Injured?

On Monday morning I woke to find that my right leg felt peculiar. I had some overall muscular soreness in my hips and legs due to playing an extended amount of tennis over the weekend, and playing 1 on 1 basketball is an activity that I am sure worked muscles that I normally do not use. But my right leg felt odd when bent and pushing off going up stairs or uphill. It reminded me of my IT Band troubles a couple of years ago, minus the knee stiffness. The fact that both my knees held up from the weekend makes me breathe a sigh of relief.

So instead of running on Monday I walked to the cemetery after work and walked up and down the hill for 20 minutes. Tuesday the leg felt a little better, which indicated that the injury is hopefully a minor one. I walked the cemetery hill again, this time for 30 minutes. I guessed that with 1 week of walking and no running, the leg may soon return to 100%. Today I woke to find the peculiar soreness to have dissipated further, so I am planning to walk the hill a little longer today.

Maybe by the weekend I can return to running. With the Devil's Lake race less than 2 weeks away, having to rest isn't going to hurt me too much. I am considering running my first 5k in 2 years this Sunday. I have no idea what my time will be, but I am guessing it will be nowhere close to the 18:48 I ran in my last one. I would be happy with 21:00, and would not be surprised with 22:30. I have slowed down a lot, but am enjoying running more than ever before, so speed is obviously not something which presently motivates me.

Yesterday I jammed to Buddy Guy again with the electric, and noticed a change/improvement in how I play. David showed me a Jimmy Page riff from Stairway to Heaven, which entailed a mini barre on the high e/b strings while pulling off with the pinkie. I had already been aware of using mini barres when leading, but my skills were not high enough to allow me to practice it effectively. This time things started to click and I was using the mini barre for much of my playing, allowing for more efficient note changes. Things are starting to get interesting with my playing....

Just Like Old Times

Wow. My old college friend David is on his way back to Chicago tonight after a weekend visit to my home.

We played tennis on Saturday morning, basketball at Brookens Gym on Saturday night, jammed guitars after basketball in my music studio, more tennis on Sunday morning, followed by playing catch in a field on Sunday afternoon.

The tennis matches were just as competitive and fiery as a decade ago. I admit I was expecting to cruise past David in tennis due to my physical conditioning and having practiced a bit the past 2 months.

However, on Saturday morning I found myself being blitzed by good serves and an array of better shots. I quickly fell behind 6-3, 6-4. We were playing a best of 5, and I was trying my best to not give up hope after dropping the first 2 sets. The day was getting warmer, and the humidity was high. My only flicker of hope was David faltering in the heat. My wish came true as the beginning of the 3rd set saw a decline in consistency and fight in David. He began to labor as I cruised to a 6-1 set victory. The 4th set I continued the comeback and won 6-4. David then summoned his fighting spirit and we battled even to 5-5, the winner having to win by 2 games. I thought of the recent Wimbledon match that went 70-68 in the 5th set, but we did not come close to that marathon, as I fought to a 7-5 set victory, taking the match 3-2.

In the evening we played one on one basketball, and I wish I had practiced shooting more in the previous months, but I played hoops at Brookens only 2-3 times in the past year, so I held out little hope of victory, as David plays in a Y league in Chicago. I lost the game 11-7, but it was an intense workout, we were both sweating and tired after it was over.

When we got home David played some songs on his Martin acoustic guitar, and then asked if I wanted to jam with him on my electric. We went into my music studio and I told him I had never played with anyone before, so I did not know how I would do. He began playing some rhythm riffs, one being Led Zep's Stairway to Heaven, and I found jamming to his rhythms similar to playing along to Buddy Guy on the stereo. Once I found the correct key all I had to do was play any combination of notes from the 5 patterns of the pentatonic scale. I did pretty good, and although my technical lead skills are minimal, I feel I am slowly improving. David was complimentary of my play, and I once again thought of my original plan to jam with Joseph and his girlfriend. I am still at least a few months away from doing that, but I am gaining more confidence with each passing month.

David gave me a gift of a Robert Johnson blues book which includes all 29 of his songs with tabs and chord diagrams. He also gave me a cool looking slide guitar thingy which fits on my fretting finger to allow slide guitar play. I am looking forward to learning how to use it.

After playing Rachel pulled some home made cinnamon rolls from the oven and eating the warm sweet rolls were quite a treat.

