After a long hiatus, happy to be back to sitting and writing. I'll share that over the past couple of weeks, like many of you, I have my hurricane sandy stories which fortunately were very manageable. We simply lost power and were fortunate to have alternatives which worked for us. And of course, its been sad to hear of all the challenges still faced by lots of folks I know in the area. Hoping we see some movement forward soon.
As I write this, I am listening to Neil Young's Psychedelic Pill, the latest in his seemingly never ending stream of work. I'll share that I've been going through a major "Neil Young" phase after getting about half-way through his self-penned autobiography "Waging Heavy Peace" and I've just found his approach to work, life, creativity and lots of other stuff very refreshing, honest and a nice fit for me now (if not for the future).
At the same time, my musical connection to him has roots in both the past and present. While I don't discuss it much in this blog, another love of mine (next to family, running, reading, Seinfeld and lots of other stuff) is playing the guitar, bass and attempting to sing. When I first started learning to play the guitar many years ago - it was when I was 15 putting it way back in 1980 (yes, really!), playing his stuff was one of the first and easiest ways to get started. I have vivid memories of teaching myself Hey, Hey My My (Rust Never Sleeps). And of course Like A Hurricane was one of those never ending 15 to 20 minute jam songs that made just about everybody feel like they were capable of doing anything on a guitar. AM/G/F - doesn't come any easier!
Then in 1990, looking for a job and anticipating moving to NYC, his album "Freedom" featuring Rocking in the Free World was my constant companion as I headed to interviews. There was another song called Crime in the City which was one of the best story telling songs I've ever heard.
And to the present - with my wife doing some consulting up in Toronto, Ontario where Neil Young has national hero status - it certainly seems like the moment. I feel kind of re-inspired to play and write some music in a way that I haven't been in awhile.
So this is typically supposed to be a bit more focused on running. For Teens Run Westchester, I'm super excited about getting back into action, again, after a bit of a break. Thanks to some recent funding, we're looking to work with and mentor a team of 25 teen runners to prepare them for a half marathon this spring - this will be a first for us and I'm really excited about the opportunity to both train for a new race and the chance to train through the winter months. While our runners will need some warmer clothes, hitting the road with some snow and breezes is really invigorating once you get into it.
From a personal perspective, I am quite bummed. While doing a long run (20 miles) this past Friday and then a short recovery run on Saturday, I am pretty sure I suffered a stress fracture. While my daughter intelligently reminded me that self-diagnosis based on youtube videos and internet wikis probably isn't the best way to know, if I'm making the choice not to (without even my wife telling me I'm crazy), there's something going on. So, I called the doc this morning and am awaiting the call back. I'm very bummed as I was training for the Philadelphia Marathon which is next Sunday and felt very good and ready - except for this. Oh well, I guess with age I am getting a bit smarter and more mature. If in fact it is a stress fracture, everything I read said to get it looked at it immediately and be prepared that I may have to start liking the bike and water running for about 90 days. But that is a heck of a lot better than my typical inclination which would be to run next week, potentially suffer some serious damage and then be away from running for a really, long, long time!
Well, if it the above, lots of time to get back to music, maybe even finally understand how to record it on garage band, perfect my biking and swimming and finally do a triathalon. Now that's turning the lemons into lemonade!
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