Progress

Happens little by little and then all at once. 

Progress is hard to see in the short term but becomes clearer on a longer timeline. 

2 minutes every day is worth more than an hour on Saturday. 

We make positive progress actively and negative process (mostly) passively. 

Figure out a metric to track progress, but make sure it's a metric that actually matters, otherwise, it's only documentation and not necessarily progress. 

Progress should be made in pursuit of a goal. 

Make the goal something just out of reach. 

If the goal is too easy, it detracts from the sense of accomplishment. 

BUT... easy goals and wins can help build confidence, which in and of itself is a goal of sorts. 

Everything is related to everything (mostly). 

But everything is also random (mostly). 

Basically...

It is but it isn't. 

My Fingers Hurt and Other News

My fingers hurt from playing guitar. 

Which is the definition of "good pain".

Here's to calloused fingers sooner than later. 

I need to restring my guitars. I've been playin guitar for over 25 years. I've restrung a guitar less than 15 times. Whoops. 

The suitcase kit concept album is on the brain again. Songs all based on travel. My favorite airports. My favorite trips, business or leisure. I think the world would be a better place if more people traveled. 

And yes. I know how extremely fortunate I am to have had the means to travel as much as I have. In the future, I'd love to be able to pay it forward and enable more folks to see the world beyond their hometowns. 

I write better under a deadline. A Song A Month for 2026. Get it done by the last day of each month. Bandcamp will probably be the outlet of choice. 

Document as much as you can. There's something worth sharing there. 

It doesn't have to be perfect. The goal is to finish. Finished and flawed is better than chasing perfection and keeping yourself from accomplishing your goal. 

Covers I Know

 Say It Ain't So- Weezer

...

That might be the entire list...

Um... 

I could probably stumble my way thru Foo Fighters-Everlong. 

Maybe I should learn more covers...

That's not a bad goal for 2026. 

Learn a cover every week. 

Time to go make a google sheet to track my progress...

Busy

 ... sure as shit don't mean productive. 

GOAL: Spend 5 minutes a day on productive guitar work. Technique, learning covers, playing (learning and drilling) songs I've written. 

Get busy being productive. 

Break Through the Wall... and some Goals

It's fun to surprise yourself. To come up against a self-imposed wall and smash through it. Even if it's just on a run of the mill training run on a Tuesday in May...

If you keep pushing yourself past what you think you're capable of, you can't help but become more fit, become a better songwriter, develop a more entertaining and engaging stage presence.

Incremental improvement. Fastidiously measured and notated. Keep track of the time and distance run. Be aware of time spent strumming, writing, singing, developing your art. Test the recipe then do it again.

By the end of 2012, I would like to:

- Complete a sprint triathlon
- Have 5 Go-To recipes under my belt
- Record at least 10 songs
- Perform my acoustic material at least 6 times
- Finally have a clean house

Incremental improvement. Baby steps. And always be grateful and motivated and never take anything for granted.

Oh yeah... bomb haircut today... I am a rockstar...

Plateau and other Stuff

In the beginning, things are difficult. You can barely run for 10 minutes straight without feeling completely winded. Your form isn't the most efficient, you're still trying to figure out what's comfortable, there is plenty of trial and error, you are motivated to get out there and run and train, but you might become impatient, anxious to see results, to see some sort of evidence that your effort isn't all for naught.

Then you fall into a groove. 2 miles in 20 minutes? No problem. Bring on some speed training. I'm gonna finish that 5K in under 30 minutes. Man, make it 29 minutes. No, 28 minutes. My goal's will be reached. I've lost some weight. Yeah! Clothes are fitting me again!

Then... plateau...

Damn. I can't just run for 40 minutes and continue to lose weight. I have to watch what I eat and add some strength training and maybe swimming would be a good idea and shouldn't I hop on the bike, too, yeah, that would be good and keep me well-rounded and motivated and I can fight through this plateau.