Sunday morning we decided to play the deciding match - it was considered even, 1-1, me winning in tennis, David winning in basketball. The humidity was high, but the heat not as bad. We decided to play a best of 3, as we did not want to overextend our level of tennis fitness. Realizing that David has superior tennis skills, I decided the best strategy was to attack relentlessly to throw him out of his comfort zone. I rushed the net constantly in the first set, and came away with a surprising 6-1 victory. David fought back in the 2nd set, taking it 6-4. We fought even in the final set, taking it to 7-7, until David finally pulled away for a 9-7 victory. The points were longer and more fiercely fought than the previous day, and although we played 2 less sets, the amount of time spent on the court (3 hours) equaled the time spent on Saturday.

When we returned home David had Rachel distribute the winner/loser gifts. David had his wife and kids buy gifts for the winner and loser of the tennis match, and they were wrapped with numbers written on them, "1" and "2". I opened my "2" gift and found a beautiful stone with the word "hope" engraved on its smooth surface. There was also a stone candle holder. I jokingly said to Rachel and David, "this stone says "tough luck loser, better luck next time". David received a similar stone with the word "strength" engraved on it, and a black metal victor's necklace.

After more guitar playing from David we went out to the Wiley School field and played catch under the hot noon sun. Soon after David packed up and returned to Chicago. We decided that I would visit him in the autumn for a rematch on his home turf. He stole home court this time, so I hope to do the same.

It was great seeing David - competing, jamming, talking and laughing.

Solstice

Rachel and I planned to be outdoors for the entire length of daylight today, but we woke to thunder/lightning, and since I have had a few close calls this summer with lightning, we decided to postpone the initial morning activity of biking to Homer Lake.

Rachel returned to bed, but I decided to run hills at the arboretum, and if the lightning got too close I would take cover at the laundromat across the street. When I arrived at the hill the wind picked up and the air temperature dropped about 10 degrees. It felt nice, and I began running up and down the hill at 50k pace (slow). Up and down, up and down, after an hour it started to rain, but the thunder disappeared, so I could breathe easy and enjoy the struggle. After 90 minutes the sky turned blue and the heat/humidity rose steadily. Unlike my long run 2 days ago where I was forced to stop after 4 hours due to heat/humidity, I was able to remain in control and continued running the hill until the 3 hour mark.

Walking home after, my confidence about the upcoming 50k increased, and I felt my fitness had improved so that if I was having a good race day I would not struggle until the final 8-10 miles, which means I should be able to finish.

After the hills I was feeling a bit tired and after collecting wood and mulch at the landscape recycling center I took it easy indoors by taking a nap for an hour.

When I woke the day had gotten hotter, and it was now too late to head to Kickapoo for tubing down the river. So I instead took a hike to the cemetery and walked the hill for 1 hour. When I returned home at 6:00pm I decided to call it a day and finally sat down to relax.

In the evening before bed I played guitar for 45 minutes, same old stuff - jamming to Buddy Guy.

My friend David from college is coming this Friday for a weekend of athletics - tennis/basketball/running. I am hoping our tennis match rivals our epic games from the 90's when we played together in Chicago.

Respite

The past week I noticed that I was not practicing the guitar on a consistent basis. This marked the first time since I began in January that I let my dedication wander to other things.

I thought of my 18 year photography quest and remembered that each August I would take a 1 month break from anything having to do with pictures. The hot weather was perfect for running and getting fit, being outdoors and just enjoying the flow of moments. While my guitar quest is not as serious, I know that the warm weather has induced me to concentrate on other things, such as running.

Having signed up for a repeat of last year's races, the DWD 50k at Devil's Lake in July, and the 8 hour Howl in August, the training has currently taken the focus of my energy and attention.

Back in December I injured the popliteal ligament in my right knee at the tail end of a 12 miler. Just like all of my injuries, I was not in any serious discomfort, however, whenever I tried running my knee would get stiff after 5 miles, and I could feel the ache in the back of the knee, which is where the ligament is located. Just like the winter of 2008, when I injured my right knee, I was unable to run long distance until the spring. I took all of April off, and when I returned I found that the ligament had healed - the ache behind the knee was gone, along with the front stiffness.

I am finally starting to round into shape, although my endurance base is small. I ran the Buffalo 5 miler in mid May, having run only 3 or 4 times in the 5 weeks leading up to the race. I averaged 7:30 miles, which is slow when compared to my previous times, but considering the circumstances I was pleased with the result.

Last Saturday I ran the Lake Mingo 7 miler, and finished in 1 hour. Last year I crossed the line in 56 minutes, and the year before that, 52 minutes. It makes me feel old when I see the 4 minute time increases, but last year I was concentrating solely on long runs, with no speed work, so the 56 minutes made sense, and this year I had a 4 month break from January-April, so the 1 hour finish also makes sense.

