spicy

My schedule (work and otherwise) has been out of whack this week with Christmas parties and celebrations. As a result, my running schedule has also been out of whack. I couldn't run on Monday because I worked a double. I ran 4 miles on Tuesday. I was too busy to run on Wednesday. Knowing that I would be working a double today (Friday) and traveling to New Jersey/Pennsylvania tomorrow (Saturday) and with Christmas celebrations on Sunday, I knew that I needed to get a run in last night (Thursday). After Christmas shopping and getting some things done around the house, I looked at the clock...it was 10:15 p.m. I never run that late! But, I knew what needed to be done...I needed to run. I went down to the basement, jumped on the treadmill and set it to a modest 7.5 mph. I was not feeling all that great. I knew that running so late certainly played a role in this feeling, but I also knew the bigger reason: what I had eaten for dinner.

As I said, I had been out Christmas shopping earlier in the evening. I was hanging out with a good friend in the process. We decided to drop into the food court at the mall to grab some grub. Per usual protocol, I opted for an Asian fast food spot. Since the particular spot was Thai, I opted for some "Bang Bang Chicken" on top of my rice to go with my standard barbecue chicken. Let's face it...I love spicy food. It was delicious.

Unfortunately for me, as much as spicy food agrees with my taste buds, it doesn't always agree with my stomach. This was seemingly the case last night. And sadly, that wasn't the worst of it. I was sweating a little more than usual and my sweat had a little bit of a burn to it. It wasn't miserable, but it was uncomfortable. I learned a valuable lesson...I shouldn't eat spicy food before I run.

Actually, what I was reminded of was actually bigger than that. As I recently blogged, food is really fuel. I did a terrible job fueling my body yesterday by eating what I ate for dinner. I was thinking about this last night when I was reminded of a recent excerpt I read in the "Ask Miles" section of the September 2011 edition of Runner's World magazine (p 20). The question submitted by Joshua H. was "Which one is better? Run a lot but eat unhealthy or eat healthy and don't exercise?" Miles quoted Bill Roberts, M.D. in his response. Dr. Roberts quote: "That's like asking, 'Is it better to shoot myself in the right foot or the left?'" I agree with Dr. Roberts' reaction to that question. Exercise and eating healthy work hand-in-hand. You cannot choose one over the other. You need to find a way to balance them harmoniously in your life. And yesterday, I failed to reach that balance.

As I thought a little bit more about it, it also occurred to me that as in most other things, this is true of many aspects of our lives. I have changed Joshua's question to ones with regards to other aspects of our lives:

Which one is better? Pray but not read the Bible or read the Bible but not pray?
Which one is better? Love my spouse but despise my children or love my children but despise my spouse?
Which one is better? Breathe in but don't breathe out or breathe out but don't breathe in?
Which one is better? Treat others with respect but not myself or treat myself with respect but not others?

I think you get the idea I am trying to make. When you look at the same logic in different situations, it seems a bit laughable. Yet we have all likely been guilty of making this mistake in some area of our life. We need to be careful not to choose between things that are both important. Sometimes it can be hard to find that harmonious balance between them, but we will be much better off if we put in a little hard work to find it.

fuel

Since my last post, I have been continuing in my quest for increased fitness through healthier eating and quality, intentional exercise. The truth is...I will never fully satisfy my quest. Like every other aspect of life, it's about continually growing. Today marked another growth spurt in my quest.

After my morning run on the hotel treadmill, I went back to my room. I was hungry, so I decided to order room service. I opted for the multi-grain french toast with berries. In less than 20 minutes, the knock came at the door. The gentleman set my tray down at my desk. I finished my crunches and planks, then sat down to dig in. I looked at the plate before me and the following thought came to mind: "Carbs and proteins...and a good ratio." That's right...not "delicious french toast" or "nice mix of savory and sweet"..."carbs and proteins." Food had regained its true purpose for me again: fuel.

We would never fill our gas tanks with junk, so why would we fill our bodies with it? The truth is that we would be less likely to if we thought of food in terms of fuel...but we usually don't. We get confused about food's true purpose.

