46 days to go. The intensity of the training is ramping up. Two 16-mile long runs are already behind me, and my tune-up half marathon is in the books. I am still healthy and, for the most part, running fast and pain free, but fatigue levels are high, and the upcoming weather — unseasonably hot and humid until the end of September — does not bode well for future training.
So does that mean I’ve got those little town blues? Let’s hear the tune those long runs are singing. Continue reading
Hard to believe, but it’s now less than 80 days until the 2017 New York City Marathon. I’m back on the Hanson’s Training Method once again (with a few alterations, which I’ll explain below). It’s still early yet, of course, but I am encouraged by the current results that I can achieve my twin goals of (1) running under four hours and (2) enjoying every minute by running without pain or suffering too much.
As usual, though, training has become that delicate dance between intensity and protecting an ever-aging body. Which makes this post for week five a tale of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
C’mon. You know the words. Sing along with me. Betcha end up sounding like Ol’ Blue Eyes by the end …
Start spreading the news, I’m leaving today.
I want to be a part of it, New York, New York.
These vagabond shoes are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it, New York, New York.
I wanna wake up, in a city that doesn’t sleep.
And find I’m king of the hill, top of the heap.
These little town blues, are melting away.
I’ll make a brand new start of it, in old New York.
If I can make it there,
I’ll make it anywhere.
It’s up to you, New York, New York.
New York, New York.
I want to wake up, in a city that never sleeps.
And find I’m A-number-1, top of the list, king of the hill, A-number-1…
These little town blues, are melting away.
I’m gonna make a brand new start of it,
In old New York
and…
If I can make it there, I’m gone make it anywhere.
It’s up to you, New York, New York!
I’ve documented my love affair with the Utica Boilermaker extensively in these pages. I’ve written about my 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 runs in various posts, devoted entire posts to my participation in 2015, and 2016‘s races, and even written the locally viral 15(K) Reasons to Love the Utica Boilermaker to celebrate my favorite road race.
Usually, I run the 9.3 miles with a smile on my face, high-fiving little kids, exchanging banter with spectators and fellow runners, and profusely thanking the first responders all the way round the course.
But don’t let the photo — taken before this year’s run — fool you.
For me, the 2017 Boilermaker run was all business.
It wasn’t until the third song of Iron Maiden’s set on Saturday night that it finally dawned on me what I had taken for granted for so long about this band.
It started the moment I zeroed in on Steve Harris as he began the bass intro to “Wrathchild.” I’d heard the song a million times, so I wasn’t super excited to hear it again. I’m pretty sure he’s played it several millions more, yet here he was, running round the stage playing it with the hunger of the twenty-something man he was when he first recorded it.
In 1981. Continue reading
I am such a bad progger.
I mean, here I was, just two blocks away from the Eastman Theater, where King Crimson was playing, and I was on Jazz Street watching the free entertainment, eating poutine and drinking beer.
OK. Judge all you want. Because in the process of not seeing the iconic Mr. Fripp and his musical entourage (including Tony Levin and Gavin Harrison, two of my personal musical heroes), I stumbled upon another, different kind of big band that brought a smile to my face and some pep to my (dub)step. Continue reading
Nine marathons. Nine half marathons. Eight Boilermakers.
You might say I’m an experienced runner, but I would say I don’t feel like it most of the time. You might say I’ve seen a lot, but I would say that I haven’t seen enough. You might say I’ve learned a few lessons, but after the 2017 Flower City Half Marathon — my tenth half — I would say there are times when I don’t feel like I’ve learned a damn thing. Continue reading
If April, as the great poet T. S. Eliot maintained, is the cruelest month, then March, for me, was its polar opposite–blessed, munificent, generous to a fault. But as that other great poet, Bruce Springsteen, has observed, “you can’t walk away from the price you pay.”
Only in my case, he should have sung, “you can’t run away.” Continue reading
Cutting-edge lighting? Check.
Laser array? You bet.
State of the art animation? Of course.
And overzealous security guards? Oh, go on if you must.
I’ve been blogging for over a decade now. My first attempt, which included the initial incarnation of the Brief Biography of God, appeared on my MySpace page around 2007. I immediately fell in love with the medium — it was the perfect vehicle for me to share my writing with the world. Not that the world needed it or, outside of a few friends, even cared about it.
Two years later, and everyone, including myself, had migrated over to Facebook. My readership, such as it was, declined to almost zero (I was never very good at picking a winner). But that was OK, because I had bigger fish to fry, and a new platform to showcase my writing.
In 2009, I started City Boy, my record label, and a year later I began to see the potential of blogging as a way to enhance my visibility as a professional and to drive traffic to the company website. In between the press releases, Thoughts from the Guv’nor, as the blog was called, featured reviews and interviews with thought leaders in the music business and beyond. Some of those posts now reside in the From the Archives section of this site.
In December 2012 as City Boy was nearing the end of its lifespan, I ventured over to WordPress and began this little corner of the interwebs. I started with a couple of posts detailing my journey to defeat Type II diabetes by getting off my couch and working my way up to my first ever marathon in Toronto in October of that year. At the time, Feats of the Flat-Footed Fox — as the blog was then known — was only going to document my running exploits.
For the next two years, that’s all I wrote about. But I really didn’t pursue it with a lot of energy — I managed a post a month in 2013, and a post every two months the following year. I knew I had a lot more to write about, but it wasn’t until January 2015 that I finally figured it out.
It was then I decided to write about the three things that really interested me — running and music, of course, but also matters of spirituality. I immediately rebranded. I bought my own domain and I’ve never looked back. Posting was more frequent and traffic increased threefold over 2013 and almost doubled again the following year.
So, to celebrate the one-hundredth post here at brucepegg.com, I’ve compiled my own top ten list of favorite posts. And to all you fans, pedants and bean counters out there, yes, I am fully aware this is post number 101. But, as has been the case so often in the last twenty years, Chuck Berry got in the way and beat me to it.
And if you don’t like it, sue me — I’m celebrating now.
Bruce Pegg 