A Couple of Hard Moves in Hard Corps 22

Greetings! I received Tony Horton's new workout program, Hard Corps 22, as a birthday gift. It's a 6-week program built on 22 minute exercise sessions. Hard Corps has 3 levels of resistance and cardio section. All of these include complex moves where you work more than one muscle area at once. I used and bonus DVD, Battle Buddies, designed to use with a partner and then Resistance 1. Each had their merits, but were not overly taxing as some of these intense workouts are. That is not the case for Cardio 1, 2 or 3. Each of these can leave you on the mat struggling to get in position for the next exercise.

I don't mind admitting there are moves in Cardio 2 and 3 that I can not do correctly. For me, that presents incentive to keep trying until I can do the exercise and them complete the total number of repetitions required. Now, I have used all the DVDs in the program at least once. Your core and shoulders get a lot of attention in this series. Make sure to warm up and do the cool down stretches afterwards. Your body will thank you.  

Don't Let your ego get in the way. Exercise.

Tom

Foot Notes

Greetings! Runners often cannot see the finish line until late in the race. Many times when I go for a run I have no idea what will be fascinating and cause me to linger. Steps. One foot in front of the other. Keep moving. That’s what I do when running. In life I have a similar method. I call this process the mode of moderation. I plug away every day. As noted previously, like so many, I had no idea the path life would lead me to traverse. Though I still can’t see the finish line, I have always believed. Quite honestly, I’m still not clear on the overall objective. Yet, I remain happily on the road. 

Shannan and I were in Washington DC earlier this month.  We had a mixture of professional, academic and personal agendas for visiting the National Galleries, National Archives and National Cathedral. Across the weekend we took extra measures to see as many friends as possible. When describing recent curatorial work with some friends of ours from Atlanta who relocated to the D.C. area, Rosa asked, how did you get here?

We all understood her question. Our conversation created cognitive dissonance and engendered subconscious confusion. Twenty-five years ago when Rosa met me I had little to say, had traveled only in the Deep South, was a mess in appearance and many other areas of my life. I replied by saying, “I follow footnotes.” That was the driving force as why we were in D.C. In February I attended a lecture and a a student mention the Darth Vader Grotesque in my Humanities Class. I chased those footnotes to the Nation’s Capital. Day in and out this is the way I have lived, following foot notes. The conversation was a delight and a good time for us to reflect on our long term friendship. 

Since that dinner discussion I have continued to reflect on our time. Bibliographies have shaped and reshaped my direction in education, philosophy and spiritual understanding. Akhenaten, tube worms, and the Kathina ceremony rank high among many footnotes I followed to utter changes in my world view. I won’t say more, as it was a mere mention that made the difference for me.

Keep moving. We’ll get there. Run.

Tom

Counting with Calendars

Greetings! I appreciate all the encouraging and supportive notes from the 19th anniversary of The Streak. Thank you. As I move into the 20th year it’s interesting to think back over all the ways and places I’ve exercised. I keep up with what exercise or how long I ran using what Shannan refers to as "1970s technology." I write each daily entry on a calendar. Of course, this was the most obvious way to keep track of the activities in the late 90s, when the Streak began.  Over the years technological advances have provided other options such as applications for computers, Palm Pilots (I was a big fan of these), cell phones, pods, pads, tablets and now smart watches. I used an electronic calendar once in addition the paper one. However, I fretted too much about losing the data, so I stayed with the old fashion method. This is particularly odd as I am a digital archivist :-).

Truthfully, I sort of enjoy making hand written notes. In the past I was much more detailed. I wrote notes on the weather, my food intake for the day as well as how I felt before and after exercise. These days I simply write the type of workout, location and if Shannan joined me. Paper and pencil documenting is archaic, I know, but I’m not a young man anymore. As John Mellencamp sings in Don’t Need This Body, “This getting older, ain't for cowards.” However, we don’t have to sit on the sofa and aging happen.  I’ll keep exercising for health and wellness, and until publishers stop printing yearly calendars, that’s how I’ll keep track of The Streak.

Keep Records. Run.

Tom

19 Years and Counting

Greetings! I waxed poetic about numbers, 17 and 18 in particular, the last two years as The Streak crossed those year markers. I just re-read those posts. It really has been a wonderful journey across roads, trails, fields and more.  Make no mistake, in the last 19 years there have been mountains to scale (which is bad enough in theory, however, the only injuries I incurred when running the Mount Marathon race in Seward, Alaska came from skidding, falling and sliding DOWN the mountain's steep inclines) and cold dark valleys to traverse.

As you might imagine the routes mentioned above are both literal and figurative. When I began The Streak I had been to college and graduate school, owned a home, was gainfully employed and recently married. The 19 years of The Streak coincided with my arc into adult life. Many of the roads I traversed had twist and turns I didn’t see coming. I came out in places I had not planned. For me, that has been the real joy or running and of life.

Today, I preserved the 19th year of The Streak much later than I ever have on an anniversary day. I spent a lot of time thinking about the totality of The Streak and where would be best to go for a run. I settled on a four-mile trek along the river. The location did not disappoint, and the early spring temperature delighted. I struggle to find words to describe my emotional response to the last 19 years and the deeply important role The Streak plays in my life.

In short, I am appreciative. It’s been a great journey and I am so thankful The Streak continues.

Go with the Road. Run.

Tom