Meg's Tunes & Training Blog

First 10K Next Sunday!

This weekend I spent time running over 6 miles on both Saturday and Sunday.  Yesterday, I ran 6.7 miles which consisted of two loops around Prospect Park.  Today, I did just one loop, but ran the neighborhood streets as well for a total of 6.28 miles.  After both runs I felt really great!  I wasn’t exhausted, I was energized.

Of course, me being me, I have this nagging fear that I won’t be able to finish the route.  I had hoped to run it before next weekend, but unfortunately I didn’t have the chance.  But I think I am ready.  As ready as I can be!!

I have also been working on a new song.  This year, I have been struggling a lot with what I believe, and how it affects how I live my life.  So much has happened, I have released a CD, traveled to places I have never been, had a relationship end, lost a couple of loved ones to illness, and am watching other loved ones, like my friend Victoria, fight for their lives.  In so many ways, I feel like the ground underneath me is in this constant state of shaking.  Not all of this is a bad thing, but has been a challenge to keep my balance.  I think that this new song is about these things.  I think it is about change and forgiveness.  It is about figuring out how to live my life by my rules.  The words that keep coming back to me as I write it are “walking on the edge of grace.”  I’ll post the lyrics once I finish.

The holidays are upon us! Let the madness begin!

NERFA, New Songs, and First Race in 2 weeks!

OK, so I have not been a very good blogger.  Sometimes I think this is just going out into the ether because no one comments, but then someone will come and talk to me about the blog and I know people are reading it.

Last week, I went to NERFA, which, for those of you who don’t know, is the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance Conference (www.nerfa.org).  It is basically a combination of a music conference and community gathering.  Held every year in Kerhonkson, NY, between 600 and 800 presenters, singer/songwriters and more gather to listen to music, make music, network and reconnect with friends.

This year, I wore a couple of hats.  Officially, I was there as Meg Braun, singer/songwriter, but unofficially I was also promoting the Christopher Street Coffeehouse series.  It was a lot of work but well worth it.  I had 7 planned showcases, and then, my friend Cheryl Kagan selected me as her “Presenter’s Choice” at the Saturday afternoon FOCUS showcase, where I got to perform two songs for a bunch of presenters.  FOCUS is a Washington D.C. area group that promotes independent and acoustic music in that area.  You can learn more about them at www.focusmusic.org. It was a tremendous opportunity and with the help of friend and percussionist Cheryl Prashker, I think I did a pretty good job.

I also got to meet and be in a song circle with two singer/songwriters I have admired for a long time.  Buskin & Batteau.  They freaking rock.  I can’t remember when I first saw them, but I do know Robin (Batteau) wrote one of my favorite songs of all time, called “Guinevere.”  It is brilliant in its simplicity.  And I was really honored to have them play on two newer songs in the Lucky 13(www.lucky13.fm) showcase room.

Next up, I need to follow-up on the leads for shows…that is the “work” of it.

Now, I am working on a couple of new songs, one with Joe Crookston  (joecrookston.com) and another with Joe Jencks (joejencks.com).  It is interesting to co-write with two people who are not local and have different ways of writing.  I just sent a verse off to Joe Crookston and am about to start drafting something to send to Joe Jencks.

All of this, while in the homestretch of training for my first race.  The 10K on December 6.  My pace has started to improve, I am averaging about 15 miles a week for my mileage and learning to listen to my body.  This has become a HUGE learning experience.

So, stay tuned…more soon!

First 10K in One Month!

So, I am a month away from my first race.  I have never been in a race before, but I hear that I will get this burst of adrenalin when it starts and I need to fight it to be sure that I don’t start to fast.  I am really curious to know what it will be like.

Running has been tough lately.  I ran 7 miles last weekend, and it felt really good, but for the last week my energy has felt very low.  Yesterday, I set off to run another 7 miler, but my body just didn’t want to keep going after about 5.5 miles.  I was very frustrated.

