Knoxville - The City of Dreams. Also, PFTW

You guys, I don't think Evan Dando listened when I said I was worried about him.

Because that guy, he is looking ROUGH.

I pinky-promise this is my very, very last post about ED (until their next tour...), promise.

My weekend shook down like this....

6am flight, from Orange County. Arrived Knoxville 3:40pm.

I know nothing about Knoxville, or Tennessee, but turns out? It's kinda pretty.

Met Holly from Nothing but Bonfires at the Bijou Theater for drinks and some light Evan Dando stalking...

...which works out great, because in addition to being a lovely person, she's MAYBE as obsessed as I am.

Which is how we ended up walking down the street at the back of the theater and randomly running into Evan Dando outside.

Yes, that happened, and it was magical, and awkward, and glorious, and funny, and sad, all at the same time.

He looks ROUGH. I thought he looked rough in Boulder, but man. That dude is living HARD. Also, he needs to wash his hair. And his shirt.

Anyway, to overshare, he advised us that he was really tired, that he has been touring a really long time (true), and he wasn't sure how things were going to go. However, they went magically, and it was a great, great show, and I am - I think - over my obsession. Especially because they are now heading to Europe, and according to the H, I am unable to cross the ocean to see Lemonheads.

And then the show was over, we ate amazing guacamole...

before heading back to our hotel. Delicious.

Got to our hotel, and discovered that Evan and crew were staying at the same hotel. We tried some light stalking (as in, sitting in the lobby...), but no further sightings.

2 hours of sleep later, I was back at Knoxville's tiny airport, and home by 10:30am. And then I ate, and took a 30 minute nap, and ran 10 miles. I will have to keep that memory tucked away next time I think I can't possibly do a run because omg I haven't fueled properly or didn't sleep enough.

10 miles, fueled by 2 hours of sleep and guacamole.

Then I took #1 to the magic bakery and bought all the things.

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Plan for the Week!

Last week... 21 miles total
Tuesday: 4 miles easy, 42:37
Wednesday: 1 mile easy, 10:45; strength conditioning class
Thursday: 6 miles speed work, 1 mile warm up, 4 miles strides (600 regular pace, 200 realllly fast, repeat, 1 mile cool down). Awful. 200's suck (PS, someone asked, I was doing 7:55 pace for the 200's).
Saturday: Easy 2.5 mile walk through Knoxville.
Sunday: 10 miles, easy pace, 1:53:18.

This week....
Tuesday: 7 miles easy
Wednesday: 2-3 miles easy, strength conditioning
Thursday: 7 miles tempo (<------GROSSIHATETEMPORUNSGROSS)
Saturday: 12 miles, 6 alone plus 6 with PCRF

Weekend Roundup, Plan For The Week

1. If you missed it last week, I am EXTENDING the Team Gab Virtual Run an additional 2 week. You can CLICK HERE to read the details and sign up. There are still prizes from BIC Bands, Tommie Copper, Arctic Ease, Road ID, ViiAD Jewelry, and MORE.

2. Team Gab is sitting at $2,994 in fundraising - do you know what that is?

It's $6 away from $3,000. If everyone who read this donated a dollar, I bet we could top 3Grand TODAY.

And, if you donate a dollar - just one, tiny $1 - today, I'll add 3 entries to the Team Gab Virtual Run giveaway for this coming Friday.

Click HERE to donate.

3. PCRF kicked off their training program Saturday with what looks like about DOUBLE the size of the group we had last year - that is AMAZING.

Pepper, our fearless leader (and organizer) reported that the VIP Training participants had raised a total of $7,870 dollars as of Sunday.

Coach Doris is still extra peppy...

IF YOU ARE IN SOCAL, AND ON THE FENCE ABOUT JOINING.... Renegade Racing is offering a 15% discount good through tonight at midnight. You can register HERE, select "Join a Team", type in "Team Gab", and use discount code "presidentrenegade".

The VIP option is an EXCELLENT choice if you want to join a fun group, receive professional coaching and training, and raise money. If you are interested, email me for info.

4. After my run with the group, I went home and put on real person clothes, and headed back out to do some shopping for a party #2 had to go to....

oops. Lulu-aide strikes again.

5. Then we took #2 to the party, sat in Souplantation eating all the things for 90 minutes, went back to pick her up, and locked our keys in the car. So, that was fun.

6. Sunday, I skipped anything active. Yeah. That's right. I skipped a 10 mile run. I didn't cycle like I said I would instead. I slept until 7:30, woke up and won a couple eBay auctions. And then went shopping with #1.

Best purchase of the day. $4!! Then, I met my friend and her pretty baby at Souplantation and sat around eating all the things (again!) until it was lava cake time. It's true, that happened. Followed by a trip to 85*C bakery, again.

Yes, FourSquare, in fact I DO love fresh baked goodness.

