Walked Nearly All of Today's Depot Parkrun 5K

SHOW UP,

FOLLOW THROUGH

Well, after what I thought was a reasonable night's sleep, Melissa drove us down to Gainesville's pretty Depot Park, located just a few blocks south of downtown.  The sky was overcast, the temperature was a tolerable 63 degrees, but the humidity was very muggy at 99%. Before today's "race" started I told Melissa that I was going to try to walk the 4-lap, 3.-mile course as fast as I could.  But once it was ongoing, it didn't take long for most of the Parkrun participants to walk easily ahead of me.  Even the more casual runners seemed much more physically fit than me, so before long I had to reassess my goals for today, which came down to simply crossing the finish line. For a substantial portion of the fourth and final lap, I broke into a casual, light run  That I did, with a personally timed finish of 54:26.  Click HERE to view the posted results, which I think the timers and processors in good faith botched to my disadvantage.  The New Year's Day morning Parkurn 5K will be a combination of Gainesville's two Parkruns.  West End Community Park will host this one, temporarily skipping Depot Park for this special event.  As for me, I am beyond being bound to a competitive spirit that involves me comparing myself to others...I no longer care.  I just want become more fit, and I have the means to achieve much of this in the face of potentially distracting and debilitating complicated medical treatment for my stated bummer of a diagnosis.  But today's Parkrun goes down as a  personal success story because I showed up and followed through. This was my 99th Parkrun finish.  To attain Parkun #100, my intention is to go with Melissa to walk their special New Year's Day Parkrun. For the precious two days I had been skipping exercise sessions, but this afternoon and early eveninI willed myself to "rock-run" up to a day's total of 12.5 virtual miles (added to the Parkrun distance) while following Peter's slow-but amazing exploits during the 2022 New York City Marathon.  And now the living room gym is closed for the night as I allow myself to enter rest/sleep mode.  With more activity anticipated for tomorrow, i quote Morgan Freeman from that recent pharmaceutical commercial,;"Time to get busy living"...

Quote of the Week...from Bob Dylan

What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.                                  ---Bob Dylan

I quote Bob Dylan here with a little hesitation because I lifted it off Facebook...maybe he really said it or maybe not, but I don't think it reflects unfairly on him if he didn't.  I like it, but with one caveat.  You might say to yourself, sure, Bob, you have all that money, so it's easy for you to downplay its importance.  But I would disagree.  Dylan's gone through both lack and wealth and as such can make a better assessment of money's worth.  My possible difference with his above quote stems from his "wants to do" conclusion.  If what you want to do is avoid discomfort and just live life on an exclusively hedonistic level without regard to your health or the welfare of others, I'd hardly call that being a success.  But if you know what you stand for and incorporate some personal responsibility and social accountability into that "wants to do" in a balanced way, then sure, I'm all on board, Dylan: sign me up...

Quote of the Week...from Albert Einstein

We are slowed down sound and light waves, a walking bundle of frequencies turned into the cosmos.  We are souls dressed up in sacred biochemical garments and our bodies are the instruments through which our souls play their music.                                    ---Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein here sounds a bit like the late Carl Sagan, who once on his Cosmos TV series proclaimed that we were made of "star stuff".  Without referring to dogmatic religious ideology handed down from generation to generation and often enforced through state-sponsored coercion, I like to speculate from time to time on our fundamental natures and the relationship between our perceived subjective identities and the objective reality of the world around us.  I think Einstein pretty much put it down accurately, beyond the quote's poetic quality.  I think that those of us who experience the grief involved in surviving the loss of a loved one...and ultimately that is a fate for each of us who are "survivors"...have to come to grips with the real value and significance of that departed person's life as they lived out their life span.  Each of us has our own "end" as well, but until then may my soul sing songs of gratitude and love through my own biochemical garments...

Quote of the Week...from W.C. Fields

It ain't a fit night out for man nor beast.                          W.C. Fields

Early twentieth century comedy legend W.C. Fields wrote and starred in a short film in 1933 titled The Fatal Glass of Beer.  His character, Pa Snavely, lives in a cabin in the frigid Yukon cold.  Without getting into the story's plot, the one thing that stuck with me so many years later was Fields opening up the cabin's door, loudly proclaiming the above quote, and then receiving a blast of fake snow in his face...this happened a number of times, each one hilarious.  I've grown to use Fields' quote whenever the weather is sub-par, especially if it's stormy or cold.  Lately I've been signing up for distance running races that would fit that description, the last one being the off-and-then-on half-marathon I ran this past Monday morning.  That one started out being too stormy to stage, and then ended up exceeding cold (for my admittedly wimpy Florida standards) after being delayed one day.  Tomorrow morning is going to be another one of those "ain't a fit night out" instances as the temperature has been forecast to bottom out at 26 degrees.  Remember, I'm a Floridian and a lifelong one at that: 26 degrees ain't fit for much of anything...

