Rehabbing and Recharging the Body and Mind

I have slowly but surely been adding miles over the past few weeks. Spending most of the summer months hanging out in the 20-25 mi range coupled with a lot of swimming and some biking, seems to have given my hamstrings and ankles some of the relief they needed. The cross training, particularly swimming combined with a things like front and side planks, crunches, and stretching also has strengthened my core. I can see it and feel it. Last week, after returning from Colorado, I ran the fastest 7 miles I've run in a couple of years. It felt great. I finished feeling as if could've done more.

Great hike last week in Colorado with Mark Robison, the editor of RUN, pictured. 

But even now, ramping up, I still am very cautious bout re-injury. Yesterday, for instance, I stopped twice in the middle of a 11-ish mi trail run. I took a couple of minutes to actually lie down and do a series of stretches designed to alleviate tightness in the hamstring. Both times the stretching worked and I felt quick relief. On today's 7 mile run on roads, I felt no such need and simply cruised through a reverse split, with miles completed from 9:30 at the beginning down to 8:10 by mi 7. Still, at the end of the run I immediately did my core routine and then spent a full 5 min just stretching hamstrings and glutes. I do a type of slow pulse stretching that I learned in PT. It really seems to work when I do it on a regular basis.

Cross training - biking atop a Mtn near Nederland, CO.

Self-satisfied in the middle of a hike above Boulder, CO

Something else that has seemingly helped my training is meditation. I've tried to do it more and more. I may miss a day here and there. But if I'm ever sitting around and realize I have 10-30 min, I simply put on a guided meditation and try to really focus on the experience. My main go-to site for guided mediation is free app - Insight Timer. It has hundreds of meditation from which to choose. Another couple of meditations I have used recently come from Sam Harris' podcast site and are 9 and 26 minutes long, respectively.

The Sam Harris meditations as well as a lot of other recorded material from him can be found here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/waking-up-with-sam-harris/id733163012?mt=2 . Harris has also become my main source for running podcast material. When I run and listen to him, I feel as if I am improving my mind as well as my body. Harris addresses many of the great issues we face using nuance and careful consideration that is often so lacking in other examinations of the material. I do not always agree with his positions, but I do agree with his methodology and his desire to examine issues from all sides. Harris also looks, not to debate, but instead to have a conversation with thoughtful people who hold opposing views. His own thoughts, in some cases, are as likely to change as those of the people with whom he is conversing.  I cannot recommend a podcast more highly than his Waking Up With Sam Harris (the link is the same as above).  His podcasts will be the best things you listen to this year.

As we move toward winter, I also have tried to stay cool. And by that, I mean literally. I continue to swim and take cold showers. I have also tried to undertake my runs on cold mornings in my normal summer running gear - shorts and short sleeve wicking shirt. This morning, at 39F, I acquiesced, and put on a long sleeve wicking shirt. But I was able to stay cool to cold for most of the run. The thermogenics coupled with a majority raw foods diet still has me feeling fantastic after more than 4 months. If anyone would like more info, you can see previous blog posts or simply write to me and I'll get you the info. The diet and the thermogenic inclusion is something that is free. You can throw all kinds of money at diet plans and workout, or you can simply check out a book at the library and listen to a free podcast about how being cold (in a sane/safe manner) can improve your life.

So enough of me sounding like a life-coach or a self-help guru. I'm neither of these things. I am simply undertaking things like multiple daily workouts, a better diet, mental challenges, and thermogenics for myself. I realize not everyone has the time or inclination to do this. And that is fine. But if you want to start, I am happy to help in my limited (yet enthusiastic) way.

Impermanence and Acceptance

I owned a beautiful (at least to me) ceramic cup. It had been given to me as a gift by one of my parents' friends when I was thirteen years old. For thirty-six years I treated the cup as special. I never washed it in the dishwasher. It never saw the inside of a microwave. And it was only used occasionally. I never grew tired of the cup because it fit my hand perfectly and it also had been made specifically for me - and if you think about it, there aren't too many things that a person owns that are actually created with that specific individual in mind.

So, yesterday when I picked up the cup and the handle broke into three pieces, I felt a real sense of loss. But I only felt it for a few minutes. As I stood in my kitchen thinking about the loss of this very personal item, I also thought about impermanence. Nothing will last for ever. From the greatest masterpieces and monuments on earth, to our planet itself. All will be gone at some point in the future. The trick is to appreciate what we have while we have it, but not to be overcome with emotion that arises from loss. Because ultimately, everything will be lost.

I thought about the monks who would come to the Spencer Museum at KU every couple of years. In the central hall they would create a beautiful and unique mandala over the course of weeks - sitting and carefully placing each grain of colored sand in a specific spot. And, once the piece was created, it would be uncreated - taken apart. Beauty is fleeting. The mandalas were perfect examples of the monks' vision and acceptance of impermanence.

So, from the destruction of my favorite cup, I was able to relearn a valuable lesson. The only real certainty is that change will happen. As we move through our lives, some things will grow while others diminish, some will be created and others destroyed, some will be born and some will die. The only thing that is a permanent feature in our lives is impermanence. And that realization may be the best aspect of being given the cup that was specifically made for me thirty-six years ago.