The Streak in Jeopardy?

Greetings! Over the last 21 years the only real issues I’ve encountered that might end The Streak of exercising every single day have come from injuries. Unfortunately, all of those injuries came as the result of exercise J. Of late, I have been experiencing a little tenderness. I ignored it for a while, as I often have some aches and pains. However, given the general area of injury, I decided to go the doctor for a professional opinion. It turns out I have an inguinal hernia.

The physician suggested I limit exercise until after surgery. I have a consult for surgery in 10 days. The referring doctor told me the recovery time will be around two week, again he suggested no exercise. I had to explain to him about The Streak. He had to tell me about the worst case and life threating scenarios. In the end, we agreed on low impact cardio, swimming and a recumbent bike. It is what it is.

Today was the first day of ‘limited exercise.” I used a low impact aerobic routine lead by Leandro Carvalho www.leandrofitness.com. According to my Apple Watch, I burned 215 calories. I can live with that. I‘ve completed many rigorous resistance workouts and burned fewer calories. In the past 24 hours I’ve read many exercise blogs from men in Canada, Britain and Australia who lived with their hernias for a couple of years while waiting for surgery from national healthcare systems. I gathered a lot of good advice to keep active and not aggravate the hernia.

Be Careful. Exercise.

Tom

Tour Guides as Public Scholars

Greetings! Every single day people around the world are exposed to new information about history, politics, art, architecture, geography, culture and more on excursions in general, and from tour guides, in particular. 

Shannan and I have dear traveling companions, Kirsty and David, who live in Cambridge, England. The four of us travel every two years or so. This year’s trip took our foursome to Prague and Budapest. As one might imagine, we visited all the tourist highlights including castles, cathedrals, bridges, thermal spas, museums and the like. One of the most memorable activities of the trip came in Budapest. We joined a handful of others for a walking expedition billed as RUIN PUBS AND ALTERNATIVE SPOTS TOUR OF BUDAPEST. Our tour guide and Public Scholar in Budapest, Attila, did not disappoint

Below are links associates with Public Scholarship Postcards, Episode 4- Tour Guides as Public Scholars.

Listen to the Podcast here.

Here is a link to the tour company Budapest Flow: https://budapestflow.com/

Click here for some images from the tour.

 

All the best,

Tom

21 Years and Counting

Greetings! Three hundred and sixty-five more days have come and gone and The Streak remains alive and well. I admit to being a bit nervous when closing in on a yearly anniversary of The Streak in past. This year proved different. Maybe that comes from longevity of The Streak, or life itself. I celebrated a milestone birthday earlier this year. Perhaps, my daily mantras about calmness are paying dividends. That's a good practice, but I reckon I've lightened up because I’m getting older.

As you know, I love to quote John Mellencamp lyrics. The 21^st anniversary of The Streaks seems like as a good occasion to continue the trend. In Mellencamp’s song, Don’t Need this Body, he writes:

This getting older

Ain't for cowards

This getting older

Is a lot to go through

….

Well I can't see much

Like I used to

And I can't run like the wind

The last three lines resonate more than I’d like, but I thank goodness for reading glasses and that my legs have plenty of strength to run.

Shannan and I had fun making a short podcast about The Streak. You can hear it at this link.

Aging Happens. Run.

Tom

Tattoo Podcast

Greetings! I hope all is well with you and yours. We are trying several new options for this site beyond health and fitness. One of those options is to connect with a new podcast site at https://anchor.fm/tlp-public-scholarship

The first episode relates to our collection of tattoo images and interviews. Since 2014 we’ve been compiling an archive that allows individuals to describe how their tattoos tell stories of social protest, spiritual encounters and comment on this often-misunderstood art form. For some, tattoos can turn a body into a bulletin board or serve as an outward display of what’s inside of a person. In this way, an individual’s personal experience and beliefs take visible form on the skin. 

We’d love to hear your tattoo story. You can send a voice message from the anchor podcast site or send an email to drtlp1101@gmail.com for more information.

All the best,

Tom

2017 Running Reflection

Greetings! 2018 is off to an excellent beginning personally and professional. We intend to have a year that exceeds all expectations for excellence. 2017 proved to be a fantastic for us. As noted over the years, running gives a great opportunity for reflection. This site affords the chance to further reflect on things happening in life and on running itself. 

Last year, I didn’t run in any races, nonetheless I logged many miles. In every instance, I used the time to think about things happening at home and work, most of those times I offered a prayer and placed positive intentions in the Universe.  That part turns out to be just as important as the exercise for me. Across 2017 I ran in new cities in 9 states, 4 countries and in some cool places like Howard Finster’s Paradise Garden.

Looking back over the previous year, things really went extraordinarily well. Shannan and I took part in meaningful projects, received promotions, and worked with incredible people. Mostly, we were healthy and our lives where filled with happiness. Running contributed to the good health and the reflection activities promoted the other areas of wellness. That recipe keeps working and I’ll keep using it in 2018 and beyond.

Think. Travel. Run.

Tom

Chinese New Year

Greetings and Happy New Year! Shannan and I recently returned from a whirlwind tour of China and Japan over the holidays. We had an unforgettable experience. I strongly encourage folks to visit that part of the world. It’s well with the time and resources. Our trip gave us the opportunity to tour Shanghai, Beijing and Xian in China and Kochi, Osaka and Hiroshima in Japan.

I took a pollen mask to wear for the air pollution. That was a good call and necessary in China. Running was not as easy as I hoped. I had planned for very high populations in most of those cities, what I didn’t plan on was the terrific number of cyclists and people riding scooters. Navigating the streets and sidewalks required complete attention, especially as the scooters are mostly electric powered, and thus virtually silent on the road.

The hardest bit came on the last day in Shanghai. That morning it rained. This made the tile sidewalks even more difficult to traverse. All in all, I enjoyed many miles in the far east.

Travel Far. Run.

Tom