Richmond Rave: Richmond Symphony

I've already alluded to my status as a BNFL (Band Nerd For Life) in a few previous entries. So much so that I was a music performance major in college. Once I figured out that I'd rather not  spend the rest of my life as a starving musician, I got a Master's in Arts Management and have worked for two different orchestras since then. One was the National Philharmonic, which makes its home at Strathmore in North Bethesda, Maryland. I love this organization, but can't write a Richmond Rave about it since it is obviously not in Richmond.

But I can write a Richmond Rave about the Richmond Symphony. If I haven't said it yet on this blog, I'm saying it now: Richmonders are downright lucky to have access to some absolutely phenomenal arts right in their own backyards. Personally, I thank my lucky stars every day that I managed to accidentally end up in a city with such vibrant cultural resources.

Richmond Symphony is just one of these fabulous organizations.

RSO in action at the Carpenter Theatre.

Now, yes I am a bit biased for a number of reasons. One: BNFL. Two: I had the privilege of working for the Richmond Symphony for some very exciting years in the organization's history. But, setting aside these facts, I submit that the Richmond Symphony has earned its spot on my Richmond Rave list ten times over.

I could bore you forever with a long diatribe about why the Richmond Symphony is so cool. But I won't. Instead, I present my top reasons to go give classical music a try (specifically, the RSO).

1. They perform in the Carpenter Theatre at Richmond CenterStage. If you haven't seen the Carpenter Theatre (ever or since it was restored), it is worth going just to see this building. Once upon a time, the Carpenter was a Loew's Movie Palace and was designed to transport the audience to a Mediterranean Palace. From the crazy carpet to the stuffed parrots to the twinkling stars in the ceiling of the hall, it's something to behold.

Exterior of Carpenter Theatre at night

Two goofy pictures of me showcasing the crazy carpet and tiled entry floor.

2. There are lots of options to choose from when it comes to concerts. The upcoming 2012-13 season is particularly awesome (at least I think so because it contains both my favorite violin concerto of all time AND my favorite piano concerto of all time AND Beethoven's Pastorale AND the iconic Symphony No. 5 AND Scheherezade... ok I'll shut up now). If you're a first timer, you can't go wrong with Beethoven's 5th - everybody knows it. And if you're a Disney kid like me, you will immediately recognize Beethoven's Pastorale Symphony from Fantasia.

If full on classical repertoire is not something you want to dive in to, try a Pops concert. RSO also usually has a crazy good "special" each year. A few past specials have included Bugs Bunny on Broadway (Looney Toons cartoons broadcast on a big screen behind the orchestra, with live musical accompaniment), Video Games Live (Video game footage from Pong to World of Warcraft with live orchestra and light show), and Cirque de la Symphonie (acrobats, strongmen, and jugglers perform to live orchestral accompaniment). I drug my husband to each of these and he had a blast at all of them. This year, the special is probably the most awesome one yet - a tribute to Queen. Yes, this Queen:

It's on May 19. I can't go, but you should! I'll even make it easy for you - here's the link to purchase tickets!

3. The Richmond Symphony is a great ensemble with talented musicians. Richmond is lucky to have such a high-quality orchestra right here. I've heard lots of orchestras (including a lot of bad ones), so trust me on this one.

4. Since 2008, the Richmond Symphony has held an event they call the "Come & Play." Basically, if you have ever played an orchestral instrument, you are invited to come sit alongside Richmond Symphony musicians for a day of rehearsal and a concert. I was working for the Symphony during the first year and I will never forget how excited we all were when over 300 people showed up to the first event. It just gets bigger and bigger every year. In 2011, I played with the ensemble, which topped 600 musicians! The Richmond Symphony is for everyone, and this event is a great demonstration of that. There is nothing more inspiring than seeing hundreds of people from every walk of life and musical ability come together to create music.

5. Short attention span? Yeah, me too. I have a hard time sitting through a full symphony concert, and I'm a musician! But let me tell you a secret: The LolliPops series, which looks like it's for children, is a great option. Don't tell anyone, but I think it's my favorite series. The concerts are always entertaining, energetic, fun and on the short side. And a bonus? The tickets are cheap - only $17 for adults.

6. Let me guess: you don't think you're "fancy" enough to go the Symphony. Or you think you don't have the right clothes or just don't feel like dressing up. Well, I have news for you - most symphonies don't have a dress code. This includes the Richmond Symphony. Sure, people will show up dressed to the 9s. But people also show up wearing jeans, myself included. In fact, I make it a point to often wear jeans to cultural events that people believe have an elitist dress code. I have worn jeans to the Richmond Symphony and to the Virginia Opera. Yes, to the opera. And it was fine. So please, feel free to come as you are. Really, the Symphony will just be happy to welcome you!

7. A symphony concert is a great date night - and a great excuse to try out an awesome downtown Richmond restaurant. Lemaire is close by. So is Bistro 27. And Comfort. And Tarrant's. And Hill Cafe. You get the point.

