Wednesday evening run.

Oh boy, that's two in a row boys and girls.

Second run same as the first (another 2.2 miles or so - this time I ran home), except this time I timed myself.  Not spectacular, but I shouldn't expect more from myself after taking quite the break from running.  I was running maybe an 8:30 mile or so, optimistically.  Conservatively, 8:45.  Eh!  I'm still glad I went.  It was a warm evening, fairly humid.

Tuesday evening run.

It was kinda warm out, but I was feeling lazy and decided to get the hell out of here.  Actually, it was warm, but there's a pleasant breeze that I liked the sound of.

Anyway, nothing crazy.  I ran down to Porter and back home for a stunning 2.1 miles.  I picked up the pace in the second mile, which was nice, but I'm (unfortunately) a bit out of shape for this sorta thing.  Here's the route:

Wednesday Ocean Grove Run!

So I went for a run along the beach at Ocean Grove.  It turned out to be a bit farther than I expected.  I think, in total, I ran about 2.5 miles (that link out and back) with a bit of a walk in the middle up near the north end.  It was wicked hot out, so the parts of the run that were a bit further away from the water were pretty blazingly warm.

Here's a map.

And then he went for a Sunday afternoon run.

Dear Diary,

It's been a while since I had a run to write about in you.  I apologize, but it is what it is.  It's a beautiful, gorgeous, splendid, Sunday afternoon.  I was sitting around the apartment around noon and decided I'd just had enough and needed to go out, out, out.  Donning my thangs, I set out from the apartment for a quick, 2.2 mile jaunt.  Then I walked home, for a total of 4.6 miles.  Here's the route:

I stopped running at the footbridge, right over the "2" there.  Then I walked across, stood in the shade and enjoyed the breeze for a bit, and then went back.  Tons of people out - it was quite pleasant!

Warm weather morning run

I woke up this morning to discover that it was approximately 55 degrees outside, and decided that made it too nice of a day not to head out for a run.  I find the barrier to entry in a morning run is much lower if I don't have to bundle up in four million layers before I do it.

Anyway, not the longest run in the world, as I'm out of practice, but I went down out of Porter on Mass Ave., looped around Cambridge Common (the park, not the bar), and back up through the neighborhood.  It totaled about 2.6 miles.  Here's the map:

Notes

I found several old to-do lists and notes to myself tonight.  I'm happy to report that I've made significant advances beyond the worries I had then.

Thank goodness - life really does progress and we really do grow.

New England Conservatory

I went out to dinner at Christopher's with my housemate Matt today.  Before our food arrived, I got a call from my advisor (Dave Z.) at the Conservatory.  I was going to call him back later, but Matt encouraged me to walk outside and take the call; I didn't argue too much because I'd been trying to get ahold of Dave for a few days now.

I walked outside into the hail (did you notice that was happening?  Ugh.) and called Dave back.  I'm not exactly sure how long we talked, maybe ten minutes or so, but we hammered a lot of stuff out.  It was great.

We decided that I'd take lessons with him this semester, and that I should join an ensemble.  I'm going to take Jazz Theory I and Ear Training I for non-credit this semester to get myself back into the groove (I've taken them already for credit).  I may (may) do some stuff in summer - maybe I'll work.  But in fall I'm going to take a full load.

Basically... I'm in.  I did it.  I'm going to spend the next four months taking jazz guitar lessons, playing in a small group ensemble, and learning theory and ear training.  And playing with Jason, Kat, and Mark at our usual basement-band-jam-session.

And I'm not going to be working full time.  So... this will be my focus.

And if I have my way, I'll do the same thing for the entire next school year.

I got out, I really did it.  I have this strange, lovely, semi-euphoric feeling.  Surprisingly, right now I'm not nervous, which I've been every single time I started something at the Conservatory.  This time I know I have the time and energy to do it.

Watch out, Nels Cline.