And that's the secret. You have to realize that you need to fight through. That there will be times when you see minimal gains, but you have to recognize that a baby step forward is still a step forward. Fight through the plateau, keep your legs moving, keep your spirits up, stick to the plan, keep your goals in your sights, because once you fight through the plateau, you'll be that much stronger, that much more ready to fight even harder and soar even higher.

Hmmm... when did I become a motivational speaker? :)

Dodgers are 13-4. Yeah, it's a long season, but you gotta take the easy ones when you can get them, and if Ethier and Kemp keep it up and the pitching staff holds it together, this could be a fun season. Hell, it will be fun anyways.

I think the Camp Pendleton Triathlon might be smarter because it's less expensive and saving money is always a good thing. It's in August, too, which might mean I can get a sleeveless wetsuit, which will also be less expensive.

NFL coaches are cheating. Athletes are reverting to their old ways.

And I still want these shoes.

Woodshed: Have Fun

You can practice all you want and get better and develop good technique and pile on more and more exercises and eventually become an amazing musician...

But it's all for nothing if you're not having fun.

Taking a Day Off

Every once in a while, you need to take a day off.

Rest. Review. Internalize. Remember why you're on the journey in the first place. Remind yourself that it's going to take a long time, that even as you achieve mini-goals the end will always be just over the next hill, that you're in this for the long haul so you can afford to take your time. Realize that you're not the type of person that benefits from beating yourself over the head over and over again. You need to step back and see the big picture, which is a beautiful montage of a series of tiny, all important pictures...

The day off is just as important as the days on. Because the day off for one journey is the day on for another one.

10K

Killed it today. 8:33 a mile, which is 12 seconds a mile faster than the pace I had set as a goal. And this was after taking 9 days off before the race and coming off a sickness that had me unable to talk from sores in my mouth...

But I know I can do better. If I train smarter and work in some speed work, I can do better. And that's the key to doing better: staying hungry. Pushing yourself, testing your boundaries, pushing up against your own personal walls, and breaking through them...

Let's achieve that triathlon goal next year, Glynn..

Ugh... I have to write about the Mayweather-Ortiz fight because it's bugging me so much. Yes, Ortiz was probably going to lose, get knocked out even. Yes, he headbutted Mayweather, which was a punk, chump, idiot, classless move. Yes, he should have been protecting himself at all times. But, damn... what a horrible way to end the fight. Pacquiao-Mayweather will probably never happen now because the next fight will probably be a rematch... and Floyd will win because aside from the fact that he's detestable... he's really, really good.

Ugh...

Drumming tonight felt good, tho. Yeah. Let's end this post on a positive note. Drumming definitely felt good. Starting to get a controlled bounce going. Power and lightness and coordination... Keep it up, Glynn...

Making It...

I used to want to be a rock star.

Be in a rock band and record music and play shows and start buzz and create groundswell and get fans and play more shows and open for huge bands and capture their fans and record more music and release through an indie and then capture the attention of the majors and sign with one and get a huge bonus and record a major label debut and tour the country and go platinum and win a grammy and be a rock star...

Now I'm older and wiser and still want to be a rock star...

But now "making it" as a rock star has a different meaning.

Write music and record it and play shows and connect with fans and give music away for free and work with artists to create a unique and authentic and one-of-a-kind crowd experience for every show and connect with fans and tell stories and play shows and record more music and give it away for free and play shows and maybe some day have 1000 true fans and treat each and every one of them with respect and love and ask them to pay money for what I've created but only because I assume responsibility for providing them with something from the heart, from my heart, from my heart to theirs, and if I don't live up that responsibility, I lose their fandom so it's up to me to earn it with each and every song written and each and every show played and each and every chord strummed so that I can make a living, a true 9-5 every day, 60 grand a year living playing music and being an entertainer.

That's attainable. Hard work but attainable. And the right steps need to be taken now. And at a certain point there can no longer be a plan B. Otherwise, I'll be 75 and a bitter, bitter old man with the faintest memory of a dream that burned out a long time ago...

Put in the work and pay the dues and do what you know you can, Glynn...

