"Run Run Run in ze Marathon" so sing Hauswerk on their seminal if unlistened to 1976 classic "Marathon Man" and that is what I have foolishly let myself in for.
On the 28th April I'll be plodding along for about four hours on the, undoubtedly rainy, streets of Manchester in what is, thankfully, the flattest route in Europe. My 16 week plan starts on Monday, except it'll have to be Tuesday as, for some reason, the plan says the race will be on a Saturday. The hotel is booked (although I haven't sorted the Monday off work yet - I'll bloody need it) and I'm already contemplating a new pair of trainers early on in the training to avoid the potential disaster if last time.
I'd be happy to finish but once my competitive streak kicks in I'll be looking at sub 4 hours really. I've let my fitness go since the Great North Run so I'll be pretty much starting from scratch. No idea if I'll achieve it or not but I'm doing a parkrun tomorrow to get my head in the game as an American might say. I've got 15 miles to do this week. More than I've run for a good three months. I'm cutting right down on booze (rat-arsed last night though, watching The Purnells, The Smiles and Collectors Club at Doctor Brown's)
Music is going to have to play a big part in getting me through this so any suggestions would be welcome. 4 hours is going to need some hefty playlisting. How does Rick Wakeman's King Arthur thing go? War of The Worlds too maybe? Or just Sandinista! If I can handle listening right through. Anyway, whatever I decide...you'll be...the first...to know...
Distance - 13.1 Miles (The Great North Run). Time 1 hr 57 mins 27 secs!
So I did it. I didn't drink alcohol for a week before the race and actually managed to get some sleep in the last few days (I'm trying not to acknowledge that the two facts might be related). Woke up pretty fresh on Sunday 16th September and was on the road to Newcastle by 8am. Was surprised how little traffic there was and got parked easily at Heworth to catch the Metro into town. Had to wait a while for a train we could actually squeeze onto but made it to the start in plenty of time. I even got into the spirit of things and joined in the warm up and the 40,000 strong mexican wave. Mo Farrar, Kat Copeland and other Olympians were there high-5-ing the crowd as they slowly passed the gate. It took close to 25 minutes just to cross the start line but I was up to pace within a few strides, keeping a close eye on the Garmin.
The conditions couldn't have been better. A light rain from the start which didn't get to heavy at any point. I felt cool, calm and steady throughout the whole race. The only real period of anything approaching strain was around 9-11 miles which was a steady uphill stretch but even that was fine as I knew it was close to the finish.
The crowd along the way were great and the final straight to the finish, along the coast was fantastic with thousands there to cheer us on.
What have I learnt? The main thing I guess I've come away with is that the training paid off. I had doubts about cooling down through the week to a 1 mile run the day before but I genuinely found the race easy and enjoyable. I cracked a smile a good few times which is not like me (or many other runners to be honest). If I keep my fitness up (I went for a 4kish run today which was tough at first) then I reckon I could shave a fair bit off the time as I still had a good sprint in me for the end.
Next big one? Manchester Marathon next April.
Soundtrack - various
I won't go into detail of each one but this playlist worked pretty well. I deliberately paced it for easy start, highs, lows and times when I thought I'd need a bit of a boost and it didn't dissapoint. The iPod played up a bit at the halfway point but didn't make a huge difference although I missed hearing The Wedding Present, which was a shame. Came in to the final straight with a repeat play of Daft Punk but the sound from the crowd drowned it out really. I've noted a few memories against the tracks that really hit home.
In the Morning - Graham Coxon
Come on over (Turn me on) - Isobell Campbell and Mark Lanegan
Home - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros (running under the flyover shouting with the crowds)