I think the purpose of food is one of the easiest things for us to confuse. We so often think of food as a delicious treat or soothing comfort, forgetting that its true purpose is as fuel. Those deceptively false purposes are the things that get us into trouble with our health, fitness and even self-esteem. But when we think of food in terms of its true purpose, we are much better off in those three areas. One purpose is true, the others are lies. And sadly many people don't even realize they have made that trade-off.

The purpose of food is not the only thing about which we confuse the truth though. We can do this with many other things in our lives as well.

Let me use our spiritual lives as an example to help make my point. How many people view the Bible as a book of stories rather than the infallible Word of God? How many people think of God as non-existent or uninvolved instead of a living, compassionate, relational God? How many people view Christianity as a set of rules instead of reconciling our relationship with God? These are all examples of trading the truth for lies. And much like people confusing the purpose of food, people often don't even realize that that have made such a trade-off.

So remembe...whether in food, your spiritual life or any other aspect of life, be careful not to trade the truth for any number of lies. My challenge to you is this: Next time you eat a piece of chicken, think of it as protein. And next time you read a passage from the Bible, think of it as God's word.

six simple words and an investigation

I let myself go in college. I didn't do much better for myself in the few years that followed. I peaked right around 220 lbs in the Fall of 2007.

It was the spring of 2009 when I finally decided that enough was enough and that I needed to get healthy. I began running again and started watching what I ate. By that Fall, I had dropped about 45 lbs and run my first marathon. Following the marathon, I went into "hibernation" until the next spring.

In the spring of 2010, I came out of "hibernation" and began running again. I had still maintained a much healthier eating style than before my weight loss but I wasn't my same obsessive self during the winter. By the Fall of 2010, I had dropped an additional 10-15 lbs and run my second marathon. Following my second marathon, I once again went into "hibernation" until the following Spring.

January of 2011 was a life-altering time for me. It was during that month that Polly and I welcomed our beautiful daughter Genevieve into the world. Knowing that I would not have the proper time to train, I opted not to schedule a marathon for the Fall of 2011. I ran a 5k by myself and a 10k with my daughter, but had no other races besides those. I went through a stretch of being active and then lost motivation and then became active again and then lost motivation again. I was like a yo-yo through the Summer months. My eating habits weren't the best, but still weren't nearly as bad as they had been for 220 lb Mike Brown. Traveling to off-sites and eating crazy amounts of food did not help. I wasn't at my healthiest.

All of this lack of motivation to stay as fit as I had been in previous years culminated in my stepping on the scale for the first time in four weeks three days after Thanksgiving. Yikes! I had gained 6.2 lbs. That added to the fact that I never lost my winter weight from "hibernation" last year meant that I was back up over 170 lbs for the first time since the Spring of 2010. I tried to jump-start myself numerous times but to no avail. How could I have let this happen?

Seeing that number on the scale gave me a much needed push. Especially considering the fact that I have decided to run a Spring marathon in 2012 (because I miss them) and need to be in good shape to start my official training in January. I knew that I needed to make the change.

Coming off my Sunday epiphany on the scale, I ran when I got home from work on Monday. I ran again yesterday (Tuesday) before The Biggest Loser. I also plan to run when I get home tomorrow. That's a good start, but let's be honest...it's not the first time I've run this year. So, how can I be sure that I really mean it this time? How can I be sure that this is not simply another upswing in the yo-yo which will inevitably come back down soon?

I will tell you how I know that I'm serious this time. I will tell you how I know that this is not another upswing in my yearlong yo-yo extravaganza. It was made clear to me by my own use of six simple words and an investigation. Here's what happened and how it went down:

Prior to running last night, Polly informed me that she made a vanilla pudding pie to eat while watching The Biggest Loser. We almost always eat goodies while watching that show. I always enjoy them. But this time, instead of just saying, "Sweeeet" or something along those lines, I replied with six simple words: How many calories does it have? Polly responded that she didn't know. We had played this game before. That's when it happened. I dug into the recycling bag for the pudding box and the trash for the pie crust package. I read the nutritional value for each and established the portion of pie I could have. Yep, that's how I knew. In that moment, I realized that I cared about what I ate again. And then my obsessive nature kicked in. I NEEDED to know the calories. I only get this way when I'm serious. During my yo-yo year, I may have looked at calories, but I definitely didn't dig through the trash for them. No, this is the clear work of a serious Mike Brown.

