Conquius

In the mean time, I'm doing my bike thing to/from work, racking up miles before my bike trip at the end of July.

Howdy! Some good weeks, some bad weeks, some weird weeks? Put running to the side for now. Hip pain is still alive and throbbing. The occasional walks I have to do to the metro are bad enough. Thankfully, it doesn't impact cycling! While I build my new bike, my touring bike has been getting me to work most days. As for my calisthenic routine, I've also dropped it. I think it was a bit too ambitious? Or maybe my habit of exercising after work isn't built yet.

Friday June 23 🌚 Own the Morning. Fridays are my weakness because I'm coming off 3 days of in-office, so I want to sleep in. I want to stay getting up early so I can actually use my mornings for things other than commuting. 🔴 Work after Work. Got off work around 5 and didn't go into my workout. Got some good chores done (set up my guest bed, fixed my touring bike's dynamo light) and played some more Ghost of Tsushima. Can't win 'em all.

Maybe. I'm running on pavement with minimalist trail runners, but I also get the hip pain when I'm in my chunky Brooks running shoes that have lots of support.

Thursday June 22 🌞 Own the Morning. Up at 5:45, otd by 6:45. Got a quiet morning metro. 🟠Work after Work. Walked home from the metro, hip was giving me some grief. Decided to try to run anyway. Changed into my running clothes, went out the door, within a quarter mile my hip was hurting pretty bad. Turned it around, walked home. Half a mile of movement is better than nothing. I'm going to look up some stuff about internal hip rotation, because I used to walk with my feet kind of splayed \ / and running has forced me to keep them straight | |. I wonder if there's some muscle or tendon that's being overexerted.

Yeah. The duality of control - things we can control vs things we can't - is a pretty well-known one. The impediment to action advancing action is one I think I have a decent understanding of, but still noodle on from time to time. It's the idea that we get to take impediments and reorient them as an opportunity to practice virtue. The impediment is an obstacle to what we want because it inherently challenges one of our virtues, e.g. Patience. If we can identify that our patience is being challenged, we can reorient the impediment in our minds to instead be an opportunity to practice and improve our Patience. If we can become patient enough to tolerate the impediment, it ceases to be an impediment. That's my understanding.

Howdy @Kadriel! I've had a few attempts historically in trying to learn how to run, none of them going particularly well. Eventually I decided to stick to the forms of cardio that I like: cycling, walking, and hiking. Over time, I built up an aerobic base and a decent mental game, so when I picked up running again to prepare for this Spartan Race, I was pretty primed for it. Being able to run a mile w/o stopping is just something I stumbled into eventually by doing the things I enjoy. Thanks! It took a while. I was convinced I'd never be able to do it consistently. Eventually I found the right combination of tools and habits to make it happen.

Something I got pretty good at while bike adventuring was dealing with bad weather. Rain, hail, wind, heat, humidity, etc. You do your best to prepare for it. When it hits, you can find cover if it's available, but if not, you just bear it and keep making miles because.. what else is there to do? I'm wet now, but later I'll be dry. Hot/cold, hungry/full, tired/rested. I was embracing the suffering of my choosing. I've been on the metro a lot due to my job enforcing 3 days per week in-office, and until I finish building my new bike, the metro is the best way to commute. The worst part about commuting on the metro (other than the time & money spent) is people who are inconsiderate - those who seem unaware of or are unwilling to adhere to the social etiquette of a shared public metro. And I've thought about getting mad at these people - they are people with agency who are making choices to the frustration of everyone else on the metro car, but there is no action I can take that does not end up escalating the situation, or at the very least, implicating me in their ugliness. So I was thinking this morning: what if I treated them like the weather? I had this great saying while bike adventuring: "I'm out here for three months. Some days it will rain." I can't control it, the best I can do is know that it will happen, prepare for it mentally and materially, and bear it when it does. I will get to my destination eventually. It is loud now but it will be quiet later.

Nice! I believe in getting the hard stuff done first. What's the most difficult part about meditating for you?

I'm going to start writing these nightly. Wednesday 6/21/23 ✅ Work after Work. Hit my reps on everything except Inverse Row. It's the last major strength exercise in my routine (Pike Push-Ups -> Asst Pull-Ups -> Full Push-Ups -> Inverted Rows) and the one that I have the least experience with. Might look up some form videos. I was looking up the progression scheme for BWSF. I'm going to progress by adding one rep per set per week, so my routine will look something like this: (Test means test moving on to the next Progression) If I can get to the Rep Counts under Week 4, I'll count this Challenge Successful.

Kind of! I studied Latin for 10+ years, and Ancient Greek for 3ish years, culminating in a Classical Studies degree. The Stoics came up a few times, including one college course dedicated to Seneca, and another where we translated some of Meditations. I became enamored with the duality of control and the impediment to action advancing action.

Congratulations on making it through the hardest part of the fight. I'll be following along. You've got this.

Welcome back! Following along.

Following along!

Tuesday 6/20/23 - Wednesday 6/21/23 ✅ Work after Work. While walking to & from the metro, I discovered that I had some hip pain. Could be from running, could be from not stretching. Instead of going on a 1mi run, I dedicated 20 minutes to some stretching & mobility on my hip. Then to Ghosts of Tsushima. Spoilers for Act II below 👇 🌞 Own the Morning. Up at 6, otd a little after 7. I might try to get out the door by 6:30 because being otd by 7 means I take the 7:30 metro which is packed. Metro had a delay today (I think due to someone in another metro car not letting the doors close) and someone decided to take it as an opportunity to evangelize to a captive audience. Final days, eternal hell, open your heart to Jesus, etc. People will be rude, but I do not have to implicate myself in their ugliness.