Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training, Uncategorized

Update No. 7 – Back in training 2013: Preparing for my first 10K

Trenton Half Marathon logo

That’s a wrap! With the Trenton (N.J.) 10K this Saturday, Nov. 9, I have completed my training for the race.

Since recording my personal best 10K time of 59:24 during a 6.22-mile run on Oct. 29, I have completed three 5K-distance runs as tune-ups for the race. On Oct. 31, I ran 3.11 miles in 28:15. I wasn’t really concerned about time, as I was with pace. I pushed myself a little harder on my next run, on Nov. 6, and finished 3.12 miles in 27:53—the best 5K time ever recorded by Nike+ since I started using it to track my runs in 2010 and better than any time I’ve clocked in any official race. In fact, the best 5K time I have ever recorded in an official race was 27:54 in my first 5K in September 2006. However, I do recall recording slightly faster 5K times when I used to track my runs with a stopwatch and write them in a notebook back in 2006, but I currently don’t know where that notebook is so I am unable to look it up.

Anyway, I took it a little easier in my final tune-up run this morning (Nov. 7), completing a 3.13-mile run in 28:34. That was just to work on my pace and I feel confident about reaching my goal of finishing the Trenton 10K in less than one hour. Right now, I’m averaging just about 9 minutes, 20 seconds per mile with relative ease. If I hit that mark, I’m looking at finishing in around 58 minutes.

The one thing I’m concerned about is being taken out of my comfort level early in the race. When I’m surrounded by hundreds of people all taking off at the same time, I tend to get caught up in the moment and think I need to keep up the pace. I just need to do my own thing and not exhaust myself too early.

And that’s it for my Trenton 10K training…the eighth and final update of this series will be posted at some point following Saturday’s race.

I’ve updated my run tracker below with links to data from my Nike+ Running app.

Original Post from May 4, 2013:
This week, I signed up for the Trenton (N.J.) 10K, which is held in conjunction with the Trenton Half Marathon. The race takes place Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. It will be yet another in a series of runs I’ve done this year that take place near or in a ballpark, as the Trenton 10K finishes inside the Trenton Thunder’s (Class AA affiliate of the New York Yankees) Arm & Hammer (formerly Mercer County) Waterfront Park. So far in 2013, I’ve taken part in the Phillies Charities 5K, which included a post-race walk around the warning track of Citizens Bank Park, and the Barnabas Health/Lakewood BlueClaws 5K, which finished inside FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, N.J.—home of the Class A affiliate of the Phillies.

I don’t really claim to be a “runner,” but I’m trying to get in better shape and I’ve been enjoying running more and more over the years. Last night, I attempted my first-ever 10K-distance run and it went very well. The Nike+ app on my iPhone clocked me at 1:05:50 for a 6.24-mile run. There is definite room for improvement, but the thing I was really happy with was that—for my first time attempting that distance—I felt great throughout the run. I established a nice, comfortable pace early on that left me feeling good enough to turn in a rather solid final 1.24 miles. My average pace was 10:33 per mile, but I was running at a pace of under 10:00 per mile for the final 7/10th of a mile. In fact, I was cruising along at 9:31 per mile at the 6-mile mark.

It’s going to be rough to get in 10K-distance runs on a regular basis as I train for the Trenton 10K, so I’ll likely be doing mostly 5K runs with a few longer outings sprinkled in. But I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get in two or three 10K runs in a month—likely more closer to November—prior to the race.

Run Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here once or twice a week. The table below includes my run distances and times during this training period (10K-distance runs in bold):

Date Distance Time
11/7/2013 3.13 miles 28:34
11/6/2013 3.12 miles 27:53 – fastest-recorded personal 5K time
10/31/2013 3.11 miles 28:15
10/29/2013 6.22 miles 59:24 – personal record (10K)
10/25/2013 6.22 miles 1:02:10
10/16/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:36
10/9/2013 3.14 miles 30:27
9/25/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:50
9/23/2013 6.2 miles 1:05:12
9/20/2013 3.1 miles 30:10
9/4/2013 3.13 miles 32:10
8/14/2013 3.12 miles 29:52
7/26/2013 2.2 miles 23:13
5/19/2013 3.1 miles 29:52 – Spirt of Boston 5K at Mercer County Community College, West Windsor, NJ
5/12/2013 3.1 miles 30:42
5/3/2013 6.24 miles 1:05:50
Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training, Uncategorized

Update No. 6 – Back in training 2013: Preparing for my first 10K

Trenton Half Marathon logo

I DID IT! With less than two weeks to go until the Trenton (N.J.) 10K, I finally recorded a sub-hour 10K time today, running 6.22 miles in a new personal best 59:24.

