM: 6 Miles Easy, Blvd
Wednesday: AM: 7 Miles, Easy/Steady
Thursday: PM: 8 Miles, 52:00, North Providence
Friday: AM: 4.2, No time, Blvd; PM: 7.5 Miles, 49:00, Fruit Loop, Blvd
Saturday: AM: 10.15 Miles, 65:42, Fruit Loop, Pawtucket, Blvd.
Sunday: AM: 8.3 Miles, 52:13, Fruit Loop, Blvd, Steady Running; PM: 4.2, 27:04, Easy Blvd.

Week End, 55.3 Miles, 8 Runs. Really pleased with the week. The last 3 days were some of the best runs of the year. Really, really positive.

I am updating my DJ equipment. I am pretty much in the dark ages of CDj's although the Technics 1200's will NEVER go out of fashion. I am proud to have began my DJing life on the wheels of steal and I feel bad for kids now that only know the digital world. With that being said Digital is the standard now and I am using my own CDJ 500's and Some CDJ 200's that Marc Davis gave me. Reality is that I need to upgrade to some of Pioneers better product and that is what I plan to do as soon as the Christmas spend is done. Me man Sean D uses very nice, reliable, and significantly updated CDJ 200's. They play mp3 data discs and have text read out. The 400's can plug straight into the iTunes folder on a lap top but they are significantly more expensive and for the little bit of home mixing I'm doing they hold no extra value. The industry standard is the CDJ 1000 which has scratch platter, hot cues and lots of other gimmicks that would be awesome to have but not at $1200 each. So basically, I need to sell more shoes in order to get my equipment up to scratch.

Running is great right now, and even though it is going to be zero degrees tomorrow I am really looking forward to my 6 mile recovery day before my first 5 mile tempo on Tuesday.

Peace and Love,

Kel

PS, Pete Watson of Auburn XC fame had his dogs run 6 miles in 29:05 today. Admirable considering it was their first race of the season, its only December, and they stopped at one point to check out road kill. Congrats Pete!

Melodic Techno

AM: 10.15 Miles, 65:42. Blvd, Fruit Loop, Pawtucket.

Morning run with Paddy Moulton. I was a little tired today so meeting Pat was just the ticket. We hit the road at about 8:45 and it was cold. But literally after 3 minutes it was just fantastic and the fatigue subsided while the energy exploded. I never get board of running the same loops. I am not necessarily a creature of habit but I rarely deviate from the fruit loop and blvd. The Blackstone boulevard is just a 1.75 mile trail that runs along some of the nicest and most expensive neighbourhoods in Providence. It is 3 minutes from my front door (I rent, and get a great deal) jogging so I tend to do a lot of running on this path because its somewhat soft. It is also part of many loops you can run from the Brown University track and the roads are wide and quite. Running around here is pretty flat so I will run down the Fruit loop to get some hills. The Fruit loop is what I've called this section for as long as I can remember. I guess Google maps tells me it is Gulf street. Anyway, I was told many moons ago that it got its name because it was, and still is I believe, a hang out for gay men to meet each other. So maybe Fruit loop is a little derogetory but I mean it as no insult to those that choose to meet down along the Blackstone River. It is afterall a lovely place and a great place to run before hitting the blvd.

I got a great email today from my man Jay Romasco. I was just coming out of The Aldan Invitational at Brown Indoor track and I got his email which was basically about how awesome running, coffee and music are. They are of course the subjects of this blog so Jay gets an honorary mention and invite to comment anytime. I was also talking to JC who happened to be out at NXN in Portland living the dream. The energy was just fantastic and all very positive.

Those vibes continued into the evening when I attended my first Christmas party of the year in Sean Donnellys house up in Sommerville. It was a great night and there were plenty of friends, drinks and kick ass techno. I threw together a bit of a 45 minute mix that i will post here later in the week.

All in all, another great and extremely positive day. And despite the forcast of snow I can't wait for the run tomorrow morning.