Today, I am not running.  But I will take a yoga class and try to refocus on taking care of my body and believing in endurance.

As always, and as corny as it may sound, I draw inspiration from my friend Victoria, who’s fight against breast cancer is why I decided I wanted to run the 2010 marathon.  She had her first chemo treatment last week.  But her attitude through this whole process reminds me of what courage is.

Since she was diagnosed, she has had a double mastectomy, learned that her cancer is at stage 3, and had a scare that it may have been worse.  Through it all, she has just faced it head on.  I know she is afraid, but she is doing what she needs to do to survive.  And when I feel like I might make it through my race, or my marathon next year, I think of how she is tackling this disease one step at time.  If she can do this, then really, me running 26.2 miles in a year, is just a small challenge.

Cheering on the 2009 New York Marathoners

Today was the New York Marathon.  I am pretty lucky that it passes right by my street here in Brooklyn.  My friends Emily Anne, Shawn and Dan all ran.  It was so fun to cheer them on as well as the other runners out there.

It was also pretty darn inspiring.  After all, I plan on it being me next year!

Yesterday, I ran 7 miles.  It was an endurance run, which meant that I wasn’t paying attention to my pace.  I ran the Prospect Park loop twice and then one block home.  And my legs felt like jelly when I was done.  Thank God that I have a year to train for the 26.2 miles.

On Friday, I ran 3 miles, last Wednesday, 4.11 miles, and last Monday, 4.2 miles.  I need to start increasing my mileage and also doing more strength and interval training.

Next year, those throngs of people are going to be cheering for me too!  As a performer, I do like the applause.

But this year, wow!  To see so many people running, all shapes and sizes, some in costume, many from other countries.  I got a rush just cheering them on!

Working, Training, Writing-balance?

Run 10/24: 4.5 miles, 10:28 average pace.

Run 10/25: 4.11 miles, 10:22 average pace.

Run 10/26: 3.3 miles, 10:14 average pace.

******

These were my runs for the last three days. Many people have recommended that I not run 3 days in a row, but this week my schedule may be a bit off, as I am singing at a blues gig on Wednesday night and tomorrow, when I normally run, I want to take a pilates class.  And with the marathon being on Sunday, my normal running route won’t be accessible.

I am also trying to find a writing night, because there is a songwriting group I want to go to next week.  And…I have this day job that pays my rent and other bills. Oh, and I am trying to get some booking inquiries out and send my CD to some publications for review, etc.  My “to do” list seems to get longer everyday.

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed.  How do I balance all of this?  And how am I going to manage when I actually start serious training for the 2010 marathon?  And when I want to start making my new CD?  What have I gotten myself into?

Thing is, these feel like surface emotions.  When I really start to think about it, I realize the problem is that I am thinking about it, and not doing it!  When I am actually running, writing, working, and living my life, I am not worried so much about my life!

Last night I took this great yoga class.  My teacher told us to focus on “surrender.”  Not in the sense of giving up, but in the sense of giving in.  Letting go of ourselves, our “story” as to why we couldn’t achieve or maintain poses.  To surrender in this sense was to focus on the moment, hold the pose for the moment, for the breath.  It was so freeing.

I am someone who pushes myself until I can’t go any farther, until I figuratively and sometimes literally crash.  Instead of breathing and just surrendering to the flow of life, I try to squeeze everything I can into a given moment.  I have to admit, I like living this way most of the time.  It isn’t a case of not stopping to smell the roses, but more of smelling as many as I can until the fragance makes me so dizzy I pass out!

But my yoga teacher reminded me that it is good to just breathe sometimes.  That giving in to the moment, to the breath can be just as rewarding as trying to fit a whole life into a minute.

So, I guess what I am saying is that I am overwhelmed, but I’ll figure it out.  We all do eventually, I think.  Or we don’t, and maybe that is the moment we just need to surrender.  And maybe that is the balance.