After last year's Mingo race I took a 20 minute rest, refueled, and ran 2 more loops for a 23 mile day. It was a great workout, a lot of fun, and it led nicely to the Devil's Lake race. Coming into Mingo this year I had run 2 x 12 milers and the week before the race a 17 miler, so I decided to push myself and repeat last year's training day. After the race I refueled and when I began the 2nd loop I literally ran into Tana R., a fellow ultra runner, who was also going out for a 2nd loop. We ended up running together for the 2nd set of 7 miles, and it made things go smoothly.

The day was hot with high humidity, and after the 2nd loop I was on my own and considered dropping the 3rd loop. I knew that if I stopped after 14 miles I would probably have a tough time at Devil's Lake, so I decided to press on, and by mile 2 of the 3rd set of 7, I was overheated and bonking. I was not upset about this, as I wanted to practice running while under distress. I felt similarly to mile 19 of my first marathon - the inability to will the body to run against any type of resistance. I had to walk the hills, but was able to run the flat areas of the trail. Unlike the marathon, my legs felt fresh, but the depletion of energy in my muscles made it impossible to run. When I reached the mid point of the loop I could feel the heat baking my head. I needed to cool down, so when I found access to the lake I splashed the muddy/slimy water over my head. That saved me for a couple of miles, and at mile 5 I found a large mud puddle, bent over and splashed the brown water on my head, face, and body. I had to walk the rest of the way, but I covered the distance, and was happy when I got to the car to drink the last of my lemonade and eat fruit - watermelon, blueberries, blackberries, grapes. I was too hot to stomach the pbj I had, so I contented myself with constantly splashing myself under the shaded water faucet and sitting on the picnic table.

This week I had some good training runs, although the hot days had brought my energy level down and was unable to do as many reps as planned. Tuesday I ran 12 hills at 5k pace at the arboretum, and yesterday 5 x 1000m hard loops at Busey Woods. Tomorrow I am planning to start the run at 5:00am and go for as long as possible, hopefully 2 full South Farm loops for 24 miles.

To balance the running, I am taking a boot camp class at the Park District, mwf from noon-1:00pm. That class is kicking my butt, lots of leg and core exercises that I have previously neglected out of ignorance. I have never had a 6 pack ab before, it would be funny if I finally got one at age 44.

Burned Blues

Today I played along with a burned blues cd. By the time I got to the final song my back was stiff so I decided to stop, but 75 minutes of playing the blues was fun practice. Each time I pick up the guitar I see progress, learn new things, or get some random insight. Because of this I consider myself lucky. I have read a lot of internet articles about beginning guitar, and I think I have had it easier than some people.

During the first month of playing I was concerned that my fingers were too short to be effective at playing, but I eventually stopped considering it, and decided to try my best with what I had. I not only have short fingers, but they are skinny. When I compared my hands/fingers with my 2 former teachers, they both had short fingers, maybe 1-2mm longer than mine, but mine were thinner. I think the thinness is a blessing since I can easily fit my fingers onto the strings without having them rub against adjoining strings. So although it could be better, it could also be worse.

One of the insights I had this week was the use of the “blue” note in the pentatonic scale. The blue note is D# (or Eb), and each pent. pattern has this note two or three times in different places. When I first began playing the pent. scale I knew only the blue notes on the key indicator pattern, not realizing, or caring, where the note was in the other 4 patterns. A couple of weeks ago I decided that the blue note was the note which made the blues the blues, and was too important a note to only use in one of the patterns. So I looked at my scale patterns and determined that the note was indeed D#, and so all I had to do was find D# wherever it occurred and mark it onto the scale patterns as a note which was to become a part of the pattern.

I now have the blue note memorized in most places, and the last few practice sessions I began to see how it could be used with effectiveness. In today’s session I could determine by ear when to use it, and it opens up options for soloing.

As usual, my fingers are becoming stronger, lighter, more relaxed as the weeks go by. My confidence is growing because of this, which makes me want to practice even more. When I read of the great musicians who practice 8-12 hours a day, I can understand where the motivation comes from. Having realized the gifts they have been given, practicing is not seen as a chore, but rather as something that will release the many latent abilities and skills which they know they possess. The less talented players don’t practice as much because they sense they have a limited amount of ability, and so practicing one hour a day is all that is needed to achieve their potential. The counter to this is what if the less talented player is wrong in their assessment, and more practice will yield more positive results. It all comes down to belief, will, love of the activity, and a sense of obsession with it.