Love Kel

Really Good Black Coffee

AM: 4.3 Miles, Easy Running, No Time, Blvd PM: 7.5 Miles, 49:00, Fruit Loop, Blvd, Steady Running

Please don't think I'm an asshole for saying that running today was so awesome I doubt anybody in America enjoyed their Friday, December 5th day of running as much as me. It kicked off this morning at 7:15ish when I went for my morning run on the blvd. I felt so good that I had to force myself to slow down. I listened to "In Rainbows", and as tracks like Big Ideas played I asked myself why I can't feel like this everyday. My run was made that little bit better when I bumped into my main man Jay who was out doing his own spiritual jaunt. I was terribly excited about doing my second run in the PM and it was perfect. I'm talking bouncy, no pain, nice weather, deep dreams. The blvd is about 1.7 miles long so an up and back is part of almost every run I do. I was so lost in thoughts and my music that I actually couldn't remember one whole length of the run. I am not delusional, I am just truly excited to be back training, so much so that I fall into deep visualization when I feel good. I spoke to Steve Jones this morning and that certainly lifted my spirits too. Basically, the runs today are the reason I decided to attempt this whole comeback. If I never race I at least want to have the feeling I had today, frequently and over a long period of my remaining time on earth.

I drink coffee from the Coffee Exchange in Providence. It is the best cup of coffee I've had east of Boulder's Espresso Roma. The Roma is the best cup of regular black drip coffee I've had in the 12 years that I've been in America. This place was a major part of my time in Boulder and the people and unique energy in the place was just as infectious as the strong, extra bold coffee they served. My friend Mark worked there and also worked at the exchange. He chooses his establishments wisely. Kate Lesta, the owner and manager of the Roma also happens to be a promoter of all things techno in Boulder and she invites fantastic DJ's from all over the globe to grace the decks at her Communikey events. She is awesome and totally encourages melodic and minimal techno to play loudly and frequently from the coffee shop sound system. In the morning a line of CU Students, Faculty, local residents, business people, hipsters, hippys, and everyone in between bulge the entrance and all bop their heads to the sound of Micheal Mayer, Booka Shade or Pantha Du Prince. It is an awesome experience and I miss those guys. The exchange is a little different. The coffee is just as good (the Roma wins out because of the music policy. Coffee tastes better to the sound of the underground) but the vibe is different and not in a bad way. The same kind of diverse crowd attends the exchange but ultimately its more of your Brown University crew along with lots of local activists, writers, artists, musicians and even politicians/lawyers (they are there every morning) Every morning I wake up I think about the Exchange and how it is pretty much the perfect start to the day. Just like the Roma was back in Boulder. The moral of this blurb is that having a local coffee shop that serves amazing coffee and makes you feel better is awesome. I do drink Starbucks. There is one around the corner from me that uses the clover machine and when I am on the road it is the best and most consistent dark cup of coffee you can find. Frankie and I also like to walk around when we wake on the weekends (the Exchange is 1.7 miles so its a long walk) BUT if I had walking access to places like the exchange or roma I would go no where else. The starbucks being a 1 minute walk versus driving to the exchange is always a troublesome delemia for Frankie and I so it is typically only a weekend morning thing. Obviously there are many other coffee shops out there and I do hope to experience the best the country has to offer but right now I can't imagine anywhere in the US that serves as good a coffee as my two locals. I am lucky to have the exchange and I was lucky to have Espresso Roma. With good coffee life is just the little bit better.

Tomorrow is all about the sounds. I have a lot of music to catch up on and I am going to Sean D's Christmas party. I linked one of his mixes here a few weeks back and I may record a mix of my own tomorrow.......watch this space,

Peace and Love from a happy camper,

Kelrock

PS McArdle just text me to tell me that Delta Spirit -- Children is a great song. I think its alright but I don't love the style of Delta Spirit. Its not really my cup of tea.

