Run and Fun updates

Yes I know this is a hideous scary photo. This is Melanie and I, to bad Julie didn’t get in on this fab photo of the worlds ugliest running hats courtesy of PPTC and dorkiest look. But despite the ugly hats  Team ENDURE with  Julie Threlkeld, Melanie Rainmaker Jones and myself earned a 4th place spot in the annual Prospect Park Track Club Cherry Tree Relay last weekend. I am very pleased to say that we all kicked ass and this being the third time I have run it,  was my fastest  by almost a minute in the 3.3 miles leg. This is especially great since I ran with excruciating right quad pain that blew up in the first half mile. I did not warm up properly, took off, and my muscle just locked down. Oh man it hurt, but hey I got a super PR.

Training with John Henwood is going great,. He is super responsive. I was embarrassed to tell him I temporarily hurt myself. But he gave me a great massage that got the muscle back in working order. He had me switch to  cross training and ease back into things. I am really confident that if I do as I am told I will stay injury free and keep getting faster.

Today I had a meeting with curator Charlotte Mouquin, Director of Rush and Corridor Art Galleries. Rush Arts Gallery was founded in 1995 by brothers Russell, Danny and Joseph “Rev. Run” Simmons. Yes, it is the same Reverend Run, Run-D.M.C.  I have been invited to create a giant mountain installation similar to what I did last year at Muriel Guepin Gallery. It will be construction from several hundred pieces of printed and cut paper and be approximately 12 feet tall and 20 feet long. The opening is Sunday April 15th in Brooklyn. I do hope you can come! It will be a great afternoon opening.

And hoping I did not wait too late to accept an offer to visit Adirondack Nancy for a few days during my Spring Break. She is in the process of planning a climbing trip to Nepal but hopefully we can get in a couple of high peaks as the winter that never was slides away. This will be a great re-charge.  I have this fantasy idea that if I keep drawing and printing mountains, canoes, etc. that it will push me over the edge of moving to some far away countryside, but I am still too glued to the LES.

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Running and more Running

A brief update on running, running, more running and a bunch of dog walking. My training with Coach John Henwood is going  well. Despite gaining 4 lbs. in one month, I have not weighted this much in years, he said, ” You look great. I do see an improvement in your shape and your running.” Gosh now I want to know what my shape looked like before? As for my running, it is hard to judge. I am working out 7 days a week and sleeping any chance I can get. Today’s two plus hour run in 22º took a lot out of me, but the four plates of steamed dumpling Patrick and I ate after was a great recovery.

Last night I was at the Millrose Games. Going there I was most excited to see Jenny Simpson race the 1500 and she did not disappoint finishing with a 4:07. I consistently find one of the most fun races to be the high school boys mile. These kids are constantly jockeying for position, going from first to third in seconds, jumping forward with bursts of energy. But tonight quietly unnoticed in last place was Zavon Watkins a former quarterback who seemly out of nowhere in the last quarter took off passing 10 kids to win with a 4:13. But the big race of the night was the men’s 5,000 meters. Bernard Lagat set out to break the American record which of course in true Lagat style he did, 13:07:13. In the same race University of Arizona’s Lawi Lalang set a new College record and Edward Cheserek a high school junior from Newark, NJ set a new National HS record, 13:59:88. Lalang  who finished in 13:08:28 took a full 10 seconds off Glen Rupp’s collegiate record. This makes Lalang the fastest collegian in history indoors or out, he broke Henry Rono’s 13:08 record from 1978.

Here are two post race videos first of Jenny Simpson on her win then of Lagat.

Jenny:
Lagat:

On the art side of things I will be in  a group exhibition at Corridor Gallery in Brooklyn. I am building a large print/paper installation for that show which opens in April. The details are still to be ironed out. I will keep you posted as to the opening. Next weekend is the Prospect Park Cherry Tree Relay, my first race of the year. Let’s see what happens.

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