Ele's Race is in the bag

I know all two or three of my readers are dying to hear the news. I DID successfully run Ele's Race on Sunday--my first ever organized "competitive" race ever. (The only one I was competing with was myself, of course). Despite my shin situation (shin splints? Stress fracture? I'm not sure what's going on down there, but it's been annoying), I soldiered through the race and actually managed a personal best with a (not very) blazing time of 31:19. I can't help but wonder if my time would have been better if I wasn't running on one good leg, but it's not worth fretting about. I completed the race and I'm very happy about that.

Brief little boring update on stuff

Yet another boring running update:

Still nursing the shin splints, or whatever it is, in my left shin. It seems better than it was last week, but still annoying. I'm gonna gut it out and run on it Sunday in Ele's Race.

As it is, I haven't run since Sunday the 21st, and am in withdrawal.  I just don't want to risk aggravating the injury before Ele's Race. Anyway, not running this week has left me feeling a general sense of malaise.

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I'm also finally about to finish Detroit Rock City. I'll try and give an update on that soon.

Running update

I'm still running, and have successfully completed the Couch to 5K program. I've run about a half-dozen (give or take) 5 kilometer distances in my weekly workouts.

I've also take the first big plunge: I signed up for my first official 5K. It's Ele's Race (which benefits Ele's Place) and takes place on July 28.

For more information about Ele's Place and they great work they do, click here:

Ele's Place

Right now, I'm nursing some nagging pain in my left shin/calf, so I think I better take it easy until the 28th. Today, I put in a 3.17 mile run, and the calf is bugging me and I find myself hobbling around this afternoon. If I chill for the next week, maybe making one short little run in the middle of the week, I hope to be fine for this 5k.

It does seem that taking up running at age 45, I seem to be constantly nursing one little ache and pain or other. (I don't want to discourage anyone from taking up running, though. It is a wonderful activity and, overall, I feel better than I have in a decade).

"Detroit Rock City"

I'm currently reading this great oral history of rock music in Detroit from the mid-'60s until the first decade of the aughts. If you're at all interested in the MC5, The Stooges, Bob Seger, Mitch Ryder, Alice Cooper, Ted [renowned asshole] Nugent (et al.), then definitely do yourself a favor and check out this fine book. The full title is Detroit Rock City: the Uncensored History of Five Decades of Rock 'n' Roll in America's Loudest City, by Steve Miller. (No, not the "Take the money and run" Steve Miller. This is Michigan journalist Steve Miller who was also in the Lansing punk band The Fix).

Right now, I'm a little beyond the early seventies and the flame out of the MC5 and The Stooges, and am reading about lesser-known bands such as Destroy All Monsters (Ron Asheton played with them) and Fred "Sonic" Smith's post-MC5 band, Sonic's Rendezvous Band. Reading about these groups has inspired me to check out some clips on YouTube and they are both great, particularly Sonic's Rendezvous Band. I'm coming to the conclusion that Fred "Sonic" Smith is one of the true unsung heroes of rock music.

The book also covers later Detroit bands, and keepers of the Detroit rock flame, such as The Gories, Laughing Hyenas, Dirtbombs, Bantam Rooster, and The White Stripes. (I haven't gotten that far yet).

Gotta run now, but I hope to add to this post later, and maybe post selected music, etc.