Theophilus Writes His Way Out

[theophilus]

 

"I wrote my way out, wrote everything down far as I can see..."

 

I'm cueing up another Hamilton-inspired challenge as I continue to get back into the groove and build on last month's progress. My inspiration and challenge titles come from the song, "Hurricane." In it, Hamilton recalls all the ways the pen has saved him and then plots how he'll use it to save his position. It doesn't exactly work out how he hoped, but it's a heckuva song, so count me in. Each challenge has a written component to help me track my progress and keep moving forward.

 

I. I Wrote my Way Out of Hell // I Wrote my Way to Revolution

 

 

Religion and literature have offered countless visions of what lies beyond the veil of death. In one of my favorites, "The Great Divorce," CS Lewis paints a sort of purgatory where one can either remain or choose to leave through the act of repentance. (He's working within the Christian tradition.) But if one remains, this "grey town" not only becomes hell, but all of a person's life on earth is rendered a hell unto itself. As I considered this image the other day, I found myself reflecting on how the consequences of our decisions are sealed the moment we make the decision. These decisions, made over and over, can become our own little "hells."

 

So, what on earth does this crazy, somewhat dark reflection have to do with fitness? Well, I've created many little hells for myself with the eating decisions I make day in and day out. I've made goals, but have failed to follow through, instead choosing the easy and the familiar. I was reading over the NF Diet guide (the one with the levels), and saw that while I'm not completely clueless when it comes to food, I'm lacking some basic habits and structures to hold myself accountable to eating well consistently. Level 1 of this guide includes writing down everything you eat. So I'm going to write down everything I eat. Every. Single. Thing. By the end of the challenge, I'll level up to level 3 of this guide:

 

• Level 1: Track food for a week
• Level 2: Track calories for a week and begin to reduce liquid calories
• Level 3: Reduce liquid calories further and eat high protein breakfasts for two weeks

  

II. I Was Louder Than the Crack in the Bell  

I'd pay good money for a Hamilton-Spinal Tap cross-universe collaboration (Lin-Manuel? Christopher? I'm looking at you...)

 

 

Until then, this will have to do.

 

 

 

This challenge goes to 11... miles, that is. I'm setting a weekly running target of 11 miles for the duration of this challenge. This will likely mean a 3-3-2-3 schedule, but I may go to 3-2-2-4 later in the challenge to build up a little for long runs. And in keeping with the writing theme here, I'll log all my miles and any notes about the runs.

 

 

III. I Wrote Eliza Love Letters Until She Fell // I Wrote about the Constitution and Defended it Well

 

 

 

Last challenge, I made an effort to get back into the practice of writing in my journal. It felt really good to get the pen flowing again. On Sunday, I was listening to Prairie Home Companion with the incomparable Chris Thile. I caught the "song of the week" segment, wherein he wrote a song about his son. Then yesterday, I was reading some of Shakespeare's Sonnets. Bring it all together, and I've found inspiration for this challenge. In addition to writing in my journal, I'm going to produce four different types of writing by the end of the challenge:

• Song about my kids
• Poem for my wife
• (Very) short story
• Short journalistic/research piece on some contemporary subject/issue

       

And in the face of ignorance and resistance

I wrote financial systems into existence

And when my prayers to God were met with indifference

I picked up a pen,

I wrote my own deliverance

 

 

 

 

Awwww... Thanks, Jimmy.

 

 

 

 

[Fuji_fox]

Love your writing goals! Good luck! 

[theophilus]

Off and running here one day in. I attended a music festival all weekend, and while the music was incredible, it didn't lend itself to the healthiest choices--beer, food trucks, late nights...

I started logging my food yesterday. I didn't get out and run yesterday or this morning. I'll probably have to wait until tomorrow to get my first run in.


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[theophilus]

Got a full four days of food tracking under my belt, and here's what I'm seeing: 1. I can make good choices. 2. I can also make bad choices. About once per day so far I've gone a little off the rails, but I'm trying to regroup and make my next choice after a bad choice a good choice.

 

Two runs so far this week for 5 miles. Going to try to bang out two 3-milers tomorrow and Saturday to close out the week.

 

Very little writing so far. It's been a funky week, and I've opted for vegging out in front of the TV instead of reading and writing. We'll see if I can do some writing tonight. Probably won't try to check off any of the big projects today, but just freeflow for a bit.

[The Borg Queen]

Ain't food tracking swell? You notice all the things.

[theophilus]

What can I say? Stranger Things 2 wrecked my weekend. Late nights, crappy snacks, no writing, no running.

 

But now it's Monday. And I am still here.

 

Successfully tracked food all last week. Now we're onto counting calories and cutting back on liquid calories. Shooting for no liquid calories until the weekend.

 

Going on a 3-miler tonight after work.

 

Writing something, anything, tonight.

[Fuji_fox]

On 10/31/2017 at 7:54 AM, theophilus said:

What can I say? Stranger Things 2 wrecked my weekend. 

 

Same here! 

[theophilus]

Lordy. Let's see, a week and change since I've posted. How are we doing?

 

Food: I did a full week of food tracking, then kind of fell off the wagon. I'm back at it this week and have logged calories/nutrition info for four days straight now. Feeling back on track.

 

Running: I got three solid runs in last week. Unfortunately, I've bee having some funky palpitations this week. I have congenital heart disease, so I'm taking a break from running until I can get that sorted out with my cardiologist. Really bummed about that because I was starting to make some serious progress. I should have some answers tomorrow, so fingers crossed that I'll be back at it soon enough.

 

Writing: I've started the song, but the other projects remain untouched. It's amazing how easily I slip into the old habit of just plopping down in front of the TV after dinner instead of writing.

[Strickland5]

Just gonna leave this here

[theophilus]

12 minutes ago, Strickland5 said:

Just gonna leave this here

 

That's solid. 

[The Borg Queen]

What did you think of stranger things?