Five Miles
Yesterday I ran five miles in just under an hour.
The great thing about running is that progress is very visible. Two months ago I could barely run half a mile without stopping.
Presents for Christmas and Birthdays
In a Crystal would make a nice present and may be something I want to get myself.
Peace learning and Creativity.
The Peace, Learning and Creativity Event that NYPO helped organise at Little Ilford Centre went really well on Saturday. This was due to a number of people with vision and commitment coming together.
Cartoon Generator.
Using another cartoon generator; this time at Toondoo. It’s easier to customise characters here than in Strip Generator but I like both of them.
Are animals as conscious as humans?
Strip Generator is a flexible tool for those of us who want to make cartoons but have no drawing skills ..
This cartoon refers to a report that scientists support ‘the idea that animals are conscious and aware to the degree that humans are’, is important. I’m not entirely sure why. Some people would say that this kind of acknowledgement should make a difference to the way we treat animals … but then we don’t treat other humans all that well. Also consciousness is now that well defined in humans and some scientists assert that it is an illusion .. though what ‘illusion’ can mean in this context must be puzzling and contradictory.
Happiness
Too: “Happiness is like a butterfly: the more you chase it, the more it will elude you, but if you turn your attention to other things, it will come and sit softly on your shoulder…â€â€“ Thoreau
Or as someone said of the thought “I want happiness” – ‘drop the I, get rid of the want and there it is.’ Since happiness is the letting go of selfish desire, wanting it for yourself is contradictory.
Four Miles
Completing the four miles felt like a significant achievement even though I am still less than half way to my target distance. Although my pace is quite slow I can run the distance without stopping.
Level 3
The picture is from my entry for today on the Daily Mile website. Another milestone on my journey. Being able to run for three miles without stopping feels like an achievement already.
Moving On
Today is the last day of the Summer School programme for me. It has been essentially a five week return to full time work. I still have the admin work to do next week, contacting and guiding tutors with regards to the invoices they need to give me, returning registers to the Summer school, submitting my own invoice, doing my accounts for Netstorms and so on. In addition I have planned an after courses event at Little Ilford Centre for Saturday 25th, so I still have a lot of work to do, albeit unpaid, over the next two weeks. Nevertheless my time will be more flexible so I can pay some attention to tidying up at home and I can also move on as far as my running training is concerned.
For the past month I have been running about 2.2 miles at least three times each week. It has been good to have this constant discipline to hang on to even though I have neglected other areas such as my meditation. I have established the 2.2 miles as a distance that I can run without stopping but I need to step up my training if I am going to be ready for my 10 mile run on 28th October. I don’t want to do a loop so I will extend the area to what I call a ‘level 3’ distance of 3.3 miles:
The ‘level 3’ designation is a nod towards my mmorpg interests. I’ve been looking at a much longer, five and a half mile route, from East Ham Nature Reserve to Victoria Wharf via the Greenway and the Limehouse Cut. There and back will be eleven miles and so exceed my target distance by a mile. I’m sure that the first few times I try this I will be walking more than running.
Loy Khatong and Yi Peng
This lovely image of lights floating into the sky is associated with the coinciding Loy Khatong and Yi Peng festivals in Thailand. The festivals take place on the Full Moon of the 12th month of the Thai calendar (28th November this year). Loy Khatong involves building a small raft for a candle and floating it down the river, Yi Peng involves releasing into the sky a rice paper lantern filled with air heated by a candle or fuel cell.
According to Wikipedia:
.. the act of floating away the candle raft is symbolic of letting go of all one’s grudges, anger and defilements, so that one can start life afresh on a better foot.
This sounds worth celebrating …