I'm back! And I'm happy I am. This probably means I'll be back to writing more regularly too!

trains, planes and automobiles

It has been over a month since I last posted on this blog. Thankfully, it has not been as long since I last ran. So why the crazy delay between blog posts? Simply put, I've been busy.

I started occasionally traveling for business back in June. I don't travel all the time. In fact, I get to accept or deny an opportunity to travel. But, since traveling typically comes with overtime, I typically take the opportunity. When I travel to Philadelphia this week, it will be my 6th trip since June and 4th in the last month. Add to all this traveling the fact that I have a 9 1/2 month baby girl that I want to spend time with as well as regular work and church responsibilities, I have not been left with much time to blog.

The worst part is that I actually LOVE blogging. I wish I had time to blog every day. It just hasn't worked out that way for me. And even though I have run on a few occasions since I last blogged, it has not been with much consistency. I mean, sometimes I get to run when I have free time on a business trip, but there's not a whole lot of free time. I did run one early morning in Scottsdale and most recently on the hotel's treadmill in Chicago. But once a week is not satisfying my desire/need to run. And as much as I LOVE blogging, I  LOVE running. If only there were infinite time in the day...

So what does all this mean? Well, considering the fact that I am looking to run a marathon next Memorial Day weekend (Vermont City - Burlington, VT), I'd say that it means that I need to learn balance quickly. I need to start training for the marathon in January, but want to start pre-training (get myself into running shape) by Thanksgiving. This doesn't give me long to figure this all out. If only I could train the same amount of time that I spend traveling by trains, planes and automobiles, I would be all set...but that's clearly not happening. What I need to do is come up with a plan. I need to schedule running at least 5 days a week.

So, to summarize, I need to come up with a plan/schedule by Thanksgiving. Oh, and you all have a role in this too. I'm tasking you all to keep me accountable and offer suggestions.

Maybe I can get started while waiting at Logan for my flight to Philly on Wednesday...

i run not because i read not

Some people *cough* @300_therunner (twitter) *cough* have brought up the fact that I haven't blogged in a while. This is true. So, here I am blogging to rectify this problem. And what more appropriate topic to blog about than why I haven't been blogging.

The reason for my lack of blogging is actually quite simple...because I haven't been running all that consistently. Now, don't misunderstand the situation here. I have, in fact, been running a couple of times a week. But they have all been short, easy runs. I've sort of hit a funk. Since I haven't been gung ho about running, I haven't been gung ho about writing on my blog about running. It's one of those pride things I guess. But, whatever the internal reason for not wanting to write when I'm not seriously running, it's the case. And I haven't been seriously running.

I guess the real question is...why haven't I been serious about my running. The answer to that is probably pretty simple too...at least on the surface. I haven't been running because I have lacked motivation. At the end of the day we all need something to motivate us. I am not currently training for a race so what can I use to motivate me? The truth is that health and overall well-being should be enough. My clothes are beginning to get snug again. That does offer pretty good motivation because I'm too cheap and proud to buy bigger clothes.

So why is it that sometimes I stay motivated when I'm not training and when I'm in good shape and sometimes I don't? Believe it or not, I believe I discovered the answer to that recently. It hit me when the mail came a couple of weeks ago. In sorting through my mail, I saw the latest issue of Runner's World. It quickly occurred to me that I hadn't received an issue of Runner's World in quite a few months. That's when it hit me...I also get super psyched/motivated to run when I read about other people running. It's almost like I get jealous that they are enjoying running so much so I want to do it too.

I then thought about how I hadn't picked up Running with Joy by Ryan Hall to read since vacation. In fact, I hadn't been reading anything about running. No wonder I haven't been motivated.