Quote of the Week...from Jim Carrey

I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it's not the answer.                                          ---Jim Carrey

I've always thought that comedic actor Jim Carrey was very talented, although truth be told I sometimes felt that he had a tendency to ham it up just a little too much in his movies.  But his characters in the 90's comedy series In Living Color were hilarious.  Carrey has turned out later in his life to be quite a philosopher, a thoughtful individual.  His above quote appealed to me not because I think there's anything wrong in being rich and famous and doing everything I ever dreamed of, but because I think that too many of us stumble through life believing in those goals and feeling that anything less than their fulfillment is the sign of a failed life.  I like material well-being without necessarily being rich.  I like recognition from others for achievements I've attained without me attaining those achievements in order to receive recognition.  I like to fulfill some of my dreams as well.  But I also believe that there is such a thing as "enough", and once I've reached a level in some area then I'm (hopefully) content enough to explore other areas as well.  I think Carrey was hinting that community and the helping of others as part of a deeper, more spiritual outlook should also be a part of the "answer". As for me, let me take this day and just see what I can do with it.  Then, when and if tomorrow comes, I'll take that day on its own terms, and so on.  And if along the way there are some things I'd like to have and some things I'd like to do, then that's cool, too...

Quote of the Week...from Mahandas Gandhi

Be the change you wish to see in the world.                          ---Mahandas Gandhi

Mahandas (or "Mahatma") Gandhi was the great twentieth-century lawyer who, with his pacifist creed of passive resistance, was instrumental in India's independence and had a lot of things to say about how best to live one's own life.  That in itself doesn't qualify him for my "quote of the week" feature, but the above quote...Rob Dial recently referred to it on a podcast...resonates with me.  In the first place, I can't exactly dictate to the world how I want it to be...well, maybe I can but I would be delusional if I thought it cared one bit.  But seeing how much of human behavior is imitative, I do have the power and authority to demonstrate by my own actions what I would like to see from others.  I believe that many of us are seekers, looking for examples in others to emulate and guide them through their daily existence.  Why not be one of the examples?  No, I'm no Gandhi, nor would I want to be, and I have a lot of stuff to work out in my own life and am far, far from any semblance of a perfect model.  But I'm alive, here and now, and that gives me enough to change with...

Quote of the Week...from John F. Kennedy

There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction.

                                             John F. Kennedy

John F. Kennedy was our 35th president and the last one to die in office...his assassination in broad daylight on a motorcade in Dallas was a national trauma and marked my turn of attention for the first time, at the tender age of seven, toward politics.  He was widely regarded as a bold leader whose tragic early exit from life has spawned much speculation over the years about what might have happened had he remained alive.  But this is the reality we're passing through and we have to deal with what's before us.  His above quote appealed to me because...and I'm writing from personal experience...I tend to stay in my passive comfort zone too much and must intentionally make myself get out and do stuff.  The fear...and it is a misplaced fear...is that others will note whatever flawed efforts I'm making and criticize or even ridicule them.  But I cannot learn and make progress unless I DO: not doing gets me nowhere except obscurity and weakness...  

Quote of the Week...from Fred "Mister" Rogers

Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else.       

---Fred Rogers

Fred Rogers (1928-2003) was perhaps better known as the Mister Rogers of the classic, beloved children's TV series Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.  Although the series spanned 31 seasons, I was a little too old to be in its target audience of little children when I began watching it in the early 1970's...yet I was drawn to the sweet spirit and attitude permeating the show, clearly transmitted and demonstrated by its host Fred Rogers.  I was digging around for a quote like the one above because today is my final one at work...I've been at the United States Postal Service for 37 years, all of them at the Gainesville processing plant.  And tomorrow I will be a retiree.  I'm happy to leave, but I'm also happy to have worked there: what a blessing!  And Mister Rogers' above quote speaks volumes with just a few words: it's definitely the beginning of something else in my life with the closing of this other chapter...looking forward to the new adventures!

