Happy Happy

I read tonight that Giles Peterson on his Radio 1 show said that the new Radiohead album is DONE. Thats according to Thom Yorke. All pretty good resources I'd say. This kind of news of a Friday night makes me a happy camper. Cold is slowly lifting. My knee is loving the rest. And I am listening to electro pop and drinking tea. Only thing missing is some taxi bars but that I can deal with. My lack of activity has left me feeling fat. Which leads me to beg the question, how the fuck do people not enjoy a little bit of exercise? If that sounded angry it didn't mean to be. I am just very excited at the news. Fortunately the Millrose Games are not even getting me down, but that has more to do with the fact that Tim Hutchings is commentating. He is vastly superior to Dwight and Lewis.

The Tune below might sound a bit cheesey but I could care less. Its lovely Friday night music when there is no wine to share. Sometimes the uplifting sounds hit the spot. Christoph Andersson is from New Orleans and even though his name and music suggest he is a mature French dude, he is in fact just turned 19 and making music thats catchy, sexy, and full of feel good vibes. Only in a world as tragic as the one we live does this guy not even factor and muppits like Justin Bieber are mainstream.

Love Kel

Nothing A Head Cold Won't Fix

Fortunately my desire (which boarders on insanity at times) to try and workout has been completely squashed due to a brutal head cold I came down with. I haven't had a cold in years. I usually get sick once a year and I'll get some allergy attacks during the spring but right now I have a good old fashioned head cold. The kind that makes your ears hurt and the skin beneath your nose raw from too much nose blowing. I hope its gone by the weekend. The good thing is the fact that I truly have no desire or energy to do anything. That said, the lack of desire to improve is rapidly disrupting my ice schedule. Who wants to put packs of ice on various body parts with a head that feels like its about to explode? Not this guy. I choose to listen to hours and hours of music.

Knee progress is slow. We have kind of figured out that at this stage the surgery was not necessary.  We also know that I should have been treating this like I am now, one year ago! The tendons are inflamed and in order for new collegen (sp.) to develop I need time off, and a lot of it. So far its been three weeks of zero activity. Starting tomorrow I will move into an eccentric loading routine for my calves and hammys. Even though it will hurt, or at least irritate my knee, it is the right thing to do. The pain is down significantly but if I don't do the strength work I'll be back where I started.

Whether or not I get back to running this spring is moot because I am going to focus on getting fit on the bike first. With some big races in the pipeline getting the legs used to riding again is certainly the first order of business. I am not attempting running until sometime in April. We'll see what happens then. I am not holding my breath. But I am accepting what ever happens. The thing is, I can't remember what it is like to be pain free. Thats when you know you've been chronically injured. I literally can't imagine running fast with an effortless stride and NO pain! So if it happens again it will be very welcome.

The snow in Providence has been off the charts. We get a solid foot of snow every other week. Last night the storm was "only" 13 inches and no one seemed really bothered. Thats the sign of a bad winter. I'll be braving what ever snow is around this weekend to check out the Friars run the annual Terrier Classic followed by a gathering at Tommy Macs place. Should be lovely.

Because they are touring NA again and because the quality is really good I need to share a few songs from the Interpol video footage shot at The Williamsburg Music Hall. It up on the Matador website. Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down, such a great tune. A couple other new ones too. Enjoy.

Love Kel

We're Not Scaremongering, This Is Really Happening.

Its been 11 days since Surgery and I am no better. In fact, without being dramatic, I'm a lot worse. The swelling after surgery fueled the already damaged tendons in the back of my knee. Now everything hurts. My calf, my hammy, and my popliteus tendon are all screaming at me. I am trying to pull a Jens Voigt by screaming back at them to shut up but its not working. There is another underlying problem that I cannot get to the bottom of. Obviously there is the messed up pelvis and the leg length discrepancy but thats been part of my current make up for years. Another issue could be all the biking. I have not addressed all the biomechanical issues I have while riding the bike, rather I just use pain as a guide. Nothing hurts riding, everything hurts running. Right now after some treatments I should feel improvement. And yet all I feel is more pain and inflammation. I am seeing Dr. McKeon tomorrow but its in the hands of physiotherapy now. Being an orthopedic surgeon his job is to go in and look around. He said my tear was not bad and that the knee itself is in good shape. That means the tendinosis is worse than I thought and I am in for a long PT journey. I'm really trying to stay positive but over the last few days I've lost some hope. Being around running can be very difficult at times. Not that I'd change it but I can see why certain individuals I know have become bitter towards the sport. It does not reward on an even plane. Lots of luck is required. Some of the most talented and hardworking people I know get let down by their bodies while some of the most selfish runners I know (not to mention the drug cheats I don't know) seem to thrive. I don't believe in Karma so I shouldn't focus on this aspect of life but right now I am. Tomorrow I'll wake up and I won't be in a downer mood and I'll fight hard and stay positive, I'll be motivated to fix this knee. Until tomorrow all I have is some wonderful music to listen to, a healthy bag of ice, and an almost full heart.

Speaking of good music. I've been on a techno kick lately. All weekend I listened to minimal and very melodic electronic music. Its been a joy. A friend recommended the artist Oneohtrix Point Never, an ambient electronic music producer from Brooklyn who before Saturday I'd never heard of. His music is stunning. Despite me referring to him as ambient, the music is much more original than that. Synths and strings layered so deep and shrouded in random vocals. The opener is a big chaotic and terrifying but then the album reaches an equilibrium and truly takes me on a journey. My favorite song is below.