8. It won't break the bank. The great thing about a Richmond Symphony concert is that every seat in the house is a good seat. I have sat in the most expensive seats and in the cheapest seats and yes, while you can see better in the expensive seats, the sound quality is the same no matter where you sit. So buy the least expensive seats (for the current season, adult tickets start at $18), spend the leftover money on a nice dinner, and enjoy yourself.

9. Erin Freeman, the Symphony's Associate Conductor and James Erb Choral Chair, is an amazingly talented woman with infectious enthusiasm that you can't resist. I love watching her conduct and she has a naturally warm rapport with the audience that makes you feel at home.

10. If you don't go, I will send zombie musicians to hunt you down.

Tunes or No Tunes - That is the Question

Can't read my, can't read my, no he can't read my poker face/ So take your siren call and sing all you want, I will not hear what you have to say - cause I need freedom now and I want to know how to live my life as it's meant to be/ Strike a pose there's nothing to it... vogue/  Move b*tch, get out the way, get out the way b*tch, get out the way/ Party rockers in the house tonight, everybody just have a good time/ Shorty had them apple bottom jeans, boots with the fur - the whole club was looking at her. She hit the floor, next thing you know, shorty got low low low low...

Oh hi! Sorry - I was just trying to decide which of my favorite running anthems need to be on my iPod for the half marathon, which is now less than 48 hours away.

I've got music on the brain thanks to Skinny Runner's recent awesome post about how to run without music. It's like she was reading my mind because lately I've been really trying to wean myself off of the iPod with some level of success and now I'm really not sure whether I want to use one on Sunday or not. I'm torn.

When I first started to run I felt like I had to have music blaring in my ears if I was doing a solo run, whether it was around the Y track, on the treadmill, or outside. If I forgot my iPod or it died mid-run or was otherwise not working for whatever reason, I sometimes would just not run at all. The thought of having nothing to distract me from the fact that I felt like I was going to keel over any second seemed like torture.

Strangely, even though I was completely dependent on having music during solo runs, I did not use an iPod for my first races and I did not use one when I was running with my training group. It was really easy to not use an iPod at the Monument Avenue 10k. There are bands lined up every few hundred feet, thousands and thousands of spectators, and lots of other runners to chat with - so there are plenty of distractions.

But then I ran a few smaller races where there weren't bands, or spectators cheering, or friends running with me. Without those things, I did not enjoy the race as much so I started wearing my Shuffle again. Eventually I found myself once again dependent upon music to keep me motivated. And I started doing stupid things, like running in downtown Richmond by myself with headphones on.

After the Sherry Arnold incident, running safety became a hot topic on the running blogs that I read and I realized that I was really being stupid when it came to running outside with my music at full volume. So I started weaning myself off and now I can run with or without tunes, even though sometimes I need it. When I am in a funk and positively do not feel like running, I use music to get me going. For instance, when my arches hurt in February, the only thing that got me through was Gaga.  If I'm indoors at the track or on the treadmill, I still have to have the music.

So now I'm debating what to do for this weekend. I listened to music at the 14k in February and when I was really feeling tired, just the right song came on to pump me up again. But then again, I enjoy interacting with other runners and hearing spectators and just being nosy and over hearing the weird conversations people have when they are running races.

And I don't want to miss it if my husband actually cheers/yells for me at the finish line (for once).

Do you run with or without music?

Will my husband break his usual stoic attitude and actually cheer for me this weekend?

A big gold star to anyone who can identify the songs in the first paragraph.

Tempting Fate on Monument Avenue

Ever since mile 7 of the Virginia is for Lovers 14k, the arch of my left foot has been howling at me. I'm not sure what the problem is. Being the pessimistic person that I am, I immediately self-diagnosed my problem as plantar flaciitis and started to research stretches and treatment options. I've been doing a series of stretches and rolling my foot on a frozen water bottle, but it doesn't seem to be helping very much. Insisting on running 4 miles with Prabir on Monday despite pretty bad pain in the arch probably didn't help matters.

But I am stubborn and despite this, I was determined to run the full 6 miles scheduled for tonight. One, the weather today was absolutely gorgeous and I didn't want to miss the opportunity to have a nice outdoor run. Two, I was lazy last night and decided to not go to yoga as scheduled. So I stuck my Zensa compression ankle support on my left foot thinking that maybe that would help and set out on my usual 6 miles route.

Around mile 2 my arch started to hurt. But I kept going and told myself that maybe running in the grassy median that runs down Monument Avenue would be better than running on the sidewalk.

Image source 

Pretty, right? Of course right now there are no lovely leaves. But this is where the tempting fate part comes in. The thing about Monument Avenue is that it is a residential street in a city and this grassy median is, naturally, where people take their dogs for walks. And we all know what dogs do on walks. We also all know that not all dog owners pick up after their pets.

But my arch hurt so much by the time I hit the 3 mile point that I decided that I'd rather run in the median and take the rather large risk of stepping in a pile of dog poo than keep running on the concrete sidewalk.

Luckily I made it through the dog poo gauntlet unscathed this evening. Unfortunately, I don't think that running on the grass helped my pain at all. As I write I'm sitting with a giant bag of ice under my foot. It has gone numb at this point. I'm feeling pretty bummed about the whole situation. The next 3 weeks are the most intense of my training for the half marathon and the last thing I need is to be sidelined by a foot problem.