Quote of the Week...from Sheryl Crow

Hello, it's me, I'm not at home.  If you'd like to reach me, leave me alone!           ---Sheryl Crow

And so goes talented rock musician Sheryl Crow's wonderful late 90's song A Change Would Do You Good, maybe my favorite one of hers.  Of course, here she's mimicking a telephone answering machine...remember those?  And the message sounds a bit paradoxical, doesn't it?  I mean, how can you convey an intended message without actively engaging with the one who you'd want to receive it?  But that's not really what Sheryl was singing about, I think.  No, it's a blunt statement about someone being overrun by others' unwelcome intrusions on her time and life, no matter how well-intentioned they might be.  Or maybe I'm just imposing my own meaning on these lyrics...yeah, that's probably true.  I truly don't dig being completely immersed in complex social settings where all kinds of subtleties, intrigues and nuanced meanings are being communicated back and forth among various players, some of whom may or may not be trying to involve me in some way with their agendas.  No, give me a one-on-one setting where it's simple, mutually-respectful conversation and I can handle that pretty well.  Otherwise...well, read that above quote again...

Quote of the Week...from Pema Chödrön

Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to let another person or event control your emotions.

---Pema Chödrön

Pema Chödrön is an American-born and raised Tibetan Buddhist nun who has written a number of books promoting her beliefs.  Whereas I'm not all that keen on immersing myself in another religion's underlying mythos and dogma, on a more practical level they often can provide some useful insights into living and how to approach it. The notion of "inner peace" isn't just an element of Buddhism, though, and doesn't have to necessarily be tied to organized religion.  The above quote of Pema testifies to this, although if you're stuck...say on the job...in a subordinate position to a bullying and disrespectful supervisor...it may prove to be challenging to implement. Yet I've discovered that I can deflect it all, by refusing to let myself become entangled in conflict, and once free, I am definitely at peace.   Pema's quote is true, but as I mentioned before, implementing it is sometimes difficult...

Quote of the Week...from Mark Twain

I had been dead for billions and billions of years before I was born, and had suffered not the slightest inconvenience from it.                                ---Mark Twain

I read the above quote from the beloved American writer Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemons) a few weeks ago on a Facebook reposting...that app does occasionally have some use in spite of its serious drawbacks.  Of course, religious doctrine fueled some of the reactions of the comment section, distinguishing between pre- and post-physical life.  Believe what you want about that and stay in your own cognitive/metaphysical bubble if that comforts you...no judgment from me.  What Twain was talking about was the absence of the physical, breathing, animated life and consciousness that people experience within their lifespans on Earth.  Fear of death is a sweeping, important survival trait of anyone and contributes to people not only being careful about how they take care of themselves, but also how they treat others...the cornerstone of civilized society.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, I believe is how the saying from Jesus goes.  Yet physical nonexistence as a living organism is something preceding my conception and birth for eons upon eons, and my body will return to ashes at some future time.  We can draw comfort from the assurance of an eternal spiritual life beyond that, but I also believe that there is comfort in Twain's truth regarding the past...

Quote of the Week...from Captain Walker Keel

Damn it, Jean-Luc, I tell you that Star Fleet's top command people are changing! This could affect the very core of our organization.  Officers I've known for years are bluffing their way through talk of old times. 

   ---Captain Walker Keel from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Walker Keel is a guest character appearing in the first season episode Conspiracy in the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation.  He is the captain of the starship USS Horatio and has called Captain Picard of the Enterprise, along with two other starship captains, to an isolated abandoned planet to discuss what he sees as an insidious conspiracy overtaking the United Federation of Planets leadership.  It's a great episode, my favorite in the series...I highly recommend it!  Yet conspiracy isn't why I quoted this fictional character.  Rather it's what Keel says about "bluffing their way through talk of old times" that reminded me of some strange experiences I've had with people...some of them close to me...over the years and recently as well.  In each case I'll bring up some anecdote they were involved with, to which they deny everything and sometimes even come up with an alternate reality version of events.  And there's no compelling reason for them to lie or conceal anything...these are all harmless memories.  With one person I might say they are deluded with the memory in question, but when I see it with others then I wonder whether their memories are truly intact and that, over the years, they might have rolled over with their identities and conscious memories into another reality.  It reminds me of another sci-fi experience, the end of the Matrix Reloaded movie when Neo meets the Architect and sees all these different versions of himself on the above screens.  Are people just naturally slipping over time from one state into another?  Or perhaps maybe I myself am deluded.  Anyway, it's fun to speculate while going on with life as it is (or seems)...