So, my solution. I will start reading that Runner's World that came this week and I will also get back into Running with Joy. I'm sure I'll be back to my old running self in no time.

never forget: 9/11...a look back

I still remember where I was on September 11, 2001 when I first heard the disturbing news. I was still a fairly new freshman at Central Bible College in Springfield, MO. I was in my 8:25 (central time zone) Intro to Missions class. During prayer requests, a student mentioned that she heard there was a plane accident in NYC, but that was all she knew. We prayed and went about class completely oblivious to the tragedy that had just occurred. In fact, we didn't begin to grasp the reality until we left that classroom and heard the murmur in the hallway. My 9:25 class professor broke  into tears as he spoke to our class before it (as all the others) was canceled. We were released to go back to our right's to watch the news unfold. Our whole Horton 2nd floor seemed to be huddled around the small TV in the lobby. News was still coming in, but the truth surrounding the rumors was becoming clear: the USA was under attack by terrorists.

We ended up going to chapel where the college's president addressed the faculty and student body. Class and sports were canceled for the remainder of the day. Something that would normally bring me joy suddenly offered none. We prayed. We all met in the chapel later to hear President Bush address the nation. I can't even tell you how many tears I shed that day. I didn't know anyone who died and once I discovered my Air Force uncle was not at the Pentagon that dat, I didn't suspect that I did. Yet, I grieved along with America, because though they weren't my family, they were my American brothers and sisters and they did have families they left behind. My patriotic pride kicked into full gear.

The patriotism that swept the nation in the days, weeks and months that ensued was precious. Americans came together to pick up the broken pieces. It seemed that there was an American flag everywhere you looked. United we stood, implored to never forget!

Unfortunately, people began forgetting. It wasn't long until a person driving a car with an American flag flying proudly and a "Never Forget" bumper sticker on the back could be seen flipping off another driver in traffic. It was sad to me. I was disappointed because I saw hope. I saw so much strength in this nation. It's sad that it took a tragedy to see the unity and strength of a nation. But isn't that true in life? We show our true colors when our backs are against the wall. And let me assure you, America's true colors are bright. That is who we really are. Nobody wishes another tragedy on this nation. That's why it is important that we never forget 9/11. It's the best way to honor every hero (and in my book, they all are) who died for our country that day!

May we always live as one united. God bless the American people...and God bless the USA!

deja vu...all over again

I swear this has happened before. In fact, I know it's happened. It happened just a couple months ago leading up to the Sharon Timlin Memorial 5k. I regretted it then. I told myself it wouldn't happen for the Run to the Rock 10k. Yet tomorrow is the Run to the Rock 10k and here we are...again.

As you have probably observed in my lack of posts over the last few weeks, I have lost some motivation in my training. As I mentioned in some of my previous posts, things have been really busy for me and free time is not something I have a great abundance of. That being said, I also know that it's not as though I haven't had any free time. In fact, I believe my situation could be described with the following set of inequalities:

Busy Time > Free Time
but: Free Time > 0
so, I must conclude that: Excuses > Sticktoitiveness to Persevere

This is unarguably the truth of what's going on here. I have been busy and have been limited in free time, but to say I've had no time would be a lie.

Now, to be fair, I have been training. In fact, I have been training more than I did leading up to the Sharon Timlin. However, I still haven't been training nearly enough. And I'm not sure my eating habits (while not bad) have been the best either.

Yet, here I am on the eve of Genevieve and my first race together. Everything within me is frustrated that I haven't run more than 4 miles with her (which I've done twice) and that I haven't trained harder. And the competitor in me doesn't want to run if I can't guarantee my best effort. I hate settling for less than what I am capable of. But, if you don't put in the hard work, this is the reality you're stuck with.

This is probably my biggest flaw. It's the same flaw that kept me from doing better in school because I didn't want to do homework. It's the same flaw that kept me from improving in track from my junior to senior year in high school. It's the same flaw that is typically responsible for keeping me from my best at everything. But hear this: As long as God gives me breath, I will NEVER surrender and cower to this flaw. I will never give in and accept it. I will ALWAYS fight back!

