Humility of a Half-Marathoner

The 13.1 mile journey started last fall.  Some friends were talking about running in the Colorado Marathon right about the same time I was getting back into running.  (After the Lincoln Marathon several years ago, my running shoes got relegated to lawn mowing duty.) I got to looking at the details of the race, and everything seemed to be aligned for me to join my friends in their high altitude run.  Let me translate that: I looked at the course map and saw a marathon that is ALL downhill!

My friends were planning to run the half-marathon. I'm sort of an 'all or nothing' guy (at least when I vainly think I can handle "all") so I wasn't all that excited about the idea of running HALF of something. Today, on the day after that HALF something, I am very grateful to Jon, Michele, Scott, & Jennifer for reminding me of the difficulties of training for the full in the wind of a West NE winter. I can honestly say, I wouldn't have made it 26.2. Lesson in humility #1: Listen to your friends!

I've never been a very scheduled runner. I squeeze in what I can, when I can. Marking days with prompts like "tempo run," "speed work," and "long one" makes me feel like I'm running out of obligation instead of because I want to, so I generally just start running. If I don't have much time, I run fast - if I feel good and have some open time that day, I keep running. The problem with this training approach (or lack of one) is that it's more than a little haphazard toward actually accomplishing what a training regimen is supposed to accomplish: increase the capacity to run long distances efficiently. Going in to yesterday's run, my "longest" long run in the last 5 years was 7 miles. It's probably not a coincidence that my body started breaking down with about 6 miles to go! Do the math. Lesson in humility #2: Don't expect to perform like you've trained if you didn't.


The day before the run, my heart was not in it. I didn't want to leave, had a headache, just not in the mood... I don't know. But I had committed (and paid) to run, so I gathered my gear and headed to Ft. Collins. The room I'd reserved had somehow turned into a smoking room, but nothing else was available. I opened the windows and left the fans running, so it wasn't too bad (but did little to improve my outlook). I puttered around town a little bit, met up with Jon and Michele to retrieve my race packet, then headed back to the hotel to get some sleep (ha!). As I began to go through the packet with the reminders and race day details (not to mention the race tech shirt) the "clouds" began to lift, and I started to get a little more excited about what the morning would bring (aside from a 4:00 wake up call). The morning came quickly, we all met up downtown and rode the bus up into the Cache la Poudre canyon, where we'd start - after standing around in the cold for about an hour. It was a beautiful morning in the canyon (we Scottsbluff runners were particularly impressed by the absence of insane amounts of wind!) and, though it was cold, it warmed up quickly as soon as the mass of humanity began the run. The course was great - "standing in the canyon, painted hills around, the wind against my skin." Running through awe inspiring scenes, I couldn't help but think about how awesome our Creator really is. And aside from a few hundred meters, it really was downhill all the way! Lesson in humility #3: Stop feeling sorry for yourself and wait for it - the fog will lift!

Despite my lack of adequate training (or nutrition, but that's a whole other issue), and the consequent knee pain for the last 5 miles or so, I finished in 2:18:59 still in sight of Jon, with whom I gladly ran most of the race (881st out of 1446 finishers). Maybe next year, we can work on a finish in the top half like Michele!

Crying over Dirty Water?

A few weeks ago, Josiah was crying at bedtime because I wouldn't let him drink some juice he wanted. He'd had some water and I told him that was enough. The truth is, he was way beyond tired and the water-only moment was more of a spur that popped the tear-balloon than anything else. But as I was trying to get him to stop wailing he made the comment that's always in the running for the "most likely to push Dad over the edge" title: "It's not fair!"

No, son, it's not fair that you've been born into a family where water is readily available, cool for your refreshment (or warmed for those cold days), and free of diseases that will kill you. I said something to the fact that millions of kids will go to bed tonight without any water, and millions more will have to drink dirty water that will kill them. "If you want to cry about something, cry about that."

I'm sure his dreams were less than pleasant that night. To be honest, I was tired, too, and was probably kind of a jerk about it. But the fact remains that millions of kids will die this year from lack of clean water. Living Water International is doing something more than just "cry about it." They are providing "a cup of water in Jesus' name" in places where such a "cup" is needed most desperately.

