There Is Nothing I Can Do To Stop The Monster

I am not sure if I can still consider myself an athlete. An athlete trains daily, or at least 5 days a week. I don't. I exercise once or twice a week at best and then my knees hurt and my heart weakens. I used to think that becoming tired as a result of stress was completely mental. But its not. With all that is going on in my life right now I feel exhausted, and sore to boot. However, Thom Yorke and his new band are playing gigs and music makes me smile. Incredible really. Such a simple thing makes such a big difference.

Love Kel

Burn The Streets, Burn The Cars

My last day in Port Elgin and last day with Frankie for a while. Tough times but new and better opportunities await which is very positive. We ran 30 minutes yesterday and both felt crappy. My knee was not as bad as it has been so I may do another 30 minutes today. The rain that has been threatening all week has finally come so I am not riding. Right now I am doing one of my favorite things, searching the blogosphere for new music and it is coming in droves although I cannot stop listening to two songs. ARMS - Kids Aflame and Dead Man's Bones - Pa Pa Power. Nothing brings out sunshine on a rainy, miserable day like finding great new music. Signing off because I have real work to do at some point and this lunch break is becoming a day break.

Love Kel

When A Cold Wind Blows It Chills You, Chills You To The Bone.

Summer was marginal at best and now it feels like Winter. Where did September go? What a non-month even though it had kick ass moments. And tomorrow is Oct 1sr, my 32nd B-Day but really just another Earth cycle. My knee is still going to feel like ass and the wind off lake Huron is going to blow hard making my bike ride a suffer fest. The last 2 days I rode 2 hours each afternoon. The first effort involved Frankie dropping me off about 55k from her parents house. Ordinarily this is a joke of a ride but it was the worse headwind I have ever experienced on the bike and since I was just heading north it was around the whole way. Brutal. At points on the ride I was screaming for it to stop (i know shouting can't make the wind stop), thats how irrational I was. Got back exhausted. One of the hardest rides I have ever done. A long straight road for 30+ miles with 30-60 MPH wind coming off the lake. Today was not bad although had I not rode yesterday I would have said it was horrible. I did an out and back with cross winds all the way. I enjoyed the ride and pushed hard over the last 30 minutes. Two solid days in the bank.

Thom York just announced his band for the solo material tour. The band is as yet unnamed but let me tell you, I'm very excited. Flea is his bassist! With Joey Waronker on drums. He usually plays with REM and Beck. Much more will be announced about this over the coming days but for right now it seems like it will be awesome. They are playing shows in LA next weekend. I would love to go but its not possible. People better take good video footage!

Thats all I got. Canada for a few more days and then its Bye Bye to Frankie and a return to US and A. A little more positive today!

Peace and Much Love,

Kel

You Can Make It

I'm not running for a while, letting my knee settle down etc. I'll try some biking but that will hurt too. Anyway, check out the Julian Plenti singing "Only If You Run" from the show at the weekend. Potentially going to see Matt&Kim this Thursday in Toronto. Nice.

Love Always, Kel

For Each A Road

Right knee is really, really sore. Almost to the point that I think I may have torn something. Hopefully its just tendonitis or something else but either way its bad. I am very frustrated. Driving to Canada tomorrow, lots to get done and lots to think about for 10 hours solo in a car. 

Peace and Love,

Kel

Art And Music

My leg has been bothering me so much lately that I have found no desire or energy to write about it. Complete transparency aside not one wants to read constant moaning so I will avoid doing such. The last three days have been a challenge with the top of my calf, tendons in my knee, and hammy all acting very strange. I know its because of my attempts to change my gait. Not that I am giving that up, its essential that I stay the course. But the growing pains are not pleasant.

Today I head down to NYC with Frankie. I am visiting some stores and meeting people. Then tonight we see Julian Plenti at the Guggenheim Museum. It will be close, emotional, epic, and rare. Needless to say I need this right now. It is our last weekend together for 2+ months, maybe longer. Lots of strange energy, sadness and joy that she is chasing the dream much like I have been as a runner for the last 10 years. It is a great opportunity for Frankie and even though I will miss her I wouldn't change anything and I encourage her to maybe extend her stay in Geneva (selfishly hoping she'll stay through the spring so I can bring my bike and ride some of the famous Tour De France passes!!!!)

Like I have said many times before, Julian Plenti is amazing. He is the lead singer of the band Interpol and this is his solo project that has been in existence long before Interpol formed. Paul Banks is a fantastic singer with such a distinct voice that is addicting and intoxicating. I love Interpol but I really love Paul Banks voice. Not that this is a knock on the band. They work really well together and are very tight but Paul has a sadness in his vocals that really hits home with me. Not on the level as Thom or Spencer Krug but certainly very high up on the list of guys I could listen to sing for a very long time. Tonight will be epic and I hope to be right in front of the stage. Will post pics and video over the weekend.

Love Kel

Fobbed Off With Lame Shite Excuses

Not a great a weekend with the old training game or healthy living but a very good weekend all the same. It all went pearshaped on Friday when I ran an 8 mile loop from the office and decided to test the waters with some uptempo running at the end. The quicker pace felt nice so I pushed on and timed my last mile at 4:50-52ish. This makes no sense at all but I truly didn't feel like I was running hard, I was running at a pace I figured I could hold for 30 minutes and only doing it for a mile. I expected a 5:20 at the quickest. My leg became very sore afterwards and it wasn't my bad knee, it was the right leg. My back and hip are all jacked up too and for my troubles I had 2 days off. 

We had a work event this weekend that involved a U2 concert at Foxboro in the Reebok VIP suite. Needless to say it was a unique and very enjoyable experience. Next day, after many hours of detailed meetings I ran an easy hour with a few of the gang, finishing off easy and controlled with first class traveller John Clark. KD, Ryan Fen, Nate Brooks, and Kris Hartner decided to bury me and John putting 3 odd minutes into us at the end. All good lads but payback is rough in the jungle!

The hour was not good in terms of how my leg felt. I am getting some Chiro work done tomorrow. I think I have a  nerve and muscle issue going on. I'm sure it will be fixed by this weekend so its not bad. Maybe this is a good opportunity for me to accept that Euro XC has to become a moot point. There was a little part of me that seceretly dreamed of making it back for the trial but its not happening. I am so far away from running hard that I need to cop on and focus on getting healthy and building a rational, functional aerobic base with a true, realistic goal at the end.

New Thom York material out. The double-sided 12" features a new song called "The Hollow Earth", it is an uptempo electronic number that may have been a B-Side n The Eraser. Like the A-Side single it is very dark and driven by skittish beats and Thom's amazing voice. Great Tune!

The A-Side is "Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses". This track was the mother of "Reckoner", and in fact used to be called Reckoner. Thom has performed it many times live and its amazing so naturally when "In Rainbows" came out many fans were disappointed with their initial listen since Reckoner sounds nothing like we thought it would from the live performance. Anyone still disappointed with the song is clearly demented and I would find it difficult to be friends with them.

"Feeling Pulled Apart By Horses" follows the same vein, sans chorus, as the live version that has been floating around for a long time. It is not driven by the band or even acoustic, rather it is electronic, full of pads, an echoing Thom Yorke vocal and a sick bassline. I do prefer the live version but this is definitely cool. Check both songs out below and if you don't want to buy the hard copy Thom will have the songs available for download in October.

Love Kel