Quote of the Week...from Geladriel in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings

And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of Men, who above all else desire power.     ---Geladriel 

In J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, Geladriel...played in the film version by Cate Blanchett...is the "Lady" of the Woods, the great Elf-queen of Lothlorien.  She gives a preamble to the epic, explaining the origins of the different rings bestowed upon the various humanoid groups of Middle Earth by the scheming Sauron, deviously seeking to bind them all under his control with the Ring of Power.  As for men, the above quote explains their rings and their motivations...they themselves seek power, even if it means ultimately bowing down and surrendering all of the values they claim to hold dear.  Rings are pretty to behold...as is the notion of free and open elections in our "real" present times.  Both are attractive features of society, yet in the final analysis our politics point to Geladriel's message, which is that with politics as with most anything else, people seek power over others.  In our 2024 election cycle, all those smiling faces and resumes and family backgrounds and staunchly held "principles" are like rings masking the true aim of aspirants to political office: the attainment of a position enabling them to tell others what to do and how to live. When I see a political ad, whether on TV or social media or in my mailbox, I don't see potential public servants but rather power-grabbers. Sorry to be the one to bring you these sober tidings...no, I'm not, actually I'm quite happy to do so, thank you...

Quote of the Week...from Rob Dial

Done is better than perfect.                             ---Rob Dial

Once again I pick a quote from personal development podcaster Rob Dial, who delivered it during a recent show.  His message is simple: better to get yourself in the mix of things, and then you can see where you need to improve.  Otherwise, never starting is guaranteed failure.  Now, as in just about all generalizations, this comes with important exceptions.  Like surgery or flying a plane, for example...although with preliminary training that doesn't involve putting others' lives at stake, Dial's maxim is still in full force even in those areas.  Besides, even with the best in any area, perfection is an elusive goal...

Quote of the Week...from Rob Dial

Let action and routine drive your life, not your emotions.         ---Rob Dial

Rob Dial is the creator and host of the podcast Mindset Mentor, which addresses issues in personal development.  He began one recent episode with the above quote, which he attributed to no one else...hence I'm giving Dial credit for it until further notice.  It's a simple concept, but one that few of us...at least me...consistently adopt for our lives.  I think there's another one that goes with this, dealing with how the quality of our lives depends on the brief pause between our triggers and cues and the actions we take in response to them...let's see, here it is, by Viktor Frankl: "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response is our growth and freedom."  The first quote deals with a proactive approach, the latter with how we react to circumstances.  With both of them, I think I could do much better with how I handle daily living...

Quote of the Week...from Stephen King

We've switched from a culture that was interested in manufacturing, economics, politics...trying to play a serious part in the world...to a culture that's really entertainment-based.               Stephen King

Stephen King is my all-time favorite writer...I've read more of his books by far than those by any other.  I'm not convinced, though, that this in itself means I would want to hang on his every opinion any more than I would anyone else...writing per se does not automatically impart supreme wisdom on the craftsman.  But that having been said, I am more or less in alignment with King's views on politics and society in general.  As far as the above quote of his is concerned, it's definitely an over-generalization of the state of our country, but since I grew up as his contemporary, immersed in it all, I totally get what he is driving at.  And I think the change from seriousness to entertainment began some time in the late 1960s when the drug/sex revolution, coinciding with the counterculture anti-war movement, went viral long before that term became common currency.  The seventies heralded the "me" generation that focused on self-examination and alternative lifestyles.  Then came the digital revolution and all kinds of entertainment became easy to access and portable...and here we are, all in our "safe spaces".  I remember the generation that came before me and it definitely had a different outlook on life.  I think that's one of the reasons that my all-time favorite novel of Stephen King is 11/22/63, a brilliant time-travel story that deeply examines those earlier attitudes and emphasis in our culture.  Try reading it some time if you haven't...not many books have literally made me cry, but this one did...