Last week, I registered for a half marathon in May in Colorado. I wanted to add a little extra purpose to my running, so I have also signed on to use the race to raise money for LWI. (That link will take you directly to a page where you can donate.) Maybe you want to do something more than "cry about it." Every dollar raised will provide roughly enough clean water for 1 person for a year. Thanks for your help.

A Rambling Route to Goals

Running has been a cathartic experience for me. I enjoy the time when my phone is nowhere near, my e-mail doesn't exist for a while and whatever I may have in my 'to read' pile is shoved aside. A great time to think and pray about what I've already read, experienced, and seen lately. It may sound odd, but for all the churning and puffing that's going on physically, this is often a time for me to mentally "be still" and know God.

During the first mile today, this question kept coming to mind: Are you called to be a chaplain to church kids or an ambassador to the greater tribe of students that surrounds you? One of the greatest difficulties that I've seen youth ministers have is feeling called to one of these roles, but hired for the other. This may be a whole topic for another post, but the bottom line is that there are elements of both these roles that I need to embrace.

Another thought that struck me was just the thought of how my running time has become a meaningful prayer time. Before the specter of spiritual pride came up though, I heard this: "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." As I thought about this verse, I wondered if my heart has been truly full of His word so much that its overflow keeps me from sin. It's so easy to neglect the Word of God - to skim, relying on recall of what I've previously read rather than asking for fresh revelation as I pore over what He has had to say...

Later in the run, I began to think of goals. Today's 7 miles brought me to just under 97 miles in the last 29 days. 29 days ago is when I signed on to a 100 miles in 30 days challenge. I'm going to make my goal. I like that. I remember when I first started playing soccer and read somewhere that a soccer player should be able to run continuously for 60 minutes. I thought that sounded crazy but figured lots of people played soccer, so lots of people must be able to do it. If lots of people can do it, surely I can do it, too. When I first started training for a marathon, some people saw it as further evidence of my lack of mental acuity. While they may be right, I was too stubborn or too stupid to know that 26.2 miles is too far - so... I finished a marathon. The funny thing about goals is, you can achieve a lot - if you'll forget what you can't do.

I don't like to come up short in anything I attempt - it feels like failure. I don't want to fail. Sometimes that keeps me from setting clear goals, but this running experiment has showed me how I need to do better at that. Maybe it's the 'bucket list' phenomena, but over the past several months I've seen a number of leaders sharing about life-goals. A list of "100 things to do before I die" or a "40x40" (40 things to do before I turn 40)...

As I thought about it, here are some random goals I've had throughout my life: (due to the contemporaneous activity, there may have been a slight running slant to the list)

-Graduate HS with 4.0. I figured a college degree was a college degree regardless of GPA, but in HS I wanted to make sure to get the 4.0.

-Run a marathon. completed and amended

-Run a marathon in under four and a half hours. Hopefully this May.

-Stay married until 1 of us dies. Still in progress - and loving it.

-Run a six minute mile again. This is where being specific... hurts (and may not be medically wise).

-Send my 4 kids into adulthood knowing fully that they are loved - by God and by their parents.

-Visit every inhabitable continent (Antarctica can take a pass.) 4 out of 6, so far with Africa and Australia to go.

-Take LuAnn to see some of the places in Germany that I visited in HS.

-Hear "Well done - good and faithful servant."

-Graduate students every year who are intent on taking life to the dying and who refuse to settle for a normal life.

-Finish my Master's degree. This may not be so much a goal, as it's just that I'm a nerd and like being in class.

-Write something worth publishing. 1 magazine article so far, but this is more of an ongoing thing (though set aside lately) than a one time shot.

-Have a book published. Currently working on something that would be more of a self-published thing for our youth ministry team here, but it could develop into something more...

Well, those are some of my goals. What are yours? And how can I help you reach them? (That's another one of mine.)

Running Randomosity

I've really enjoyed running again.

My knee has not been bothering for a couple weeks now.

My legs have remembered how to store glycogen and get rid of lactic acid, my lungs are remembering how to squeeze out every bit of oxygen they can get - now if I could just get my mouth to figure out how to provide the right nutritional fuel... (I suppose the mouth is not so much the problem as the will - and it's appetite for 'less than healthy' food!)

Running under a huge moon, with tons of crickets cheering for me is pretty sweet - until a crack in the sidewalk hides in a dark spot! (Maybe the crickets were just laughing!)

