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Friday
Oct112019

Kevin: Day 4,043

Day 4,043. I'm sitting here in our living room/sun room area. There is no sun. It's a little after 5am and the sun doesn't come out to see us as early these days. It's tough on the streak/my schedule when we get to these seasons with less light in the morning. Nicole doesn't like me going out for runs in the dark. I don't blame her. 

I don't know how many people are like me, but it's ridiculous that something so simple can alter my day so greatly. I mean, come on man, take care of some other tasks you have on your plate. I am a sucker for routines. I don't know if sucker is the right word. What I'm meaning to say is, if I have something that is a routine, like a run to start my day; I'm almost paralyzed from completing other tasks until that run has taken place. Unless I actively say to myself, "think about what other stuff you have to do."

Is this normal? I wish I had a mental autopilot function for completing tasks, no matter what they are. And who knows, maybe I'll be able to install that as we go, but for now; if it's not on the schedule... it might not get done. 

Another element may be needing to add a sense of urgency/better notion of timing. I hate when people are late, but often find myself pushing the limit on making it to appointments on time. I always want to be better. I always fault myself for what I am struggling with. And unless I am having extreme success, I tend to diminish any successes/accomplishments that I have achieved. The human brain is complicated my friends. And all of our minds are different.

Ok, that was a bit of a tangent; but helped to clear my mind, for a moment at least. 

Running. It has been maybe the most consistent distant month of my life. I may have forgotten other times that I was on a stretch like this, but even if so; it's been a long time. And this time, it's a new approach. Last June 1st, we welcomed Serafina to the world. Since then, the streak has had to accommodate to mesh with the schedule and demands of young Fina. We moved in May. Our house is across the street from an old industrial site. One lap around this site is ~.9 miles. I have never been a runner that could consistently run on a track or a treadmill, but running around this site has given me a re-birth of distance. 

I am now able to run around this site until my wife calls me to let me know Fina is up. Some days I get in 10 laps before she's up, some days it's not even 1. Running laps around the site has enabled me to keep accurate distance totals and more importantly, allowed me to push myself to get in extra mileage. If I'm 6 laps in, what's another lap? When I'm 7 in, why not go for 8?

I do miss the adventure that, "there and back", runs tend to bring; but there is also something nice about the consistency of occurrences when taking laps. There is a whole slew of people that I encounter multiple times a week and have become, "wave buddies". Or at least, "head nod buddies". 

It's amazing how much the simple gesture of waving can do to change the dynamic between two would be strangers. It doesn't work in every encounter, but overwhelmingly, a simple wave an acknowledgment tends to create a short burst of comradery. I love it. 

Run TBJ.

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