Awareness,mindfulness and running.

Over the last few years I have been trying to incorporate awareness into my running, with delightful results. Problem is, the mind can be weak and I slip back into patterns that make it tough to achieve goals for myself. Listening to my body and how I breathe while running takes some getting used to with all of the distractions around me. Running at night does help some with less traffic and distractions but a needed and heightened sense of awareness to dangers and my body both.

I used to run in the mornings most of the time but am starting to switch to night time runs. Unfortunately this wires me up and I get to sleep a LOT later than usual, sometimes after midnight. THAT is not the way I have been most of my life, usually going to bed at ten and up near 4:30am or so. Anyway...I digress. Back to awareness.

  Training the mind to be aware of living in the moment is tough for most in Western societies due to the pressures of commercialism,business and lack of meditative qualities. Over the last twenty to thirty years, training in mindfulness and awareness has increased to the point that many become "enlightened" to new ways of harnessing the brains capacity to shed negativity,enjoying the time we live in and to deal with pressures of everyday life. Many teachers in this abound but I find that Jon Kabat Zinn has made an impact on my own life in this regard.

His book "Coming to our senses" really stresses how we can be aware of everything we do ALL THE TIME!!

We let so much pass us by everyday, tied to work,family,the stupid smartphone and other electronic devices. Why not savour everything we have and enjoy?!.Yes, I have my own stupid electronic device too. But...I can give them up in a heart beat!! I'm not a slave to them. This is where awareness and running can work wonders together. When I run, I'm aware of EVERYTHING possible while doing so. An increased sense of smell, direction,feeling,manual dexterity and hearing all play a role in making every step and breath THAT much more enjoyable. I;m not looking at a goal of this many miles or that time achieved. I don't concentrate like I did before nor look at my watch as much.
  My awareness finds joy in the small as well as larger functions to be enjoyable. Being mindful of the privilege I have of running and that at age 46 I CAN run and feel this good does indeed make me a lucky man!!!!

      As I meditate more,open my mind and search it for better ways to live and feel good, the journey taken improves. Every day gets better,whether I have money or not. Whether I have good health or not. These things are all transitory and don't contribute to the moment as much as one might think. Shed those thoughts and negativity goes with it.

  Yes, this was a change from the normal blog posts but I wanted to share it and provide a bit of background as to why life has been so very good the last few years. Leaving my former religious group as well as the various declarations of my orientation,state of mind,love for others and change in relationships has provided a stable stepping stone to a less complicated and more fruitful life.

   Thank goodness it arrived at a young age and NOT when close to departing this world.  :-)

Rum Run fun in Tigard!

This last weekend marked the last race in May for me and the first for Liberty!! I ran the 10K and placed 11th of 29 in my age group and 85th out of 595 with a pace of 9:08/mi as I ran with Chris to his 10 K PR!  Way to go Chris! 

Here are some pics of the running peeps and fun!!!

Had a great time in Tigard as we enjoyed the good weather,great food and beer/mojitos!!

The hands are healing up well and I'm finally done with the antibiotics, which have taken a toll on my body.  Now for some probiotics and keep away from the dairy!! I feel SO much better without it!!

Not much of a blog this time. Ciao!!
  

Back to semi-normalcy.

The last week has been a whirlwind for sure! Between the cat episodes,hospital stays and not running a bit in ten days, I was on edge from the events. Time for a change and to move on!
   Usually I receive little stress in my life but admittedly there was a wee bit over the last few weeks.
Today,Sunday the 19th of May, I wanted to change that and get back to a meditative way of life again and to practice more mindfulness and awareness of my every day existence.
   But more on that later. The weekend was fun and filled with joy as Ann took my place at the  Energy Event's Parade Run 5K. She did very well and ran with Brian's son Kye.

They both finished well and really enjoyed the race. Even the rain held off for the run and that was amazing considering how wet it was only 15 minutes before the start.