I think that my iPod is starting to be able to sense my mood. Tonight I was having a really hard time with this run and suddenly I was treated to what seemed like non-stop Lady Gaga tracks, even though the iPod was set to shuffle. I'd say that Gaga tunes always provide me with the most inspiration when I'm running. I imagine that if I just keep running (and running... and running...) that somehow my legs will magically lengthen, my cellulite will disappear, and I will be svelte enough to be able to rock a Gaga-esque outfit such as the one featured in her Monster Ball tour poster:

Yes, I've convinced myself that if I run enough,
I can be this hot.

Tonight some of my favorites got pumped into my skull at just the right times: "Starstruck" during mile 1, "Just Dance" during mile 3, "Bad Romance" during mile 6.

In the end, things shook out pretty nicely even with the intense foot pain.

In other news, last night Sherrod Wright of the GMU Men's Basketball team gave me (and all of Mason Nation) a fabulous Valentine's Day present:

VCU is our biggest rival and this game was tight the whole way through. I was convinced that we were going to lose and had already written a capitulation tweet when we were down by 2 with 3.8 seconds to go. When Wright hit this basket, at first I didn't even realize what happened and then it hit me. I leapt out of bed and started yelling "HOLY SH*T!" over and over, jumping up and down. It was an AWESOME ending to a hard fought game.

Hmmmm... perhaps all that jumping up and down wasn't the best idea for my foot. Oh well. It was worth it because now the three way tie for #1 in the CAA conference is down to 2 - Drexel and George Mason! We face VCU again on February 25 here in Richmond and yours truly has tickets. Can't. Wait.

Are you stubborn like me and run despite injury?

What music inspires you the most when you run?

If I run enough, will I be able to look like Gaga?

Doing Speed Work in Versailles

I'm in Maryland for the weekend to visit with my family, which means that this morning's scheduled speed work took place at the local Y. In the Richmond area, there are two branches of the Y that I frequent, and while both can get busy, they generally aren't swamped (that is, until soccer season when all of the soccer moms and dads and children invade and then I just curse and grumble as I circle the parking lot for the umpteenth time).

The Y here was a veritable madhouse when I arrived this morning at around 10:00. I had to invent a parking place because all of the spots were filled. On the way in, I saw what is probably the only snow I will lay eyes on all winter:

Sad, dirty parking lot snow.

Luckily, it was busy because apparently today was team picture day (?) and not everyone-wants-to-run-on-the-treadmill day. I checked in and jumped on a treadmill right away.

Speaking of visiting treadmills, isn't it kind of funny how you get used to the specific type of treadmill in your "home" gym and any other kind is just bizarre and uncomfortable to you? That's how it is for me at least. I'm a creature of habit, so having to run on a treadmill that is unlike my usual really throws me off. For instance, the treadmills at this Y have very small display areas and tiny drink holders that you have to prop your water into instead of the cup holders that you drop your water into on my home Y treadmills. Small thing, but it bothers me.

But I digress.

Today I thought I'd try to do some 800s instead of the 1600s that my training plan called for. I did 4 miles, running the first half of each mile at a pace of 6.2 mph/9:40 and the second half at 7.0 mph/8:34. By the end of the workout I was sweating buckets, but felt ok. Total time was 36:40 with an average pace of 9:10.

I liked the 800s - I was able to run faster during the speed intervals and didn't get as bored during the recovery pace intervals. It also worked out so that each half mile was more or less equal to one song on my iPod. When things line up like that, the OCD part of me is really happy.

Today my shuffle was serving up some great tunes. Isn't it amazing how certain songs can just take you right back to a time in your life in an instant? This happened to me a few times during today's work out. Most of the songs on my shuffle have some kind of memory or association attached to them, but some are stronger than others. Today the shuffle was picking out the ones that just give me goose bumps.

Example: Lady Gaga "So Happy I Could Die." For me, this song will forever be associated to the day that I spent at Versailles. I had dreamed of visiting the chateau and when I finally got there, I was so overcome that I couldn't stop smiling. As we walked up to the gates, my travel buddy and best friend was filming me and asked, "So how do you feel to be at Versailles?" and my reply was, "I'm so happy I could die."

There are about 50 pictures of me from that day, and in all of them I am wearing a giant, goofy smile. I won't torture you with all 50, but here are two.

When this song comes blasting through my shuffle, I feel like I could run forever. The treadmill, the gym, or the road just melt away and I'm back in Versailles, and I never want to leave.

The song that happened to be playing during my last 800 of speed work was "Deliver Me" by Robert Randolph & Family Band.

I couldn't help but think how appropriate! Yes, PLEASE deliver me from this speed work!


The afternoon was spent shopping at the outlets and Best Buy in a pair of 4" spike heel ankle boots. By the end of the day my calves were absolutely killing me.

But, the plus side of speed work and walking through outlets and Best Buy for 3 hours is that I feel absolutely no guilt about eating this giant piece of cake in celebration of my Dad's birthday.

Have I mentioned yet that I love cake?