Quote of the Week...from Jack McTavish

Nonsense, go out harder and finish harder.             Jack McTavish, Dean Karnazes' high school track coach

Dean Karnazes is a famous long-distance runner who wrote the popular book a few years ago titled Ultramarathon Man...I've read it a number of times and it was a big inspiration to me when I returned to the sport in my early fifties.  In an early chapter he described his first high school track coach, Jack McTavish, who made a big impression on Karnazes.  McTavish's advice on running races was simple: always run hard...forget about pacing yourself.  The above quote was his response to Karnazes telling him that he needed some left-over energy for the race's final kick.  Although I'm not totally in the Coach's corner about this one issue, I do think something can be said for me going out harder at the start of the races I've been running.  One thing I've noticed in a race's early stage is that the simple presence of the other runners surrounding me produces an inhibitory hindrance to my speed...I have to intentionally run harder just to get through the crowd.  I've also had numerous experiences over the years with negative racing splits, that is, running the second half faster than the first...an indicator that I was erring on the side of caution earlier on.  I think having someone like McTavish at a formative time in a kid's life can have a great influence on them.  Unfortunately, I can't recall this happening for me.  But you know, that doesn't mean I can't derive some inspiration from someone else's experience.  Thanks, Dean...and Coach McTavish...

Quote of the Week...from Sting of the Police

"When the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around"...by Sting of the Police 

The Police, a highly talented British reggae/punk-rock/jazz trio from the late seventies and early eighties, is one of my all-time favorite musical acts...I was not at all happy when they broke up after only five (incredibly good) albums.  The above quote, penned by their chief songwriter and front man Sting (Gordon Sumner), is actually the rather long title of a track on their 1981 third LP, Zenyatta Mondatta.  It is also a heavily-repeated chorus that rams home the deep...but oft-neglected wisdom...of making do with what you have.  It speaks to the tendency of folks to let themselves become mired in discontent and grief over their situations instead of working in a more constructive manner with the circumstances they face.  This spring and summer has been especially difficult for myself and Melissa, and our "world" has definitely fit the parameters of this song.  Not that the rest of our little planet isn't undergoing some trying times as well, and I could easily slide into a state of hopelessness by focusing on one thing after another that is "running down".  Yet in the middle of this there is hope and much to be grateful for.  That doesn't mean denying the tragedy and troubles, but rather to place them in a broader perspective and to realize that life by its very nature is a struggle...and embracing that struggle is indeed the way to "make the best of what's still around"...

Quote of the Week...from Friedrich Nietzsche

All truly great thoughts are conceived by walking.                    Friedrich Nietzsche

Once in college I wrote a paper about the great nineteenth century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche.  Before I turned it in, a fellow student who expressed his liking for Nietzsche asked me if he could read it.  Afterwards, he disdainfully handed it back, giving me an unpleasant expression and walking away...I don't think he ever spoke to me again.  I guess I should have been walking when I wrote that paper...but I did at least get a "B" on it, and my teacher stayed on good terms with me.  As for walking, I have gradually come to believe that not only is it good for thinking, but as the ancient Greek health guru Hippocrates once wrote, it is the greatest medicine as well.  I say this as the summer here in northern Florida continues to set new records for combined heat and humidity, and after I ran a blistering three mile race at Gainesville's Westside Park. I probably should have walked it instead, for although I felt fine immediately thereafter, a few hours later my legs were both cramping up awfully and my general recovery was slow.  I think that walking is great, and during the next two months plan to do my outdoor races as a walker, leaving my running during this period confined to the nicely air-conditioned indoors.  Besides walking for sport and exercise, I am also a habitual pacer, going up and down the floor thinking...it's always a good idea to have paper and pen handy when doing this...

Quote of the Week...from Fred Lebow

In running, it doesn't matter whether you come in first, in the middle of the pack, or last.  You can say, "I have finished.'  There is a lot of satisfaction in that.                       Fred Lebow

I greatly enjoy checking out different channels I've subscribed to on YouTube...The Ageless Runner, hosted by "Ralph", who seems to be around my own age, is one of these.  Today he posted his favorite running quotes, the above one by Fred Lebow, the founder of the New York City Marathon, was appropriately his first.  Like me, Ralph and Fred are advocates for popularizing running...especially the long distance variety...among the general population.  Ever since high school, I have enjoyed this activity, or sport...however you might want to term it...because it is basically something I can tailor for myself as an individual and don't need others to accept or validate me in it.  I run races, to be sure, but not so much as against others in competition as much as against myself and my past performances...it lends a sense of structure and discipline to my running.  Although it's difficult to enter, the New York City Marathon also embraces its founder's philosophy, as the race doesn't close down even for the slower runners...or walkers, for that matter.  I run...and walk...to cover the distance, and like Fred's quote, how others do around me doesn't really add up to much of a difference.  But for the competitive folk out there, you also have a right to set your own standards and priorities for yourselves.  I'm just glad you're out there as well...