In Pitch Dark, I Go Walking In Your Landscape

PM: 90 Minutes Trainer Ride

PM: 2,000 Yards Swim

Not sure why I didn't get up and ride in the AM. I didn't sleep particularly well so my energy and desire to bang out a session were non-existent. Plans to visit the chiropractor were also on my mind. I have an MRI lined up for next week because my knee is really sore and not getting any better. The Dr doesn't think its super serious. Just a strain or some bad tendonitis but the course of treatment will be determined by what results the MRI show. If there is a tear then I am on the sidelines for a while but if its just inflammation then we will go back to intensive rehab.

I jumped on the bike and banged out 90 solid minutes with 15 x Min on/off. After the session I went straight to the pool and did another session. 500m warm up, followed by 5 x 50m w/15 sec rec. 100m breast stroke, 5 x 100m w/20 sec rec. 100m Breast stroke, 5 x 50m w/15 sec, then 300m cool down. My arms are still weak but my stroke tonight was an improvement over last week.

I did not search out new music today, nor did I listen to new bands in my iTunes. Rather, I drove to an acoustic Radiohead session I found in my car. It is a show from 2003 that I have on DVD. Amazing. Check out the song below. So good!

Love Kel

All Local Ingredients

AM: 90 Minutes Trainer Workout

Last night I had the best sleep in as many years as I can remember. I went to bed fairly late and with no sleep aids and only 2 pages of my book I drifted into a blissful sleep. I awoke in a panic at 9:30am. I NEVER sleep through the night without waking up and I NEVER sleep through the night without feeling like I have to use the bathroom. I drink so much water and coffee that I am completely used to a 3am or 4am trip followed by a 6am trip. So as you can imagine it was pretty weird to wake up at 9:30 having slept 9 hours straight. This is what people experience and I want more of it. I jumped out of bed and onto the bike where I did a very hard session.

After 2o minutes w/u I did 10 minutes really pushing the HR up. From 30 -48 minutes I alternated 1 min out of the saddle in a big gear, 1 min in the saddle in the same gear, and 1 min hard in a lesser gear. I took 2 minutes recovery and then did a set of tabatha sprints. 20 seconds all out with 10 seconds recovery x 8. That part was hard. After that it was 3 x 6 minutes big gear work and about 6 or 7 minutes easy spinning to cool down.

But back to the sleep thing. I am obviously dehydrated or something. What with getting all light headed and then sleeping 9 hours with no herbs or even prescription drugs. Very odd. I spent the day replenishing with lots of fluids and food (although food is never an issue with me). I also took my bike out to ride around Providence because P-Town in the fall is beautiful. Things went pear shaped when the rain pished down on me but nothing that ducking into White Electric coffee shop couldn't fix. I am now over at Blue State about to visit Not Just Snacks with Lee and Myene followed by a trip to Abes. Nice little Saturday.

I spent time surfing the interweb of blog, particularly music blogs and came across this gem of the track. I have heard of the artist, edIT but I never paid too much attention. His music didn't do it for me. He falls under the Glitch-Hop category what ever that is. But this song is just beautiful and on constant rotation here at the coffee shop. Check it out.

Love Kel

I'm Not In Love With The Modern World

AM: 75 Minutes Trainer Ride

PM: 60 Minutes Trainer Ride

Nothing like spending 2.25 hours in a basement sweating hard and listening to tunes. The AM session was just a straight up ride, getting progressively faster and harder. I kept my HR below 150 BPM to keep the session controlled. Lovely ride followed by a lovely cup of thick, black coffee. I took the single speed out and rode around P-Town, since I don't get over the far side too much these days. I stopped into Blue State Coffee and spent hours chatting with John "The Eyeball" Lawlor while getting even higher on more coffee. Blue State do free refills. Awesome. The lady next to me fainted. She seemed like a drama queen but I felt bad for her, at least for about 30 seconds when I realized that she was really over the top. My intuition was spot on because after the ambulance arrived and took her away her friend came back in and told us that she has an eating disorder and it happens all the time because she basically runs out of battery power. And that she is a complete attention seeker.

