Bach vs Saint-Saens

Date: 04/14/06
Time: 9:00am
Route: My house to Glendoveer for 2 loops and then back via the Christa loop in Summer place(view route)
Length: 7.22 miles
Dog: Nope
Notes: I am heading to Wenatchee this afternoon to help Johno with Night at the Cross. I'll be driving home tomorrow, so I'll miss the 7 mile run with PFit. This means I need to run 7 miles today. Steven recently posted about a tool that uses Google Maps to help you find mileage for routes you run in your neighborhood. It is cool and you can now see links in my route section (above) that show exactly where I've been running. (Be sure and click the satellite button.)

I usually don't listen to tunes when I run, but I knew today might be a little long and since I would be running alone I decided to give it a try. Christa has a cool MP3 player with an FM radio, so I figured I could find something to listen to.

The start of my run coincided with the beginning of Performance Today, so I decided to leave the mp3s for later and I'd give the pace of the classics a try.

The beginning of the show featured some transcriptions of Bach played by the U.S. Marine Band . The first cantata kept my feet dancing. Next they played Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring. As this tune is often heard at a weddings, I couldn't help but feel like a bride with my wobbly legs and white top, complete with fancy appliqué down the sleeves, (thank you adidas). Its familiar melody ushered me down the tree-lined aisle dotted with petals from recent cherry blossoms. It was quite a treat.

Then they transitioned to Saint-Saens. This move from the baroque to the romantic didn't do good things for my pace. Saint-Saens' lilting melodies, inconsistent meters and unresolved chords were not meant to be run with. Maybe a nice stroll along the beach, but not well suited for my training run. So I switched over to Sheryl Crowe and finished my run with a spark.

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