It should be noted, however, that Nike+ is GPS-based and I received a “weak GPS” alert prior to starting my run. There is a lot of solar activity right now that could be affecting GPS systems so it may have affected the result. But the app was announcing my mile times at the locations where it usually does so I don’t think it was off by that much, if at all. I can’t imagine it was off enough to account for all of the nearly three minutes I shaved off my previous best time. I pushed it for most of the run, so that had a lot to do with it.

In any event, it’s a good result to go into the tapering phase of training. I’ll likely do only two or three 5K-distance runs before the race on Nov. 9.

I’ve updated my run tracker below with links to data from my Nike+ Running app.

Original Post from May 4, 2013:
This week, I signed up for the Trenton (N.J.) 10K, which is held in conjunction with the Trenton Half Marathon. The race takes place Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. It will be yet another in a series of runs I’ve done this year that take place near or in a ballpark, as the Trenton 10K finishes inside the Trenton Thunder’s (Class AA affiliate of the New York Yankees) Arm & Hammer (formerly Mercer County) Waterfront Park. So far in 2013, I’ve taken part in the Phillies Charities 5K, which included a post-race walk around the warning track of Citizens Bank Park, and the Barnabas Health/Lakewood BlueClaws 5K, which finished inside FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, N.J.—home of the Class A affiliate of the Phillies.

I don’t really claim to be a “runner,” but I’m trying to get in better shape and I’ve been enjoying running more and more over the years. Last night, I attempted my first-ever 10K-distance run and it went very well. The Nike+ app on my iPhone clocked me at 1:05:50 for a 6.24-mile run. There is definite room for improvement, but the thing I was really happy with was that—for my first time attempting that distance—I felt great throughout the run. I established a nice, comfortable pace early on that left me feeling good enough to turn in a rather solid final 1.24 miles. My average pace was 10:33 per mile, but I was running at a pace of under 10:00 per mile for the final 7/10th of a mile. In fact, I was cruising along at 9:31 per mile at the 6-mile mark.

It’s going to be rough to get in 10K-distance runs on a regular basis as I train for the Trenton 10K, so I’ll likely be doing mostly 5K runs with a few longer outings sprinkled in. But I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get in two or three 10K runs in a month—likely more closer to November—prior to the race.

Run Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here once or twice a week. The table below includes my run distances and times during this training period (10K-distance runs in bold):

Date Distance Time
10/29/2013 6.22 miles 59:24 – personal record (10K)
10/25/2013 6.22 miles 1:02:10
10/16/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:36
10/9/2013 3.14 miles 30:27
9/25/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:50
9/23/2013 6.2 miles 1:05:12
9/20/2013 3.1 miles 30:10
9/4/2013 3.13 miles 32:10
8/14/2013 3.12 miles 29:52
7/26/2013 2.2 miles 23:13
5/19/2013 3.1 miles 29:52
5/12/2013 3.1 miles 30:42
5/3/2013 6.24 miles 1:05:50
Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, running, training, Uncategorized

Update No. 5 – Back in training 2013: Preparing for my first 10K

Trenton Half Marathon logo

A quick update…with just about two weeks to go until the Trenton 10K, I have made solid progress in improving my times.

Today (10/25/13), I ran 6.22 miles in 1:02:10, setting a new personal best for a 10K in the process–by more than two minutes.

I may do one more 10K-distance run early during the week of Oct. 28 and then cut back to one or two 5K-distance runs in the week prior to the race.

I’ve updated my run tracker below with links to data from my Nike+ Running app.