This is why, no matter how frustrated I might be, I will run the best that I can tomorrow. Sure, my time will suffer due to my lack of training drive over the last month or so (my best training week was my week of vacation). But my daughter will learn from my example, good or bad. And I would rather set a good example for her. I want her to see that even when we fail, it's no excuse to quit.

Aside from my frustration over my reduced expectations with regards to our time tomorrow, I am wicked excited at the opportunity to run a race with my daughter. I know that once I cross the finish line and get our medal and put it around her little neck, none of this other nonsense will matter to me.

Let me leave you with this thought to ponder: Flaws exist within each of us. We must make the decision of whether or not we fight them. If we don't fight our flaws, they will control us.

I know I can beat this. I've won some battles. I shaved over an hour off my marathon time last time out due to determination and effort in training (and a lot of prayer). Sometimes I win a battle and sometimes I lose a battle. In fact, I've probably lost a lot more than I've won. But I'm determined that when all is set and done and the proverbial book is closed on my life, it will say that I was a fighter and I overcame!

lazy, lazy...dreadfully lazy

You may have noticed that I haven't been blogging very consistently over the last week or so. If you were able to pay attention to my running, you would have noticed the same inconsistency with that as well. So, what's the deal?

The reason is simple: I've been in a lazy mood. Now, I don't often go through these lazy spells (in the summer anyway) but every once in a while I do. I don't always have a specific explanation for my lazy times, but they always seem to coincide with the times that I've been working too much or have been stressed out.

Last month I wrote a blog post detailing the importance of pushing through when you don't feel like running in a post titled every big tree started out as a little seed. I am not looking to contradict what I wrote in that post, but I'm looking to balance it out.

To understand this, you must understand that there is a big difference between wanting to quit or random laziness for laziness sake and a prolonged period of laziness resultant from overworking yourself or stress.

And here is my theory to dealing with week-long laziness that comes with working too hard or stress...allow it! Doesn't that fly in the face of perseverance? Some might argue that. What I've found to be true, however, is that when I run a lot during these times, I don't get much out of my runs anyway. I've also found that I prolong my laziness by pushing myself and thus further burning myself out. I exacerbate the problem. I have learned that it's better to take a break for a week. It makes me fresher for the week following both physically and (more importantly) mentally.

This isn't only true of running either. I allow myself a break from everything non-essential. I simply veg out for a week. And last week was a great week of vegging out. I only ran 2 three-mile runs. I was miserable during both. I only wrote 1 blog. I had to force my way through that. I basically took a week off from everything. It felt great!

Now today, I'm feeling so refreshed and ready to get back at it. So, if you're feeling stressed out or overworked and have struggled to have ambition to exercise, run errands or do any number of other non-essential tasks, maybe you should listen to your body and relax for a week. It might be just what you need.

busy, busy...dreadfully busy

So, I think I've made it clear that I love running. But, like anything else in life that we enjoy doing, let's face it...we don't always have time for it. I have very much been at that place lately.

In fact, since vacation a few weeks ago, I have been working crazy hours (as I mentioned in a recent blog post titled "back to the future"). Even when I haven't been working, I've been busy or tied up with other responsibilities. This has significantly impeded my running time (and as you may have noticed, my writing time as well). I hate when I don't get to run as often as I would like. In reality, our body can handle a couple of busy weeks without missing a beat, but it can be mentally tough on me.

The more I thought about how busy I've been and how little running I've done, it occurred to me that I can't be the only one who faces this battle. In fact, lack of time is probably the top reason people don't exercise as often as they should. So, I thought I'd share my little trick that usually gets me through. This is a big help both mentally and physically. And, I must confess, the reason I probably feel so miserable right now is because I haven't been doing a good job of taking my own (following) advice the last couple weeks. Still, this may be just what you're in need.

On days when you know you'll be running low on time to go for a run, try to work in these simple weights-free leg exercises (you can do them all at once or sporadically throughout your day). As when doing leg workouts with weights or running hard runs, please use caution to stretch before and after and make your run the next day an easy one. Below are some of my favorite exercises.

