An unfinished person (in this unfinished universe)

Entries categorized as ‘Running’

Hanging up the phone and starting over again (cue the music)

March 15, 2010 · 2 Comments

Amiel, the Swiss philosopher, wrote in his journal that “the morning air breathes a new and laughing energy into the veins and marrow. Every dawn is a new contract with existence.” The dawn, Amiel said, is a time for projects, for resolution, for the birth of action.

Early to bed, early to rise is good advice whether you arrive home tired out or not. It is, for one thing, the classic physiology. Were we to follow our body rhythms, those circadian cycles, it would be the normal way to spend our alloted, unchanging 24 hours. The gradual buildup in our physiological function and then the gradual decline, the flooding and ebbing of the tides in our body, are matched by our physical and mental activity. The closer we get to following the rhythm of the earth, the closer we get to our own internal rhythms.

Early rising puts us in harmony with those rhythms. It is truly a great beginning. Early rising followed by an early morning workout is an even better one.

– Dr. George Sheehan

Last week I restarted a theme here on an unfinished person called Motivation Monday, where each Monday I write a post based off  a quote from Dr. George Sheehan, especially from the book titled Dr. George Sheehan on Getting Fit & Feeling Great. The book includes three books: How To Feel Great 24 Hours A Day, Running and Being and This Running Life. I might also include quotes from other running gurus such as Jeff Galloway and John “The Penguin” Bingham, from time to time. I hope this will help motivate not only myself, but also you as we both start anew each week.

So my first thought on today’s quote from Chapter 2 of the first book, “On Planning,” is that ironically I read this at about 8 a.m., at least an hour after I should have been up and running, literally, at least every other day. I also know that I committed to this previously: in 2007, in 2008, in 2009, and have failed for a lack of follow-through. So what is different this time? Nothing. However, unlike what I’ve tried in the past, I am not committing to a specific schedule of x, y and z to follow after I awaken. That I have learned just doesn’t work. All to which I’m committing is to work toward getting up an hour earlier each day than that to which I have become accustomed. For me, that means 7 a.m. and then doing some kind of exercise, walking/running every other day, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and stretches/other exercises on other days. So yes, it does mean x, but the y and z just will naturally follow and spring (an appropriate word at this time of year) forth from there, whatever those y’s and z’s might be

This also means that it might not happen overnight and might have to be done incrementally. In fact, on this first day of my new plan, I already have failed by awaking at 8 a.m. and not exercising yet. That said, I will continue on and do better tomorrow, because I am a work in progress, because as Sheehan once wrote, “Each one of us is an unfinished person in an unfinished universe.”

For further reading on getting up early, here are a few sites I have had bookmarked for years and plan to use to help motivate me:

Maybe they also will help motivate you.

Categories: Body · Motivation Monday · Running
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Motivation Monday with Dr. George Sheehan

March 8, 2010 · 2 Comments

I prefer going 45 minutes or so instead of 30. My mind seems to open up more with the longer runs. When I stop at 30 minutes I feel like I am missing something. So I usually do 45 minutes or an hour, two or three times a week. A friend of mine (a walker) once told me of similar feelings. “The first 30 minutes is for my body,” she said. “The second 30 minutes is for my soul.”

– Dr. George Sheehan

Dr. George Sheehan bookToday I’m starting a “new” theme here on an unfinished person called Motivation Monday (I say “new” because I had started this theme previously and then abandoned it, because I guess a lack of motivation). Each Monday, I will write a post hopefully to help motivate myself and you as we start our weeks. I will begin each post with a quote from Dr. George Sheehan, as seen above, especially from the book titled “Dr. George Sheehan on Getting Fit & Feeling Great,” which includes three other books in one by the late runner-philosopher. Those three books are How To Feel Great 24 Hours A Day, Running and Being and This Running Life. I might also include quotes from other running gurus such as Jeff Galloway and John “The Penguin” Bingham, from time to time.

So considering today’s quote and post from Chapter 1 of the first book, “On Learning,” I am going out this afternoon for about an hour and will aim to do the same on Wednesday during the day and Friday morning this week. The first 30 minutes will for my body to acclimate to something it hasn’t done in a quite a while: move for the sake of moving, in other words, not just to get to the library or to walk downtown for lunch, but to move to focus on exercise. The second 30 minutes will be for my mind and my soul: for my mind to unwind and my soul to breathe.

Categories: Body · Motivation Monday · Running
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The State of The Blog, My Reading and My Life Address (TSS)

January 31, 2010 · 7 Comments

So if any of you drifted over here from one of my other blogs that recently died (again), you may be wondering what is going on in terms of body, mind and soul (the themes of those blogs and this blog) in my life. Or, to word it another way, what is going on with me in terms of running, reading and my spiritual life?

Running: Not any. After my wife and I signed up for three months for the gym at the beginning of the month, I’ve gone once. Sad but true. However, only this morning I signed up for the Idita-Walk 2010, which involves walking 30 minutes a day for 35 days from Feb. 1 to March 31 for a total of 1,049 minutes. The walk benefits Boy Scout Troop 298 in Alaska. Tomorrow, the journey begins again…

Reading: As of later today, I will have finished one book for the year.

While shelving books at the library where I work part-time, I came across this book and thought it would be appropriate with the Super Bowl coming up at the start of next month (now next week). Since then, I also have picked up Black Sunday by Thomas Harris, which was made into a 1977 movie

Again, sad but true. However, also today, I will be starting Ovid’s Metamorphoses as translated by Mary Innes as part of the Really Old Classics Challenge (click on button to go to challenge’s main page). I had taken this book out of the library last year twice, with the most recent time at the end of November, and now I have it out again. The plan is to read a little each Sunday over the next few Sundays to finish in time for the end of the challenge. Today, the journey begins again…

Spiritual life: Earlier this month, I talked with a deacon at our church about what I would need to do to become a deacon in the Roman Catholic Church. Since then, I haven’t contacted the diocese, but I still am interested in applying to become one.

This past month, I participated in the Sleeping with Bread meme group four times here on this blog: Surrender, Surrender; Cats, dances and bread; On stepping into the clearing and breathing; and What is the measure of your success?

I also continue to pray The Liturgy of the Hours for Morning and Evening Prayer, something I haven’t done yet today but will do here shortly before my wife and I go to Mass. In a few minutes, the journey begins again…

In truth, the journey never ends, and as J.R.R. Tolkien once wrote, “The road goes ever on.”

Categories: Body · Books · Devotions · Mind · Movies · Running · Soul · The Sunday Salon
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