7. And that brings us to today, where apparently I'm the ONLY PERSON in OC working.

LAME.

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To recap last week....
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6 miles, easy, 1:04:47, 10:47 pace. (Of note, my real 10K PR is 1:06:05....)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Normally, this is speed work day. But, I was extra tired and thought I needed some extra rest.
Friday: ...and switched my 10x400 to here. Turns out, I was STILL extra tired, and probably should have made this an easy run, but instead, I did this:

Man, did it suck. It was my first time running intervals outside (thanks to some EXCELLENT directions from The Jesse!), so it definitely took a few tries to get the feel for the correct pace. When I got home and uploaded my data, I am equally horrified and excited to report, there were SEVERAL points that I was running 6:03-6:08 pace. I don't even know how to fathom how fast that is, and it's OBVIOUSLY unintentional. I had no idea that capability even existed in my super short stupid slow legs. Anyway, in the end, I think I loved doing the intervals outside, I think I just clearly need to practice this more - and now that it's staying light out longer, I don't feel so creepy running outside alone.

Saturday: 4 miles, easy pace with PCRF. LOVE THIS GROUP.

For this week.....
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6 miles easy
Wednesday: I might try to hit the Mind Body class PCRF provides for us. Maybe. It's so early, though - 6am. And then I'd have to come into work late. So... not sure.
Thursday: 6 miles easy
Friday: rest
Saturday: RACE DAY (for REAL, I've double checked). 10K. I'll post later about my goals.

I feel like this was really long, and you're probably not reading still by this point, so now seems like a good time to throw in that I'm reallllllly excited and again, equally ashamed, to start planning a trip to Knoxville (Knoxville, no really) to see Lemonheads March 3. I know. I'm out of control. It's madness. In my defense, this time, This Lady started it. And, we're in agreement that considering my BFF Evan Dando's current lifestyle, there's no telling how much time we really have left to enjoy him. So.... might as well.

Dear Evan Dando, We Need to Talk.

Years and years ago, when you graced the pages of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People edition, I was thrilled. You WERE awfully pretty....

I mean, I liked the Lemonheads. But mostly, I liked your pretty face. It wasn't my fault. Who could resist this?

In my young (as in, high school) and superficial mind, you were a pretty face that sang pretty things.

But I always bought your CD's. When my first kid was born, I would sing "Into Your Arms" to her when she fell asleep (poorly, so I apologize, #1).

When I got my first iPhone, years ago, Lemonheads were among my first iTunes downloads.

{source}

When I started running, my playlist was comprised solely of songs I knew the lyrics to, and could sing along with (have I mentioned I'm a terrible, terrible singer?). Lemonheads made more appearances than any other artist.

All of this to say, Evan Dando, that you've been part of my life for a really, really long time.

Twenty years is a long time.

When I saw you were playing in OC last October, I was GIDDY. I don't know that I've ever bought tickets to something with so much excitement.

And it was magic.

I'm a little OCD sometimes. And I've been mindlessly youtubing you for MONTHS now. And if I didn't really appreciate Evan Dando and the Lemonheads before, I for sure do now.

I laughed, in a mortified kind of way, at your rendition of Billie Jean.

I could play your version of Like a Rose over and over.

I spent 30 minutes fascinated by PESTO.

But, this is the thing, Evan Dando.

I not only made plans to go see a SECOND show in Boulder, but I pushed another blogger off the fence and over the edge of crazy.

And through Snowpocalypse, I made my Internet BFF drive me to the Fox Theater.

And the show was okay.

Not magic. Just okay.

I saw you walk by while I was on the phone outside...

But you looked pretty... melancholy.

You're still pretty, even if you look as if you've aged a dozen years in the past 4 months...

I'd guess touring for months on end would be tiring.

But your voice is still lovely. It always pleases me when artists sound as good live as they do recorded... and you probably sound even better live.

The playlists snagged from the stage after you left were full of interesting songs that you skipped. You had the entirety of It's a Shame About Ray listed, but still mixed up some songs.

You had the words to Hard Drive typed up for you...

You seemed not super excited to be there.

Bummer.

Was it Snowpocalypse? I mean, I can understand how that would irritate anyone...

On our way out, after your relatively short set... I told Holly I was considering ways to finagle another trip to another show (Disney Princess Half what?!). But after that mess, I was leaning towards not.

But then, while innocently youtubing a new Evan Dando playlist, I found recordings of shows, made as recently as late January... and they were GOOD. Full of energy.

And now I'm busily plotting a redemption show.

My husband is less than amused at my obsession.

Flying out to the east coast for a(nother) concert seems crazy, even by my standards, so I probably won't do it. I am resigning myself to wait patiently for your next tour.

Based on your Tweeting, I sure hope you make it that long....

