I spent a little time with my new piece this morning, which was nice. I had been letting it steep for a while and I had to pay attention to the ending . . . now I can print it and read it over to see how I like it . . . then probably cut some more rewrite some more, etc.
I found out about a competition in the city I want to enter, it just is a matter of which piece to enter. I'm leaning toward 'At Death's Door', but maybe this new one if I like it well enough . . . we'll see. It may be way too soon for the new one though. I'll have to see what I think after I print it.
On the running solo piece front: I did run yesterday morning, but only my default four miles. If it's not raining too hard tomorrow I might go for a bit longer. My mileage for my first week was up considerably. I ran four times from Sunday the 21st through Sat. the 27th and if I had run my default four it would have come to sixteen miles; as it happens I did seven miles twice (21 and 27) four miles on the 23 and of course the Turkey Trot on the 25th (five miles). That totals 23 miles so that is up from what I would typically do. I also drove a course that comes to about thirteen miles so when I get to the point I can do thirteen miles I'll have another option. I can run the half marathon course but it's nice to have other options so it doesn't get boring. The real test will be building beyond the thirteen miles and getting to the twenty six . . . but if I'm sane about it and don't try to do too much too soon I'm sure I'll be ok.
I checked, just out of curiosity and the Philly marathon is open for applications on April 1. NYC marathon is already up and running! These guys do plan ahead! One of the requirements of NYC is to have a time of 1:40 or better for a half marathon, and I do of course: 1:29 to be exact! Maybe I should apply to both, even though the logistics of getting to Staten Island are daunting . . . we'll see.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
This thing is happening . . .
I had a thought this morning, just as I was sitting down to write this, about what makes preparation for a marathon compelling as a play. It might not be. And please know that these race prep postings may or may not result in a solo piece, though that is my goal. At any rate, that thought about relevance lead to this thought: when a playwright sits to write, how do they ever know it will be relevant to anyone. It seems to me that the job of the playwright is to take his or her experience and make it compelling. To distill what happens in their lives and make it into something that will lead an audience to see something of themselves up there on stage. It's that old universality thing . . . I don't write a play if I don't think it'll connect with people in some way, give them something to think about.
Anyway, that's today's contribution to the Playwrighting 101 syllabus.
At the race yesterday, I saw at least four people with Philly marathon shirts on. Well, three were the half marathon shirts and one was the marathon; they have shirts with either 13.1 or 26.2 on them. Nice shirts, with the course on back. Anyway, I spoke to three of them and they all seemed to have had good experiences. Ironically, the one that had run the full 26.2 was a lady my age or older who said she had done it in four hours twenty eight minutes . . . she was happy. And she was running the Turkey Trot less than a week later! I always thought that after you run a marathon you roll up in a fetal position for a few days.
My time yesterday was 44:37 an average of 8:56 minute miles (last year was 44:49). BUT my time in the first mile was 10:41! Meaning my time for the final four miles was under thirty four minutes meaning it's close to 8:30 minute miles . . . what this tells me of course is that I shouldn't start too far back in the pack because it takes a while to get moving in that mass of people. I think the race officials must be hip to that because they also posted a 'net time' which, I think, is the time from when you cross the starting line to when you cross the finish line, in that case my time was 42.58; better, but it would still be a good idea to move forward some. I'll have to stop into Gracie's today to confirm the net time thing with Mike.
Don't worry, I know it sounds obsessive, but bear with me. This IS still about play writing but if I'm gonna use my blog as a race diary/notes to myself for a projected solo piece I have to be a little obsessive.
As a side bar to the Philly runners; none of them knew about the half marathon at Rockland Lake in the spring . . . that's my first biggy on the road to Philly. I'm thinking if I prepare in stages, then I can get ready for the half, then springboard off of that to the Nov. thing.
After the race, a nice turkey day with Bette and Laurette and then went to see 127 Hours . . . Danny Boyle rocks! Of course, it may leave a little to be desired as to holiday movie fare!
Anyway, that's today's contribution to the Playwrighting 101 syllabus.
At the race yesterday, I saw at least four people with Philly marathon shirts on. Well, three were the half marathon shirts and one was the marathon; they have shirts with either 13.1 or 26.2 on them. Nice shirts, with the course on back. Anyway, I spoke to three of them and they all seemed to have had good experiences. Ironically, the one that had run the full 26.2 was a lady my age or older who said she had done it in four hours twenty eight minutes . . . she was happy. And she was running the Turkey Trot less than a week later! I always thought that after you run a marathon you roll up in a fetal position for a few days.
