When the miles cease to matter.

My mileage has been adding up. Two weeks ago I hit just over 46 miles in a week. Last week I only did 36 miles as I felt it was a good idea to de-load since I was feeling the fatigue from the week before. (Actually if you count my hike on Sunday I did just over 40 miles last week. )

Something happened to me due to that 46 mile week. Another mile became simply another mile. I noticed the shift on Saturday when I had a 4 mile race in the morning. In an effort to get more mileage in I came home and ran another 6.5 miles. I just did it. It was easy. It was just more miles.

A year ago when I ran four half marathons and nine other races I never would have felt that way. Due to my heavy mileage everything has become relative. My average run is now 9-10 miles. This weekend I have a long run of 18 miles as a tune up in Central Park. It's just 18 miles. What I care about now is how fast I finish it. How I run it. The miles no longer matter but the quality of the run does.

The biggest worry I have as of late is trying to squeeze in these runs with my work schedule. My travel season for my job is starting to get rolling and the anxiety is building. It's a lot easier to run 20 miles at home rather than on the road in a strange city where all you are doing is hotel and plane hopping. Red eyes where you land at 6 AM are terrible for running.

But there's nothing I can do to change any of that. The first Sunday in November will be upon me and I will have to put my head down, tackle the bridges and maintain my pace. I can't go back redo all of my training . It will either be there or it won't.

9 Weeks out - 7 till my taper.

I'm nine weeks away from the ING NYC Marathon.
Well, actually it's more like 8, but I'm coming into the end of my 9th week.
This is also going to be my first over 40 mile week.
For a lot of runners that's not a lot of mileage, but for me it is a milestone. I'm also making a huge jump in my mileage. (I'm passing 40 by A LOT.) I have another long run scheduled for Sunday AM (which is also the 9/11 anniversary). I'm anticipating route changes since 6-7 miles of my run happen in Liberty State Park and I expect most of it to be closed off due to the events that will be taking place.
Hopefully I will be able to get out and about early before things get crazy. But I am determined to get in at least 16 miles on Sunday.
For the next 5-6 weeks before I start my taper it's only going to get tougher and pile on from here.

Looking to do my last big long run October 16-18th. Then I will be on the road for work. What's lovely is that I will be traveling to the Pacific Northwest! I will have the amazing opportunity to run out there during the beginning of my taper. New scenery and unknown routes - how exciting! I will be spending a couple of days in Portland, so I hope to find a running group or two to head out with while I'm there.

With the marathon looming I've had to really focus. Jiu Jitsu sadly has taken a back seat to running. But that's the way it has to be. There's no way I could consistently train both and recover enough to do well at running.
Post marathon I'm looking forward to putting running on the back burner for a few months. Of being able to take all of the energy, focus and drive that's been my running and put it into Jiu Jitsu.

I've also been consumed on the writing front.
Adapting my teen/supernatural pilot into a YA novel series. (Which has been A LOT of work.)
I'm also hard at work on a web series that I'm in pre-production on. Slowly putting those bits together piece by piece and I'm hoping to have an episode or two up and running this Fall.
I write so much original material that I am finally working on spec scripts. I'm grinding away on a CASTLE spec and on a COUGAR TOWN spec.

If only I didn't have to have a "day job" and could only write, run and train jiu jitsu with the odd acting job thrown in for fun!

Believe or not but RUNNER'S WORLD has been really helpful in the training plan department. I've been adopting workouts that, I feel, have been making a big difference.

This week I did a 3 X 2, 20 seconds faster than MRP with a 1/4 mile recovery between repeats.
Next week will be 2 X 4, 20 seconds faster than MRP. Then 3 X 3 capping out at a 5 x 2.

My remaining races are: Mind/Body/Spirit Games (Sept. 17th), 5th Avenue Mile (Sept. 24th), 18 Miler Marathon Tune Up (Sept. 25th), Staten Island 1/2 Marathon (October 9th).

I'm also doing something new. Starting this week I'm doing Alternating Long Runs. Where one week I will do a long, slow, steady run longer than two hours and the next week I will do a Fast Finish long run. With the later, I begin the run 1-2 minutes per mile slower than race pace. Half way to three quarters through I hit my MRP. Then I finish the last segment FASTER than race pace. I'm hoping that 2-3 of these before the marathon will ensure a solid sub four hour finish time.
I got this idea from mcmillanrunning.com. It' s a great site and I recommend it to everyone.