I raced cars up Smith street and easily beat them. I wish I could ride my bike to work because it is so enjoyable to blow past cars stuck in traffic. Got in the door, went downstairs and jumped on the bike for another solid hour. This time I did some reps and single leg drills. Any plans to test my knee with a jog went out the window sharpish when I nearly had my own episode. I felt very light headed after the session and obviously drank too much coffee and not enough water. A trip to Thai star and some Ben and Jerrys certainly did the trick. I'm a happy camper now.

I just bought my Tix to see MEW. Very happy and really looking forward to it.

Love Kel

Well I Wonder

AM: 35 Minutes Steady

PM: 45 Minutes Bike Trainer Session

PM: 35 Minutes Swim

Not a good day on my right knee. The tendonitis I am experiencing in the back of my knee has bit lit up and has engulfed my knee is flames of swelling. I didn't even run that hard, just some steady miles around a 5.5 mile loop. I was over 6 min pace all the way so needless to say I am exceptionally frustrated. I will have to stay at 20-25 minutes because my knee didn't become as inflamed after the other two runs I did this week.

I had no intentions of riding today but my knee was getting me down and I thought that some biking might help loosen it up. It didn't work. Swelling and general pain was very evident, even during the session. I went straight up to the pool afterwards and did a workout that Kempes gave me today. It involved 2 x 400m warm up. The first set had a buoy between the legs but it kept popping out because I can't swim with my legs together so the warm up ended up being a very hard 800m for me. Like warming up for a track session by "jogging" 3 miles in 14:30! The main set was 3 x 200 using long, slow strokes and counting the amount for 25 years. After that I maintain the same count but increase the output. Disaster. The first set had me anaerobic because gliding in the water requires ability to control breathing which I can't. I did my best but it was a long 600m. I cooled down with 200m of easy freestyle and breaststroke. I need lessons, sharpish.

The only music I listened to today was on the bike and it was all Wolf Parade. So nothing new to report. I think I am addicted to Spencers voice. I never paid much attention to the differences between Dan and Spencer. Both voiced suited their respective songs. However after playing "Dragonslayer" endlessly and revisiting "Random Spirit Lover", my favorite Sunset Rubdown album the distinction between the two voices is really obvious. Not that I don't like Dan's voice. I think its amazing, I just think Spencer Krug has a better voice for my personal taste.

Peace And Love,

Kel

This one's for you Crawlor!

Weak And Empty, But Happy

PM: 60 Minutes Trainer Hard

PM: 21 Minutes Swim, Exhausted

I am so weak. Literally, not figuratively. My Arms were so exhausted tonight that I had to stop after 21 pathetic minutes. I had no power and no energy. The bike portion of the training tonight was quite the opposite. Lots of power and lots of great energy, helped by some Milton Jackson and Gui Boratto. The pace was up tempo all the way, the music was up tempo and the wise thing would have been to stay on the bike for 90 minutes rather than force a swim. Mike DeCoste sent me an email outlining some swimming tips. They worked for the first few lengths before exhaustion and weakness took over. So I got out of the water, not too bothered either.

The weather is on crack. Beautiful, sunny fall days make me miss running so much. There is a smell in the air that is the smell of Cross Country. Its warm but cold, feels like summer but also like winter. The yellow/brown of the leaves gives the whole area a tan. I may go to Franklin Park on Sunday to watch Mayors Cup. Its always hard to watch a race I desperately want to run again but if I don't support cross country running in Boston what hope does the sport have!

Peace and Love

Kel

Grounds For Divorce

AM: 25 Minutes Run

PM: 90 Minutes Trainer Ride

PM: 31 Minutes Swim

Good day of athletics, cycling, and swimming. By most peoples standards, including my own, the running portion was pretty pathetic but being able to jog 25 minutes out of bed is not bad. Knee was sore afterwards and not really bad. I actually forgot about it while getting my root canal. Yes, a root canal. My second visit to the dentist in 10 days. Fortunately I am done for the year with Dr. Barr and his surprisingly comfortable chair.