It's all mental...

A wise man recently said to me, "It's all mental."

Mind over matter. If you think you can, you have a fighting chance. If you think you can't, might as well not even try.

I ran today. Faster than I expected or planned. 8:50 a mile for 4.5 miles. 10 seconds faster than my planned pace for the 10K I'll be running next month.

It hurt. A lot. There were moments when I felt like I couldn't keep up the pace. I went out at 8:39 for the first mile, then tapered to 9:07 and 9:08 for miles 2 and 3. But then for the 4th mile, when I should have slowed down more, when I was more fatigued and my lungs were burning and my legs were filling with lactic acid and I should have continued to slow... I ran an 8:16 mile. Which for me is smoking fast...

"It's all mental."

I played a trick on myself. I knew I was supposed to be going more slowly. But I told myself that I was going to run an 8:30 mile. No. Wait. It wasn't even that I told myself I was going to do it. I told myself I could do it. It was possible. Yes, it would hurt. Yes, it would hurt. Yes, it would hurt. But I could do it. I knew that if I convinced myself I could do it, I was halfway home. I just needed to believe that I could do it.

"It's all mental."

And I didn't run an 8:30 mile. I ran an 8:16 mile.

 I wonder what else I can convince myself is possible...

The bar...

... should not be the goal.

"Above the bar" should be the goal. "Way above the bar" should be the goal. "So high that you have to squint to see the bar" should be the goal.

If you reach "the bar" and it was easy..., you just cheated yourself out of being remarkable, which is one step away from "might as well have not reached the bar".

Yes, this is me trying to push myself. Yes, this is me hoping that I don't settle for "good enough". Yes, this will take weeks and months and years of training and reminders and effort and slip-ups. And, yes... it feels good to acknowledge the fact that I'm hoping to fly past the bar and straight into outer space...

Happening overnight...

... never happens.

It takes time and effort and blood and sweat and falling down and getting up and running slowly while completely out of breath for such a short amount of time that you feel useless and barely being able to finger a barre chord and writing horrible horrible horrible songs and effort and concentration and focus and never giving up and giving up a little bit and sacrifice and re-prioritizing and planning and unplanning and forgetting to be on schedule and rigorously sticking to a routine and ingraining muscle memory and learning and unlearning and flexibility and agility and time and effort and time and blood and effort and tears and reaching goals and realizing your goal is the wrong one and dreaming big and aiming high and missing and waking up to reality and thick skin and tears and pain and the love and support of your family and patience and time and effort and humility and luck and time and effort and...

If it actually happens overnight... it will be gone even more quickly...

The anticipation...

... is greater than the acquisition (or the execution).

I may or may not have blogged about this already...

Catalogs are rad. I am addicted to leafing through them and picturing how amazingly awesome it would be to have a vinyl player that converts vinyls to mp3s or a smaller mixer for live acoustic shows that doubles as a recording mixer straight to Firepod straight to laptop or a credit card reader app that would allow me to capture sales of merchandise or another guitar or another pair of running shoes or another book about triathlons or a swim-specific wetsuit or a new car or a computer desk or... (ad infinitum... ad nauseum...)

As Conor Oberst once said:
My mind races with all my longings
But can't keep up with what I've got

And it's not just about possessions. Ideas and plans and goals, too. Do I actually want to do a triathlon or do I just like the planning? Is it about finishing or is it about planning to finish? Am I really going to pursue an acoustic project that incorporates improv and live artists or is it just about what a great idea it is?

It's all just anticipation until you actually get that whammy pedal or compressor or microkorg... and have no idea how to utilize it... (off to the collecting dust pile)...

I'ts all just anticipation until you actually start training for that half-marathon.. and burn out after a couple months... (off to the "hey, weren't you...?" pile)...


Stop getting off on the anticipation, Glynn.

Work on the acquisition. Work on the execution. And remember that it's not about a moment in time when everything is finished. It's about staying hungry, staying focused, checking things off the to-do list, and building a more extensive to-do list to work on tomorrow...

