Monday, July 22, 2013

Phish at SPAC, July 7

Good thing Sunday is short-run day.  Another late night at the Phish show meant another early afternoon run in the relentless July heat.  But it was only four miles, so it was easily do-able and it allowed me to get to SPAC a little earlier.

After roaming around the previous two nights, I planted myself in the front Page-side (rage side!) corner of the lawn, which was mostly muddy from the rain we had been experiencing on and off, for the final show of the run.

I am not fond of "AC/DC Bag" openers (too predictable), but what came after was a top notch set with a nicely extended "Back on the Train", relatively short but exciting versions of "Free" and "Limb by Limb", and triple-threat 'Rift' sequence of "It's Ice", "Mound" and "Maze", the latter with a typically explosive jam.  I do not think I have ever encountered three 'Rift' songs in one set, even 20 years ago when the album was still new.  My guess is that Phish well aware of the album's 20th anniversary milestone and playing up to it.

It is about time "Divided Sky" gets retired, or at least relegated to lunar rotation.  The jam never feels fluid anymore and often feels fumbled.  The set-closing "Walls of the Cave" was another disappointment, not because it was not played well, but because it could have been played so much better.  I love that song way too much to accept a mediocre rendition, especially when I have seen such excellent versions as Deer Creek 2004.  Though not as bad as Coventry, it ranked pretty low.  That pregnant F# needs to be humongous so it bursts into the last chorus of the "silent trees" bit before the jam, and this version just did not do it.

The second set picked up on the initial potential of the first. When a 15-minute "Down With Disease" leads to an 11-minute "Ghost", followed by a 10-minute "Piper", you can pretty much mark it down as a damn good set.  And though I love "Wading in the Velvet Sea", I thought it oddly placed.  Still, I could not help but remember my first SPAC show (2004) when they played it for the encore.  A beautiful memory.

"Run Like an Antelope" could have easily finished the set at a short but sweet 52 minutes, but Trey started throwing in "Meatstick" references for what seemed like no reason at all - "You've got to run like a meatstick out of control!" - leading the band into the next tune.

Question - am I the only one left in the crowd that actually does the meatstick dance?  Come on, people!  It is an interactive song!

Despite the fact that it had not yet been played in the first four shows of the tour, "You Enjoy Myself" came as quite the surprise - the set was already almost an hour and the typical "YEM" is 15 to 20 minutes long, plus it was the last song of last year's SPAC run (the encore, actually). 

After watching Trey's groovy dance moves during Mike's bass solo, I started heading for the exit.  I needed to get up early the next day to run 10 miles and check out of the motel, so I listened to the vocal jam and the "Loving Cup" encore while walking back to the lot.  This is what happens when Phish tour coincides with one of my heaviest weeks of marathon training!

If pressed, I would say the second night was the winner of the three-night stand at SPAC, but the finale was definitely a close second.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Hot Colonie run, hotter Phish show (SPAC Night Two)

As usually happens with Phish shows, it was late when I finally went to sleep.  Like, 3 a.m. late.  Needless to say, I slept through the morning, the consequence of which meant an afternoon long run on a hot July day.

I stayed in the Econo Lodge in Colonie, a suburb of Albany. It is on Route 5 (Central Avenue), a major four-lane thoroughfare that leads directly into the city.  The motel sits less than a mile from Interstate 87.  If you are from North Jersey, think Route 46 in Parsippany.  Running across it was definitely not happening, so I ran west along it and then north almost to the Mohawk River, before swinging back and hitting the motel from the other side.

It was brutally hot and the sun was so intense that I kept switching sides on the residential roads to whichever shoulder offered better tree shade.  Mostly, though, I felt like a hapless chicken in a rotisserie oven. By the time I finished, exhausted and dehydrated, there was only enough time to shower and shave before heading back to Saratoga for the show.

But there is nothing like the opening strains of "Crowd Control" to shake off the fatigue and give me a second wind.  I danced my way through the lawn to enjoy solid performances of "Chalk Dust Torture", "The Wedge", "Funky Bitch", and "Heavy Things" before finding a new sweet spot with a great view of the screens and decent sound. 

A rare first set "Bug" was nice and, darn it, I still like "Bouncing Around the Room".  But it was "Tube" that really set the funk in motion, followed by a raucous "Julius" that could have easily ended the set.  So it was a pleasant surprise to hear the opening drums to "Split Open and Melt".  

I have not been much of a fan of "Melt" lately.  I can not get the bad taste of the Holmdel 2011 version out of my mouth.  That one was experimental, yes, and maybe in the context of a different song I would have enjoyed it more. But it never felt like a "Melt" jam, which is a very special thing.  I realize it will never sound like 4/21/1993 again, but still...make it sound like "Melt"!