4 A.M - Cherry Ghost (Tyne bridge!)
Life's Too Long - Earl Brutus (First upward section - Gateshead - a good ploddy glam-stomp)
Light & Day - The Polyphonic Spree (just the best running music really)
Summer Wine - Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood
Theme from "Which Way Is Up" - Stargard (Still one of my favourite disco tunes and a nice groove to settle into)
Folk Singer - Brendan Benson (Nice bit of crunchy guitar)
Music Is My Radar - Blur (Blur do Can. Didn't quite work as well as I'd hoped)
You + Me = Love - The Undisputed Truth (Ten minutes or so of funky disco heaven)
Aerodynamic - Daft Punk (remix)
Let's make Love and Listen to Death From Above - CSS (nice groove)
Dry The Rain - The Beta Band (the sun didn't come out but it's a great record)
Keep On Burning - Edwyn Collins
Julianne - Ben Folds Five ("I met a girl, she looked like Axl Rose" - great lyrics)
Tropicalia - Beck
Suburban War - Arcade Fire (Great track- a bit mellow/morose for this point though)
Little Eyes - Yo La Tengo (continuing on a mellow vein. Could probably have done with some punkier stuff here)
Gravity's Bringing us Down - Beulah (getting there now)
Senses on Fire - Mercury Rev (from the widely ignored but utterly superb "Snowflake Midnight" album. A real boost at about 9 miles from this)
Add it Up - The Violent Femmes (Ahhh)
Young Scene - Keith Mansfield (The theme from "The Big Match" - brilliantly produced "easy listening" track)
I Can't Get Next To You - The Temptations (From my favourite period of their's - Psychedelic Soul! Just great funky grooves)
The iPod stopped at this point. I can't really remember how long it took before I turned it back on but I was close to the finish when I just bashed the buttons and these came on at the end.
Funky Nassau Pt. 1 - The Beginning of The End. (Kind of the blueprint for Jamiroquai's musical career)
Aerodynamic - Daft Punk - Again. But it's Daft Punk so worth it.
Last run before the race tomorrow (Race? Ha!). Starting to get a bit nervous now. Had a bit of a twinge in my left knee for the past couple of days and it's still there but not really affecting me when running. Over 13.1 miles though it might be a different story. I'm determined to finish no matter what. Had a great response to the fundraising so far and have already exceeded the official target for Mind of £300. Thanks to all who have given so far.
1 mile today (walked a couple earlier too just to try and ease the knee off a bit). I thought I'd go for a fast-ish pace. Was hoping for about 6 minutes but once I started the reality of maintaining that pace over a mile soon became clear. It's many years since I've been able to do anything close to that but in the end 7 minutes or thereabouts is pretty respectable. Wish I'd chosen some drum 'n' bass, as suggested, though as the soundtrack!
Soundtrack - Like a Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan (and a bit of Tombstone Blues)
I've been re-reading Greil Marcus' book about the above song lately. It's a social history of the early/mid 1960s as much as anything although it really does go into detail and off at tangents about the song, its various interpretations and possible meanings. Whilst there has of course been excellent music made outside of this period it was at this time that pop-music kind of grew up a bit and began to look much more outside of the simple "boy meets girl - music as a soundtrack to dancing and shagging". Nothing wrong with that simplistic view also (maybe pop music should always be about that really) and most of the stuff I write tends to fall broadly into that category although I'm getting a bit old for dancing...
Bob Dylan came to me late really. I was into my 30s when my wife played me Highway 61 Revisited for the first time. She's not a massive Dylan fan but had chosen one of his best to add to her collection. Being a bit of an obsessive I started plundering his back catalogue from the early folk albums up to the mid 70s Blood on the Tracks and Desire. I've yet to really give his later stuff a chance although I do quite like the way his voice has changed. A lot of people are quite lazy with Dylan and roll out the "He can't sing" - "I hate his voice" etc but his early records , once you acquire the taste, are so rich and his vocals although understandably not to everyone's taste are rarely out of tune (if only because he slides the notes so much!) and he has a great toolbag of tricks that he relies on to either deliberately highlight or overcome his shortcomings. Bent notes, accenting, expression and unique phrasing. Oh and he can write songs. You only have to hear what people draw out of his writing, from The Byrds to Ray Charles, Adele to Stevie Wonder to recognise what great source material they have been working with. Adele trotted out the "can't sing for toffee" line once before admitting "he can't half write a tune". We all have our hang-ups Adele. Should we start on yours? How about singing a consonant once in a while?
Like a Rolling Stone saw Dylan stepping into the rock/pop "mainstream" with an electrified sound and a lyric that whilst never clear in its meaning uses imagery from the streets and the "there and then" rather than the more timeless folk songs of just a few years previously. He'd recorded "rock'n'roll" before of course with his breakthrough record Subterranean Homesick Blues which had an equally surrealistic lyric and other songs on the album Bringing it All Back Home but Like a Rolling Stone, perhaps because he'd laid some kind of foundation already or built enough of an audience by the point of release that it brought him success on a global scale, was the song he would consider as the turning point. He dismissed a great deal of his earlier work as immature. Listening to those stripped back acoustic folk albums still gives a punch in the face though and much of the sentiment, like all good folk music, rings true through the years but a great deal of it is highly derivative, filled with platitudes and his Woody Guthrie-esque delivery is hardly original by its very nature.