My time yesterday was 44:37 an average of 8:56 minute miles (last year was 44:49). BUT my time in the first mile was 10:41! Meaning my time for the final four miles was under thirty four minutes meaning it's close to 8:30 minute miles . . . what this tells me of course is that I shouldn't start too far back in the pack because it takes a while to get moving in that mass of people. I think the race officials must be hip to that because they also posted a 'net time' which, I think, is the time from when you cross the starting line to when you cross the finish line, in that case my time was 42.58; better, but it would still be a good idea to move forward some. I'll have to stop into Gracie's today to confirm the net time thing with Mike.
Don't worry, I know it sounds obsessive, but bear with me. This IS still about play writing but if I'm gonna use my blog as a race diary/notes to myself for a projected solo piece I have to be a little obsessive.
As a side bar to the Philly runners; none of them knew about the half marathon at Rockland Lake in the spring . . . that's my first biggy on the road to Philly. I'm thinking if I prepare in stages, then I can get ready for the half, then springboard off of that to the Nov. thing.
After the race, a nice turkey day with Bette and Laurette and then went to see 127 Hours . . . Danny Boyle rocks! Of course, it may leave a little to be desired as to holiday movie fare!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
"It's all mental!"
That was the first advice i have gotten about running a marathon. This from Mike, who owns Gracie's Ravioli up the street. He's one of the poo-bahs of Rockland Road Runners and when I was in there yesterday for some olive oil, I mentioned to him my plan (didn't mention the play part, the place was kind of busy). I told him I was thinking about it and he said 'you'll have no problem'. Then he said the mental part. I left him with: Yeah, if I can get my mind into it, maybe my body will follow.
Of course, most things come down to mental prep, when you get right down to it. You have to believe you can do something before you can do it. That's what I've always thought. When I get nervous before a performance, it helps to visualize doing it; sure there are other tricks as well, relaxation exercises and what have you, but visualization is key.
The marathon thing isn't that intimidating oddly enough. Once I made the decision, I can see how to get there. A gradual ramping up of mileage over the coming months. I used to love long runs, it was very meditative, and when you get used to it, your mind seems to float above your body, as separate entities . . . but four hours is a lot.
I was looking at my running times of recent races last night, I put together an excel spread sheet to keep track. I'm running the Turkey Trot this morning (happy T day!) Two years ago my time was a shade over ten minute miles (10:07 to be exact); last year was 8:58. Nice improvement. I attribute at least part of that to weight loss, from running and working out a lot more regularly. I don't expect the same this year. I expect to hover around the nine minute neighborhood, which is just fine for me.
Just for the record, my time for the half marathon was 2:06 (the same as my first 15 miler thirty plus years ago); my time for the 10 miler was 1:29. If you're wondering the half marathon time comes to 9:40 minute mile average; the ten miler: 8:55.
Anyway, I digress and I have to go for the Turkey Trot. More soon. Mindy got a laugh out of when I told her that the marathon idea was her fault. She thought I was kidding! I was actually . . . sort of.
Of course, most things come down to mental prep, when you get right down to it. You have to believe you can do something before you can do it. That's what I've always thought. When I get nervous before a performance, it helps to visualize doing it; sure there are other tricks as well, relaxation exercises and what have you, but visualization is key.
The marathon thing isn't that intimidating oddly enough. Once I made the decision, I can see how to get there. A gradual ramping up of mileage over the coming months. I used to love long runs, it was very meditative, and when you get used to it, your mind seems to float above your body, as separate entities . . . but four hours is a lot.
I was looking at my running times of recent races last night, I put together an excel spread sheet to keep track. I'm running the Turkey Trot this morning (happy T day!) Two years ago my time was a shade over ten minute miles (10:07 to be exact); last year was 8:58. Nice improvement. I attribute at least part of that to weight loss, from running and working out a lot more regularly. I don't expect the same this year. I expect to hover around the nine minute neighborhood, which is just fine for me.
Just for the record, my time for the half marathon was 2:06 (the same as my first 15 miler thirty plus years ago); my time for the 10 miler was 1:29. If you're wondering the half marathon time comes to 9:40 minute mile average; the ten miler: 8:55.