Others who finished well were Dan McElrath, Rob Druffel, Darhl and Janna Thomason and the winner being Eric Dolezal. He is a speedster for sure! Dan took 3rd overall and first in Masters.
A really fun day that made the weekend a delight. Also got to go visit our friends Boris and Maia in Beaverton.Love going to visit them and get caught up on life. What a delightful couple they are!

My fingers and hands are healing up well now and I can almost bend them to their previous spots as before. Going to be a while but things are looking up. On the sad front, Liberty has received word that her knee has to be operated on due to ACL and meniscus problems. Ugh. So a lot of work ahead for her in the recovery department.  Before the surgery though, we have a race next weekend in the Rum Run in Tigard. Should be fun as it is my second time running it and Liberty's first. Ann will be on the sidelines for this one. I was able to get out today for a 7 mile run, the first in ten days! Felt sooooo good.

Cats paws,claws and teeth.

What a whirlwind the last 5 days have been! Saturday last was the beginning of a chain of events that landed me in the hospital for the first time since birth!! Yes, that is correct. Other than a quick outpatient hand surgery 20 years ago,this is the only time I've been admitted since being born.

  Saturday my mothers cat was was taken in by Liberty as a possible new member of the family at yellow house,in hopes of surrendering her to the Humane Society. However she did not get along with the cats nor the people there and the result was a confrontation that proved painful. The resulting bites and scratches were something I thought i could deal with at home but Sunday it was evident I needed medical attention and a trip to the small urgency care clinic told me it was worse.Cat bites become infected 80% of the time and these were bad.In fact,they spread very quickly because the bites were to the bone and deep. So off to Legacy Salmon Creek ER we went. This is what the hands and fingers looked like a few hours after arriving:

What was a surprise entailed the admitting ER doctor's words saying I needed to stay overnight. With no health insurance this scares me to death. But this was needed so I did. And it was a good thing as I was told that another 24 hr wait would have resulted in the loss of my hands. Yikes!!

So TWO nights were needed for me to get better after IV's of antibiotics,some pain meds and an eventual discharge home on Wednesday afternoon.

Decided to have some fun with the staff before leaving and told them the meals were not filling and that I was wasting away.

 The fingers and hands are better but I have a long way to go before they are back to normal. Perhaps even a month or two as the deep tissue damage makes them very stiff and painful to use. Had to give up my 5K Parade Run race this weekend but Ann will enjoy running it. I have to even learn to tie the shoes differently!!! As it was both index fingers,things can get dicey when they are needed.

  So that is the update for now. Hope to get back to work at the market today for a few hours but will take it slowly as I get the digits moving again. Need to take it slow as they are still in a lot of pain. Leaving the hospital does not mean they are healed!! 

Until next post...thanks for all of your support my friends!!!

The Dalai Lama in Portland 2013

Friday the 10th of May was a busy one indeed as I journeyed down to Maitripa College in Portland to see HH the Dalai Lama!!! Since arriving here on Wednesday the city has been abuzz with excitement as he attended various venues( University of Portland,University of Oregon) surrounded by adoring fans and high security. I knew what to expect as I'd traveled down to Long Beach,California last spring to see him there and attend a lecture at the convention center. That day we walked in the sun for hours with 20,000+ others to get through security,which was very tight and controlled. No cameras,recording devices or backpacks. Funny how that worked out as every phone deemed acceptable had high quality cameras and video capabilities.

That venue was huge with my only glimpses of the Dalai Lama being from more than a football field away. The photo here shows how far away we were last year.

If I could have been closer I'd have had a shot like this, of Richard Gere and HHDL together!

But,alas, I was what seemed miles away. Still, the public talk was delightful and my friend Jenny and I had a glorious time there in Long Beach!! It was nice to go back and visit the city of my birth. Here is a photo of us that trip,on the steps of the Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles before a concert with the LA Philharmonic.