On Like A Rolling Stone his increasingly idiosyncratic vocal style comes to the fore. Stretched out notes, sneered and scorning whilst also holding great joy and release from the music, ride the groove of the song much like the musicians who floated over the changes with expertise. An interesting sidenote is that the recorded version is the only full take they managed to capture. The earlier ones bare little resemblance to the finished piece as Dylan and the band struggled to get to grips with the song which ran to pages and pages of lyrics originally.
As a piece of semi-sprinting running music it didn't really work and when Tombstone Blues kicked in straight after I was relieved at the skiffle backbeat and energy. Rolling Stone is a rambling, laid back affair. I'm pretty sure Bob had no intention of it being used for "keep fit" anyway.
If you're not really a fan of Dylan then I'd recommend Highway 61 Revisited as a starting point. If you want to hear him acquit himself vocally then Desire is up there. For an insight into why the folk world mourned his loss listen to "Masters of War" or pretty much anything from his first three albums.
His new single is pretty darn tootin' too.
Felt pretty rough this morning. No beer last night so before you start... Felt a bit of a cold or something coming on and really didn't feel up to the Middlesbrough 10k. Sharon and the kids ran the 3k fun run and I got a little bit more in the mood seeing Donovan cross the line in his new trainers (Apparently he had to be carried most of the rest of the way though).
A short warm up run had me feeling a little more sprightly and I placed myself in the sub 1 hour section of the start group. In the back of my mind I was figuring out ways to get out of running the extra 6/7 miles that my training schedule said I needed to do. In the end I was pretty comfortable running the 10k. the last couple of kilometres were tough coming up Acklam Road in the blazing sun and the lead up to the finish on Hall Drive is always at least twice as long as you think.
Confession time. I stopped running for a good forty minutes or so after the 10k, collected my goody bag (no sweets!) and sat with Donovan for a bit listening to a half-decent rock covers band called, wait for it...Under Cover. They played She Sells Sanctuary and some Billy Idol so it could have been worse although they bottled it halfway through Whole Lotta Love when they realised they hadn't quite figured out their self-imposed tempo changes.
Chose some uplifting and, surprisingly, motivating Polyphonic tracks to start with. The sun was out and they were singing about it and the hope it can bring so it really helped get me started on the 10k and I picked off a good few people I knew which satisfied my dormant competitive streak. No matter how gently I say I'm going to take these runs I still usually hit a decent pace and my finish time was close, if not quicker than my personal best (I don't really keep that close an eye on it but my wife reckons it was). iPod played up a bit and skipped a few tracks I wouldn't have minded hearing but I got round with a bit of a burst of speed at the end.
For the second part of the run I needed something gentle, mellow and, if anything, demotivating. In a previous blog I talked a bit about my love of The Cardigans early material and that I should really give their other stuff a chance. Well, I've bought them all now and can report back that, while they never return to their earlier 60s pop sound, they still wrote some bloody good stuff. I'm not 100% with all of it and Gran Turismo, the album they went truly global with is probably my least favourite and sounds the most "of its time" in terms of production. A slow burner though is "Long Gone Before Daylight" the follow up to Gran Turismo but a noticeable departure for them in pretty much all they had done before. It makes everything they had previously recorded sound like they were just playing around (not an entirely bad thing). It's a big, lush, mature but strangely intimate set of songs about broken relationships delivered with a country rock feel, mostly down-tempo, the linked "For What It's Worth" is about as upbeat as it gets, and with Nina Persson's voice never sounding sweeter or more fragile. She had, by this point, taken over pretty much all of the lyric writing too so there's some genuine soul there, although she says she bases her lyrics more on the lives of others or her distant than anything she may be going through there and then.
I won't give the best song, in my opinion, away (possibly / probably the best thing they have ever done, though they failed to include it on their best of compilation) but there are some real gems on here. It's got a big orchestral sound at times but is very honest otherwise with some fairly basic instrumentation but exceptionally written songs and playing. I fall a little bit more in love with this album every time I hear it. Maybe I'm getting old now and wanting some of that smoothness, which it has in spades, but I still listen to The Clash too...shit I really am getting old. Country music, like Bob Dylan and Radio 2, comes to us all in the end but it's worth it if this is what you end up with. In some ways their most commercial album except nobody really bought it. It will still sound brilliant in 30 years though so no mad rush. But do buy it.