Original Post from May 4, 2013:
This week, I signed up for the Trenton (N.J.) 10K, which is held in conjunction with the Trenton Half Marathon. The race takes place Saturday, November 9, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. It will be yet another in a series of runs I’ve done this year that take place near or in a ballpark, as the Trenton 10K finishes inside the Trenton Thunder’s (Class AA affiliate of the New York Yankees) Arm & Hammer (formerly Mercer County) Waterfront Park. So far in 2013, I’ve taken part in the Phillies Charities 5K, which included a post-race walk around the warning track of Citizens Bank Park, and the Barnabas Health/Lakewood BlueClaws 5K, which finished inside FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood, N.J.—home of the Class A affiliate of the Phillies.

I don’t really claim to be a “runner,” but I’m trying to get in better shape and I’ve been enjoying running more and more over the years. Last night, I attempted my first-ever 10K-distance run and it went very well. The Nike+ app on my iPhone clocked me at 1:05:50 for a 6.24-mile run. There is definite room for improvement, but the thing I was really happy with was that—for my first time attempting that distance—I felt great throughout the run. I established a nice, comfortable pace early on that left me feeling good enough to turn in a rather solid final 1.24 miles. My average pace was 10:33 per mile, but I was running at a pace of under 10:00 per mile for the final 7/10th of a mile. In fact, I was cruising along at 9:31 per mile at the 6-mile mark.

It’s going to be rough to get in 10K-distance runs on a regular basis as I train for the Trenton 10K, so I’ll likely be doing mostly 5K runs with a few longer outings sprinkled in. But I’m hopeful I’ll be able to get in two or three 10K runs in a month—likely more closer to November—prior to the race.

Run Tracker
I’ll be posting updates on my progress here once or twice a week. The table below includes my run distances and times during this training period:

Date Distance Time
10/25/2013 6.22 miles 1:02:10 – personal record (10K)
10/16/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:36
10/9/2013 3.14 miles 30:27
9/25/2013 6.23 miles 1:04:50
9/23/2013 6.2 miles 1:05:12
9/20/2013 3.1 miles 30:10
9/4/2013 3.13 miles 32:10
8/14/2013 3.12 miles 29:52
7/26/2013 2.2 miles 23:13
5/19/2013 3.1 miles 29:52
5/12/2013 3.1 miles 30:42
5/3/2013 6.24 miles 1:05:50
Brian Brian Kelley, Christian Beach, links, Music, New Jersey, NJ, SoundCloud, TMC, video, YouTube

Time Takes Over…25 years later

When I was a teenager in the late 1980s and still had dreams of becoming a professional songwriter/musician, I wrote and recorded a song I called “Time Takes Over” in October 1988.  It was probably the first complete song (with words and music) I ever wrote.

The subject matter was based on sentiments expressed by a former co-worker of mine who was describing how he visited a girl at college after having a summer fling with her. He thought it was more than that, but she didn’t see it that way. Anyway, that was the basis of the lyrics, which—for the first time in my musical life—flowed out practically simultaneously with the music.

The original 1988 version below, written when I was 17, does not include the vocals, but you will hear them later on in this post in other forms. Please note that I transferred this from an old cassette tape so that accounts for the audio artifacts.

In 1989/1990, I was in an ill-fated techno-rap outfit called TMC+The New Generation and—after a few arrangement tweaks by my friend and then-bandmate Christian Beach—we performed “Time Takes Over” during a very poorly structured live show at the ol’ Green Parrot Rock Club in Neptune, N.J., which you can see below.

Finally, a few years ago, I recorded an updated version in GarageBand on my MacBook that includes vocals. In 2012, I re-recorded the vocals and made some additional tweaks. That is the version you can hear below. Enjoy.

Brian Brian Kelley, Howard Jones, links, Music, New Jersey, NJ, technology

Remembering my Ensoniq ESQ-1 and early musical experiments

BK_c1990_keybdrig001It dawned on me recently that this year (most likely, back in February) marked the 25th anniversary of my first purchase of a professional synthesizer…an Ensoniq ESQ-1 workstation (the image accompanying this post was taken around 1989 and includes the ESQ-1 and some later purchases: an Ensoniq Mirage sampling keyboard, a Roland U-20 synth, a Kawai Q-80 sequencer and an Alesis HR-16 drum machine).

The track below is a very rough recording of a song that was one of the first things I created using the sounds and sequencing capability of the ESQ-1…so the sound quality is poor and the song is pretty terrible. It just represents a trip down memory lane…when I thought music would be my life and I wanted to be the next Howard Jones.

