I've been a BAD boy!

Recently a men's group started up at our church.  The topic of study is the spiritual disciplines.  Disciplines we should turn to when needing to get closer to, and understand more of, God.  The book we're following is Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline".  Awesome book, i tell ya'!

What has struck me as highly ironic is, when i look at my own attempts at these discipline, how closely my dedication to them falls directly in line with my disciplines for running.

i know i've posted before about how close my running experience is to my faith and how they pretty much go hand-in-hand for me, meaning as i slide in one, i slide in the other.  As i go farther in one, i go farther in the other (pun intended).  i don't like that i do that but there it is.  However, what i'm REALLY liking is as we're going through these spiritual disciplines, i'm seeing just how similar they are to those we, as runners, follow.  I'm listing here just a few of those that have particularly been rattling about in this little ol' pea-brain of mine:

Meditation:  Spiritual:   Finding a passage, a verse or even a single word in the Bible that jumps out at me and centering my thoughts on it throughout day.  Focusing on why it touched me, how it makes me feel, where am i in my belief of it, etc...
                              Running:  Just before taking off (particular in a race).  Centering my thoughts on the distance, the course, the pace i want to set, how i'm feeling, where am i hurting, calming my nerves, the training i did leading up to this particular, run, etc....

Fasting: Spiritual: The idea here being to separate myself from the thing(s) that can often replace God in my life and focus on replacing it WITH God.
                   Running:  Obvious.  Removing certain foods or liquids from my diet that harm my body and replacing them with healthier options.

Study: Spiritual: Here, i'm not just reading the Bible.  i'm also pulling in other writings, ideas, etc... that dive deeper into whatever passages i'm interested in at the time. i'm looking for more insight, guidance or explanation to what i'm reading.
                   Running:  Reading my subscription to Runner's World. runnersworld.com , RunnerDude, books by George Sheehan, or books on the Badwater UltraMarathon...the list is endless.  Of course, the idea being that the more i read of others' experience and advice, the better i'll do.

I'll stop at this point because 1) the list is amazingly extensive and, 2) well, that as far as we've gotten in the study so far.   :))


Admittedly, if i had to make the decision to replace my running with God, i would have a really, REALLY hard time with making that decision.  As long as i keep the right perspective on it all, i'm hoping it never gets to that point.  Besides, the invitation stands that whenever He wants to lace up His Nikes and join me, He's always welcome....or would He prefer New Balance?  (get it?  "balance"?  Faith and running?  "BALANCE?"...okay, maybe it's only funny to me)


i appreciate you hanging in this long and i certainly hope that whichever of these areas, or any other you're interested in, that you are finding the discipline(s) you need to help you grow deeper in it.

God Bless and Happy Running!

Using Mercy As An Inspriation to Run

Last night i just did NOT want to get out and run, but i knew i had to.  I'm starting to look for some local area runs (15K+) to help get me motivated.  I want to train better than i had for the previous organized events i've done.

Anyhoo, after much bickering with my inner demons (they always want me to surf the couch), i begrudgingly laced up my shoes, grabbed the dog leash and got ready.

See i was SO un-motivated, i decided to take our older dog out with me. Her name is Mercy. She's a chow mix and about 9 1/2 years old and since i figured i wouldn't get going out to break any sound barriers, i figured she'd be the better companion.  i take her when i'm doing short, light, easy and slow runs.  i don't take her anymore for the longer or faster ones.

i decided to keep the distance short (5K) and the pace very slow.  'd LOVE to say that the pace was slow for Mercy's benefit but i'd be lying.  :)   For a good deal of the run, SHE was pulling me.  Oh, and since i decided to run it Galloway Method style (4:1), every time my watch went off for the 1-minute walk cycles, she'd look back at me like she was saying "Come on you LOSER.  I'm biologically older than you are and i ain't no wuss!  LET'S GO!"

It ended up being a really good run.  Not so much because i finally dragged my butt out there but because of taking Mercy with me.  It is so awesome to see how excited she gets when she hears me say "You want to go for a run?"  She knows what that means.  She heads to the front door and sits, waiting for me to connect the retractable leash to her choke chain.  And when we step out the door, she's ready!