Yesterday and Today

Today, I ran a route my cousin Laura recommended.  It was really a great run.  5.64 miles, looped around a park, and back.  My average pace was 10:12, and I was running against the wind a good part of it.

Yesterday, I went to the Sixth Floor Museum at the Book Depository in downtown Dallas.  It was such a powerful experience.  The museum walks you through the events of the day that JFK was assassinated and then the following days.  I watched the footage of his funeral, and found myself getting very teary-eyed.  It was especially cool to have my friend Eric Folkerth as my guide.  He is a native son of Dallas, and his perspective on the events of that time in this area were really enlightening

I also found myself feeling a little scared that something like this could happen again, with President Obama.  Seeing the footage and relearning a little of the history of that time in the US, I felt like the mood of the country is very similar today.  So many of us love our new, young idealist President, and so may despise him.  The verbally violent debates around healthcare reform, the huge dissent in our government about how best to handle our faltering economy (brought on by nearly 30 years of deregulation), the two wars we are in.  There is just so much hatred being spewed and I fear that someone may get the idea that he or she could change it all with a single bullet, as Lee Harvey Oswald did back in 1963 (yes, I know there are conspiracy theories and alleged cover-ups, but for the sake of this blog, I am not going to address them).

I think what scares me most about the country today is its pervading intolerance and fear of anyone or anything that is different.  It is the fear that really bothers me. Eric and I were speaking about this yesterday on the drive back from the museum.  I don’t understand where a lot of the fear comes from and I guess for me life is a lot more interesting lived facing fears and learning about different cultures and points of view.  It is why I live in a city like New York, where I am bombarded every day with all sorts of people from different backgrounds, countries, religions.  And we all live together and even practically on top of each other in relative peace.  If I worried about how different I was from them and let that scare me, I would never leave my apartment!

And really, I just don’t have the energy for the kind of hatred that comes out of this fear and intolerance.  I find it far more energizing to engage in a discussion about healthcare reform, why we should or should not decrease troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, etc.  I may never agree with those who are not bleeding heart liberals like myself (and I am proud to be one!), but it does help my sense of frustration to get some understanding of where they are coming from and why they believe what they believe.

I guess today’s blog is not really that much about running or songwriting, but it is what I have been thinking about, what has been affecting me on my latest travels.  Maybe there will be a song that comes from this, but even if there isn’t, I am glad I wrote it!

Tomorrow night, I head back to Brooklyn.  I am a little sad to be leaving Texas and wish I could stay longer, play some more shows, run some different sidewalks—but I will be back.  That I am sure of!

Allen, TX (suburb of Dallas)

I am staying with my cousin Laura while I am in the Dallas area.  Was unable to run in Austin on Tuesday due to the rain.  Yesterday I flew into Dallas-Lovefield, had a show at Opening Bell Coffee, and then came on out to Allen to stay for a couple days.

Today, I ran in my cousin’s neighborhood. 3.31 miles with an average pace of 10:04.  I actually forgot to hit the start button on my Garmin Forerunner, so I actually ran a little further.  It was very humid, but there was a cool breeze, so all in all it was a pleasant run.

Heading into Dallas today with my friend Eric Folkerth.  Going to go see the 6th Floor Museum, near the Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald shot JFK. I got a view of the grassy knoll yesterday, which was much smaller than I thought it was. A little eery…

Hoping to get one more run in before heading back to NYC, but not sure if it will be tomorrow or Saturday!

Running in a city that is not New York

One of the reasons I decided to start running is that I am a singer/songwriter and I want to be a touring singer/songwriter.  While I did like cycling, it just seemed a bit too complicated to travel with a bike and a guitar and gear and merch.  You get the picture. Running involves packing my shoes and running clothes-much, much simpler.

I also thought that running would be a great way to get to know a new area.  When I went out to LA in early September, one of my favorite things was running on the boardwalks at the beaches there.  It was great for people watching, and I must admit, I love the Pacific Ocean (though it was much colder than I expected). It all felt very cinematic (it was LA after all).

