Starting last week’s training after running the Run Deo Run 50K, I knew I’d have some challenges. Having a couple of days off would be expected for me and it would leave Wednesday to run. At least that was the initial plan…until I was faced with seeing The Boss.
Tuesday night was the first of three shows I’d be seeing Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band play at the LA Sports Arena which unbeknownst to me, is being demolished to make room for a new soccer stadium. Leave it to Springsteen and crew to close out the joint in only the best way possible.
This wasn’t the first time I witnessed them close out a venue. Back in October of 2009, I ventured over to New Jersey to see them play a couple of shows at the old Giants Stadium. Only The Boss can get me to fly 3,000 miles just to go to a concert. But it’s not just a concert, it’s almost a pilgrimage.
I was a child of the 80’s and grew up listening to “Hungry Heart” on the radio. Before that, I had very little exposure to who Bruce Springsteen was. By the time Born in the U.S.A. rolled out, I was a fan. No other band’s music, affects me like Springsteen’s. However, it wasn’t until October 17, 1999 when I got to finally see them open the Staples Center in Downtown LA in the venue’s inaugural event. That was last time he played at the Staples Center because he hated the venue and I’m thrilled about that because I hate seeing concerts at the Staples Center. If I can avoid concerts there, I will.
When it comes Springsteen, I honestly don’t care where my seats are. I’m sure there are people out there who fight tooth and nail and pay top dollar for the best seats, but as long as I’m IN the venue, I’m happy. And I’ve been everywhere in venues at their concerts – nosebleed seats, side seats, behind the stage, on the floor in the pit – and for me, being in the pit is the pits. I don’t care for being on the floor at all. Why? Because I’m vertically challenged and I’ve had so many instances when I get someone waaaay taller stand right in front of me and then for the rest of the show I’m bobbing back and forth just to catch glimpses of the band. No, thank you. Gimme a seat.
When I heard Springsteen was playing a tour to commemorate the 35 year old release of “The River” I seriously couldn’t contain my excitement. And WOW! What shows they were! It’s so difficult for me to put into words the emotions and feelings I get from seeing Springsteen live. It’s an experience everyone should see at least once.
Knowing how amazing I felt after the first show, it was hard to imagine the second show on St. Patrick’s Day getting any better, but it did, and the third show, was better than the second. The celebrities certainly came out for them and it’s kinda fun to see them. Tuesday’s show had Sylvester Stallone (who I saw) and Jackson Browne (who I didn’t). At Thursday’s concert I saw: Conan O’Brien (who looked bored), Tim Robbins (he rocked out and danced up a storm), the Lowe brothers (Rob and Chad), and Colin Hanks. I’m sure there were a host of others. At Saturday’s show I saw Tim Robbins (again), Jeremy Piven, and Tony Kanal. Apparently JJ Abrams and Harrison Ford went but I didn’t see them.
At the end of witnessing all the amazingness, I paid the price of not running all week until Saturday. Exhaustion was too overwhelming to overcome. In the back of my mind I did think “great ultra training” but the fact of the matter was I was too tired for anything else. I simply could not function.
I’ll admit I was thisclose to not running Saturday morning but I knew I needed to run. Good thing I had a couple of friends to meet up with which kept me accountable and we got in 10 miles. The funny thing is we were all sporting New York City Marathon attire and no, we didn’t plan this advance. They both ran it last year and mine was a shirt I bought at the expo when I ran it in 2009 (about 4 weeks after seeing The Boss close out Giants Stadium).
Every moment I had was accounted for because I had enough time to basically eat, take a nap, and then head on out to see Springsteen play for the final time this week and for the final show at the LA Sports Arena. They played close to 4 hours and I didn’t mind that one bit, since I could sleep in on Sunday.
My goal was to run double digits again Sunday but that didn’t happen. The week caught up with me and I used Melissa’s strategy of “feast on scraps.” I took what I could get and I got in a 4 mile run.
After an exhausting week of concerts, my running took a nosedive, and that is certainly the price I paid. But for The Boss, it was totally worth it.
Thanks for reading and Happy Running!