Oddly, the SPAC "Melt" was closer to the 6/1/2011 "Melt" than the classic '90s variety, but I enjoyed it much more this time.  The jam seemed to take more time getting to the weird point, so it never felt like "Melt" was being abandoned.  It was more organic.

The second set was a killer.  The joy of "Backwards Down the Number Line" led to the double-dose of funk in an amazing "Tweezer" and "Sand" (with more funk in "Boogie On Reggae Woman" later in the set) and bang-up rock in "Carini" (which is not a great song but always leads to a sick jam) and "Wilson". 

The Phish debut of "Architect" followed in the tradition of great solo-Trey songs that become even better Phish songs.  I saw the Trey Anastasio Band play this in January.  But this version had me singing along within minutes.  

Ending on "Possum" is easy and reliable, I suppose, but I have heard enough of these to last a lifetime.

The encore of "Show of Life", which is still one of my favorite 3.0 era songs, and the climactic "Tweezer Reprise" made for a perfect ending to a perfect evening.  Of the three shows thus far in the tour, this was clearly the winner.


Sunday, July 14, 2013

Phish at SPAC, night one


On Friday, July 5, I was out of work early and on the road to upstate New York for Phish's three-night stand at one the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  I checked in at the Econo Lodge in Albany, then headed up to the show.

I fell in love with SPAC in 2004 when Phish played there on their "final" tour.  I saw the first of the two shows and it was truly memorable.  I returned last year for the second and third of the three nights and, again, found the experience to be excellent and the shows memorable. So this year, I was intent on doing all three.

Let me get my big complaint out of the way - the sound is terrible on the lawn.  On the plus side, the lawn is large and roomy.  And unlike the manufactured feeling of, say, the PNC Bank Arts Center in New Jersey, it has a very real and natural feeling to it.  But it is simply not equipped with the sound system needed for a rock concert. The sound gets better as you move closer to the front (duh), but the crowd is thicker, too, and it was stifling hot that night.  So I moved around a lot, looking for a sweet spot that offered decent sound and some dancing room.

The "Kill Devil Falls" opener was exciting enough - especially because even though it is a fictitious place, it sounds like it would be in upstate New York.  Throughout the set, Phish played tightly but rather leashed with "The Moma Dance", "Sample in a Jar" and "Nellie Kane".  Just as the coda of "Roses Are Free" seemed like it may stretch its legs for the first time in a long time, it ended.

There were two debuts at this show - "Yarmouth Road" a  new tune by Mike Gordon and "Energy" a cover of a song by Apples in Stereo.  Both were mostly uninteresting, but maybe I need to hear them on the soundboard recording to enjoy them.

The first real winner of the night was "Bathtub Gin".  I do not recall ever being let down by this song, and that night it delivered a great jam.  The set-closing "David Bowie" continued to show that when Phish gets its jam on, it can still do it as good as ever.

But it was "Army of One" that got me most excited. I love the 'Undermind' album. Many of its songs debuted live the year before, but with Phish breaking up in 2004, the songs never had a chance to flourish the way the 2009 'Joy' songs have in recent years.  Suffering from stunted growth, each time they play a song from 'Undermind' it feels like they are giving it a chance for new life.

"My Friend My Friend" was disappointing.  In recent years, the buildup in the middle has been huge and intense and this one did not stack up.  

One thing that struck me about "Cities" was that it has become a huge crowd singalong.  When did that start happening? It made me fully realize how much I had been missing by listening exclusively to the soundboard recordings for the past 10 years.

After "Energy", Set Two lifted off and, with the exception of a standard "The Mango Song", never looked back with "Light", "46 Days", "Drowned" and "Slave to the Traffic Light" bringing quality jam after quality jam. I have witnessed "Slave" soar to the heavens and I have seen it die painful deaths.  This performance was definitely among the better ones.

"Steam" was a delight to hear.  After debuting as an instant fan favorite, culminating as the featured song of 12/31/2011, it disappeared almost completely, with only one performance in the year it so prominently rang in.  Let us hope that does not happen again.

I totally called the "Character Zero" encore - there was just so much electric vibe in the place that to not close the show with the crowd-chanting "Ohhhhhh...Uh! Uh! Ohhhhhh!" would have been a disservice.

Getting out of the parking lot at SPAC is a long process (it took more than a half hour just to get to my car!), so by the time I got back to Albany, it was really late.  And I had 13 miles to run in the morning.  No matter - all worth it for my first Phish show of the year.

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Running over George

A few weeks ago, a co-worker mentioned that he and his daughter walked over the George Washington Bridge. It occurred to me that I had been living within 30 miles of this huge, iconic river crossing for 20 years and I had never thought to run over it.