It's like years melt off her face and from her gait.  i swear, sometimes, i think i see a big smile on her face and a bright gleam in her eyes from the excitement of being out.  It's either that, or she's just ready to get a break from the new puppy, Grace, we adopted in December.  I'd like to think it's because she just loves being out there with me.  Whichever it may be, i'm just thankful i had a good run with a good running buddy.

i hope we get to have many, many more.


laters.




Miles:  5K with Mercy
Low point(s): Right knee was hitting me with a few twinges, went way too soon have a big dinner
High point(s): Seeing Mercy's excitement at being out, the smells from the various fires from the chimneys

How Low Can You Go?

My motivation this week is way, way, WAY low for getting my butt out and running.  i'm not sure why.  i feel healthy.  i'm doing relatively good with my diet and hydration.  i just don't have that "UMPHF" i need.

Maybe i need to just pick out my next run as a means to get me motivated.


STAND BACK!  (in case it's contagious....lol)



laters.

Running in my Faith

Anyone with any appreciable amount of knowledge about running knows what it takes to have a good run, or to place high in an organized event.  It takes a perfect balance of training, hydration, diet and motivation.  When all that is clicking right, it seems like there isn't anything you can do wrong.  Even the weather plays very little into the results of your run because by being properly balanced, you will have accounted for that before you even take the first step.

Well, with the lack of training....and uh....motivation....and well, diet, i haven't done as well as i would have liked in the last several organized events.  While my times were a tad bit better than the last times i had in those same events in previous years, i had a really difficult time completing them.  And with my being the last male finisher of the most recent one, it has really rocked something deep down inside me like a little mental "kick in the pants"  that i've needed.  i'm working on a training plan for the next set of events i want to do.  i'm making sure i get the proper hydration i need on a daily basis.  i've been altering my diet to what it should be.  Okay, maybe not so much on that last one.  LOL

Anyway, this week i was reminded of how much my disciplines in my faith have almost exactly mirrored those of my running.  i've lacked the motivation, the interest and desire to study it.  To learn it.  To live it.  While i was making myself crack open the Bible, i was really only reading it as i would any other book.  i wasn't really READING what it was that God was trying to teach me in those words.  Plus, It's been WAY TOO EASY for me to find excuses to avoid studying and even easier to blame others for my lack of motivation and discipline.  So, just like in running, my progress in my faith BONKED like you wouldn't believe.

Fortunately, in the last several months, i've recommitted myself to the disciplines i used to follow and just like in running, i'm gaining strength, and endurance and connecting back with the love i have for it.  And so it goes, that as my running improves, so does my faith and vice versa.  i'm not sure i like them being so connected but that's how it is.  But then again, how interesting is it that there are several references, in the New Testament, about athletes and how they don't win the prize unless they are well disciplined and trained, etc....  It obviously fits.

So, there you go, i've got my disciplines that i need to do for running and those that i need to do in my faith.  What's great is that so many of those disciplines are so similar in their very nature.   I'm off to a good start, at a good pace and am working to keep my eye on the finish and the prize.  And even if i'm last, "To Finish Is To Win", right?  In EITHER case.


Thanks and God Bless.


Oh, and what page is my Bible turned to in the photo above?  Why it's my favorite one, of course.  The end of the watch strap is pointing to Isaiah 40:31  (NLT)  "But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."  (emphasis added to express my point)

Laters!

Too Cold To Hold 15K

Well, as i posted a few days ago about the Too Cold To Hold 15K i was participating in, i did NOT freeze that part of me that i sit on.  It was a tad bit warmer that i would've preferred.  It was roughly 45 degrees at the start.  i'd rather it been in the 30's but at least it never really got much warmer.

Since i hadn't trained for it all that much, i decided to be REAL conservative and run a Galloway Method setting of 4:1 (run 4 minutes:walk 1 minute).  Also, i pulled way back on the pace.  My goal here just being able to finish having run as much as possible.  i wasn't worried about breaking/setting any records.  Although i did set a personal record, which i'll mention later.