Yesterday and today I ran parts of my friend Judi’s neighborhood here in Austin.  What a different experience.  First, it was a lot quieter.  I am used to running by people having conversations, parents with strollers, dog walkers, and lots of other runners.  Even in LA, I had that experience.  Here, it was a quiet, quiet neighborhood.  I passed one other runner, but that was it.

This left me to my own thoughts, which lead me back to thinking about why I started this in the first place.  I started thinking about my friend Victoria and everything she and her family are going through and will go through over the next few months.  I thought about my own scare with a different kind of cancer last summer and how out of control it made me feel.  I found myself feeling really grateful for the friends that I have in my life, how they have really supported me through some pretty crappy times, including this past summer when the pain of the break-up seemed to feel like it would never end.

Victoria was one of those friends.  I remember feeling so loved when she just called me to check in, to make sure I wasn’t thinking of doing anything crazy like calling him.  Even though I was very much in the place of “I never want to be in another relationship again” (and actually kind of still feel that way sometimes), she reminded me that there are good ones out there. :)

Basically, my mind just roamed from thought to thought.  I starting recalling my fearlessness as a kid, when I took a dare to jump off a spinning tire swing and wrecked my left ankle.  I thought about my grandparents who died almost ten years ago, and wondered if there is a heaven and what they thought about what I am doing.  Which lead to me thinking about summers horseback riding, eating sweet corn, berry picking and going to rodeos in Michigan.  Before I knew it, I had run over 3 miles and wasn’t quite back to Judi’s yet.

Anyways, I seem to have digressed a little here.  My pace the last couple days hasn’t been that different than my pace in NYC.  I guess that is a good thing.  Tomorrow, I am going to try to run some of the trails in Zilker Park here.

Tonight, I have a show at Artz Ribhouse on South Lamar in South Austin.  So, I guess its time for me to practice!

Today, ran 3.44 miles.  My average pace was 10:14.  Yesterday, I ran 3 miles, with a 10:00 pace.

Performing “New Year’s Eve” at Christopher Street Coffee House, 10/8/09

Austin, TX!

I am sitting in my friend Judi’s living room in Austin and realized that I have been incredibly lax about updating this blog.

So a brief synopsis of the past week or so.

Last Saturday, I rented a car and drove up to Franklin, MA to open for The Kennedys (www.kennedysmusic.com) at the Circle of Friends Coffeehouse (www.circlefolk.org).  It was a fun show and I was honored to open for them!  I hope to get up to the Boston area to do more shows in the future.

My short set list for that opener was (they are all on my CD “Tomboy Princess”:

Live to Play

Not that Girl

When Its Over

After “Ever After”

New Orleans

When I returned Sunday afternoon, I did my weekly run around Prospect Park.  My pace averaged 9:42 mile—my best yet!

The following couple of runs were a little off.  I changed my route to add more hills and it was very windy, so I think that is why it went down to an average pace of 10:48.

Thursday, I helped host the Christopher Street Coffeehouse Open Mic.  There is video somewhere of me performing “New Year’s Eve”-a relatively new song.  I’ll post when I find the link.

Yesterday, I got on a plane and came to Austin, TX—my first visit ever. I have a short showcase at Artz Ribhouse on Monday night.  On Wednesday, I fly to Dallas, and will have a show at Opening Bell Coffee (all details are on my website: megbraun.com).

I was hoping to go for a run this morning, but it is raining and I don’t know the terrain. Judi (my good friend who is putting me up here) and I are planning to go to a gospel brunch, but it is outdoors and if is raining, I doubt it will happen.

I do hope to get some running in while I am here.  My first 10K is on December 6 and I am also signed up to run a 15K on December 19. I know I can run the distances, but I would like to be happy with my pace.

Any runners out there reading this—I would love any nutritional advice you have.  I am getting a little bored with my pre and post run food.  My “pre-runs” I usually eat a PB& J on whole wheat.  Post run-a banana and milk.  I think I need to mix it up!