After work I jumped on my trainer and did 90 minutes. Just like last night I did more than I planned and I made it up as I went along. Some single leg drills, some big gear efforts, some out of the saddle work, and some spinning. And just like last night, Coxy rang my phone with 10 minutes to go so I was chatting while cooling down and I felt amazing.

Right after I hit up the PC pool and swam just over 30 minutes. I felt really tired. Far from a fish is this guy. I might need some lessons on how to be more efficient. I feel like I am slow, and the fact that there was a female student in the next lane literally going three lengths for two of mine makes me realize I need to get some tips now before I develop bad habits. Nothing beats running, thats for sure.

I've been listening to the the new Echo And The Bunnymen album. I am not sure yet. I need many more listens. Its ok on first go around but with so much amazing music I kind of think the the Bunnymen have passed their best days. However, I need many more listens. On first run through the below song is my favorite.

Love Kel

It Spat Its Rain Down On Me

PM: 90 Minutes Trainer Ride, single leg drills

Another night in the basement making up a workout on the bike. I've been thinking about writing a training plan. I know the days I'll be going swimming so thats a start. Beyond that I know I will ride almost everyday and when I can run (if I ever run again) I'll mix in some of that too. Little bit of core work here and there and I have the basics. Today I rode steady for 30 minutes, did single leg drills for 8 minutes and then rode hard for 30 minutes before a steady cool down until I hit 90 minutes. I planned on another 75 mins but Coxy called so it allowed me time to speak to him and add on another 15 minutes. Lovely session and I felt fantastic.

I listened to "Memory Tapes" on my ride today. Some songs are okay and some are fantastic, like the one I have below. Memory Tapes is a collaboration between "Memory Cassettes" and "Weird Tapes". I am not super familiar with either band although I do have some Weird Tapes tracks I just read about their union on the blogosphere. This song has been out for a while. The track, and their other music, is really joyful and emotional with true nostalgia of Nu Wave and summer days drinking cans and living large. Really simple and beautiful.

Love Kel

Fight The Scary Day

PM: 75 Minutes Trainer Ride, w/ 25 Minutes in a big gear, slow RPM.

Big gear tempo stuff. I really have no idea what I am doing. Quite bizarre really. I think (many would disagree, many wouldn't) that I know running very well. I may not follow my own advice but I do know the sport and the training and everything in between. But riding a bike? I am making it up as I go along. I decided that I do too much spinning so I went for a 52-13 and stayed in the saddle. I had decent tension on the back wheel so it was hard and my legs were burning. I think it was helpful in developing muscle and strength but maybe not. Either way, I was sweating and I felt like I did a good workout.

Baystate Marathon was today and it was very good despite the horrible weather. Reebok has been a sponsor of this great New England race for the last 5 years and it is fantastic to see the race grow and go from strength to strength. I hope the competitors don't leave with a sour taste in their mouths considering how horrible the weather was. Somethings the race organizers have no control over.

I have spent a lot of time listening to the new "Editors" album this week. It is very dark but I can't help thinking its a little forced. They really went for a Joy Division feel. Naturally this should make the album amazing but something is missing. I still love the album, it just didn't have the immediate impact that I expected after I heard "Papillon". With that being said I still can't stop listening to it. I might be doing Martin's head in because it is on pretty steady rotation.......

They did a showcase at Fabric in London last week. Check out one of the songs from the show below.

Peace and Love

Kel

LIFE ALIVE

I've been on the road and stressed some goings on at work and with life. Its nothing bad at all but with sore knees and Frankie being away, things get intensified. I have been banging out the sessions on the bike and I went for another swim the other night. I suck at swimming but thats a story for another day. I am in Lowell, MA right now for the Baystate Marathon. We ended a very successful expo and now its off for a beer and bed before set up tomorrow morning. I am back eating at Life Alive a place I enjoyed a couple of meals at last year. Organic, vegetarian heaven. Now I am going to ruin it with IPA. But after today I deserve a drink!