Peace and Much Love,

Kel

Snow Days

Some people love Snow Days. I can of course relate to this because I remember once too liking snow days. Maybe I still do, but given the fact that I've been laid low for the last week today really sucked. I am beyond bored. Liverpool got manhandled by Blackpool. My knee is sore from trying to move snow so I could get my car out to attend PT. In the end I didn't even go to PT because more snow came down this afternoon and I couldn't deal with more shoveling. Furthermore Mike was having his own issues keeping the parking lot clear at Foundation Performance. We thought it better for everyone if I put an ice pack on my knee. So I did, and I continue to. Boring. I need to start exercising or something.

I visit youtube more than any other website. Today I listened to about 50 songs, all live versions, all on youtube. I love how I can type in a song name and put live on the end to reveal an endless list of versions. Go to most viewed and more often than not its a great camera and great sound. What did we do before the internets? Read? We all know TV is shite so thats not an option. Although outside of watching the Reds embarrass themselves I also watched Obama speak on the campus of the University of Arizona. I thought he did a remarkable job. The cheering was a bit bizarre but by the end it was appropriate. I also youtubed Sarah Palins response to the shootings and I realized that its a mild form of torture to listen to her speak for 8 minutes. Hers was the opposite of Obama's, empty, insincere and all about herself.

Wolf Parade performed an in-studio session with CBC's Q Live. I posted the only available song here a few weeks ago but now the whole show is available. What Did My Lover Say was the song I was really looking forward to hearing/seeing. The performance is awesome and really displays the musicianship of the group. The video has 188 views right now and I think I contributed in a significant way........

Back to treatment on these tendons at the back of my knee. Tomorrow I will get more deep tissue work and hopefully some gentle spinning on the bike. I need to sweat, I'm literally bouncing off the walls here.

Peace and Love,
Kel

Strange Scene It Is

Good first day in with Mike Silva at Foundation Performance. Mike reckons my range of motion is way ahead of where it should be. I actually walked a brisk 10 minutes at 80% body weight on the Alter-G trainer. A lot of my issues come from some really bad binding up on the lateral side of my calf, right where it inserts into the back of the knee. I need a lot of deep tissue work. I am going to go as much as I can - so if anyone knows a trainee therapist who wants to work for tips, my calf and hammy is all yours.
When I complain of still feeling that familiar pain, Mike thinks its just the inflamed tendon but the root cause is taken care of so all I need to do is get my calf and hammy nice and long/loose, and get into a strengthening routine with minimal running. I'll do Alter-G this time. I kind of blew it off last time because I was on the road so much. Good first day of treatment. More of the same tomorrow. I am listening to The Radio Dept a lot tonight and Never Follow Suit has become a bit of a favorite right now. Its lovely.

Peace,

Kel

The Radio Dept. "Never follow suit" from Labrador Records on Vimeo.

Lets Sing A Song On The Way Back Home

I've been caning the Twin Shadow record Forget all day. And he did a daytrotter session that fills me with joy. You should check it out. Its been a tough weekend as I am not one who sits around doing nothing. In fact I struggle with it more than most. But it had to be done. I start PT tomorrow and I can't wait. The swelling has really subsided which for a notoriously slow healer like myself is a real positive. However the lingering and all to familiar pain I feel in the back of my knee is a big negative. I don't want to get down on this before I start rehab but being honest I can still feel the same ache. Dr. McKeon, in all fairness, did say that he is pretty sure that the tear was only one part of my pain and that the tendons behind my knee were inflamed and that tendinitis is another issue I need to sort out. So back to Mike and the crew at Foundation Performance for a gallant and committed effort to get this right. I am lucky to have Coxy as my boss because he is allowing me the freedom to get the therapy. Not that I'll be shirking my work duties.

Another huge positive is that Moonface (Spencer Krug) is touring this year with one date announced for May in Montreal. I bought a couple of tix and I am already beside myself with excitement. I have no idea how the show is going to work out. Is he going to have a band or is he going to be behind a bunch of looping keyboards? Whatever way he chooses to bring us the music I have no doubt it will be very special.

A nice live session from Twin Shadow below. Check it.

Love Kel

TWIN SHADOW "SHOOTING HOLES" from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

Small Tear, Big Pain

The operation was, at least according to the Dr., a success. The tear was small but very central and the flap was irritated during all weight baring activity. That explains why it was so sore during expo's or any long periods of standing. In fact it was worse when standing than running! The days prior to surgery I ran 5 miles on the treadmill and it explained a lot to me. Day one, 5 miles wasn't too bad. A dull pain that got worse when I stopped. Day 2 I made it to 4.5 and really hurt during the last .5 mile. Afterward my knee, calf and even my foot were all very sore. A minor tear can be dealt with but when irritated it can create a lot of pain. I just happen to keep irritating it so I'm happy its gone.

So the plan is to take it VERY easy over the next month. I am treating this like an ACL injury. I want to get better and the only way is to take it slow, do all the rehab and focus on biking as my primary exercise. I believe that by summer I'll have the top off and the split shorts on (or half tights more likely) and I'll be doing tempo runs around the Coogan loop on the east side. At least thats the small dream.

Might have to reward myself with a Burton Baton at the Colonial tonight. We'll see.

Peace and Love,

Kel