*NOTE: This is not an article on the technical aspect of each exercise. For proper technique, please consult a professional trainer or use online videos at your own discretion.*

1. Wall-sits
2. Lunges (I really enjoy half-full lunges)
3. Jump squats (if you're not in a practical place to jump, simple squats will do)
4. Leg raise dead lifts
5. Calf extensions (toes forward, toes pointed in and toes pointed out)

I usually do 3 sets of 12-20 reps depending on the exercise, time and how I'm feeling. For wall-sits, you can either do sets or just burn-out. Regardless, each exercise can be completed in a matter of a couple of minutes. This makes this a perfect alternative for the days when you're just so busy, busy...dreadfully busy...

poorly planned

I was driving home from the store in Ossippee, NH this morning. I had run out to pick up syrup for our waffles. That's when I saw him. I was immediately reminded me of my morning's frustrations.

All morning I had been frustrated with myself for my poor planning. I knew I should have packed my stuff. I always pack my stuff. I can't remember the last time I didn't pack it. What made it worse was the fact that I didn't simply forget to pack it. I intentionally left it all behind. I told myself I wouldn't have time to use it.

The thought occurred to me as I drove past him: "There was a time when I would have looked at him and would have been happy I wasn't him; now, I'm jealous of him." I was now even more frustrated with myself.

Not long before, I was still on my way to the store and was deep in thought. The thought occurred to me that many times when people are frustrated or disappointed, they brought it upon themselves much in the same way I had this morning. So many times we mess ourselves up by failing ourselves by failing to plan.

He looked tired. In fact, he looked kind of miserable. He looked...like he was enjoying himself way more than I was. After all, he was running and I was driving. I should have been him. I should have been running too!

I still don't know why I convinced myself that I shouldn't take my running stuff with me to New Hampshire. I told myself that I wouldn't have time. That may have been true. But wouldn't I have been better off to pack my stuff just in case? Yes. I mean, think logically here. If I had my stuff and didn't use it, no big deal. If I had my stuff and wanted to run, I could have. But I didn't think through it logically. Instead, I set myself up for failure.

I was reminded of a valuable lesson this morning though...success (in anything) begins with successful planning. If you fail to plan well, you are setting yourself up for failure. And you will succeed at failing every time.

The other truth is that you can't beat yourself up over past mistakes. This morning is in the past. I have learned from my mistake, so now I'll pick myself back up and do better tomorrow.

back to the future

I'm not as young as I used to be. This statement is obvious, but these days my body can feel it. No, I'm not sore after playing sports or running. No, I don't grunt when I get off the couch or bend over to pick something up off the floor. No, my body is not beginning to break down. If none of these things are true, then what do I mean when I say that I feel my age? My body can't neglect sleep the way that it used to and without feeling the effects.

I have been working crazy hours since returning back from vacation. Upon completion of work yesterday, I had worked 120 hours in the last 10 days. And that doesn't take church into account, which took up nearly an extra 8 hours this past Sunday. So really, it was 128 hours in a 10 day span. I've worked crazier hours in the past without feeling much effect. But let's face it, I was probably only 22 or 23 back then. Now, I'm 28. It seems like I'll need to reassess the situation next time all this overtime becomes available. Let's just say that it's unlikely that I'll pull so many extra shifts from here on out.

Regardless of this realization, I could not go back in time and undo the fatigue that the last 10 days had left me with by the time I got home yesterday. I was so tired.The last thing in the world I wanted to do was go for a run. My wife was planning to take my daughter for a walk after dinner so I opted to put my run on hold until then so I could hang out with my wife before dinner (I knew I'd be going to bed early and wouldn't have much time to hang out otherwise).

After playing with Genevieve for a bit (she crawled to me for the first time when she saw me when I first got home...that was good for an adrenaline boost), we put her down for a nap. My body wanted me to take a nap too, but I fought through. Polly and I got caught up on some old episodes of "So You Think You Can Dance?" Then, we sat down for some delicious pulled pork sandwiches, cucumbers and corn on the cob. We followed dinner getting caught up on a couple old episodes of "Storage Wars." Then we finally heard the noise from the monitor. The baby was up. This could mean only one thing...it was time for Polly to take Genevieve for her walk, and time for me to go for my run.