We have quite a few people running for Miles for the Mission... but very few who've actually been getting any pledges. (Good for health - not that great for the raising of funds.)

I've run just over 30 miles so far in September.

My 30 day challenge ends next week - I still have about 33 miles to go to meet the goal of 100 miles. My body is willing and increasingly able; my schedule has not been nearly so accommodating. (Gonna try to squeeze in a few miles before soccer practices tonight, though.)

LuAnn has officially accused me of an addiction.

She's probably right.

Ran up and down the Bluff last week - had to walk a little going up! Forgot how bad a long extension of hill can suck the life out of my lower back. Has it always been this way? (Also, I did not get back in the car and leave, screaming like a little girl, when I saw a rather large snake at the base of the path.)

Miles for the Mission

I am putting together a team of runners who will be raising money for our student ministries over the month of September. Each runner will take pledges for a certain amount per mile they will run during the month. (For example, if you pledge $3.00 per mile that I run, and I run 100 miles, your total contribution would be $300 - thank you for being so generous!) At the end of the month, we'll collect the donations to fund upcoming student ministry initiatives that will help us in our mission to "reveal God to students."

If you want to be one of my runners, let me know and I'll get you a form to start tracking your pledges. If you'd like to sponsor me, let me know what amount I should put down for your pledge. (I'm currently doing a 100 miles in 30 days challenge that will go into the first part of Sept., so I expect to be somewhere around 100 miles, just to give you an estimate.)

Running Discipleship

A few months ago, I posted a comment regarding running and age and marathons and determination (which prompted some finely crafted 'encouragement' from my brother). I'm not there yet, but I did take up a lesser challenge this month: 100 miles in 30 days. It seems like a lot, but it's only about 3 miles a day - this forces me to run consistently.

My 30 days started last week and I'm at about 15 miles right now. That's just a little behind schedule, but I did get in a good 5 mile run Saturday and felt pretty good. 2 and 3 mile runs are much less of a struggle than they were a few months ago. (Except last night's run - the first mile was a battle to keep supper where supper is supposed to be!)

The thing with this 30 day challenge is that it sort of artificially imposes a demand for some kind of running activity on a regular basis. I don't HAVE to run, but if I want to meet the goal I will. I wonder if a healthy relationship with God thrives similarly. We don't have to 'watch and pray' - but if we desire God like He desires us, we will.

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Incidentally, I'm thinking about getting a group together that would run through the month of Sept. to raise money to fund some youth ministry initiatives here. (Basically, people will be asked to pledge some amount of money for each mile we run during the month.) If you'd be interested in running in the group (and collecting pledges for your miles) let me know right away.

Camp Monday

First day of high school camp is in full swing. The campers are building some benches and picnic tables for the camp, so I had a couple minutes to jump on here and say hi. We drove in last night, having an uneventful drive and got settled into the cabins. Actually the girls settled into a lodge and the guys shoehorned themselves into a cabin that would be great for half of us.

After staying up talking too early this morning, I went to bed and couldn't sleep. 1 snorer, 1 kid moaning like he just got smacked in the head with a pylon, and one nameless sleepwalker screaming "I said I'm coming." as he headed for the door at 3 AM then calmly being talked back into bed by me... And he completely remembered it this morning! Fun stuff.

Several weeks ago, I assured my cross country runner that she'd still be able to run this week if she came to camp. Gotta be ready when the season starts and you don't want to take a week off... I get it. So...

"I'll run with you."

Man I'm an idiot. The first hill was a killer. It was the only hill, but the problem is you don't realize as you're driving into camp, how much elevation you're losing. So as we ran back toward the highway, we went up hill for about 12 minutes, then turned around and came back over the same route in 8.

Should make for a good nap this afternoon... yeah right. Just hope my lungs are recovered by tonight when I lead music!

A Statement of Intent

Several years ago, I had my first marathon running experience. It hurt. The first half was great - the second half felt like bone on bone every step. Since running my marathon, I have run pretty sporadically, but known that I would eventually take up the running torch again. It seems that one thing or another always seems to derail my efforts, though. A couple weeks ago a softball strain derailed the uptake a little bit, which may make me seem very old and maybe even a little decrepit, but I am making a statement here and now that I am going to run another marathon. There, now it's public. I have to.

Now where are my shoes?