Best,

The totally not I swear creepy stalker,

H.

{what's that? this is a running blog? Right... 5 miles, Tuesday, easy pace, nothing exciting to report.}

Team Gab Week 3 Winner!, and PFTW

Sorry for my delay, I was busy frolicking in Snowpocalypse. I owe a recap link-up post, which I am slowly working on, as well as a winner for week 3, which I have!

Winner winner = Karen at La Chanson De Ma Vie. Congratulations, and THANK YOU, Karen! Check out the Team Gab giveaway post to select your prize, and email me at hmgiraffy@gmail.com with your selection!

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Things that happened last week:
Monday: 4 miles easy "recovery". I use the term "recovery" very loosely; I felt fine.
Wednesday: 6 miles speeeeed work. On schedule: 1 mi warm up, 1mi @ 9:21, 1200 @ 9:09 pace (6:47), 2x800 @ 8:56 pace (4:28), 2x400 @ 8:30 pace (2:07), 400RI. Actual: 1mi @ 9:21, 1200 @ 6:47, 2x800 @ 4:23, 4:24, 2x400 @ 2:04, 2:05. 1:05:28, 10:54 avg pace.
Friday: Burned a hundred billion calories fretting about flying to, then driving through, Snowpocalypse.
Saturday: 3.4 torturous miles with a 4:1 run/walk. 40 minutes. That's not an exaggeration. Followed by 3 mile walk on the treadmill, 47 minutes. Altitude is no joke.

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Plans for this week:
Tuesday: 5 miles easy
Thursday: 4 miles, 2 easy pace, 2 half goal pace
Sunday: Mermaid Half!

Looooooooks a lot like a taper week......

I'm also desperately seeking a reason I need to NOT register for Princess, which, coincidentally, falls on a weekend Evan Dando and those two guys he calls the Lemonheads are playing in Florida. I am 100% positive I will not stop obsessing over this until Princess sells out (I won't buy a bib, because this would be my Coast to Coast run).

So if you're on the fence about running Princess, please, for my sake, go register. The faster it sells out, the faster I can move my obsession along to the next shiny object.

Slipped my mind that I could use my brain....

I am a BIG fan of music. I know, most people are, so it's probably not that special, but really. I dig music, a lot. When I was a freshman in high school, I went to a school that was an hour (plus) bus ride from my house. We had a LOT of time on our hands. My friends and I all had this tape (like, yes, a tape), on one side was Violent Femmes, American Music. The other side, was Lemonheads, It's a Shame About Ray. It pretty much rocked my entire high school life, and these two bands remain two of my favorites to this day. Actually, I think I have more Lemonheads songs on my playlist than any other band.

I'd had the opportunity to see Violent Femmes several times, and they were consistently awesome. But Lemonheads eluded me.

Until I accidentally happened to see an ad on Facebook. Normally I ignore these, all of them. I'm not sure how this one caught my eye, but it did. So I was SUPER psyched when I saw that Lemonheads were playing a small local venue, in just a few days.

The Coach House is in interesting place. Kind of a dining hall. Kind of a bar. With a stage. I got there plenty early, and scored a seat (at a banquet table...) right next to the stage. There was a dinner option, but I passed, and hung out at the table with my coke.

Evan Dando sat at the next table over for a bit and watched the first act. We bonded, I'm pretty sure. Just setting the stage for our BFF'ness.

The first band was mediocre. I swear the (older) front man was wearing jeggings. It was disconcerting.

The second band, The Gromble, was pretty great. Sort of a mix between Violent Femmes, Vampire Weekend, and something else that I can't quite peg. But they were good, and put on a good show. If you're in the area, find them.

Plus, I'm a sucker for a horn section.

Then.

Then there was this.

Evan Dando played an acoustic set for about 30 minutes.

The rest of the band came out afterwards, and played the It's a Shame About Ray album, start to finish.


Yeah, that's upside down. Oops.

There was a projector onstage, that I was intrigued by before they started, and the entire time they played, it showed random footage of driving around, snow, open fields... a bird...

They played a couple other songs from their other albums...

And then Evan spent some more time solo, playing requests from the (small) audience.



It was amazing.

I've been lucky enough to see a lot of my favorites live, and I really enjoy when people sound as good live as they do recorded. Evan Dando has a beautiful voice, and somehow, it's even better live. These videos really don't even do him justice.

After they finished playing, he hung out and signed autographs, chatted with everyone, and took pictures.

I tried to take a picture, as well, but I have a new phone, and couldn't figure it out.

Thankfully, Evan Dando is techno smarter than me.

Me: Shoot, I don't know how to do this....
BFF Evan: Oh, you have a new iPhone. Here, look, you can push this... and flip it around.

I don't know that guy on the left. (No, really, I don't know him, or where he came from).

But obviously, I have a new BFF.