Self Realization

I was inspired to write this blog post by my cousin who posted a great quote on Twitter about Critical Thinking. Well, it got me thinking haha. I just want to use this post to spew some random thoughts and philosophy of thinking in general.

As a teacher, whether I wanted to or not, I have become very familiar with Bloom's Taxonomy and other systems or models that try to differentiate the different levels of thinking. The fist stages usually involve Analyzing information in a basic way, who, what, when, where, and why etc. Then they work their way up through constructing one's own ideas etc., until they reach the highest level which usually involves one's ability to critically evaluate information and so on. These models are interesting, but what if we took it a step further?

This is where I want to discuss merging self reflection with high level critical thinking. I do not have a fancy name for this so I will just call it, The Self Realization Model. In this model self reflection (constantly looking at one's own actions) and critically thinking about the various information, situations, and one's overall state of being merge together so that a person can be consistently conscious of their positive or negative impact on the world around them.

You may say to yourself, this is all just common sense, but is it? Imagine being so aware and conscious of your own state of being that you can predict and evaluate situations mentally, then make rational, reasonable decisions all before an event happens. Thus leading to less negative impact on the world around you. Ask yourselves how many times you subjectively and quickly reacted to a situation only to wish you could take back what you said or what you did? To be consciously aware of your own state of being at all times could lead to some pretty smooth sailing.

There is no way in the world I can dive into this as deeply as I would like to in a blog post, but the merging of self reflection and critical thinking could raise overall consciousness of one's self and propel the world around them forward in a very positive way. This higher state of consciousness would lead to better educational instruction, one's health/diet, better relationships with people and most of all the world around them. All of this is made possible only if a person makes the choice to engage themselves critically as well, instead of projecting negative self image and feelings. Always looking at yourself first and asking, "what can I do to make this situation better?" It is like the old saying, "if you encounter 20 jerks in 1 day, you will see the biggest jerk in the mirror."

Sorry this may not make much sense in a short blog post, but I just felt like getting some ideas written down. This is all still a work in progress and I will continue to try to elevate my own conscious by merging self reflection and critical thinking hopefully one day reaching my own Self Realization. Will I like who I meet? Have a great day!!!!!

This Week

This week was a tad crazy for many reasons. My son Barrett came down with some horrible congestion and when he doesn't feel good it affects everyone haha. Then on Monday evening I came down with horrible Heartburn. When I am having a bout of Heartburn it is so awful that I am up all night with excruciating pain. This time it was worse and I even threw up a couple of times (sorry for the detail.) I finally felt better by Tuesday afternoon, but decided not to run etc.

Thursday came and we were out of school due to the weather, so I went for a tempo run in historic downtown Mt. Airy. Around 3 miles into the run I started to have stomach problems again, so cut it short at 4 miles, came home and went to the doctor.

At the doctors office they checked me for an ulcer causing bacteria called H. Pylori. I was negative for H. Pylori, so I was given a 2 week regime of a prescription H2 blocker. After being on the meds 2 days now, I am starting to feel a lot better. I wonder if this could have been caused by a stomach bug, as there is one going around school.

Now Saturday, I woke up with a hefty Honey Do list. My wife Meghan is about 30 weeks pregnant with twins. She is definitely "nesting" at the moment, so I don't mind trying to do all I can. Even though I had a lot going on, I met a friend at Westwood Park for another beautiful trail run. I got in 45 minutes at a moderate pace, and did some of the bigger hills coming up from the "bottom."

To wrap this post up, I am happy to say I am currently feeling better and this week is ending on a high note. My Honey Do list is almost completed, and Barrett is feeling much better. Happy Running everyone!

Log: Thursday- 4 miles, 3 Tempo avg HR 161. Shoes: Brooks Launch. Saturday- 45 minutes single track trail running. Moderate pace. Avg HR 151. Shoes Brooks ASR.

Pictures from today's trail run @Westwood Park.

Beyond the Run

I started this blog as a way for me to keep a diary so to speak of my running adventures and to sometime dabble on the topics of music, family and life. Well life is the main theme of this blog post, as someone else's life is on my mind today.

All around us everyday we see struggle. The struggle to pay bills, the struggle of trying to always do the right thing, the struggle to be who everyone wants us to be, and struggle at times to face our individual realities. What if your struggle was against your own body, and it was a struggle unlike exercise etc., that you are going to inevitably lose. It would be heart breaking, devastating and "giving up" would probably be the response 99% of us would have to a situation like this.

We have a friend in our close community of friends gained from the many years of playing music. His name Tim LaFollette and he, at a young age, has ALS. ALS for those that do not know is Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (also referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease) is a form of motor neuron disease. ALS is a progressive, fatal, neurodegenerative disease caused by the degeneration of motor neurons, the nerve cells in the central nervous system that control voluntary muscle movement. In other words his ability to control his body is fleeting.

While most of us would give up, Tim and his family are fighting tooth and nail against his ALS, and most of all raising awareness of this disease in the hopes of one day finding a cure. He is an inspiration and someone who should be admired for his courage in the face of the upmost adversity.

