May 2, 2009 (Saturday)

As Jason Bateman's stand-in for his film with Jennifer Aniston, The Baster, I just finished Week Five! At least three more weeks left!

 

 
May 9, 2009 (Saturday)

Oh my gosh! Just finished Week Six as Jason Bateman's stand-in for his film with Jennifer Aniston, The Baster. Only two more weeks left! Now it's starting to feel as if it all happened so fast!

 

 
May 10, 2009 (Sunday)

This morning, I did the R Baby 4-Mile Mother's Day Run in Central Park.

I really didn't feel very fast. I felt sluggish and weighted down, and though I was able to squeeze out a few minor sprints here and there, I really felt off-peak. I haven't been able to run because during filming, I've been working 12 or more hours a day on average, leaving me only enough time to sleep, travel to set, and work. That's the only bad thing in this whole wonderful experience.

Anyway, by the looks of it, I actually did pretty well in this 4-miler. I managed a 7:10 mile pace, completing the race in 28:42. As I was writing this, I thought I was a few seconds slower than my 2009 New Year's Midnight Run, but I was actually considerably faster (I ran that in 29:21, about a 7:20-mile). So I really don't know what to make of today's results. I was passed by a lot of people I thought I would be passing if I were in better shape. By no means am I fat right now but I'm nearly the heaviest I've ever been, plus I had to stop Core Fusion classes which built muscle that is now, um, deflating. And my cardiovascular system seems shot! The slower time on New Year's might be because it was extremely cold and the cold slows down my time.

But how did I manage a 7:10 pace, which is pretty decent for me? I think I actually completed my first mile "sluggishly" in just under 7 minutes.

My next race is this coming Saturday in Central Park: The Healthy Kidney 10K. What's a mystery right now is whether I will be going straight from set to this race--most Fridays turn into late-night/early-morning shoots, and if I get released at 7am, I wonder what I'll feel like?

 

 
May 16, 2009 (Saturday)

Holy Moly, I'm exhausted.

Yesterday I had a 4pm call for The Baster, the Jason Bateman-Jennifer Aniston film for which I'm standing in for Jason Bateman. I decided to get a 6.4-mile run in before call, knowing full well I would have a night shoot, plus a 9am 6.2-mile race in Central Park the next morning.

Well, the shoot went until about 5:15am, which was considerably longer than I expected. I got home and squeezed in a 25-minute nap, then headed for Central Park where I was to run the Healthy Kidney 10K. This race was somewhat ironic because in the area of my kidneys I was feeling discomfort, since to get through the night shoot I used for the very first time the most potent energy supplement on the market, Fixx Extreme. My kidneys may not have liked the 400mg of caffeine, which is the equivalent of 5 Red Bulls but in the volume of about what's left in one can after you've fully consumed it. (Pretty amazing.) But more truthfully, I think the culprit was fast Little Sumos that I did in a new Pilates DVD I tried before my first run of the "day."

I got through the race. I started with what seemed about a 7:00-minute mile, though I was slowed down a bit by the large amount of runners surrounding me. I was generally passing people until mile 3, where it seemed others started passing me. I had a strong finish, sprinting past some people I had difficulty catching throughout my run. Oh, and it rained right when the race started. I finished in about 46 minutes (I was a runner who experienced a technical problem with my chip*), which averages to be a 7:25 mile, which is hardly my personal record, but how many times have I run after having virtually no rest after a 10K and even no sleep?! But it bums me out there was a glitch in my chip and I don't know my actual times. Generally, though, if my recollection is accurate, I'm still considerably faster than I feel.

And as for finishes, I also finished Week 7 on the film. Next week is the final week. It looks to be a busy week. It is sad it is coming to an end. Jeff Goldblum's first night on the film was last night, and he'll be with us for most of the final week. I'm trying to get my credit listed on the Internet Movie Database as Jason Bateman's stand-in, but after more than a week, it still hasn't posted. If you can help, please submit my credit as Other Crew, "stand-in: Jason Bateman," under The Baster!

*UPDATE! Somehow the results are now posted. I finished the 10K in 46:08, which means an average mile of 7:26. My split time was 22:28, which means I was on pace to finish in 44:56. For comparison, I ran the Regent's Park Summer 10K last summer in London in 43:47 having done some hillwork a few days prior and being in better shape, but it was a rather flat course compared to the number of hills and inclines in Central Park. My fastest known time around Central Park is 42:46, but that's counterclockwise rather than today's clockwise. Still, I've done 3 minutes faster than today's race, a testament that I need to get back in shape after this film!


 

 
May 23, 2009 (Saturday)

We're wrapped! I just finished my eighth and final week as Jason Bateman's stand-in in his film with Jennifer Aniston called The Baster. So many freakin' memories and cool experiences. One was having the last take for the shoot!

 

 

Today I joined AFTRA (the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists). This is my third acting union membership. I am also a longtime member of both the Actors' Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

 

 
May 26, 2009 (Tuesday)

Today I played an Ohio State University student and a protester in the Sean Penn film about Valerie Plame, Fair Game.

 

 
May 29, 2009 (Friday)

Today at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, I gave for a Common Hour an interactive presentation on long-form improv for the theatre performance majors.

Included in the presentation, I did an improvised sermon as The Reverend Raymond Nader.

See the video for the sermon titled "Heroin" here.

 

 
May 30, 2009 (Saturday)

Today at Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, I taught two seminars on long-form improv to the theatre performance majors.

(They were fantastic!)

 

 
May 31, 2009 (Sunday)

This morning I did the Japan Day @ Central Park 4-mile race.

Just before leaving this morning, I looked up my time in the R Baby 4-Mile Mother's Day Run on May 10th, and it was 28:42 (7:10 mile). I know how poorly my body has felt cardiovascularly while running, so it was quite a goal today to say to myself, I wonder if I can run today's race in 28:00.

Well, I did even better than that! I ran today's Japan Day race in 27:47, which is a 6:56 mile. That's great for me! I've never really raced before this year outside of marathons so I don't know how this compares to other speeds of mine over this kind of distance. I felt not entirely slow today, but not incredibly fast either, which gets me wondering what potential my body has right now because I know I've felt faster in the past. I'm not very well trained at the moment, though I did 5x Cat Hill sprints on Thursday in hopes of building speed for today's race. I think it worked!

Japan Day @ Central Park
4-Mile Race
Finished: 27:47
Pace: 6:56