Tag Archives: Mount Tom

The rhythm of life is a powerful beat

Posted on August 22, 2008 by unfinishedperson | 1 Comment

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. It is the first choice of our body, the natural way to live. Were we to follow our body rhythms, those circadian cycles, it would e 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 rhythms 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.

George Sheehan in “How To Feel Great 24 Hours A Day”

Last week I shared my ideas for a new daily schedule that I wrote down on a rock.

5:30: MP (an abbreviation for Morning Prayer, using the Liturgy of the Hours)
6:30: Run (Exercise of some kind, if gym for a couple of days, that also will be good)
7:30: Sheehan (read George Sheehan or one of the other aforementioned authors: John Bingham, Jeff Galloway, what I consider the Trinity of Running Writers.
8:30 Blog

On the back I wrote only two times:

4:30 EP (an abbreviation for Evening Prayer)
9:30-10:30: Bed (which would leave me 7-8 hours of sleep)

So I thought that for this week’s Feetfirst Friday, I’d give an update on how I’m doing so far this first week.

First things first, I’ve decided to use the schedule Monday through Friday and not every day. However, that said I still want to be up by at least 8 a.m., if not earlier on Saturday and Sunday. Naturally, the schedule of events will be adjusted also.

This morning while out on my run/walk/hike/crawl up Mount Tom, I realized that — speaking of rhythms — I have to go with my own weekly rhythm. What is my own weekly rhythm? On Mondays, I’m all raring to go, but after three straight days of going Monday through Wednesday, by Thursday, I feel burnt out. This past week just showed that to me as I started out well with my exercise each day, but by Thursday, I was beginning to flag.

So with that in mind, and keeping with my own weekly rhythm, I’m going to take Thursdays off from strenous exercise as well as Sundays, which I already do. Does that mean I won’t do anything on Thursdays or on Sundays? No, I might still go for a walk or a short hike, but not an all-out run.

So after some minor tweaking, the schedule for now– at least until the snow is too deep to climb– Mount Tom is:

Monday: Run — around town
Tuesday: Mt. Tom
Wednesday: Run — preferably Sand Run Falls Trail
Thursday: Off
Friday: Mt. Tom
Saturday: Longer run — starting with 6-8 miles and going up from there
Sunday: Off

Next week, I’ll give another update on how the new more realistic schedule is working.

For now, I’ll leave you with this about The Rhythm of Life, well, not quite in the same way, but enjoy anyway.

This also is posted at Just A (Running) Fool.

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Posted in Body, Feetfirst Friday, Running

Tagged George Sheehan, Mount Tom, Rhythm of Life, Running, Sammy Davis Jr.

The rhythm of life is a powerful beat

Posted on August 22, 2008 by unfinishedperson | 1 Comment

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. It is the first choice of our body, the natural way to live. Were we to follow our body rhythms, those circadian cycles, it would e 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 rhythms 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.

George Sheehan in “How To Feel Great 24 Hours A Day”

Last week I shared my ideas for a new daily schedule that I wrote down on a rock.

5:30: MP (an abbreviation for Morning Prayer, using the Liturgy of the Hours)
6:30: Run (Exercise of some kind, if gym for a couple of days, that also will be good)
7:30: Sheehan (read George Sheehan or one of the other aforementioned authors: John Bingham, Jeff Galloway, what I consider the Trinity of Running Writers.
8:30 Blog

On the back I wrote only two times:

4:30 EP (an abbreviation for Evening Prayer)
9:30-10:30: Bed (which would leave me 7-8 hours of sleep)

So I thought that for this week’s Feetfirst Friday, I’d give an update on how I’m doing so far this first week.

So after some minor tweaking, the schedule for now– at least until the snow is too deep to climb– Mount Tom is:

Monday: Run — around town
Tuesday: Mt. Tom
Wednesday: Run — preferably Sand Run Falls Trail
Thursday: Off
Friday: Mt. Tom
Saturday: Longer run — starting with 6-8 miles and going up from there
Sunday: Off

Next week, I’ll give another update on how the new more realistic schedule is working.

For now, I’ll leave you with this about The Rhythm of Life, well, sort of.