Anyway, I digress and I have to go for the Turkey Trot. More soon. Mindy got a laugh out of when I told her that the marathon idea was her fault. She thought I was kidding! I was actually . . . sort of.
Monday, November 22, 2010
An 'ah-ha' moment
I was in Philadelphia this weekend. First time there, nice town. Amazing art museum plus the Rodin Museum, Rodin was amazing, he must have never stopped working. At any rate, I digress. But one more digression before I reach my point: The Walnut Street Theater, the oldest theatre in the US and the oldesr continuously operating theater in the English speaking world! (and what was playing there? White Christmas? Such is the state of theater I suppose, but they were packing them in).
Now the point and why this is in my 'playblog'; but it is my blog and I'm allowed to diverge from theme from time to time. At any rate, what I didn't know was that this weekend was the Philadelphia marathon. Now, any time I have thought of running a marathon I have always cringed at the thought; the first time I ran the fifteen miler in Charleston (around 85 or 86 I'd say) I distinctly remember thinking after the finish: how can somebody run another 11.2 miles after that? of course, my witty addition over the years became ' it's not the 26 miles that's hard it's the .2 that'll do you in!'
But a friend from NY was running in the marathon and I thought I'd go watch and see if I could spot her and cheer her on. It occurred to me later that I had never watched a race before from an audience viewpoint, only from the inside. It was a revelation, and the titular 'ah-ha' moment. These people weren't in any better shape than me, a lot of them. Some didn't even take it all that seriously (one guy in drag, all red even down to red running shoes. another in all green, and I mean all green, even covering his head, he was like a running condom or something, and then there were the girls with turkey feather in construction paper on their backs: one bystander said: they obviously never studied physics). Of course I was at about the six mile point, it would have been interesting to see these same people twenty miles later.
So I made my commitment. I'm going to run in a marathon. I have about a year to get ready; and if I can't get into NY (logistically a nightmare getting out to Staten Island and such, in Philly it's much more civilized: you can walk out a hotel room to the start and crawl back to your hotel after you finish).
Not only that: when I got home I went for a run, since I'm doing the five mile Turkey Trot this week, I figured I should do more than my default four miles, so I did my seven mile Nyack to Piermont run. While I was running the lightbulb went off in my head. I'll keep track of my progress getting ready for the marathon via this blog, and everything else happening in and around me in the course of the year, and when it's all said and done . . . can you guess where I'm going? If you guessed solo show you're right.
By the way, I did not see my friend Mindy as I watched the runners go by. Even after six miles the runners tended to be clumped together, I waited until about an hour and a half after the start and then gave up. Even an hour later there were still people trickling by outside . . . some walkers . . . so this could be an interesting year. And I think it's only fitting that my debut marathon would be in Philly since it's where I saw the light . . . had my rebirth . . . um . . . my moment of clarity . . . any other cliches I can toss in there?
This is gonna be fun . . . if it doesn't kill me!
Now the point and why this is in my 'playblog'; but it is my blog and I'm allowed to diverge from theme from time to time. At any rate, what I didn't know was that this weekend was the Philadelphia marathon. Now, any time I have thought of running a marathon I have always cringed at the thought; the first time I ran the fifteen miler in Charleston (around 85 or 86 I'd say) I distinctly remember thinking after the finish: how can somebody run another 11.2 miles after that? of course, my witty addition over the years became ' it's not the 26 miles that's hard it's the .2 that'll do you in!'
But a friend from NY was running in the marathon and I thought I'd go watch and see if I could spot her and cheer her on. It occurred to me later that I had never watched a race before from an audience viewpoint, only from the inside. It was a revelation, and the titular 'ah-ha' moment. These people weren't in any better shape than me, a lot of them. Some didn't even take it all that seriously (one guy in drag, all red even down to red running shoes. another in all green, and I mean all green, even covering his head, he was like a running condom or something, and then there were the girls with turkey feather in construction paper on their backs: one bystander said: they obviously never studied physics). Of course I was at about the six mile point, it would have been interesting to see these same people twenty miles later.
So I made my commitment. I'm going to run in a marathon. I have about a year to get ready; and if I can't get into NY (logistically a nightmare getting out to Staten Island and such, in Philly it's much more civilized: you can walk out a hotel room to the start and crawl back to your hotel after you finish).