By the way, I still have the ESQ-1 and all the other equipment, too…PLUS, an Alesis QS6.1 synth that I bought about eight years ago and is my main keyboard these days. However, the ESQ-1 has been dormant since it needs a new lithium battery installed. I found a place in northern New Jersey that does this for about $90, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I would really love to see that thing come to life again, though.

Untitled Early ESQ-1 Song

Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, news, technology

Watch a rocket go from Virginia to the moon tonight*

The inaugural launch of a Minotaur V rocket is scheduled for tonight at 11:27 p.m. EDT. The rocket will lift off from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia coast and will carry the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission to the moon.

The launch should be visible to many in the mid-Atlantic and northeast United States, including most of us here in New Jersey. Just look to the southeast 10-20 degrees above the horizon (central NJ should see it about 15 degrees above the horizon) one or two minutes after launch (obviously, there could be delays…or even a scrub for various reasons).

Detailed instructions on how to view the launch from your location

Follow @nasa_wallops on Twitter or follow the latest mission updates before you stake out your preferred viewing location.

*Hopefully

(Photo: NASA Wallops/Patrick Black)

 

 

Brian Brian Kelley, Music, New Jersey, NJ

A musical ode to the Jersey Shore

I grew up at the Jersey Shore and—admittedly—I’ve spent a good chunk of my adult life trying to leave it behind. But even though I never really thought of myself as a “shore person,” it was where I was raised…and it will always be a part of me. Seeing the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy last week drove this point home to me—and I regret that it took something so horrible to make me see that.

Anyway, I felt a need to express some appreciation for the REAL Jersey Shore—not the manufactured crap produced by MTV—in song. Yeah, it kind of took on the form of a cliché-filled anthem, but that’s always been my Achilles’ heel as a songwriter…I start out with an interesting idea and immediately turn it into commercialized cheese. But I assure you, my heart was in the right place with this.

Then again, I guess when you are a subpar keyboardist constructing songs entirely in GarageBand on a MacBook, it’s going to sound like cheese regardless…so there’s that.

OK, back on topic…this is for the people who lost their homes…as well as for those like me who may have lost our sense of home. Whether it’s physically or emotionally, the Jersey Shore will be our home again.

(This Will Be Our) Home Again
Words & music by Brian J. Kelley
© 2012 Brian J. Kelley

Growing up in Jersey
just minutes from the shore
Summers on the boardwalk,
a kid couldn’t ask for more
Cruising with my music on,
feeling so alive
From Point Pleasant to Seaside Heights
right down Route 35

These are memories I hold dear,
but the future’s so unclear
We will sweep the sand away
and build up to a brighter day
Lives are shattered, some are lost
and we have paid a heavy cost
To honor them, we will rebuild
We have the strength, we have the will

Chorus
This will be our home again
We’ll rebuild, we will restore
This will be our home again
’cause you can’t beat the Jersey Shore
This will be our home again
Our resolve will never fade
This will be our home again
We’re Jersey born, we’re Jersey made

Our days we spent on beaches,
our nights along the boards
Playing games of chance
and getting lucky afterwards
Our summers rites of passage
for every boy and girl
Before we had to grow up
and get out into the world

Some of us have moved away,
but a part of us still stays
In every dream and memory
of our playground by the sea
We will claim this land again
and give our all until the end
We will restore, we will revive
In Jersey, only the strong survive

Repeat Chorus

This will be our home again
This will be our home again

We will claim this land again
and give our all until the end
We will restore, we will revive
In Jersey, only the strong survive

This will be our home again
We’ll rebuild, we will restore
This will be our home again
’cause you can’t beat the Jersey Shore
This will be our home again
Our resolve will never fade
This will be our home again
We’re Jersey strong, we’re Jersey made

This will be our home again
We’ll rebuild, we will restore
This will be our home again
’cause you can’t beat the Jersey Shore
This will be our home again
Our resolve will never fade
This will be our home again
We’re Jersey born, we’re Jersey made

Brian Brian Kelley, New Jersey

Awaiting the oncoming storm

Well, I live in central New Jersey and the nor’easter being fueled by, I guess, former Hurricane Sandy (technically, it has evolved into an extratropical cyclone, rather than a tropical system so it no longer fits hurricane criteria) is about to get pretty bad for my home state.