Just

PM: 8 Miles, 52 Mins, North Providence

Hit up the old stomping grounds and went for a run around some of the old familiar loops with Mark Carroll. The great thing about running with Mark is that the conversation is always lively and the runs go by quick. Tonight was no exception and the fact that I felt bouncy and extremely energized only contributed very positively to my over all state of being. I wish I felt so effortless on all my runs. I can safely say that my quad is better and I am hitting up the blvd for some AM and PM action tomorrow. Back on schedule!

So in order to get fitter, happier, and more productive I bought a juicer. Francine has wanted one for a long time and we ripped the piss out of her because the assumption was we would have it for a few days and then it would get put away and never used again! How wrong I was. I love the thing, and to be honest it has made me feel spectacular. I feel more energized in the mornings and my mood is heightened. We have become somewhat addicted and it can only be a good thing. I am still not sacrificing my large dark roast coffee from the exchange though.

I have no new music news. My buddy Vin suggested a couple of albums which I am vaguely familiar with so I'll check them out on the weekend. There is just no time to get through all the magical sounds out there. So tonight I am listening to Explosions In The Sky "The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place". These guys make beautiful music with a rock band set up sans vocals. Kind of like Sigur Ros, if Sigur were from Austin, TX.

There are good days and there are bad days, today was a good day........and I only ran 8 easy miles,

Love Kel

I'm White Noise

PM: 7 Miles, 49 Mins, Rhode Runner Training Group.

Yes, I met the lads down at Rhode Runner and warmed up with them before actually joining them in their session of 6x3 minutes. With absolutely no disrespect to the guys I can do their work out pace while keeping it as a hard training pace for myself. I just keep running the recoveries, double back and meet them to go again. The pace on the efforts was about 5:50ish.

I felt wonderful tonight and despite my knee not quite being 100% it was not exactly what you would call sore. Uncomfortable is not the right word, but its the first word that comes to mind. I am eager to get going again on the training so tomorrow's run can't come soon enough.

Nothing beats post run recovery than a trip to AS220 and Taqueria Pacifica for a sweet potato burritto and a Gansett. While we were enjoying the grub a great track came on. The Knife "Heartbeats" is just a magical tune. It may have garnered more popularity when Jose Gonzales covered it but the original is just an awesome tune and you can DOWNLOAD IT HERE Please listen to it and support The Knife with some purchases if you like it. It came out back in 2003 or 2004 but I have not heard it in a while so it was a nice addition to an already lovely night.


I've been spending a lot of time with Zeitgeist and the whole Zeitgeist Movement lately and its really having a profound impact on me despite the fact that I feel powerless to contribute or energized enough to make the necessary changes in my lifestyle. I was directed towards the movie by my friend TJ. Basically the Zeitgeist movement speaks of a world that is not driven by Scarcity for it is this that makes humans act in such self preserving ways even if it means stealing and committing crimes. Zeitgeist questions 'The System" of society we live in and attacks the new world order of the power elite and the system that is in place to perpetuate our social stratification. It is very radical and extremely leftist, it attacks religion, the monetary system and the Government. The message actually touches me and I tend to agree with a lot of it. I have been doing more research into Peter Joseph the founder of this movement and the creator of the film and I tend to buy into a lot of his belief system and I am tying to do more of my own research into some of his conspiracy theorizing. I try not to get too involved in conspiracy theory so this is quite new to me. Anyway, if you have any interest in this you can check it out here. The movie has been watched by over 5 million people so it has obviously tweaked the interest of many. When you can't sleep these are the things you read and watch. I am Jacks raging bile duct..........

Peace and Love,

Kel

Reel Around The Fountain

PM: 6 Miles, 42:00, Easy Running Blvd.

After 48+ hours off my leg felt improved enough to go for an easy jaunt. It was not pain free but certainly improved and by the end it actually felt better. I nearly added on with a few laps of the Brown University sports fields but opted to do some extra stretching. It is fantastic to get the shoes back on. Its truly amazing how good an easy run makes you feel, especially when listening to good tunes. Tonight I listened to "Crystal Castles" by Crystal Castles.