Another good friend in our community has started a charity driven by artwork. You can purchase posters and 100% of profits go to Tim and his family. I am not affiliated with this charity or Tim's charity, "Often Awesome" but as a runner and friend, I felt the desire to discuss this. Below is an image of the poster you can buy to help out if you choose, or you can visit Tim's Often Awesome website to find out more about how you can help.

Thanks for taking the to listen to my ramblings once again. Tim's life is truly an inspiration, and reminds us not to take lives for granted. Until next time. Run Happy!

Link for Poster Cause: http://shop.thepostercauseproject.com/products/often-awesome-poster-designed-by-ant-sanders

Link to Tim's Page: http://www.oftenawesome.org/

Westwood Trail Run

After the 10k my calves and foot began getting "tight" again, so Thursday I ran indoors at our school's gym using minimal footwear(Brooks Green Silence) and kept the pace light. I ran 30 minutes with an average heart rate of 139. Yesterday my leg/foot pain began to increase due to a couple of games of basketball at school. I rolled out trigger points and iced last night and felt good this morning so I decided to go for a trail run.

Let me start by saying, I LOVE to run on trails. I met a friend at Westwood Park here in Mt. Airy and ran on the mountain bike trail. The local mountain bikers do an outstanding job of maintaining this trail so when I run there I try to clean debris from the trail ads I run as a way of helping and saying, "thanks." I also make sure the bikers are not riding at the time, because I feel they have the right of way and the trail is technical enough it could be dangerous for them to encounter a runner at high speeds. There were no bikers there so it was a go.

The trail is pretty technical and has some great climbing. The various log piles and fast downhills make for some added fun. When I biked a lot I loved mountain biking and I love to trail run for the same reasons I loved to mountain bike. You feel like a young child exploring and it just feels good to be in nature. I really hope to log a lot of trail miles this season.

Overall I did not keep up with miles, but ran as much as I could in the time frame I had. Total 40 mins. with an average heart rate of 146, which was great considering some of the climbs coming out of the "bottom." Shoes: Brooks ASR, great for this trail and winter running. Pictures are of various spots and a special thanks to "JE" for taking the picture of me coming off one of the log piles.

Drive to Work

I work as a Teacher for the Patrick County School System at a wonderful small community school located at Meadows of Dan in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I love my drive to work and use the time to prepare and decompress so that I am focused for work and home.

On this drive I often see various forms of wildlife and because the drive requires me to go from the foothills up the mountain, I see amazing scenery. Everyday feels like an adventure.

This morning it was very foggy here in the foothills. As I traveled to the foot of the mountain and began to start climbing up, I noticed the higher I climbed the fog was lifting. When I arrived at the top I had to stop and take a couple of pictures. The lowlands were completely blanketed with fog and a distant mountain range was barely peeking out. It was incredible and just a another reminder of how "small" I really am.

The pictures I took with my phone do not do the sight justice. The light was not great because They were taken at dawn. Hope you can get an idea of just a sample of the treats I get to see on my daily drive.

Easy Run with a Good Friend

Today I was still sore from Saturday's 10k race, so I decided to just keep the pace and distance light. I was also joined by a good friend who is getting back into running, so it was definitely going to be fun shaking some of this soreness out.

We decided to go to run the Greenway at Riverside Park. It is a beautiful place that even though it is paved, it travels through the woods and runs parallel to a river which makes it a very nice place to run. We had a great run and the logistics for me were 40 mins at an easy pace with an average heart rate of 139.

As you can tell from earlier posts, I am a shoe geek. I wear Brooks shoes and am a member of their I.D. Team. I cannot say enough great things about their company and products. Today I wore the red/yellow "wild" colored pair of Green Silence. Great shoe that is light and has a nice lower heel to aid in mid/forefoot running. Another great day pounding pavement!

ProHealth 10k for 10 years

This morning I ran in ProHealth's 10k to honor their 10 years of business and service to our community. I started the day with my usual pre-race routine. Small breakfast of easily processed carbs and green tea. Got clothes and gear together. On shoes: I decided to wear my Brooks Launch which are a wonderful middle ground between racing flat and full blown cushioned shoe. They are light and flexible enough for me to still be efficient in my mid/fore-foot gate.

I arrived at the race and chatted with friends and got game plan worked out, which was to start off slower and see how I felt after mile 2, if I felt good I would start to push. Plan came together well and after mile 2 I started to push the pace. The course was very hilly with around 1125ft of climbing overall. I started near the back and kept moving up jumping from group to group until I finally reached a group I could not shake. Some of the hills were long an really made me push mentally. It was intense at times. I did what I could and ended up finishing around 52 minutes, overall heart rate of 164 and pace was right at an 8:30 min/mil, which I am happy about just coming back from a year long injury.

Hung out afterwards with friends and fellow runners an really enjoyed the fellowship. Overall, I am feeling stronger and hope to continue to run injury free. As an added bonus, luck played out into my favor and I placed 3rd in my age group and got a pretty cool medal. It was a great event and I had a blast. (pictured: Brooks Launch used today, great shoe)