Goals...

Weigh 150 lbs by 30...

Solo acoustic album by the end of the year

Oh Girl Singles Party done and either digitally released or pressed on vinyl...

10K at 9:30 a mile...

All these goals can be attained by the end of the year...

Another goal is to complete a sprint triathlon. I think I can nab that one by the end of next year...

The funny thing about goals... The more you talk about them with other people, the more likely you are to achieve them.

These are all realistic. These are all attainable. These will all require lots of work. These mean nothing without the love and support of my family.

It's not always about you.

GOAL: Family first.

One day, hour, minute, second at a time, Glynn.

Running again...

I'm running again.

And I have a more realistic goal in mind this time. A little over a month to train to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes. Essentially 9:40 per mile. And the 5k is on July 4th with my very good friend, Kris. (eat a bag...)

I had started running last July. To get back in shape. To train for a marathon. I thought that I could wrap my head (and my life) around training for a marathon. That proved to be too challenging, so I hit the brakes and downgraded to a half-marathon. I even signed up for the Carlsbad Half-Marathon in January... I even got up to an 8 mile run at 10:00 per mile at the end of last October...

... But ultimately, I fell off my training. November was a huge month in my life. My son turned one. Oh Girl had two really successful shows including my 29th birthday show. And it was all just too hectic to keep running and maintain my eating habits and keep everything rolling at work and stay on top of band stuff and continue to plan a wedding and then Thanksgiving and a crap load of food and then the holiday season (not a stressful time at all...) and then Christmas and more eating and New Year's and more eating and... wow... the half marathon is in a week and I haven't run since Halloween...

I didn't run the half-marathon. I didn't even walk it. I just plain didn't show up... which was probably a good idea because I most likely would have seriously injured myself...

But now I'm running again. And I'm keeping the goal manageable. Ugh... even reading that sentence I'm realizing I should make the goal a little more ambitious. 27:54 5k... 9:00 per mile...

Yeah. That's what it should be. Stretch yourself. Push yourself. Set a goal that scares you a bit...

No one got anywhere by setting goals they knew they would achieve...

Ok. Time to sleep so I can get up in 6 hours and run. 35 days away from pushing and scaring myself...

Running... and Planning for a 5K on 7/4

... feels good.

It's been a solid 3 months since my last real run. 12:43 a mile for 20 minutes isn't too shabby. The goal is a sub 30 minute 5k on July 4th which is 3.1 miles in less than 30 minutes which breaks down to about 9:40 a mile...

On October 13, 2010, I ran 3.12 miles in about 28 minutes which was 9:00 a mile... This was about 3 and a half months after I started running. And I never really did any speed work...

I can get back there.

There are essentially 57 days until July 4th. If I run every other day... 28 run sessions to get ready... about 3-4 sessions a week for the next 8 weeks. 2 weeks will be getting back up to speed. In that time I can probably get back up to 30 minutes of 10:00 pace...

And I apologize for the running numbers geek fest that this post has turned into...

2 weeks of base training, 2 weeks of speed work, 3 weeks of endurance, 1 week to taper down and make sure I'm fully rested and peaking for the race.

July 4th is a Monday. So my "long runs" will be on Monday mornings. That will be a nice way to start off the week. I always had more energy when I was running regularly...

Next week:

Sunday, 5/8: 20 minutes
Wednesday, 5/11: 25 minutes
Friday 5/13: 30 minutes

Stick to the plan, Glynn...

I turn 30 this year...

There are 207 days until my birthday. My 30th birthday. The not so imaginary bridge between my 20s and my 30s.

It's kind of funny listing the major milestones that have occurred in my life before my 30th birthday.

I'm married.

I have a son.

There really isn't anything else that I'm more proud of.

I would like to get some things done before turning 30, though.

Release Volumes 2 through 5 of the Oh Girl Singles Party.

Getting back down to 150.

Running a 5k.

Releasing a solo acoustic album.