Fast forward to now,May of 2013. I'd read of the Dalai Lama coming to Portland way back last September and was thrilled he was coming back to MY locale and staying for a few days. A rare and delightful visit for sure as his last was twelve years ago! As money was tight, I could not afford the very expensive tickets to see him at both The University of Portland nor the upcoming Memorial Coliseum talks today,which fetched anywhere from $50 to over $500. So my best chance to go see him, well, HEAR him, was at Maitripa College,Portland's own Tibetan Buddhism university. Off I went at 7am to SE Portland to secure a spot as I knew there would be an estimated 5000 people there to watch a big screen presentation.

Imagine my delight as I arrived at how casual the atmosphere was. Not too many people had arrived yet so I was prepared for an onslaught of media and adoring disciples and fans. That never happened. I had my trusty Nikon D50 digital SLR as well as my ipod Touch for quick shots and video. Security was very tight here with Portland police all over as well as the personal security for HHDL.

Here are a few pics showing the stages of security and the location of the event.

 

The real joy was how orderly and respectful everyone was.The hundreds who attended,not thousands as predicted,were well behaved and loving,kind as the the Dalai Lama arrived and greeted well wishers. I was fortunate to be very close as he arrived and snapped these photos of him,the closest being a mere 5 or 6 feet away instead of the usual long distance that those in the big venues have to endure.

After his greetings to the crowd,he went inside the college and then gave his hour long talk with students and graduates about life and after life. We knew he would make another appearance but were not sure when that would happen. Some said they heard AFTER the entire program but we waited nonetheless. Sure enough, at a break during the talk he came out to greet well wishers. Another chance to shoot some photos and take this all in. Funny though how of all the media attention he brings that only two news channels,KGW 8 and KPTV 12,were there to cover this. Add that the "thousands" predicted were hundreds,making this a much more intimate gathering than expected. Thank goodness I say!!!

 This next pic came from an online source but I liked it and decided to add it here. All of the rest were taken by myself.

Finally, one of myself from the ipod,proving I was there in the sun and crowd during the event.

Also, here is a short video I shot with the Ipod Touch. Shaky but I was shooting it with my left and taking stills with the Nikon with my right!

Summing things up, it was a very worthwhile experience and one I'd certainly do again. Who knows how long the current Dalai Lama can maintain this schedule and tour the world. I'm fortunate to have been able to see him not once,but twice. And this close as well!!

Although I'm not a Tibetan Buddhist, I do follow some of the philosophies of Buddhism,especially Zen Buddhism. So this makes the visit by HHDL even more special.

Ways of the flute!

The diet has been followed for the most part with no real change in weight unfortunately. There comes a time and age when the body says "I like this weight range and am staying here" with an occasional change in one way or another. I never seem to get under the 158 lb number. I'll keep trying but so far it does not look like change will come.


    Over the last few weeks, as noted in previous posts, I've been delving back into my Native American flutes,especially the rim blown variety. These instruments are something I DO play reasonably well and thoroughly enjoy no matter when or where. But I've not taken any photos of them in a few years and have added a new model since. So off to the park I went for some work with the Nikon D-50 digital SLR, my old standby of many years now. These works of art are like children to me in a way. I take care of them,feed them oil when needed, and play them. An unused instrument of any type needs to be PLAYED. Otherwise it is simply art.

Above are my two Geoffrey Ellis flutes: An Anasazi flute in A crafted out of black walnut and the other to the right a Mojave 6, also out of the same species. These play so beautifully!!!!


Next up...the Butch Hall flute,this time a fipple flute that only requires direct air at the mouthpiece instead of an embouchere. This is also made of black walnut. Yes, it is my favourite species!!!

After the Butch Hall walnut, here is the beginning of the Michael George Allen flutes. He is also known as Coyote Oldman in the flute recording world and his instruments are also a delight to behold! This model here is a Hopi style flute with gorgeous blue accents and carvings all over.

It is in western red cedar.

The Mojave flute here,with only four holes,is a deep and resonant model with little ornamentation on the body except for the makers mark and a few animal symbols near the top. It  also is in western red cedar as is the next model, the Anasazi,or Prayer Rock flute.