In the days leading up to this event i did a really good job of keep myself hydrated, plus i had a decent breakfast leading up to it, as well.  Couple that with the decision to run much more conservatively and i started off with a very good plan.  Considering the lack of training, i was feeling really good at the starting line.  Nevermind the fact that just about 1 minute prior to the start, i realized i had left my power-gels back in Bugsy (my car).  Unfortunately, dashing over to the car to get them and then back would've added about 10 minutes to my time so i decided against it.  i'm both glad and disappointed i didn't go get them.

Anyway, the horn blew and we were off.  i kept my pace very conservative, like i said, and felt really good.  The minutes and miles slowly paced on by without much to write about.  It was a nice day, nice scenery and i was feeling really good.  i was hitting each mile at a pace that i was expecting, that being between 12:45 and 13:15 minutes per mile.  The water stops were placed at really good spots along the course.

It was around mile 5 though that i started to regret not getting my power-gels.  i could already tell at that point that i was going to be bonking.  All i could do was hope that it came much later in the course.  Knowing that, i decided to pull back on my pace just a tad.  Although i hoped it would come later, it was right at the 7 mile marker that i bonked and MAN did i bonk BIG TIME!  My legs went all rubbery and i just had very little energy left to drive them, so i started walking.  HOPING that i would recover soon.

After walking about 5 minutes, i decided i could muster up enough energy to run the down-hills and the flat places.  Unfortunately there weren't too many of those left.  LOL

From mile 7 to the end, i figure i was only able to run (in very small stretches) a combined amount of about 10 minutes.  The rest was just plain walking but at least i had the energy to at least walk fast.

So, to sum it all up, i finished at 2 hours, 11 mintues and 17 seconds. NOT my best time ever for a 15K but i finished.  i'll take it.  My placing was 695 out of 719 finishers. 

Oh, and the personal record i set for myself? Well, i wasn't the last person to finish but i was THE LAST MALE FINISHER!!!   WOOO-HOOOO!!!  Can i get a blogger's high-five?  Yeah, that's a first for me.  The....last....male.....finisher.

Oh well, nowhere to go but up, right?


laters.

I wonder. Is it easier said than done?

i have a subscription Runner's World magazine plus i created an account at their website and get all kinds of cool email from them.  In this morning's email there was a link to an article on their website called,
 
"10 Rules of Weight Loss" .  Check it out if you get the chance.  It's quite interesting.

Now, there's not really any new information in that you probably haven't already heard but i like the way they laid it out.  Here's the trick though, at least for me.  FOLLOWING IT!!!!

i read all these articles and see all the great advice from the hosts on The Biggest Loser and i KNOW they are right.  But here's where i get into my whiny side, so you may want to turn away if you can't stomach that....lol.

IT'S HARD!!!  (*pouty lips*)   YOU'RE SKINNY AND ALREADY DO ALL THAT!!!! I'M NOT!!!!(*sniffle*)  IT'S SO EASY FOR YOU TO SIT BACK AND SAY HOW EASY IT IS!!!!   (*sad eyes*)  TRY WALKING AROUND IN MY LIFE FOR A FEW YEARS!!! (*here we just trail off into a blubbering-mumble*)

i am having trouble getting my running plan kick-started.  The motivation is there.  i know it is.   It's just buried under all the emotions, the stress, the frustrations and yes, fat.

i look back (fondly) on all the marathons, and other long-distance, runs i've participated in and KNOW i can do.  i have.  MANY times.  

i'm just struggling a bit right now but i'll get there.


laters.

Just hoping NOT to freeze my A_ _ OFF!!!!

Too Cold To Hold - 15K coming up this Sunday.  Due to being so sick over the holiday season and just recently getting over it, i just haven't trained as much as i would've liked.

Fortunately, i know the course, having had run it many times in the past so there shouldn't be any surprises there.  i can just focus on maintaining a good pace and run as many of the Galloway intervals i'm planning on setting my watch too.