I immediately began planning that weekend's 19-mile run to include the bridge.


After exploring a few options that involved crossing the bridge at the beginning and end of the run or crossing after running a few miles in each state, I decided to to the bulk of the run in New Jersey and cross the bridge at the midway point.


Part of the reason for this was that Hudson Drive along the Palisades seemed enticing. Though open to cars, my research showed that it was used heavily by runners and cyclists, as it offered access to parks, trails and picnic grounds. And the fact that it starts way up over the Rockland County, N.Y., border and continues all the way down to Edgewater, it offered an excellent straight line to the bridge.


What I had not expected were the long, huge hills. The whole nine miles from my starting point in Alpine all the way to the bridge was nothing but a series of rolling hills. At no point was there any flat ground. In fact, it seemed at first that the first half was much more uphill than downhill. "Good," I thought, "I will have more downhill in the second half when I need it."


The constant pushing up the hills, the blazing sun and the 80-degree heat had already taken a toll on me when I got to the bridge. But once I hauled myself up the huge hill leading up to it in Fort Lee, I got a second wind from the excitement.


On the giant span's pedestrian lane, I encountered walkers, cyclists, and other runners. It gets pretty narrow in spots and it can be a little scary because the fence is not that high and the water is a long way down. No wonder people commit suicide from up there. It is just so darn accessible for anyone who wants to do so. Getting close to that fence to let cyclists pass gave me a bit of vertigo.


But what an exhilirating experience and a fantastic view!


As I approached Manhattan, I got caught in a bottleneck of cyclists as the path narrowed to allow only one person at a time to exit onto the street. After only a few blocks, I turned around and headed back over, this time facing the stalled traffic coming into Manhattan and feeling a little more comfortable being away from that rail.


Once off the bridge, the excitement quickly began to wear off, and there were still about nine miles to go.


I had no markers and no stopwatch, but I figure it was about the 12th mile when things started to get bad. It was also around that time that I realized I was not getting the downhills I had been expecting. How the hell could this road be uphill BOTH WAYS?


I crested hill after agonizing hill as the two-hour mark came and went. By that point, I figure I was doing an 8+ pace. By the time I got close to the Alpine area, I was trudging along at what had to be 9:00 or slower.


By the end, it had been about two hours and 32 minutes, an 8:02 pace. The sun had been unrelenting and the temperature was well into the 80s. I tried to do a slow cooldown jog that ended up being little more than a pained shuffle. I walked a little, then felt dizzy. And then the urge to vomit. Dehydration. Heat stroke could have been next.


Though I did not puke, I had to sit on a bench for a while before attempting to drive home. When I finally got home and out of my car, I felt so dizzy, I almost fell over. I plopped onto my bed and passed out for an hour.


I guess I picked a tough route and a bad day (and time) to do it.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Summer Phish tour begins in Bangor, ME


The winter and spring months are long and slow to Phish fans these days. It is a good thing there is so much Phishtory to keep us busy until summer tour starts.

I spent the first half of 2013 celebrating the 20th anniversary of the 'Rift' album (listening to the original album and recent performances of the songs to see how they have evolved), converting my old spring 1993 tapes to digital files, and re-visiting the entirety of Winter 2003, the last winter tour they played.

But now the waiting is over. July 3 was the first show of 2013, in Bangor, ME. I did not attend, but I listened to the show the next day. It was a good, solid primer, though with nothing too memorable aside from an excellent "Golden Age" and two knockout punches at the end with a killer "Run Like an Antelope" to end Set II and a great "Harry Hood" encore.


I have a complaint, though.  I do not mind when Phish takes its time on songs and jams - long gone are the 1993 days of playing everything with fiery intensity and raucous speed - but "Weekapaug Groove" and the first half of "Harry Hood" seemed very slow.  Not dragging, but deliberately slow-moving.

Again, I understand that these guys are all pushing 50, but they have to remember that people want to dance to songs like "Weekapaug".  There are plenty of other songs that should be slow; the uptempo songs should stay that way.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Eleventh week

Most of Hal Higdon's marathon training programs are 18 weeks, with the first 10 weeks dedicated to building up mileage.

And then comes Week 11.

No matter how fit, how tough, how sure of myself I am by the end of the 10th week, the 11th has a way of taking a hit to my ego, bringing me back to the reality of the feat of running a quality marathon.

While I am doing it, mind you, I feel like an invincible tough guy.

Week 11 of the Advanced 1 program consisted of a four-mile run on Sunday (the day after a 19-miler), then a 10-miler, a five, a 45-minute tempo run, a rest day, 10-miler, and the first 20 on the schedule. That is a 56-mile week for me.