Here's to setting my sights on tangible goals and taking baby steps every day until I get there. On November 19, 2011 I hope to have an extremely boring look back at this blog. And I hope to realize that it was the beginning of the push towards reaching those pre-30 goals...

Run Log #9- Slow and Steady Wins the Race...

Slow and steady wins the race.

I've been running for the last three weeks.  Focusing on timed runs to build up my stamina.  Started with 10 minute runs and hope to build up to 40 minute runs by the end of next week. 

Over the course of my first 8 runs, I've been averaging about 11:30 a mile.  Not horrible, considering I've never been a runner and I'm in the worst shape of my life.

11:30 a mile turns out to be just north of 5 hours for a marathon.  (*sidenote: I'm planning on attempting my first marathon January 23, 2011.  That's why I'm doing all of this running.)

So, today I graduate to a 30 minute run after two 20 minute runs this week.  And I figure a solid pace would be 12:30 a mile, which would mean I would run 2.4 miles in 30 minutes.  Achievable, right?

Definitely achievable...

... if I had run at 6:30am, so I could avoid the heat...

... if I hadn't run at 1:21pm in close to mid-90 degree temperatures...

... and if I hadn't started my run at 9:30 a mile!!!!!

I went out too fast.  I played checkers, not chess.  I got ahead of myself, and shot myself in the foot.  I was that hare, sprinting past the tortoise, yelling back, "See ya at the finish line, you slow poke!", burning out at 25 minutes, and panting, gasping, dredging to the finish line as the tortoise lounged in triumph...

I was very disappointed today.  If I had just stuck to the plan, I would have run 2.4 miles in 30 minutes, and I probably would have felt fine...

Lessons learned:

- NEVER skip the morning run.
- If you skip the morning run, definitely don't run IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EFFING DAY...  Just wait for dusk.
- Stick to your pacing.
- Set-up Runkeeper to update every 3 minutes, so I can adjust my pace if it's off.

2 rest days, then 25 minutes on Tuesday.  GOAL: 2 miles.

Now off to watch Spirit of the Marathon on Netflix...

Soundtrack:
With a Heavy Heart (I Regret to Inform You)- Does It Offend You, Yeah?
An Autopsy- The Faceless
Whatever Happened to Pong?- Frank Black
Turned Out- Helmet
He Feels Bad- Helmet
Obnoxious- Immortal Technique
This Is F*****g Tragic- The Impossibles
The Boys Are Leaving Town- The Japandroids
Blood of the Scribe- Lamb of God

Run Log #8- Goal accomplished (kind of)

I wanted to run 1.8 miles in 20 minutes today.  And if you look at my Runkeeper Profile, it says I did. 

But I know the truth..

I ran 1.79 miles in 20 minutes, then walked .01 miles in an extra 22 seconds.

And, yes, it matters.  Because I want complete transparency throughout all of my training.  And because I need to stay focused and hungry and focused and willing to put in the work.

30 minutes of running awaits me on Saturday morning.  It would be nice to get in 2.4 miles.  12:30 a mile would be pretty stellar...

Since I started running two and a half weeks ago, I've run 10.32 miles in about 119 minutes.  That's about 11:30 a mile.  Which would be about a 5 hour marathon...

My goal is to run a 4:30 marathon, which is 10:20 a mile.

I have 2 more months of base training before starting a pretty intense 4 month training program, which is focused on getting me to a 4:30 marathon.  Depending on how I feel after the next 2 months, I might try to actually focus on a 4:15 marathon... or even a 4:00 marathon...

One thing I know for sure.  I never thought running would be so fulfilling...

Soundtrack:
Blood On Our Hands- Death from Above 1979
The Ghost of a Stranger- The Faceless
Freedom Rock- Frank Black
Do It Again (feat. Ali Love)- Chemical Brothers
Stockholm Syndrome- Muse
I-E-A-I-A-I-O- System of a Down
Cicatriz ESP- The Mars Volta

Random thought... I wonder how my runs would go if I didn't listen to music..... ?