"riders on the storm" with manzarek & krieger at fillmore (irving plaza): photos and setlist

last night two original members of the doors, ray manzarek and robby kreiger, played at the fillmore (at irving plaza) with their band, "riders on the storm." i went to check them out with emmy - and what a great show it was! the performance was intense and rocking! the small venue combined with the loud sound made conversation of any kind impossible! as expected, the show was all about the doors music.

the new front man standing in for jim morrison, ex-fuel lead singer brett scallions (who himself had just replaced the cult's ian astbury who left the band this summer) was impressive. he did an excellent job of channelling morrison's spirit for the night (jim is probably up there nodding in approval).

here are some photos. i'd like to post a complete setlist if i can track one down (but i didn't have a chance, myself, to keep tabs on the song order last night).

fall distance frolic 30k: volunteer report

i had actually toyed with the idea of running the fall distance frolic (notwithstanding the staten island 6 hour run the day before), but i came to my senses when we pulled into the parking lot. instead, the better (and equally as fun) option was to participate as a volunteer. following on the heels of the norwalk half marathon, it was my second race as a volunteer in as many weeks!

like norwalk, there were many familiar faces running the race (dawn, don, joe, and kate to name just a few). don actually switched race plans that day, having planned to run the niantic half marathon initially, he opted for the 30k instead. dawn, after the 30k, went over to darien and ran the 10k that afternoon! and joe, doing the course as a training run - wore new pair of running shoes and paid the predictable price - blisters.

emmy, rob, and i helped marty's dad set-up and man the aid station at the 1.2 mile mark (conveniently located just in front of marty's new house). there was a second aid station a few miles further along the course, and more aid at the start/finish area. the course consisted of three laps of the 10k loop. for the first loop we only handed out water. then rob and i filled the water cooler with gaterade and offered the runners a choice for the second and third loops.

after the runners completed the first loop, emmy and i ran the course. i took my camera along, took some pictures, and finished the loop in 57:08. when we got back to the aid station, it was rob's turn to do a loop of the course - and emmy joined him. don had just passed the aid station so they caught up with him and ran together. before they had gone too far, kate reached the aid station and i told her they just passed through. she caught up to them and they ran together all ran together for a bit.

after the final wave of runners came through, marty's dad and i broke down the aid station. i had planned to drive emmy's car back to the beach - but i couldn't find her car keys. instead, i hitched a ride back in the truck - and picked up the cones and signs marking the course along the way back to the beach. just as we arrived, the horns and sirens of a fire engine, police cars and ems truck broke the morning quiet.

one runner, it seemed, had collapsed from the heat when she reached the beach. she was looked after by the ems volunteers and seemed to have recovered. i saw rob, who had run the last portion of the loop with kate, and he told me emmy was just behind them. when i told her i couldn't find the car keys - she told me, sheepishly, that she had them with her (in her jacket - which was tied around her waist)! so she and rob jogged back to to get the car.

post race festivities included pizza, breads, brownies, cookies, bananas - tons of good stuff. the interesting news of the day was the possibility that stratford may become the permanent fall distance frolic location - with a return to fairfield for the boston blow-out in march. while the beachside location as a site for the boston blow-out doesn't offer any meaningful protection from the vaguaries of late winter weather, it's ideal for the late summer race.

check out the race photos and results.
check out emmy's volunteer report and photos.

next up: the nyrr marathon tune-up 18 miler this weekend.

staten island 6 hour run: race report

saturday was my second staten island 6 hour run, and my first race since getting sidetracked with anemia. for the last few weeks my weekly mileage had hovered around 30 miles, with my longest run at only 12 miles the previous sunday. with only a couple of weeks of 2x daily iron supplements in my system and doctors still insisting i keep the running to a minimum, i wasn't too sure what to expect out there. my plan was to cover at least 26.2 miles - enough to satisfy the race minimum. then, if all went well, i'd push on to 30 miles (and, maybe, 50k).

the drive down to staten island started with some bloody excitement. as rob and i sat in the car, emmy let out a scream as she opened the hatchback to grab some water for the trip! the door caught the edge of her forehead and sudden a nasty little gash appeared. when she got behind the wheel, we were shocked to see the amount of blood! despite the pain and blood, emmy lined up for the start - not to be distracted by that incident.

when we arrived at the start, needless to add, the dried blood on her forehead was a topic of conversation. out of my earshot, she dropped hints that it was my fault - that i knocked her on the head because she was late meeting us! that explained the very strange looks i got - until she finally fessed up and absolved me of responsibility. phew! still, emmy sported quite a knot for most of the day. but she didn't let it stop her from logging 37+ miles!

it also turned out to be a good mileage day for me. i started off with susan for most of the first mile and then continued on with brennan through the end of our third loop. the 49:18 split for the first 6 miles (3 loops) was a bit too fast for me. brennan went on ahead (to ultimately finish 3rd overall), and i slowed down for the next few loops. still, the next 4 loops were all between 16 and 17 minutes, which netted me 14 miles in just under 2 hours (1:58:30).

the next 3 loops, 18:22, 21:15 (which included a bathroom break), and 18:43 got me to the 20 mile split in 2:56:56 - a roughly 7:54 pace. just short of the half-way point of the race i was more than pleased with my performance. the combination of low mileage weeks and the iron supplements had really helped me bounce back. but i wasn't in the mood to push my good fortune and risk my recovery. and fate did intervene to slow me down a bit.