Until next time true believers!

Dammit Mamet, You Are Right.

I know this is going to be a strange post after a long lay-off. But in my defense I have been busy. I recently had two of my plays go up Off-off Broadway here in NYC. In addition to writing them I also had a cameo in one and the other play was a two-hander. (I was one of the two hands.) Lights go up, forty-two minutes later the lights come down, two actors.
I hadn't been on stage that much since I played Petruchio.

But now that the dust has settled and I've had some time to think and reflect on this recent experience and I have an important observation . . . David Mamet is right.

I want to make it clear, I am not someone who thinks everything Mamet writes is brilliant, quite the opposite actually. Do I like his plays? Sure, some of them. His movies? Some, I will watch UNTOUCHABLES or RED BELT any day. What about his essays? Actually, yes, I admit I am a nonfiction junkie and reading a Mamet essay about pocketknives is a great joy of mine. In regards to his theatre essays . . . I almost always walk away angry at his oversimplification of everyone's craft. Specifically the actor's craft and process.

This brings me to the point of this post.

I stand corrected and Mr. Mamet, Sir, you are right.

I hang my head in shame over the years I've spent saying, "Read, TRUE AND FALSE, but be careful, it can be dangerous for a young actor to read."
Well, I'm wrong.
After working on two of my plays at the same time, with a diverse group of actors and yes, I even had to direct a bit on one of them. I have walked away from the experience with this . . .

What is the actor's job?

Learn your lines, learn your blocking, find an appropriate action and speak out clearly even though frightened, scared, insecure etc. That is true bravery in one's art and that is the actor's job.

Some actor's never got their lines right. Now let me be clear. It's one thing to do what I call kerfuffle the line. Sometimes as an actor you learn something wrong and it just sticks in your mouth and brain. That's not what I'm talking about. That would be consistency. While Emerson may call that the, "hobgoblin of little minds," I call it an actor doing their job and what they need to do.

No, some of these actors felt the need to embellish, to add, paraphrase to which I say, "I'm the dramatist can we please at least try it my way? Just once?"
Nope, they never did. Not even at the table with no pressure to perform and the script in front of them.

In performance their embellishments, their insecurity and hubris grew to such epic proportions that they felt they needed to make it better or they needed to get a laugh. (Again, without ever trying it as written.)
They did this at the expense of other actors onstage. They did this at the expense of scripted jokes and laugh lines that belonged to other people. (These same actors never learned their blocking and couldn't physically do the same things night to night.)
In short, they were not serving the play. They were selfish and are unable to work simply, truthfully and as asked by the playwright and director.

I wonder to myself if they had actually learned the lines as written and performed them as such what would have happened?
I think their work would have been like the actors who did their job. It would have grown every night and deepened. They would have been considered giving by their fellow actors and they would have served the play and the production.

I'm not perfect. But between educational and professional theatre I've worked on well over 200 plays and I work enough to be in and maintain membership in all three actor unions, so I do feel like I know what I am talking about. Whenever this has happened to me (lines jumbled or a jump in the script) I am horrified and I immediately go to my script to uncover what went wrong and then I work to correct it and make sure it never happens again. What I don't do is walk off-stage and blame other people in the dressing room. If it's a huge issue I go to the other actor and ask we run lines on that section because I think I messed something up. (I find that works best, blame yourself and not get defensive.)

I am an open-minded writer. If a line doesn't work, let's talk about it. Let's change it. Especially on a new play. But the time for that is in rehearsal. Not performance.

This idea of what are the basics, the bare minimum of an actor's job has been sticking in my brain for weeks and I need to get it out.

So what are the basics of an actor's job? To learn their lines, learn their blocking, find an appropriate action and speak out even though frightened.
Dammit Mamet, you are right.

The Trial of Miles . . .

My marathon training has begun and my body is paying the price.
This past weekend I did over 14 miles on Saturday and then on Sunday ran a five mile race in Central Park. Not the brightest of ideas. (My mileage is over 30 miles a week now.)

My legs are crispy, my feet hurt (they are swollen & blistered) and in general I've been wiped out.

I'm finding it very hard to qualify for next year's ING New York Marathon while training for this year's.
I have to learn to let my times go and accept that I will not be setting PR's at any of these races from here on out. I have to check my ego and my hubris at the door.

I also have to learn to train and recover smarter. Now that I am entering heavier mileage I have to pay much more attention to my body. I will no longer be running on consecutive days if I can help it.

