Sometimes inspiration strikes...

And you've gotta run with it.

Wrote this last night using Finale 2010, exported to mp3.



still beating

How running is changing my life

Several times in the past I've tried to take up running and ultimately failed, usually because of burnout. I have a tendency to get very passionate about something and let it consume me for a while, then get utterly sick of it and refuse to look at it again for months - sometimes years.

(Sadly, this happened to me in college with music, and I'm only now starting to rediscover my passion for it.)

This year, however, I've made a commitment to running that I intend to keep. My parents are both long-time runners, and we have a home gym and a great treadmill, so I have no lack of resources.

The only problem is that because of a lifestyle choice I've made, I eat 1-2 times a day, usually between 6-10pm. This means I have to try to get in all my caloric and nutritional needs - which have increased since I started running - in the span of four hours.

What's interesting is that I've never kept a particularly good diet or been inspired to eat well, but now, it's becoming harder for me to eat junk food. I'm pretty sure that's because of running.

I'm not doing a lot; I've intentionally been pacing myself to run only 2-3 miles (with periods of walking when I get tired) 3-5 days a week. I've been tracking my pace and mileage, but not hawking it. I've been taking note of changes in my body and level of endurance.

I'm just starting to think that running is literally making my body want to eat better, which is an interesting phenomenon. On top of that, my mood in the evenings after running is (usually) very good, and I've found an increased level of mental clarity and productivity that I never had before I started running.

The trick now is just figuring out how to balance what my body needs with my exercise routine - and to not obsess over it. Good luck, huh?

This is not about playing the cello

Is there time for gaming?

Just to clear up one thing, I play World of Warcraft. 

I've met some of my closest friends through the game, had much drama and stress over the game, and enjoyed some very fun times doing my favorite WoW R&R (raiding and roleplay).  I've played Horde and Alliance and had multiple 80s on both factions.  I've even run two accounts at the same time on different PCs (known as dual-boxing). 

Needless to say, I fell into the "addicted" category of WoW gamers for at least five of the six years I've been playing. 

Then several weeks ago I stumbled on this brilliant video of Jane McGonigal talking about how we can harness the 5 billion+ hours people put into WoW for real world problems. 

Something about this hit home with me, probably because I was one of those gamers making the "epic win" face every time something fantastic happened in the game.  Everything she said was true; we log in, people are happy to see us, we matter, we can change the world, etc. etc.  There's no unemployment in WoW - and who do you think actually plays WoW?

Anyway after hearing Ms. McGonigal's very inspiring talk, I've found myself playing less and less WoW, and getting more and more involved in things I've wanted to do for years but found excuses not to - like writing, running, playing my violin again, and blogging/internet marketing stuff. 

Suddenly I'm finding there's this whole world out there of interesting things and people.  There's so much to do and not enough time to ever do it all.  I have so many different interests and passions.  How did I not notice this before? 

Unfortunately, it was because of WoW.  I got so absorbed in the fun of the virtual world that I started to think the real world needed me less.  

I don't want to bash WoW; there's enough of that out there already.  I just feel the need to ask a very serious question: with all the problems we have in our real world, do we really have time to spend in virtual worlds? 

This doesn't apply solely to world of warcraft - look at things like Farmville and Mafia Wars and all the addictive facebook games people spend hours playing.   Sure these are businesses and just like fast food, the makers are going to keep putting them out there as long as they're making money.  Can't entirely blame them, can you?  

If McDonalds CEOs said "hey guys, sorry to inform you that we're quitting because the fast food industry is making people fat!" then millions of people would be out of jobs, even if it did mean we had lower obesity rates.