21 Day Fix

Greetings!  We purchased the 21 Day Fix exercise and meal program. Perhaps Shannan will like the 30 minute workouts. Surprisingly, I want to follow the nutrition plan. It's basically a plan that allows you to eat six "small" meals a day. We intend to start the 21 day program after spring break. Just for fun, we have sampled three of the exercise routines. The first two were interval style and they got the job done. Today, we tried Upper Fix. Wow, if you use the right weights and push, this is a fantastic workout.

Don't let the bikini champion trainer, Autumn Calabrese fool you. She provides a real deal intense workout suitable for women and men and any level of fitness. 

Bring on the 21 Day Fix!

Eat right and exercise for life!

Tom

Encounters

Today I worked with a group of students considering the notion of encounter. We thought primarily about early encounters of Europeans with Africans and people of the Americas. We mused over the possibilities of gods, savages, delight and terror. I couldn't help but to reflect on the many encounters I've experienced here and there over the years, especially when running off the beaten path. 

Thinking of gods, I'm so very grateful that we have been able to travel to places so I could run in sites sacred to me. I've been fortunate to jog in areas sacred to others past and present. A few people have yelled ugly things as they drove past me on the road. For the most part, the only savages I have encountered have been a few dogs. Thankfully, in every case I kept moving unharmed.

Delight. Ah, here is the real joy of being a runner. To me the run itself is a delight, still there have been landscapes, events and personal records that were absolutely delightful. Terror? I've had a handful of injuries related to running. The terror it strikes in me is the fear that somehow I will not be able to run again. I felt that when a podiatrist told me that Plantar Fasciitis would bring an end to my running (that was nearly 10 years ago). The worst moment I remember is when I was training for a half marathon. The race was two weeks away and I was in the best condition ever. One afternoon, while one a five mile easy run I stepped into a hole on the street and severely twisted my ankle. The pain was immense.  I was a mile able from work. I hobbled back in terror that I would not only miss the race, but that I had seriously damaged my ankle and would have stop running and possibly have to end The Streak. My panic was more than needed. I gave the ankle plenty of ice and extra attention. As scheduled, I ran a very good half marathon.

I’m grateful to have encountered a great deal more of the divine and delight that savages and terror.

Live is a grand encounter. Enjoy it. Run!

Tom

17 Years and Running

Greetings!  The seventeenth anniversary of The Streak has arrived. 17, what an interesting number? For most this is not a significant birthday or anniversary.  When I was seventeen, my world changed forever. I was the textbook young punk who thought everyone else didn’t know nearly as much as I did. I changed my program at school to study half time and work full time. I had a job as a stocker at a drug store, big time! I made my first attempt to take my HUGE paycheck and live on my own. When that failed after a few months, I lived in my van until winter. Then I went crawling to my brother, Tim, who bless his soul had mercy on me.

The year I was 17 proved to be one of interesting pop culture history. We watched Live Aid on MTV, Coca~Cola introduced New Coke, Madonna appeared on the cover of Playboy and Penthouse, and I decided to let my hair grow way down my back.  In the last 17 years of The Streak MTV rarely broadcasts music, Madonna continued to raise eyebrows, Coke long since ditched New Coke, but has introduced a bevy of new products, and it would take me 17 more years to grow even a handful of strands of hair down my back.

Since my brazen teenage years, I did go back to school fulltime, and I seem to keep going back to school. The only sleeping in vans happens on camping trips, thank goodness.  Seventeen years ago I ran my first half marathon full out and thought I was going to die. That same year I ran my first marathon, and at the end was hallucinating as if I was having an after death experience. The years of The Streak have seen many great physical accomplishments as well as some setbacks. Like when my brother, Tim, passed away four years ago. At his funeral I announced to friends and family that he saved my life when I was a young punk. That’s the truth, and I remain deeply grateful.

In my eyes 17 is a fairly interesting number.  I am thankful for the year I was seventeen. It was a rude awakening to the realities of life, but that year prepared me for the road ahead. The last 17 years have been a journey of incredible learning, exploration, fabulous travels, extraordinary runs, many laughs, and filled with much love and happiness. Would I go back to being 17 years old again? Not on a bet. Do I want to live the next 17 years on a wide open path like the last? Absolutely yes! I’d gratefully accept 17 times 17 more years of life as it has been since The Streak.

Enjoy the odd numbers. Run.

Tom

7 More Days

Greetings!  It’s that weird time of year for me. I never feel concerned about preserving The Streak. I get up each day knowing it will happen, just as it did today before the sun made its daily appearance over the horizon. However, in the last week before the anniversary the days and hours seem ominous. 

Next Monday will mark the 17th Anniversary of unbroken consecutive days of at least 30 minutes of exercise, The Streak. I don't have a grand plan for the day.  It's always fun when the anniversary falls on weekends as I do these long drawn out exercise routines in combination with lengthy runs. I imagine the weather will dictate how I exercise and for how long this coming Monday. I feel certain exercise will happen one way or another.

I am always appreciative of the folks who so kindly tolerate this long standing practice of mine, foremost among them, Shannan. I thank all of you who have run with me over the years and the many who regularly ask about The Streak.

I read that the fellow who had the longest running streak in the U.S., at least a mile a day, ended his 45 year streak in 2013 due to severe pain in his foot. To surpass his mark, I have thirty (30) more years to go. Wow, I thought 17 years was a long time. The truth is I can't imagine a life without The Streak.

Long Live The Streak!

Keep running.

Tom