IF... no, i mean IF i can maintain my planned intervals and pace, i'm figuring i will be running roughly 7.5 miles of the full 9.33.  That's about 80%.  I'll take that.  The weather and how well i fuel my body Friday and Saturday will have the biggest impact.

Is it too soon to start panicking?    LOL

All prayers and wishes for good luck will be MOST welcomed!!


laters!

The journey starts with but one step.

My favorite thing to do on New Year's Day is to go down to White Rock Lake and run the New Year's 5-Mile run every year.  I have run in it 9 of the last 10 years.  i was registered the year i didn't do it but i was just too sick to go do it.  LOL  i've never forgiven myself for it!

Anyhoo, i completed it in 1:06:44, which is a an average of 13:21 per mile.  Now, that's not a blazing speed by any stretch of the imagination but i'll take it considering that's a better average than each of the last 5 years.

After all we're always supposed to be moving forward, right?


Right!




laters!

Be careful what you ask for....

Pretty much every day i'm asking God for the Grace my family needs to get us through all the ummmm....:stuff"....that life is throwing at us.  Well, yesterday, i think He was either a little hard of hearing or distracted because this is the Grace we got.....
Meet Grace (we call her Gracie).  We adopted her from the animal shelter yesterday.  She's roughly 8-10 weeks old and is a german shepherd mix.  While she'll never be able to replace Kirby, who we had to have euthanized in Spetember, she should be able to fill in at his place by my side as my new running buddy.  Our other dog, Mercy, is a little over 9 years old now.  She's reached that point where she's just a little too old to be going the longer distances.  i can't wait for Gracie to get old enough to head out with me. 

Thanks God for this Grace you have brought to us.

laters.

Remembering the miles

Yep. I've done 6 marathons (didn't complete the 6th but THAT'S a different story).

I was forty years old for the first one.  The first marathon i ever ran, well, COMPLETED.  i know this because i had decided i wanted to do my first marathon at the age of 40 PLUS i was hoping that my dad would stay alive long enough to see me do it, or at least hear that i did it.

i had picked to do The Rock in december of 1999.  i paid the registration fee and everything.  Training started in August (most training programs are 5 months).  i turned 40 a month after training started.

One early morning in November, the 14th to be exact, i was supposed to do 20 miles so i was going to run my 10 mile route twice.  Well, at the end of the first 'loop' something told me i needed to go in the house and just as i opened the door, the phone started ringing.  It was my mom saying the doctors told her that dad wasn't going to make it through the day.   He died that night.  He never got to see me do my first marathon or hear me tell him about it.

Needless to say, that took the wind out of my sails.  i didn't do any running for almost a month.  When the day approached for The Rock, i just couldn't do it so i let Karla's brother have my race bib so that he didn't have to pay.

Fortunately, though, a couple of weeks after that, i got back into it.  i REALLY needed to run to get over the stress of dad being gone so i set my focus on the Forth Worth CowTown which was coming up in February, 2000.  Fortunately, i wasn't too far off track with my training and was able to do it.  Well, at least i showed up.  lol

It was, unfortunately, an unusually VERY warm day for that marathon and within 6 miles i had to start walking A LOT!  Here's the really cool part, though.   Around mile 16, i wanted to give up.  i was hot.  My knees and ankles were hurting because i had trained for a totally different type of course and i was almost in tears.  Just as i was about to give up, sit down and wait for the "Sag Wagon" to come along, i heard something deep down.  As if he were standing RIGHT next to me, i heard my dad say "Come on, Rob. You can do it!"

Dad was the ONLY person i let call me "Rob".  I NEVER liked being called that but, from dad, it was totally okay.  So, i know that it was him.  i know it sounds nuts but it just had to be.

Well, it was very hard and i had to walk WAY MORE than i preferred but i completed my first marathon in a blistering 6 hours and 27 minutes.

SHEESH!!!!  I've seen SNAILS move faster than that!  lol

But, i did it!!! AND i did it with my dad seeing and hearing and knowing.

Thanks dad!  I love you!  I still miss you SOOOO much!!!!


In memory of:  Karl A. Megert, Born: August 15, 1924.   Died: November 14, 1999.


laters.