Here’s a short update on my running training. I have not completed a run for two weeks now on the Watch to 5K program that I have been following. Initially, as I said in this post, the experience of exhaustion from my last run took the wind out of my sails. Next I found myself getting ready for a trip that I am making back to the England to celebrate my mother’s 90th birthday. Maybe I could have found time within the busyness of getting ready…but the short of it is that I didn’t.
But I have been missing running, and so today at the airport hotel that I have been staying at I got on the treadmill for 15 minutes. I didn’t race. I set myself a good consistent pace, and came away from the run feeling as though I had exercised, kept the pace up and felt better for it. I hope that I keep up with the running in some shape or form while I am away.
Reading this news of the World Central Kitchen staff who were killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza hit me in a way that surprised me.
Before the Maui wild fires last summer I had not heard of World Central Kitchen. While volunteering in Lahaina following the fires I discovered this charity organization. They were on the ground in Lahaina serving up meals not only to those who had lost their homes in the fires, but also to the volunteers. And they weren’t just serving up any food, but had taken the time and care to discover what was eaten locally and that’s what was on the menu. I hear that that is how World Central Kitchen operates.
During the days in Lahaina trucks were going back and forth bringing supplies to the staff managing the tented kitchens and serving areas. I can picture them now.
I cannot imagine the bravery required to go into Gaza to help bring a meal to those in need. They were doing their piece to help relieve suffering, through serving up that which nourishes us in body and spirit. And now seven of those brave volunteers are dead. I find it all so sad.
Monday April 1st, 2024 Dear Readers,
I had to laugh this morning. It’s related to the post that I put out yesterday around busyness (see it below). I had been trying to slow myself down, to be focused and get done what needed to be done, but obviously it was not working. I forgot that this newsletter was going out today.
That’s humbling and at the same time an opportunity to try that little bit harder and see where I can improve.
🧘 I have, am having a busy few days. When that happens my mind starts to pull me onto the next task before the current one is finished. From that anxiety builds and patience can diminish. I must remember to stop, to breathe and be aware of others around me. Rest…my body will appreciate it and the jobs will still get done.
🧘 I have, am having a busy few days. When that happens my mind starts to pull me onto the next task before the current one is finished. From that anxiety builds and patience can diminish. I must remember to stop, to breathe and be aware of others around me. Rest…my body will appreciate it and the jobs will still get done.
☕ My coffee in take had been going down. One or two cups in the morning. However, in the last couple of days I have going back to another cup mid-morning. I'm not sure what is up?!
☕ My coffee in take had been going down. One or two cups in the morning. However, in the last couple of days I have going back to another cup mid-morning. I'm not sure what is up?!
I have been silent on my running posts for six days now. I haven’t run in that time, though that is not the sole reason for not posting. The last run took the wind out of my sails. More so than I initially thought. I was tired by the time that I finished my last run because of the increased run times that the Watch To 5K had me doing at the Week 4 stage - at least I assumed that that was the reason. However, though those run times played a part I now don’t see them as the sole reason.
My mind was in comparison mode, comparing my current run’s distance and time with how well I had done on the previous run. In essence I had been competing with myself and telling myself that if I ran further and/or faster, both was a real bonus, I was doing better.
I was essentially in race mode. Racing with myself, though I did not see this. I need someone else to point out to me that this way of running was simply not sustainable. Rex Barrett kindly reached out to me on Mastodon giving me some perspective. He pointed out that the pace that I was running for my training runs, was a race pace. I needed to slow down and set myself more realistic paces for the training runs, along with the time that I spend running.
Something else that I am forgetting is my age. I turned sixty last September. I’m in pretty good shape, but whether I like it or not, I’m not where I was forty years ago. I am older, the body is slower, it needs more time to recover. I need to recognize this and proceed with my training accordingly.
I hope to get back to running today or tomorrow, before I loose the momentum. I don’t think that I will, I want to see myself running a 5K whatever the speed, but the mind can be tricky and as I said at the start of this post, that last run took the wind out of my sails.
Benaulim Beach, Goa, India.
A month ago I explained how I was capturing the slides that I am using in the “Story behind the Photograph” series (all of which can be found here (RSS), or under the map emoji 🗺️ in the menu bar above). Well I have now found a gadget that I was given a number of years ago. Its purpose is to digitize slides and negatives. Due to the device’s age, the scans are probably not the best.
👓 The new glasses arrived today with progressive lenses in them. My first pair of progressives and they feel a little disorientating at the moment. I sense that I'll get use to them, but for now I think that I'll be switching back and forth between the new glasses and the old.
👓 The new glasses arrived today with progressive lenses in them. My first pair of progressives and they feel a little disorientating at the moment. I sense that I'll get use to them, but for now I think that I'll be switching back and forth between the new glasses and the old.
I remember being in college when Space Invaders first came out. Then there was Asteroids, Pac Man, and a few other Space Invaders variants. Pinball machines were still available in UK pubs, and then as Space Invaders started their, um, invasion, evenings moved from trying to keep a metal ball on the playing field to huddling around the boxes that housed Invaders and the like, trying to better your score.
I was never that good at these games. Maybe they just weren’t my thing or I did not have the aptitude necessary to improve my game.
Recently I think that nostalgia got the better of me. I purchased The Iconfactory’s iOS app, Ollie’s Arcade. Recreating the video games of yesteryear, three of them and done very well as The Iconfactory do, they are a fun to play. However, I am still not very good at them. My scores remain low, but I keep on coming back for more.