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Posted in Body, Running

Tagged George Sheehan, Mount Tom, Running

Everyone wants a rock to wind a piece of string around

Posted on August 18, 2008 by unfinishedperson | 5 Comments

“We live in an open universe,” said William James, “in which uncertainty, choice, hypothesis, novelties and possibilities are natural.”

But if the universe is unfinished, so are we. Each one of us is, in fact, an open universe. Each one of us is a microcosm of uncertainty, choice, hypothesis, novelties and possiblities. Each one of us is an unfinished person in this unfinished universe. And each one of us feels an infinite and mysterious obligation to complete ourselves and somehow contribute to the completion of the universe.

The late George Sheehan wrote these words in his book, This Running Life, in 1980, and is the basis for the title of my main blog, an unfinished person (in an unfinished universe). (It sounded better than having as the title of my main blog “a microcosm of uncertainty, choice, hypothesis, novelties and possiblities,” don’t you think?) Beginning with today’s post here on Just A (Running) Fool, I will be starting each post from now on with a quote from Sheehan or other runner gurus such as John Bingham and Jeff Galloway, to name just a couple from whom I might quote in the future.

However, this new addition to my blog isn’t the only change that’s starting today. It is only one of many, which already have begun before my even writing this post.

On Saturday afternoon, The Wife and I went out to the Pine Creek Trail near the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon, which is near where we live. She walked along the trail; I headed up Mount Tom. As I was crawling the last 6/10s of a mile to the top, I suddenly had a few ideas for a new daily schedule that I wanted to write down, but unfortunately, I had nothing on which to write, let alone a writing utensil.

When I sat down on a rock at the top of the mountain, I started scratching out the schedule on one of the large rocks there with a smaller rock. The problem was I couldn’t carry this big stone rock back down the hill. So what to do? I found a smaller rock and scratched out my ideas.

"Everybody wants a rock to wind a piece of string around..."

For those of you who can’t read my writing, here is what I wrote on the front of the rock:

5:30: MP (an abbreviation for Morning Prayer, using the Liturgy of the Hours)
6:30: Run (Exercise of some kind, if gym for a couple of days, that also will be good)
7:30: Sheehan (read George Sheehan or one of the other aforementioned authors: John Bingham, Jeff Galloway, what I consider the Trinity of Running Writers.
8:30 Blog

On the back I wrote only two times:

4:30 EP (an abbreviation for Evening Prayer)
9:30-10:30: Bed (which would leave me 7-8 hours of sleep)

So this morning I was up at 5:30 and while not out the door by 6:30, I did make it out by 6:40 for a run through the local cemetery and was back by 7:25. Some days, as I go to Mount Tom, which is several miles outside of town — to which I drive– and another trail, which is a considerable distance from where I live, the time will be adjusted somewhat. However, for the most part, I’d like to stick as close to the schedule as I can.

Getting up earlier is something toward which I’ve been working for the last couple of years, with many failed attempts. However, it is something I have decided toward which I need to continue to strive, and hopefully publicly displaying my schedule will help to hold me accountable. The Wife already is on board with this, even asking, “If you don’t get up, do you want me to roust you from bed?” And I said, “Yes,” because I want this to work.

I know it won’t be easy, but I am confident that I can do it. Plus I have all of you (the one or two regular readers of this blog, not that I don’t appreciate you, mind you, at least, somebody is reading it — at least, I hope so, if not que sera, sera ) to hold me accountable.

Note: Along with the new start today, I’ve added a new theme to the blog. The photo of me in the header is at the top of the Chilkoot at the Bald Eagle Mountain Megatransect last year. I wanted the picture to remind me for what I’m working: to get ready for this year’s Megatransect, Oct. 4, only 46 days away!

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Posted in Body, Running

Tagged George Sheehan, Jeff Galloway, John Bingham, Liturgy of the Hours, Morning Prayer, Mount Tom, Running, William James

Sunday Jog: Mount Tom

Posted on August 3, 2008 by unfinishedperson | 1 Comment

This is the first post in a weekly theme that I’m calling Sunday Jog, where I will post a photo of a favorite place to run or walk, and where you can leave a link to a photo of your favorite place to run or walk, if you like, in the comments.