Blaugust 2022 Day 13

Running has been a part of my life for the past couple of decades. I hated running when I was in High School, but something changed as I moved from the enforced exercise of sports practice to the getting out in the open experience of running at the beach, park, or just around the neighborhood. I wouldn’t say that I’ve blogged a lot about running, but I do touch on my fitness journey now and then, and I’m happy to share my running experiences just as I try to comment on my gaming enjoyment.

Hopefully, by covering things like running, my baseball fandom, gaming, books, and my quest to improve myself, I can provide a glimpse into what I consider a well-rounded life, and I can make this blog a somewhat entertaining place to visit periodically.

The Rundown

• Field of PEDs

I feel so sorry for all the children who looked up to Fernando Tatis Jr. His positive test and subsequent suspension for 80 games is horrible. For an athlete to put anything in their body that they are not aware might influence a PED test is unacceptable, and with all the money Tatis has made over the years, he should have been able to obtain medications that would take care of any symptoms he was having without requiring PEDs. I feel so sad for his fans and his teammates, but most importantly, I feel sorry for the kids who wanted to grow up to be like him – hopefully, their parents will be able to explain what a lousy person Tatis turned out to be.

• Minecraft Planning

I’ve been thinking about what I’m gonna do in Minecraft lately, now that I am actually playing the game, and while I don’t know much about the details, I do know that there are creatures that spawn at night or in dark places that can easily kill starting characters. In an attempt to avoid early deaths, I did what was recommended and found a hillside and dug out a small tunnel, and put up a door on the first day I was in-game. That seemed reasonable and followed my tendency based on my WURM Online experience of staying alive in a world full of things that want to kill you.

But you can’t stay in your cave all the time; you gotta get out and explore to play the game. So how about creating an elevated highway? Could that be an answer to staying safe when out and about? I don’t know, but I think I’ll give that a try. I’ll let you know how things go.

• Gaming Life

I was listening to The Gaming Persona podcast earlier, and they mentioned an application that they employed to get things done in a fun way – Habatica. I’m gonna give this thing a try since it combines my enjoyment of gaming with the fact that I have to get things done to be productive. I downloaded the app to my phone and will let you know how things go…

The Goods

Yesterday I talked about finally hearing the call to adventure for Blaugust 2022, and today, I can’t wait to get running into the adventure.

Actually, now that I am heeding the call to adventure, I am looking at my running experiences and how they apply to my adventures. In a similar way to how I was commenting on what I enjoy blogging about, I am going to go with the statement – my name is Rambling Redshirt, and I am a Runner.

This time around, though, I am not simply throwing things together but applying thought and analysis to my conviction that I am a Runner.

Actually, for a while, my days as a runner were over, and I had not run in any races or done any training for years before COVID hit. I guess I would go out every once in a while, but it had been years since I did any serious running. Then with COVID and the lockdowns, everyone was stuck inside. I was going stir crazy and had to get some exercise. I was failing at my goal of 10k steps all the time because there was nowhere to go.

Then I started running again.

Sure, the parks were closed, and parking lots at the beach were shut down because politicians were (and are) ignorant.

But they could not stop me from running around my neighborhood. So I started and kept going.

I actually kicked off a fun section of this blog that looked at a virtual run that I was going through where I hoped to run up the entire state of California…and I made it to Angel Stadium and beyond after starting at the Mexico border. Actually, if I kept up my posting, I probably would have made it to Santa Barbara, San Jose, or further since I ran every day for over a year.

That streak ended earlier this year as we had a number of plumbing problems that prevented easy showers – I was not going to try going in to work without showering after a run, so I broke the chain.

But I’ve since fixed the plumbing issues and have started back up on my streak. I’ve now been running every day for over 13 weeks in a row again, and it feels great! Sure, it’s not the year+ long streak, but it’s starting a new one that I plan on making last longer than the previous one.

So I’m a Runner and proud of it. And I’m gonna keep running and blogging about that running.

It’s a Wrap

While I find that running is my way of getting exercise and staying fit, even though I may not be the fittest person in the world, you may find that other things work better for you. The main idea is that everyone should try to find a way they can get some movement into their life. For me, it’s running, and I love it. For someone else, it may be swimming, playing soccer, or lifting weights. But whatever it is, do it, do it regularly, and stick to it.

Movement is important in life for both physical and mental health. You don’t have to run marathons or string year-long streaks of workouts together, but even that little walk someone took yesterday is beneficial. Maybe it will help you lose weight, maybe it will help you focus your thoughts, or maybe it will help you figure out what you’re gonna post for Blaugust.

In any case, I’m looking forward to making the rest of today a good one, and I hope you all have a great day.

Ramble 199 | Falcon 7 | 2022.145 | Blaugust 2022 Day 13