A heavy weekend of gigs (all with various permutations of The Southmartins. Pubs, Big festival spots, weddings, WMCs - what a life) and calorie consumption (Burgers and beers mostly) has left me a bit knackered and a slight sense of failure at my last run didn't bode well for getting back into my stride. I attempted 12 miles on Saturday but could only manage 5 due to three layers of blisters from previous runs. I was determined (once I'd started at least) to do a decent length run tonight. Sticking to laps of the local park meant I could pull up at any point and not have far to walk home if the blisters became unbearable again. I couldn't quite remember how far one lap of the park perimeter was so kept going for six, convinced it was at least 10k (approx 6 miles). Turns out it was a fair bit longer.
I've ordered some new trainers in the hope I can solve the blister problem, which I haven't suffered at all from until now, but its not advised to try and wear a new pair in less than a month to go so I'll just have to see how that goes.
Soundtrack - Super Furry Animals Songbook.
There's been a bit of 90s thread running through these blogs in hindsight. Having lived through it, it's not a decade I thought had the most to offer in terms of pop/rock music but I'm starting to change my mind a bit and remember or discover some great stuff. The Charlatans had a "best of" called Melting Pot but it may as well have been called Magpie's Nest as they plucked from a fairly small pool of influences and although they made some great records (One To Another, How High era) they didn't always have brilliant songs but were, in my opinion, as much a triumph of production as much as anything. If any band could genuinely be said to be all-welcoming in terms of what they would consider using in their sound then Super Furry Animals would be up there in the running. I didn't listen to SFA a huge amount when they first broke through with songs such as Something For The Weekend and Hermann Loves Pauline but I've since bought a lot of their albums and they're always diverting if not always classic. Super Furry Animals are a Welsh "Acid Rock" band. Psychedelic but in a fairly modern way. They came out of Acid House into indie-rock rather than the other way round like Stone Roses or others. The eternal "problem" with experimental bands is that they miss the mark as often as they hit it but as long as the quality of what they produce when they do succeed is of this kind of standard you can forgive them their indulgences and explorations as they're all part of the same process. There's a real outsider quality to their music and lyrics they don't really fit anywhere and although they don't have a signature sound they always manage to sound like themselves.
This collection gathers together their better known work and singles and jumbles it around in a non-chronological order which I'm not sure works and I think there's something to be said for a linear retrospective of a band's work as it shows their development. That said, the stuff on here is great. They sometime sound a bit like Blur if Blur genuinely been into dance music and hadn't used the indie/dance crossover as a stepping stone to fame (something I'm sure, and the evidence suggests, they regret) but there's also a little bit of Ray Davies in Gruff Rhys' delivery and perceptions. Occasionally they seem to stray into dad-rock with songs like Rings Around the World with its Quo-esque riff but they're probably more similar to Hawkwind's space rock. There's a fair bit of low-tempo songs where the songwriting skills of the band shine through (Demons is a personal favourite).
They have enjoyed cult success and acclaim for the best part of 20 years now and although they used to really push the boundaries of what a rock-band could be and do they have, perhaps thankfully, never quite stood in the same spotlight as Oasis, Blur and other contemporaries. Maybe that's why they've kept going so strong. They make as big a deal in promoting their albums about the cover art now as the music which is a shame but it's reassuring to know they're still out on the outer reaches of the solar system heading to galaxies unknown.
Distance 11 miles. Time 1 hr 50 mins 52 secs. Calories burnt 1289!!!
Castle Eden walkway is a nice place to go on a summer's day for a stroll along the old railway track and for a coffee and a cake in the cafe at the old station. Castle Eden walkway is not a nice place to go out in the blazing sun and attempt to run further than you ever have before. Alone. The first 5 miles to, the somewhat unimaginatively named, Station Town was a killer. Not much in the way of hills or anything but not much in the way of shelter from the midday sun either. I tried to keep my pace steady, using my wife's Garmin gadget thingy, but had to pull back from my usual 9 minute-ish/mile pace as the heat took its toll. I seriously considered refilling my water bottle from a puddle as I realised I wasn't going to have enough for the journey back. There's also a lake I was tempted to dive head first into. Turned out that the return leg wasn't quite so bad as it became more and more overcast the further along I got and even a slight breeze picked up, kicking the wind turbines into action on the hills. It is a pleasant route, if a little dull at times with long, flat stretches of nothing more than hedgerows and fields. 12 miles needed next Sunday. Might have to be a bit more creative with the route. I was in a very ploddy mode by the end but could probably have pushed it on for a couple more miles if needed so the basic training is pretty much done I reckon. Need to knock the booze on the head before these long ones though. Also probably need to get out a bit earlier although, ironically, it started to rain a bit as we ventured home which would have been ideal for this run. Maybe I should train more in Manchester for guaranteed precipitation.