Trying to be a bad-ass, I attempted to make the Friday 10-miler a pace run (done at goal marathon pace). Though I came close (7:04), I did not make pace (7:01). It was a good thing my 20 was on the flat D&R Canal path the next day. Had there been hills, I would have burned out.
It is after Week 11 that I feel torn up, fatigued, and taken down a few pegs from tough-guy status.  I have truly learned to appreciate why Mr. Higdon follows the "peak" weeks with "step-back" weeks. A 42-mile week should feel like a vacation, but following such a grueling week, it is a feat to accomplish.

Week 12 is sobering for the tough guy of Week 11.

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Twenty on the D&R Canal path

For last week's 20-miler, the first of the season, I continued my quest to run the entirety of the Delaware and Raritan Canal path. I started in Lambertville and ran 10-miles south to W. Upper Ferry Road, West Trenton (Ewing Township), where I had left off last time, and back again.

The traffic-free dirt path was a joy to run. The canal and trees made it feel closer to nature than the blacktop roads I usually traverse. But best of all it was flat, flat, flat. I did a mostly steady 7:41 pace and even managed a slight negative split. It was sunny and hot that day, and that is certainly a lot slower than my goal pace, but I felt like a champ.

Then, using my portable shower that I kept in the car, I cleaned up, met up with Karen and her friends, and spent a nice summer day in Lambertville and neighboring New Hope, PA.

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Marathon Number Nine

After tackling the goals of PRs in both the 5K and 10K this spring I began tentatively training for a ninth marathon.  I had not registered, nor had I booked any travel, but by the time I got to Block Island, I was doing 18-mile long runs.  I was clearly mentally committed and physically able.  There was no turning back.
 
It was time to pull the trigger.  It takes a lot of time to be sure I remain within my very limited budget. During my relaxing week on the island, I could be clear-headed and take careful consideration of all factors when booking air travel and lodging.
 
So it is now official - my ninth marathon will be the Park City Marathon in Utah on Aug. 17.  The flight and hotel are booked, the registration is complete.  This is my second attempt at a Utah marathon - in 2010, I registered for the South Jordan Marathon, but pulled out because of injury.
 
With only a month to go, I am hoping...no, confident...that I will make it there and run a quality race.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Photos from Block Island

Here are some photos from my week on Block Island.


At one of the island's more secluded beaches, accessed by the Clay Head Trail:
 





On the rock jetty at Old Harbor:







Karen and our canine companion, Bebo:





Many of the outdoor (and even some of the indoor) bars and restaurants are pet friendly. Some are very pet friendly. At Payne's Dock, some dogs hang out on the chairs at the tables with the humans, and the proprietors always offer a bowl of water for the pooches.  That's Bebo on the left and new friend, Stanley, on the right:



Karen and Bebo on the beach at Dorry's Cove:




The National Hotel. In the front, just up those stairs, is an outdoor restaurant which offers great food and a fantastic view of Old Harbor.  That, and the Harborside Inn, just down the block, are my favorite places to dine on the island.






Water Street from Old Harbor:






A treat for Bebo in the shape of Block Island:
 
 
 
 
 
The cottage we rented (Kelly's Cottage):




Bebo on Crescent Beach:




Clay Head Trail:

 
 
 
Karen and Bebo on the ferry:
 

 
 
 

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Too much wind and tough long run

On the Friday of my vacation week in Block Island, I tried to do a nine-mile pace run in the whipping wind blowing through the island.  As if that did not slow me down enough, the hills made it even harder.  I was proud of myself for managing a 7:05 pace, just four seconds per mile slower than my goal marathon pace.

However, it wore me out for Saturday's long run of 18 miles.

Tracing mostly the same route as the previous week's run, with a little added on at the end (on the hills of the Mohegan Bluffs, no less), I soldiered through, even though I was feeling much too weak for the task.  I had not gotten a lot of sleep because I had to get up early so we could check out of the cottage so I was tired from the start.

I knew it was my last chance to look around and take in the island before hopping on the ferry to come home that afternoon, but it was hard to enjoy as I struggled to put one foot in front of the other.  By Mile 12, as I rounded Cooneymus Road onto Center Avenue, my pace was well over 8:00...and getting slower.

I finished the last few miles (all hilly) on sheer will alone, and when it was time to leave the island, I was shot.  Karen and I had a nice breakfast at the Harborside Inn, overlooking Old Harbor, then got on the ferry to go home.  I asked Karen to take the wheel for the long drive home from Rhode Island to New Jersey and I conked out.

Though I did not exactly want to end my vacation on that note, I still feel thoroughly satisfied and extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to do seven runs, including two long runs, at my favorite island getaway.