Run Forrest Run (2) - English

I did it again -  preparing for the Ghent Midsummernight Run. Ten or fifteen kilometers (ten in my case) through the lit street of beautiful Ghent, starting at ten in the evening. Last year I did it in one hour and ten minutes. I was mighty proud of myself, and in an overzealous mood vowed I would stay below one hour next time. Now I will be glad if I can finish the race. One year older, indeed, and out of shape (again), and still somewhat hindered by my right foot which I twisted in Florence last Easter.

I picked up my running scheme again last week, running 3.4 kilometers. It went amazingly well. Two days later I tried it again, but failed bitterly. Too hot, lousy timing too, after a copious meal.
Today I started in the morning, with a perfect 12 degrees, and with a new support: music! Here's my playlist (randomly shuffled by iTunes):

Stravinsky's Lullaby from the Firebird, which I skipped: too slow for a starter.

Buffalo Springfield - Mr. Soul: Neil Young's answer to the Rolling Stones - a perfect way to get going.

CCR's Hideway from the Pendulum album: what a great song, also after 30 years or so.

Broken Flag: Patti Smith in a somewhat pathetic pose. From Easter I believe.

Heavy Disguise, by Strawbs. I remember I once had that album, with a luxurious  tripe LP cover with mysterious illustrations of a naked man (later I learned it was a William Blake painting). Funny that this song was playing when I was running past the local outdoor prayer site Bergenkruis (although there are no mountains in sight): "The people assembled to hear what resembled evangelists say/ Some came just to see them for a laugh/ Others to be free/ Fools must pretend to be wise/ We've a faith that we use as a heavy disguise.

Turn! Turn! Turn! We stay in the religious register, with this Pete Seeger adaptation of a passage from Ecclesiastes:For everything there is a season. The Byrds made this into one of the greatest, most gorgeous pop tunes of all times. I just love this song.

Don't want you woman: Alvin Lee's and TYA's fine acoustic blues about a man persuading a woman to leave him alone. He doesn't sound all that convincing.

Then Joni Mitchell. My oldest son think she's a terrible bore, and I sometimes feel she's an overdue hippy and an old frump, overly ambitious and pretentious with her jazzy arrangements and blown rhetoric on Don Juan's Reckless Daughter, but Chinese Café is a great bittersweet song beautifully intertwining the Righteous Brothers' Unchained Melody.

CSN&Y 4+20: scratch the surface and you find a harrowing tale of despair, by Stephen Stills.

My Only Love: Avant garde glam rockers turned stylish crooners Roxy Music concluded my morning run of 25 minutes and 46 seconds.