Tonight I did my Yoga practice with Francine and the crew down at 'Eyes of the World' studios. It was one of my better practices and I felt really strong throughout the class. So I will chalk this down as a joyful day and I am ready for an updated training schedule from Ray.

I read today that The Prodigy are releasing a new album in March. Their first single and accompanying video can be viewed here. It sounds very Prodigy which I guess it should. I used to be a Prodigy fanatic and unlike some people who say "I was into them way back in the day", I actually was into them way back in the day! I along with some friends of mine saw the Prodigy play live when the "Experience" was just released. We're talking 1992ish here. We met the lads and had a good chat, got some pics and talked about rave. Funny thing is they were only about 19 or 20 and we were 14 and 15. But the buzz was unreal. For me they hit their peak in about 1996 before they became more Electro Punk and I just kind of lost interest but always kept the respect.

Moz has released the potential cover art for his new forthcoming album "Years Of Refusal". I say potential because I've seen some other covers but this looks like the final product. I never know what he is thinking so I don't yet know the relevance of the baby. Interestingly he was holding a violin on the cover of the last album and on "You Are The Quarry" he is holding a gun! January will also see a re-release of "Southpaw Grammer". So basically lots of Moz in the early part of 2009.

And seeing as we are on a Smiths buzz I just read today that the "Other" two members of the Smiths, Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke, will be DJing in New York City at one of my favorite bars alternating Tuesday nights. The Beauty Bar is awesome. Francine and I went there about 3 years ago with her bro Marc and his wife Dominica. We drank pints of Pabst and just watched the hipsters file in while a female fashionista played nu wave and punk records on the decks. The bar used to be a beauty salon and the head ovens are still mounted on the wall along with tables that are set up for manicures that happen several nights a week. I may have to get down to one of these nights although seeing as Moz is one of my hero's it would be hard to justify supporting either of these guys given that both Moz and Jonny Marr hate them! Naturally I could really care less and laziness will be the real reason I don't go.
So thats the story from today. Loving being back into training after a brief absence and buzzing for tomorrow,

Love Kel

Templete For Drawing Of The Moon

NO RUNNING OR ANY EXERCISE

Yes, another complete day off. Aside from a few stairs and a walk to/from the car park I pretty much sat on my arse all day. I had some work to get caught up on which killed off a few hours. That and catching up with people at work including a visit from ATL's finest Mr Andy Keel was the craic from the day.

I didn't really get much of a chance to listen to the new sounds I have in my iTunes, but that is what tonight is for. I am really exploring Bloc Party "Intimacy", an album I picked up from Fagan yesterday. I did like their other two albums. Not exactly what I would describe as my kind of sounds but certain tracks really hit the spot so I am assuming I am going to get something similar from this album.
I've been running to "The Prayer" a lot, especially last winter before I blew my knee out. Its a great tune. I have been intrigued by this album for a few reasons, but none more so than the fact that they did a Radiohead on it and released it Digitally on very short notice. Also I have read that it was utter bollix by some of the music media and typically that means I may like it. But it was this review by Luke Turner of "The Quietus that did it for me,

"Bloc Party will always come up against the fact that Radiohead’s OK Computer still stands monolithic over the terrain of personal and existential angst expressed through muddled guitars and electronics. This notwithstanding, although Intimacy is another album from Bloc Party about lonely souls in a hard and indifferent world etc. etc. and so on amen, for the first time, it’s arguably worth joining them in their struggle."

I joined the new Boston Sports Club that opened down the street from me. This may seem like a waste of cashola in these tough times however its all about convenience and despite Reebok having a great Gym and PC having a first class facility neither are a 5 minute walk from the house and if I want to hit up a spin or yoga class I like having it ready and available and just a walk away. I also need to do more core work and a gym membership tends to twist ones arm since its an investment of sorts.

Anyway, tomorrow I'm back running. Leg felt better tonight but I resisted temptation to hit the Blvd by instead taking a trip to Starbucks for some average coffee with my man Coxy.

Two days off is nothing,

Love Kel