Soundtrack - Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Lyre of Orpheus / Abattoir Blues & Murder Ballads.
Occasionally Australia's Nick Cave steps out of his darkest of shadows and snatches a few more, soon-to-be devoted fans from a more mainstream audience. He has managed to do this on several occasions over his lengthy career but still plough his own very singular furrow of folk/punk/blues/gospel. Perhaps he could be compared to Tom Waits in this respect. His clever use of Kylie Minogue for the song "Where The Wild Roses Grow" from the brilliantly morbid "Murder Ballads" album secured them both new admirers from across the board. This album made up the final leg of my run and the juicy, bluesy, sweary stories kept my attention well and truly off the blisters for the final few miles. I once wrote and produced a play with my students based on the song "The Curse of Millhaven" from the same album which I keep meaning to return to for a polish up/reworking. Not that Nick Cave's work benefits from any kind of polish (or half-baked theatrical adaptation!). The Bad Seeds play and sound best when dirty, sloppy and almost as if they're all playing different songs. They don't quite build grooves in the traditional funky sense but can capture a vaguely discordant feel that both borrows heavily from blues riffs but sounds avant garde and experimental in equal measures. Lyre of Orpheus, both song and album present this notion excellently and also highlight the intellect and literary nature of much of Cave's lyrics. Biblical/mythical references all add to the fire and brimstone delivery in Cave's tales of apocalyptic love and death. "Lyre" is the mellower of the two albums released as a single package. "Abattoir Blues", as the title would suggest, is a darker, heavier affair though not without soulful moments. These two albums marked another moment when Cave enjoyed some mainstream success with critical acclaim for the work drawing in new fans. Strange for what amounts to a double album to do that. It's the stories at the heart of the best of Nick Cave's work that keep you hooked and live he is a mesmerising figure; part preacher, part pimp, part vampire, part Vic Reeves. It's not surprising that he has also moved into writing novels and screenplays although I reckon the best is yet to come in those fields, as good as his first forays have been.
Felt really strong on this run today. Had been really muggy all day with the clouds and rain finally drifting in around tea-time making me not particularly want to go out. Set off at a pace that I thought I'd regret but stayed steady on it throughout the run, save for a sprint at the end. Thought I might slow down for the second lap of Albert Park but my body just kept going. Happy with the time too. A bit of short of 5km I think but probably still an improvement on recent runs of the same distance. Could probably do with some new trainers soon for the Great North Run in time to wear them in. Always a gamble with me as I struggle to find trainers and shoes that are comfortable anyway. Lack of funds doesn't help either although I'm chuffed that I've met my initial target in the fundraising before the first deadline. Thanks to all who have so far donated.
If you still want to donate (I'm running for Mind - The Mental Health Charity) then you can text ANDJ71 £(amount) to 70070. The number you put in the amount will be for the full run, not per mile etc.
Soundtrack - Elliot Smith - Figure 8
I came to Elliot Smith very late, through a song by Ben Folds called, ironically, It's Too Late. Elliot died in a pretty gruesome and mysterious manner in 2003. You get that feeling that he's one of those people you could stick any instrument in his hand and he'd come up with something musical in moments. Playing a good deal of the instruments on most of his albums he crafted a distinctive, idiosyncratic and beguiling soundscape. Use of multi-tracked vocals, intricately picked guitar and harmonies were key elements. There's a flavour of The Beatles more melancholy moments in his songs and melodies and his songs tend to drift in and out without much bluster or overt dynamic. These aren't criticisms. His recordings always "sound right". The feel of the work was just as important as the playing. I can identify with this in my own recordings where the playing is, usually, secondary (not always through choice!) but I'm happy if I capture the right feel or something approaching the sound in my head.
I can't imagine really listening to Elliot Smith with others. I can't really imagine anyone else going running to it either! It's lonely music but, again, in a good way. You can get lost in it. It's something you might put on late at night if you're writing a dissertation or have a load of organising to do, maybe a big pile of ironing. This sounds like damning with faint praise but I don't mean to. Elliot Smith, will, no doubt be held in a similar light as Nick Drake (with whom he shares some musical similarities) has been, given time and there's a wealth of unreleased material too. Figure 8 and XO are good places to start for the newcomer, although more richly arranged than some of his earlier work.
Almost forgot to mention that Elliot had a number of mental health issues to live with (and ultimately die in no small part because of as the available evidence would suggest - Depression, psychosis and paranoia leading to suicidal tendencies and multiple attempts). So he may not be the ideal running music (although I enjoyed it) but he's possibly the most appropriate for the cause I'm running for.