my next 3 loops 21:01, 22:35, and 23:15 included a series of calf cramps that appeared in mile 21 and nagged me until mile 25. i drank as much gatorade, and ate as many banana pieces as i could swallow, each time i passed the aid station. aside from the calf problem, i was in otherwise great condition throughout the day. i also took the unexpected slow-down as a positive omen. even with three slower loops, i reached the marathon split at 4:06:06 - not too shabby under the circumstances.

i did the next three loops with rob, who had gotten sidelined with a flair-up of his planter fasciitis in the last loop. rob had just run the first 22 miles with susan (who finished in 3rd place). susan had just passed me midway through the last loop, as i headed toward the marathon split. since i still had almost two hours left on the clock, i planned to keep moving forward (even if at a walk). with the extra 3 loops (6 miles), i reached 32 (and passed 50k mark). then, with one turn of the small loop (0.4 miles), i increased my total to 32.4 miles.

what surprised me the most was that this total was less than one mile off my 2007 result (33.19 miles)! granted, we had very humid conditions (and even rain) last year. but, it hardly explains the similar outcomes. be that as it may, the post-race festivities were great - and included beer and pizza! the only negative, to an otherwise excellent day, was the long drive home (3 separate traffic jams on the belt parkway alone).

it that wasn't enough running for one weekend, the next day we (emmy, rob, and i) drove up to stratford and volunteered at the fall distance frolic 30k.

next up: the nyrr marathon tune-up 18 miler.

check out the race photos and results.
check out emmy's race photos.

from the archives: my 2007 staten island 6 hour run race report.

david blaine's "dive of death:" 60 hours hanging in central park (with visit by kelly - no regis)

david blaine just kicked off his newest stunt, hanging upside down for 60 hours in central park and ending it with the "dive of death." the finale will, ever so conveniently, be shown live on abc tomorrow (wednesday) night.

showing no fear, kelly ripa decided to check out the view up there. she got into a harness and was hauled up to interview blaine for "live with regis and kelly." blaine, coincidentally, does have something to prove to regis and kelly. on friday, blaine's underwater world record 17 minutes and 4 seconds of holding his breath was broken - live - with a 17 minute 19 second performance on the program by tom sietas! he reclaimed the world record from blaine, who himself had set it last april, live on oprah - phew!

that was a spectacular finish to the already stunt-filled week on the program - where each day brought a new effort to break a guiness world record. on the running front, unfortunately, dean karnazes didn't succeed in his attempt to break the world record for miles run in 48 hours on a treadmill.



check out this cool report from the associated press:

UPDATE: Blaine is busted - caught taking numerous breaks from his "60 hours hanging upside down." i don't care what juicy rationale he cares to trot out to explain coming down multiple times - but the tie for the lamest has to go to "i had to go to the bathroom and didn't want to pee all over myself" or "the doctor made me."

but the worst part of all - the grand finale itself was totally ridiculous!!

mad men wins best drama at the emmys and makes history in the process!

matt weiner (with cast) accepts emmy for best drama series!

last night mad men won the emmy for "best drama series," and became the first basic cable program to ever win the prestigious award. in previous years, it has always been a broadcast network to take home "best drama series."

the emmy follows mad men's win of a peabody award in june and, earlier this year, it won the golden globe for best drama! and, in what may be an indication of the shows realism, the new york public library is currently showing the exhibit, "the real men and women of madison avenue (and their impact on american culture)."

finally, matt weiner (the shows creator) won an emmy last night for his script, "smoke gets in your eyes."

giants survive mauling by bengals, 26-23, in overtime victory!

wow, apparently the 0-2 bengals didn't get the memo that the giants were supposed to win this one. the giants did win - but cincinnati made them earn it. what an incredible game - what else can be said when the lead changed six times, the giants put 7 points on the board with 1:50 left on the clock, and the bengals spend all but 4 seconds of that time driving into field goal range and kicking one through to send the game into overtime?!!

and if the final 2 minutes of regulation play wasn't stressful enough for giants fans - overtime was yet another rollercoaster ride. the giants won the toss, but did nothing with the first overtime possession. cincinnati returned the favor and promptly gave back the ball with a go-nowhere possession. but it got heart stopping when manning connected with toomer for a 31-yard completion, that danced along the white line!

in a rare act of unified sprinting, the team hurried up and got off a run - which killed any chance for review of the catch! after the run, coughlin went immediately to the field goal (skipping the riskier chance of a couple of shots at the end zone). the 44 year old carney stepped up and put the game to bed when he nailed the 22 yard chip shot.

all i thought about watching it yesterday was how different this game was from last week. here, in the bengals, was a team that could have imagined winning its 3 game to break the horrible 0-2 start (and dream about a giant-like run from that 1-2 start all the way to the superbowl). they were on that field to play some serious football - and they earned some serious respect.

here is what coughlin said after the game:

"It ended up being really the power of the will. It wasn't our best game, by any means, but we hung in there, we kept battling and scrapping and we found a way to win against a good football team."

now the giants can take the 3-0 record (their best start since 2000) into the bye week. dallas, unfortunately, had the luck to win last night - so they too sit atop the division, unbeaten this season, side-by-side with the giants.

fall distance frolic 30k: race photos and results

this year the fall distance frolic 30k found itself on the streets of stratford, instead of its traditional home base at the scandinavian club in fairfield. a decidedly more scenic course, it consisted of three 10k loops. since emmy, rob and i ran the staten island 6 hour run yesterday, today was about volunteering. rob and i each ran one loop of the new course, and emmy ran two.

here is my race "volunteer" report.
and here are the race results.


rob, emmy, and sheri, setting up the aid station.


rob, mixing the gaterade.


views of the course.


views of the course.


another view from the course.


marty's dad and emmy.


don.


dawn.


plenty of post-race food (including pizza).


emmy, kate, and rob.