Not only that: when I got home I went for a run, since I'm doing the five mile Turkey Trot this week, I figured I should do more than my default four miles, so I did my seven mile Nyack to Piermont run. While I was running the lightbulb went off in my head. I'll keep track of my progress getting ready for the marathon via this blog, and everything else happening in and around me in the course of the year, and when it's all said and done . . . can you guess where I'm going? If you guessed solo show you're right.
By the way, I did not see my friend Mindy as I watched the runners go by. Even after six miles the runners tended to be clumped together, I waited until about an hour and a half after the start and then gave up. Even an hour later there were still people trickling by outside . . . some walkers . . . so this could be an interesting year. And I think it's only fitting that my debut marathon would be in Philly since it's where I saw the light . . . had my rebirth . . . um . . . my moment of clarity . . . any other cliches I can toss in there?
This is gonna be fun . . . if it doesn't kill me!
Thursday, November 11, 2010
When least expected . . .
. . . your mind can be totally blown! I ran this morning at 5:30 (yes AM)and when I was finished I was walking home and a guy walking a dog passes me and as he does his dog gets wrapped around a parking meter; I say 'I hate it when that happens', and we chatted pleasantly for a second or two and then he dropped the bomb: I saw your performance in Woodstock this summer and really enjoyed it.
I thanked him of course and talked about his connection to the area up there, but you can't imagine how that moved me. Yes I had many moving experiences built around Old Hickory and hope that I have many more, but to have a total stranger three months down the road in a totally random encounter bring it up . . . I was almost in tears when I turned the corner to come home.
You need a shot in the arm from time to time . . . and brother that was one!
I thanked him of course and talked about his connection to the area up there, but you can't imagine how that moved me. Yes I had many moving experiences built around Old Hickory and hope that I have many more, but to have a total stranger three months down the road in a totally random encounter bring it up . . . I was almost in tears when I turned the corner to come home.
You need a shot in the arm from time to time . . . and brother that was one!
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Some thoughts after seeing 'The Wall'
Yes I've been working on the new piece, and in fact got to what end (for now) of act one.
But what I have been moved by recently, and thought it appropriate to share via blog, are a couple of concerts that were really as much about theater as rock and roll. A couple of weeks ago, Stew and Heidi and the Negro Problem at BAM; I may have already mentioned that one. Last night, The Wall at the Garden. It is almost futile to try to describe the impact of this show. It was monumental in every way. Musically, visually, emotionally. I remember reading about Pink Floyd doing The Wall way back when, and thinking 'Wow that must have been cool'. But 'cool' doesn't even approach it.
'The Wall is built during Act One, as the band plays, then during the intermission images of people who have been lost in a war are projected on the wall, one per block making a moving memorial wall of loss. The wall is also a projection screen during the show and the images are fabulous. Too many memories to try to distill into a posting, but I'll never be in the Garden again without seeing that monster wall (from one side of the arena to the other and thirty feet tall, at least!).
Of course, what goes up must come down, and an arena full of people shouting 'tear down the wall' was wild. Then the wall collapsed . . .
It may be the one time that I have ever thought the ticket price was justified. The logistics of this show boggle the mind.
I will never forget it. Of course to bring it all back home, let me just say: it all started with a guy alone at home staring at some paper.
But what I have been moved by recently, and thought it appropriate to share via blog, are a couple of concerts that were really as much about theater as rock and roll. A couple of weeks ago, Stew and Heidi and the Negro Problem at BAM; I may have already mentioned that one. Last night, The Wall at the Garden. It is almost futile to try to describe the impact of this show. It was monumental in every way. Musically, visually, emotionally. I remember reading about Pink Floyd doing The Wall way back when, and thinking 'Wow that must have been cool'. But 'cool' doesn't even approach it.
'The Wall is built during Act One, as the band plays, then during the intermission images of people who have been lost in a war are projected on the wall, one per block making a moving memorial wall of loss. The wall is also a projection screen during the show and the images are fabulous. Too many memories to try to distill into a posting, but I'll never be in the Garden again without seeing that monster wall (from one side of the arena to the other and thirty feet tall, at least!).
Of course, what goes up must come down, and an arena full of people shouting 'tear down the wall' was wild. Then the wall collapsed . . .
It may be the one time that I have ever thought the ticket price was justified. The logistics of this show boggle the mind.
I will never forget it. Of course to bring it all back home, let me just say: it all started with a guy alone at home staring at some paper.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)