Additionally I am in desperate need of yoga. I used to have a very consistent and dedicated practice. (Of course I worked at a yoga studio.) As of late I've been plagued with nagging injuries. My outer hamstring simply won't heal and has been acting up all the time. I think it's time to bring myself back to my mat.
Speaking of "mat time."
I've also been neglecting my jiu jitsu.
As I've been increasing my mileage I've simply needed more recovery time. I'm hoping my body will adapt so I can resume my cross training activity of choice (BJJ) and add some yoga to the mix.

I hope this is just a phase. I've been wondering lately if part of it might not be psychological. I started getting nagging injuries and feeling burnt out when I was in Iowa for my mother's last days and her funeral. Perhaps there is a greater mind/body connection than I realize? It's certainly food for thought. If that is the case and my poor training quality and injuries are connected to my emotional life, how do I break through this plateau? Is it simply a matter of digging deep and training through it?

While my training has been crappy my artistic life has been exploding. I've been retooling some of my writing with amazing results. A crazy growth period if you will. I've also inherited the artistic director position with Dark Luna. I have so many writing projects going at once right now that I feel creatively blessed. A lot of really good work is being done and every time I put my fingers to my keyboard I have a story to tell (or an old one to reinvent.)

More posts to come. I actually have a few that I've written but haven't posted. Perhaps this weekend I will get to it. But for the time being it's time to dig deep, do the work and go on my own, "Trial of Miles."

Cowboys vs Aliens or Agents vs Managers?

I’ve decided that I need to sit down and finally answer a question that seems to be on many people’s minds. What’s the difference between agents and managers?

Its no secret that I have a manager and I find working with her to be one of the smartest decisions I’ve ever made.

My day job is at an acting school, and every day a different student asks me the agent vs manager question.

The best response I can come up with is, “Agents help you get jobs; managers make careers happen.”

Now, this statement isn’t entirely true and I’m sure my manger would look at me funny if she read it. But for the most part I find this an accurate description.

Does this mean that everyone young person who wants to work in this business should run out there and get a manager?

Not all managers are created equal.

In the last ten years we’ve seen an explosion of managers pop up. They are highly unregulated and now just about any Tom, Dick or Harry can claim they are a manager.

We are seeing agents from top tier super agencies like CAA & ICM leave to become mangers.

These days’ manger and producer are almost synonymous. (At least with most of the good ones.)

But a word to the wise, there are a lot of people out here who claim to be managers and won't really do anything for you.

There are folks who are mangers where all they do is place their clients with agencies (their friends) and then they collect their 10 percent. (I find that mangers 5 years ago were still asking for 20 percent, but in the last few years that number has gone down to 10.)

Then there are those managers who will hold your hand and be your biggest cheerleader, supportive in your darkest hour.

Finally there are those mangers that produce and really should be viewed as business partners in the company of you.

Also, any manger worth their salt realizes that some clients will be powerhouses if given the opportunity to develop. That takes vision, drive and planning on their part. Developing a client is an investment and some managers are willing to do that.

One has to keep in mind just how much the business has changed. 10-15 years ago I think there were still a lot of agents who had a larger personal investment in their clients. There were still a lot of agents who would take on developmental clients and weren’t afraid of the risk.

Now managers are taking on that risk.

The business has been shrinking. Boutique agencies have been closing and I remember 2-3 years ago when a lot of the top tier agencies were cleaning out their client lists. It was pretty brutal. But it did allow boutiques to then snatch up some bigger name clients.

As more boutiques close, other boutiques take on clients and so on and so forth. You get the picture. Now we have some small agencies with hefty client lists and at least every small agency has a couple of series regulars.

Where does that leave the developmental actor?

It means that 9 times out of 10 they are searching for a manager that is a right fit.

For the record I love my manager.

Best decision I ever made.

Cyd is a business partner and an advisor.

She has a smaller client list than any agency I’ve ever been with and she is invested in the business of me.

I frequently think of my fellow clients in her company as a team, and if one of us does well, that opens doors for the rest of us.

She is helping me to attain my bigger picture.

I do feel I need to very clear, I might be a bit different than a lot of people. I started writing again a few years ago and I am now sitting on a lot of literary property. I also have my own theatre company. I have plays, TV Pilots, a few film properties, some ideas for a young adult series of books along with other ideas for properties.

In addition to my legit career I also have a lucrative commercial career.