To put it bluntly…it’s about to get real for New Jersey over the next eight hours or so…at least. As of 2 p.m. ET today, Sandy has hurricane force winds extending for 175 miles out from center and it’s 110 miles southeast of Atlantic City so we’re getting into the heart of the storm now. Fortunately, because it has sped up, it may make landfall ahead of high tide, which could minimize coastal flooding to a degree. But there is still going to be a huge storm surge so it may be inconsequential, really.

And—I’m reminded by my lights dimming as I type this—most of the state is going to be without power tonight so I just want to take this opportunity to wish my fellow New Jerseyans good luck as we…well, we’re witnessing history here. So let’s stay safe, get through it and tell the tale for future generations.

Brian Christian Beach, links, Music, New Jersey, NJ, YouTube

Great music for a great cause

A great event is happening this weekend on BlowUpRadio.com. It’s a benefit to raise awareness and funds to fight Spondylitis, a chronic inflammatory disease that causes pain in the back, neck and hips. “Banding Together” features an amazing number of performances streaming all weekend, and my longtime friend Christian Beach is one of the participating musicians. You can hear his set TONIGHT (Oct. 21) at around 6:05 p.m. ET.

Also, anyone who clicks on this link and makes a donation to the Spondylitis Association of America this weekend will receive a compilation CD that includes lots of great music, including the track “Platte Cove Road” from Christian’s upcoming EP.

So head on over to BlowUpRadio.com, listen to some great music from the state of New Jersey and try to make some kind of donation to this worthy cause.

Below, is a video of Christian performing his song “Taking It Real Slow” at Fergie’s Pub in Philadelphia in July 2009. That’s me on accordion and the drummer is Michael Scotto of the band Agency. Incidentally, a solo set by Scotto can be heard during Banding Together at around 7:15 p.m. ET tonight.

Brian Brian Kelley, links, New Jersey, NJ, Twitter

On the cusp of fatherhood…

As I explained in my last post here on May 10, I curtailed most of my social media activity to my Facebook account over the past few weeks. At the time, I realized I was closing in on 10,000 Twitter posts on my @bktandem account and I wanted to make sure I used that milestone tweet to announce the birth of my first child.

Well, I’ve written this advance, but I will be making this post visible to the public as soon as my wife and I are on our way to the hospital to bring our son or daughter (it’s going to be a surprise) into the world. That means this post will probably generate tweet No. 9,998, giving me one more to burn before the birth announcement in my 10,000th tweet.

Anyway, I have to be honest…I’m nervous about being a parent. For the first time in 41 years, I’m going to be responsible for another the welfare and protection of a human being. I know millions of people do it all the time, but I really never saw myself as one of them. But I have a wonderful wife and feel that I will be up to the challenge…it’s just weird. Everything is going to change over the next few hours…and that is good. But there’s still anxiety…about my role as my wife’s labor coach…about the well-being of my wife and child…about my decisions as father during these early years…and so much more. Like computer software I experience for the first time, I guess I’ll just have to work with it until I figure it out…at least to the point I’m effective with it.

The other thing I wanted to mention here is the social media policy I have planned for my child’s early years. Basically, except for when there are milestone occasions or other gatherings of family and friends, I won’t be posting a lot of photos of my kid online…and even then, it will likely only be on Facebook shared with family and close friends. But I can’t see my wife and I putting any random, semi-private photos of our kids online for anyone outside our families to see…and even those will likely be rare. And we likely won’t be doing many “hey, guess what my kid did today” posts, if at all. You know…didn’t our parents embarrass us enough with baby photos and silly stories about our early years? Well, why are we now as parents putting all that crap online so when our kids are old enough to venture into social networking, they have access to it. Talk about embarrassing…I’m just not inclined to do that to my kid. We’ll take photos documenting our child’s growth, but we’ll put them on an external hard drive or private online galleries, and let him or her decide what he or she wants to do with them when old enough to join social networks.

People have assumed that because of my social media activity level, I would be sharing everything my kid does on Twitter, etc. Well, I have made a choice to share my life on social media. It’s only fair that I give my child that same choice.