Running Update and the Little Ones

For what was initially a running blog I really haven't been writing much about my running of late. Partly it's because you can only say so much and another part is that I'm not really training for anything. My only scheduled race is the San Jose Rock n Roll Half Marathon in October. I am thinking of doing America's Finest City (EDIT: Just found out the half is already full...wahwahwah) again in August but I really do have to cut back on my race spending. I'll save my moolah for a marathon-to-be-named-later by the end of the year.

I've been running, though. Last weekend I ran with FJ and Andy for six miles. I haven't gone farther than eight since the San Diego marathon, but I've been running regularly. I've started running on Wednesdays with Frontrunners in Santa Monica, and I'm running on my own--often at the gym--two to three times a week. Early on in my running, if I wasn't training for anything, I would let my training slip. It's easy to get lazy when there's no motivation. But I guess I've been running long enough that it's become a habit. Even with no race in sight I'm keeping at it, but admittedly the dream of six-pack abs is helping drive it.

Last night I decided to do a speed workout at Drake Stadium intending to do mile repeats at a 7:12 pace. I wasn't feeling it during the warm-up but that's often the case. It takes me a while to get going. However, within the first lap of the first mile, I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I switched to Yassos instead using my mile repeat pace. Even though I stepped back to Yassos it was still a rough go. I did six Yasso repeats and struggled with all of them even though I hit my marks. This was a pace I had an easy time with only a couple of weeks ago. I'll attribute the tough training session to having run hard the night before with Frontrunners coupled with lack of sleep all week. Or it could just be one of those days. I'll switch the speed workout to a different day. Mondays might be the best time.

* * * * *

After my run, I headed to the Hammer Museum for the Little Ones show. The Pity Party opened, a duo (female drummer/keyboardist/vocalist and male guitarist/vocalist). They were messy and rough and had some nice moments, but I tuned them out for the most part.

The Little Ones, though, were no less than brilliant. I try not to speak in hyperbole but it's impossible not to in discussing their performance last night. If the Hammer Museum courtyard had a roof they would have blew it off. They closed with "Lovers Who Uncover" and left with the crowd asking for more, so they came back on for an encore. They invited a couple of deliriouly enthusiastic fans onstage to dance around, who in turn invited half the audience to come join them onstage. These are probably the same people who, when invited to a private party, tell everyone else about it until you wind up with your mother's best china all over the kitchen floor. Soon the tiny, makeshift stage was filled with over a dozen fans dancing as the Little Ones played and looked on at the scene they had created. It was a mad sight but all in good fun. All the flailing bodies onstage added irony to the song, which I think is called "Isolation." It was glorious. I got some great pictures and was hoping to post them today but I fell asleep from exhaustion. I'll post them soon enough, though.

But the message is clear: everyone must see the Little Ones.