In short, I have stuff to manage. (After this last tax season I'm finally thinking about incorporating and opening up my own production shingle . . . crazy I know.)

I need help navigating these waters and keeping my eye on the prize.

One of the greatest things about my manager is that she is my friend as well as my business partner and we are invested in each other - both personally and in business. When I run the ING New York Marathon she's going to be there. When I get married she's going to be there. (She better be or I'll kill her.) And when I'm finally a show runner, she'll be there. (I'll need someone to tell me what to do.) In turn I care and want to know what her kids are up to, who the dog has peed on today, seriously critique her vacation itineraries and mock her taste in bad movies.(I have to be careful on that last point, my taste isn't so hot itself.)

Is she this way with every client? I don't know and I don't care. The point is she's this way with me. If I were a boxer she'd be my trainer, my cut man and setting up my next fight. She's in my corner and I'm in her's.

I think that’s a key element of why I love my manager. I’m just as invested in her and her company as she is with me. I plan on being in business with her until she retires. (Or kills me, which ever comes first.)

Do we have fights?

You bet, but that’s what happens in creative endeavors. Whenever passionate people come together to do something great there are going to be strong, colliding points of view.

That's life in a creative business.

That's art.

In closing, are mangers for everyone?

That's depends upon you as a person and an artist.

I didn't think I would ever have a manager.

I thought they were silly and unnecessary.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

But I'm willing to admit my mistakes. I'm also willing to let my point of view change and reshape itself. In this business if you don't evolve and grow you end up in trouble. (Just look at the internet as a prime example). I'm glad I was willing to change my mind. Best thing I ever did.

26.2 Miles Scare Me

I'm back.
I know I've said this before. I'm going to post more, etc.
But this time I mean it.
I had a huge lay-off because I was producing theatre in NYC.

I've been producing back to back to back projects. The first was a radio adaptation I did with my pal Chris of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET.

I took the radio version, cut heavily and then wrote a play to go in and around it. I set it at a radio station in 1963 since that was the year more televisions were sold than radios.
Due to studio cut backs with the advent of television this is the last opportunity they have to put on the production.

I like radio plays. There is something magical about them. I think I'm going to adapt SLEEPY HALLOW for my next radio play. Set it at this mythical radio station again.

As soon as we put that up for the holidays I had to get to work on not one, but two scripts that would be going up off-off Broadway. I was also in both of them and acting as a producer and directing a bit.

Holy crap.

It was too many hats to wear. I look forward to having a play done where I get to just be the writer. Heck I'll even write and act, since that's fun. But this last time I was doing too much.

But that's a Dark Luna structural problem and not something I will bother you with here.

I don't mean to change gears . . . but I must.

My first road race of the season is next week.
As many of you know I qualified for the ING NY Marathon by running in 9 New York Road Runner Races and volunteering at one event. So this racing/running season for me is all about the prep work for the marathon.

26.2 miles scares me. 13.1 is nothing. It's no big deal, but 26.2 is a whole different taco all together.

My training schedule right now is insane. It leaves me most nights crawling into bed at 10 PM to pop up awake at 6:30 AM. Right now I'm at one speed work day, one hill day, two easier runs and a long run. On top of that I'm still training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu twice a week and I'm getting in two lifting days.

Did I mention I work a job and still find time to audition and write?

At least my girlfriend is super supportive. It would be hard to put this much time into things without her being supportive.

The trick right now is getting my body to adapt to the work load. I just came off the shows and I was scaling the work load in the gym back a lot. I was still in the gym 5 days a week, but the effort was different.
Now I kill myself every day and "leave my heart out on the mat" if I may use an old wrestling expression. Every work out I make sure at the end I can ask myself the hard question, Did I do my best?
My answer is always, Yes.

I am faster than I've ever been before. Much faster than last year. I'm also stronger. Now the trick is going to be if I can increase my mileage to where it needs to be and still keep that strength and speed while staying injury free.

I'm also trying to get my weight down. Well more down that it has gotten. I'm hoping it will be a by-product of all the work I'm doing.

I'm must worried about this many miles on my frame. So let's hope as my long runs get longer, more pounds fall off.

My goal is another 20 pounds at least by the Marathon in November. I think I will get there. I just have to recover smart, know my limits and sleep. Sleep and rest I know have been the biggest things holding me back. I've writing down how many hours I sleep a night in my training log. I hope the accountability will help.

Ok, time to do my Sunday long run.

Until next time true believers . . .