And to round things out,here is the collection in total.

  All of these can be carried in my Laughing Mallard quiver,made of a special 100th anniversary blanket by Pendleton Mills. It was NOT cheap but necessary to protect the beauties contained within when I travel to flute shows or festivals or when recording out in the forest or parks.

Usually I take my Roland Micro Cube portable amplifier with me for recording and use a Tascam digital DR-07 recorder for when I want to save the songs. I do have some on Sound Cloud if interested.

http://soundcloud.com/handlebar

Let me know what you think!!

As for those musicians I follow and look up to for inspiration... I thank Michael Allen,Scott August,Mary Youngblood and Carlos Nakai . They were so pivotal in my learning!!

That does it for the post today!!!!

Sunday's half marathon and misc

I neglected to add a post to the blog yesterday due to a VERY busy day and tired legs. Ran the Cinco de Mayo half marathon in downtown Portland with some of my running friends and had a delightful time! My plan of attack worked well the night before with some activities and strategies that proved to work well for my stamina during this very hilly and windy race. Ate up a ton of carbs and had one of the BEST nights I've eve encountered in my short life span of forty six years!!

   Here are a few photos from the events yesterday:

                     At the start with Rob,Tom,Claudia and Chris as we get ready for 13.1 miles.

                                                                      
                                                                             Finish line!!


                                   Then to Pioneer Courthouse Square for post race food,beer and fun!

                                               

                     And I couldn't have done any of this without my two sweethearts!!

                                                             A truly memorable race and day!!

  On the diet front, well I strayed a wee bit yesterday due to carbing up afterwards,eating a chicken breast sandwich at Red Robin that had once slice of cheese on it. But for the most part, I did well. Not lost any weight though and that is to be expected as I got ready for the race.Let's see what this week brings.  The heat yesterday and Friday was rough on us as it makes one super tired and also increases my allergy issues. So I'm on Claritin right now and it seems to be working fine.

A few doctors appts with Liberty for her knee this week and a visit by the Dalai Lama to Portland!!!!

Day 3 is in the books!

Day three has been decent on the diet front as well as dairy free count but NOT as regards family issues as my mum fell today and so did Liberty. Injuries abound as of late and now time to start healing!

No running today and little tomorrow as I ready for the half marathon on Sunday. Weather has been warmer than usual and today we hit 80° with a breezy day included. Tomorrow and Sunday are supposed to be the same.

Went out tonight to Powell's Books and listened to Grant Mcomie speak about his years in broadcasting and outdoor stories played on KGW. We have been fans for many years and it was a delight to meet and get to know him a bit after so many years of viewing. A genuinely warm and humble man is Grant. Here is a photo of us taken at Powells:

On the porch garden front, I'm slowly getting things in place for tomorrow's flower and plant buying mission. Have already transplanted two large basil  beauties,a nice magnolia that Liberty picked out, and have the rest will be chose by Ann and myself tomorrow. Perhaps some photos will appear in the next blog.

Until next time....

Day 2

Day two of the diet is now over and I've not been too good on it when quantity is concerned. Granted, very little fat was consumed nor sugars, Just some spaghetti and bread as well as a few eggs earlier today. I get soooo hungry as a runner that it is tough to keep from eating all the time. The good part is my discipline in WHAT I eat. I keep to the better foods and stay away from the nasty fast food and high sugar and gluten items.

Also ran the Fit Right First Thursday Urban adventure with my running peeps in Portland and did well albeit only 5 miles.

After the run we all had some Red Hook ale! Mmmmm delicious!! Then home for some dinner.

It usually takes me a few days of dieting to see any loss in weight or change in habits. Being dairy free makes it a lot easier and I feel so much better too. Replacing the milk with soy helps a lot and gives me copious amounts of protein too.

So that is how day two went. Now to tackle a busy and long Friday tomorrow! Picking up my packet for the Cinco de Mayo half marathon tomorrow!!!