Love Kel

Dead Souls

PM: 75 Minutes Ride

PM: 26 Minutes Run

This morning called for a trip to the dentist and a sizable filling. Its been a long time coming but if I avoided the storm thus far its now tidal in scope and about to wash over me. I am getting three fillings in the next 2 weeks. Nice. Nothing like a drill in the gob and a lot needles. I was going to ride after but I was actually quite sore (bit of a dentist novice) and numb. Instead I went and got a large coffee from the Exchange and came home to bang out some work.

In the afternoon I did a 75 minute progression ride. Started off easy and built up the HR as the sweat and music intensified. I played some old skool Sasha and Digweed. Lovely tunes for a hard trainer session. When I got off the bike Fagan woke from his nap and started to prepare for his afternoon run. I made a rational decision to join him for 3-4 miles of it. Knee hurt and hurts now but it was a great to get out for some fresh air. I feel like I am training again so its all good. But I will not be happy until I am up to at least 45 minutes of running combined with 90+ minutes of riding.

New French Teen Idol album came out this summer. I haven't really sat down and listened to it until today. It is stunningly beautiful. I downloaded it on my old Mac and since I bought my new Mac I didn't listen to a lot of Summer albums with the dedication they deserve. Below is an example of the new sound. Fantastic.

Peace and Love

Kel

Dead Mans Bones

PM: 60 Minutes Bike

PM: 31 Minutes Swim

Thank you for all the positive emails regarding my recent flotrack vid. It was off the cuff after a long day at Manhattan and Ryan was very nice to give an old dog a chance to relive some of the glory days!

Speaking of glory days, I jumped back into twice a day training. I did a bike/swim combo and I feel great even though I cannot lift my arms. I had an interesting day to say the least so its good to be back home surfing the blogosphere and finding new music. Some of which is below. I mentioned these guys recently and this song is still playing heavily on the iPod.

No other news other than 41 Rome Ave is a little more quite now that Frankie and Pat are gone. Fagan is here for 2 weeks to keep us entertained so thats good.

Tired,

Love Kel

Dinner Bells

AM: 70 Minutes Steady Trainer Ride

Back in action. Legs are a little stiff but I had a joyful session on the bike. I am delighted to be back training. My knee is not too bad but I still cannot even jog. Yesterdays 1.25 miles run was sore! With that being said the temptation to run this week will be heightened since Fagan is staying here. It will be difficult to watch him run each day. At least Kim is on a break so I won't be the only one not running. I bought the new Editors album today, "In This Light And On This Evening". It is very Joy Division and has come under some criticism. I don't mind a new album sounding like Joy Division so I will be listening with an open mind. Below is the opening track.

Love Kel

Give To Me, Your Eyes, I Need Sunshine.

This makes a tired, hurting 32 year old very happy and very optimistic. 75 Minutes hard trainer session with some Grog and Dog action. Lots of athletics action this weekend and I loved it all but then again it doesn't really matter. All that matters is that I am personally back on a training plan, albeit sans running. Frankie is off to Switzerland. And life continues to change. I am feeling particularly happy for no reason in specific. Although a trip to visit Frankie on the cards certainly makes a solo Fall more tolerable. LOTS of biking starting today......

Peace and Love,

Kel

Thats What You Get For Pulling Pins, Another Hole Inside The Hole Your In

Today I decided that I was going to stop feeling sorry for myself and get my act together. Normally this spells disaster, a hard session with no regard for my current state of fitness. Not this time however. I got on the bike and I did a sold 60 Minutes at a pretty high cadence, maintaining a high, but not too high HR. (I didn't wear a monitor). The choice of tunage was The Smiths. I always wonder and will continue to forever, why I was not a Smiths fan in school. Did something change in my brain. Too much techno driving me slightly insane perhaps. But I love everything by the Smiths. There is literally not one song that I don't like. And they may be the only band whos entire catalog has no misses in my opinion. I can't say that about Radiohead, although they have a lot more songs and a longer career. I can say some of Mozzers solo work is questionable. It was a real joy to shuffle through the albums. So many great songs. My favorite of which is below.

Off to NYC tomorrow but I will get a session in. I am staying on top of fitness again and I a going to start my daily trainer rides to tap into that never ending store of fitness......now if only my knees would cop the F on.

Peace and Love,

Kel

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