COMMUNITY
Page 6 - November 13, 2013
Running with Paul
Music in the Air
The family that plays
together stays together
The Curtis family has been making
and producing music in Morgan Hill
since 1997. When Pat and Patty Curtis
landed in Morgan Hill,
it was Pat’s ambition
to do what he could to
make Morgan Hill a
better place for music.
He put together a neighMark Fenichel
borhood band called
East Lane, named after a street in town.
The band played weddings and
helped the downtown music scene by
performing at many events in the area.
After a number of years the band
simply decided to change the “E” to
an “F” and became Fast Lane, which
is still rocking today.
Pat’s wife Patty loved to sing. Pat
encouraged her to sing with the band
and gradually Patty worked her way
into performing regularly. Pat applied
his musical experience and ran sound
for the main stage at Taste of Morgan
Hill 12 years ago. His musical abilities
rubbed off on his son Sam who had an
interest in music and artistic talents.
Pat and Sam started a music studio in
the back of BookSmart while Sam was
taking sound classes. Pat taught Sam
how to run outdoor sound while they
continued to work in the studio recording local bands. They even recorded
Morgan Hill Life - www.MorganHillLife.com
an album of all original songs in the
studio and Sam engineered the project.
The studio moved to Depot Street,
then to its current location at Studio 13
inside the Downtown Mall behind the
Music Tree where Sam runs the studio.
Pat and Sam were involved in running
sound for the Friday Night Music Series until the series moved to its current
location behind the Community Center
four years ago. That’s when Pat, Patty
and Sam started the Thursday Street
Dance Series, acquiring permits and
getting sponsorships. Patty runs the
event, making posters and organizing,
while Pat and Sam take care of booking and sound. Patty has owned Carta
Luna on the corner of Second Street
and Monterey Road for six years.
The merchants have been supportive and they are hopeful the Thursday
Street Dance will continue in the
current location. Donations and sponsorships are being accepted by the
Downtown Association. (408) 7793190. Pat and Patty’s bands Fast Lane
and Blue Dog can be found playing
throughout South County.
Mark “Fenny” Fenichel is the advertising sales director for Morgan Hill Life
and has been making music for 40 years.
If you have a local music tip contact him
at (408) 410-4782.
?
Dirty
Solar
Panels
To maximize their potential
solar panels should be
cleaned regularly
As colder weather approaches and
the end of Daylight Savings Time
changes our clocks, we have fewer
hours to get outside and run. But the
fall and winter months
are a great time to
consider incorporating
cross training into your
workout program.
The benefits of
Paul Rakitin
strength and cross training for endurance athletes are numerous
and will help you improve your run.
Improved cardiovascular fitness, active
recovery, decrease in body fat, injury
prevention and overtraining prevention
are just a few of the many gains you
will see from a consistent cross training
program. Activities such as swimming,
cycling, weight training and yoga will
help develop the muscle groups you
already use for running... just in different
ways. They also engage other muscle
groups you don’t often use.
No matter what distance you’re
training, for it is necessary to continuously strengthen the muscle groups most
runners tend to neglect. The entire back,
buttocks and core are some key areas we
tend to forget about. These large muscle
groups when developed properly can
carry us through a tough race when our
form begins to suffer from fatigue.
There are countless exercises we
can perform in order to keep these
areas strong and flexible. With a cross
training routine we can also continue
to train with injuries acquired from
running and still maintain a certain
level of fitness. Stair climbers, elliptical machines, rowers and even stationary bikes are a great way to keep
a continued fitness program without
having to run and risk losing endurance. Of course, nothing will take the
place of running and the only way to
get better at running is to run.
Stability and “Both Sides Up” balls
are terrific training tools that can be
found in any gym, are cheap to purchase
and every athlete can utilize with very
little space and time. Kettlebells are also
a terrific piece of functional equipment
that are relatively inexpensive and can
work the entire body.
These training tools are easy enough
to use with a little experience and the
benefits are amazing. Many exercises can also be performed using your
bodyweight alone. A push up, pull up,
lunge and sit up routine can also be done
at home or at the gym and will help with
strength without the worry of building
too much muscle. Complex or multi joint
movements are more suitable for runners
than fixed or isolated machines that tend
to target one body part as opposed to
multiple at one time. Make sure to consult a fitness professional before purs uing
more technical movements as with any
workout routine.
Many runners are concerned that
muscle gain and running with extra
bodyweight could slow them down.
The fact is strength training will only
help decrease fat, increase power and
maintain a healthy muscle balance
most runners could benefit from. Take
an aerobics class at your local gym
where you’ll find a reputable and
knowledgeable staff as well as functional style workouts that just may help
you reach your next personal record.
Paul Rakitin is the owner of The Running Shop, located at 16999 Monterey
Road, Suite D.
Don Nguyen, DDS & Jon Hatakeyama, DDS
The dental practice of Drs. Don Nguyen and Jon Hatakeyama takes pride in
offering dental services to the citizens of Morgan Hill longer than any other
dental practice. We provide our family of patients with the highest quality
of dental care in a cordial communicative atmosphere.
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Downtown Association
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For more information call or email
408.590.1449
[email protected]
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