I didn't want to run. I really didn't. I was just so tired. But then I thought back to every other time I've ever not wanted to go for a run (I usually love running, so this usually means times I'm incredibly fatigued or really busy). Then I thought back to how I've felt every single time that I fought through and ran anyway as well as how I've felt the times when I didn't. You see, every time I've ever not wanted to run and didn't, I've been filled with great disappointment. Meanwhile, every time I've ever not wanted to run and did, I've felt great after and extremely satisfied that I ran. So, for me, it helps to look back (at my past runs and results) so I can convince myself to do something in the future (in this case, the run I was convincing myself to go on last night). I refer to this concept as "Back to the Future."

Really, the concept of "Back to the Future" is application to many aspects of our lives. My favorite book of the Bible is Joshua. I always think about how God told Joshua to grab stones from the Jordan River when the Israelites crossed through it on dry ground. God then told Joshua to use the stones to build a memorial. The purpose of the memorial was so that when people saw it they would remember the miracle God had performed for them and be encouraged that He could perform a miracle again. When we look back on our (or in this example, God's) accomplishments, it should serve as encouragement that we (God) can do it again. The first time should always be the hardest. Once we've done it once, we should know we can do it again.

With "Back to the Future" in full operation for me, I knew what I had to do. No matter how badly I wanted not to run, I needed to run. I needed to fight through the adversity. I needed to persevere. I laced up my running shoes, put on my GPS watched and headed out the door.

My plan was to run the 2.2 mile loop that starts and finishes from my house, but I ended up running past my house to meet up with Polly and Genevieve on the route I knew they would be walking. I ended up running 2.5 miles. It certainly wasn't my fastest time (somewhere under 22 minutes), but I knew that I had fought through the fatigue and persevered. As soon as I got back, I was satisfied that I had run. But then again, thanks to looking back to my previous experiences, I knew I would!

running with purpose

It's that time of year again when I merge two of my favorite things: running and raising money for missionaries. This year I am pleased to also involve a new one of my favorite things: Genevieve. On 9.10.11, Genevieve and I (her in the jogger and me pushing it) will be taking on the "Run to the Rock" 10k. It's a race to Plymouth Rock. This seems fitting as my family came on the Mayflower.

All donations will go to Speed the Light which is one of my favorite charities. Speed the Light provides transportation and communication equipment for missionaries around the world. This enables them to meet practical needs of people in need while also allowing them to share the Gospel. You can find out more about Speed the Light at www.speedthelight.com

If you would like to support this cause, you may make a donation by clicking the paypal link to the right. I also covet your prayers.

Thanks. God bless!

rain, rain go away...actually, stay

Rain is an interesting thing. It's extremely necessary and important to our sustenance but most people (though not all people) get so annoyed and even depressed by it. How do I personally feel about rain? Let's just say I have a love/hate relationship with it. Let me give two rain experiences I had recently that evoked different emotions from me.

Rain Experience 1: Rain is my enemy

 

I had planned the camping trip a few months prior. Now, it was time to go. I was so stoked. First, I love camping. Second, I love camping with my wife. Third, I loved being able to introduce my daughter to camping for the first time. Fourth, the camping trip was a great opportunity to hang out with the adult leaders and student leaders from our youth ministry. Everything about this camping trip shouted "love." We made it up there set up camp and had a great Thursday night. Friday was awesome as well. We had a great session in the morning, went for a hike, swam to some little island and just had a great day of bonding. Everything was going according to plan.

 

Then, just as I was building the fire for dinner Friday night, the skies opened up and the down-pouring onslaught of  rain began. This is when hate was introduced into the camping trip. Why? Because I hate rain while camping. And unfortunately for Polly and me, it typically rains at least once during our camping trips. While dinner was ruined, we did salvage the night with some pizza and card games in the tent. As it turned out, it was also great bonding time! Maybe the rain wasn't so bad after all, right? Wrong. I was not done being annoyed.

 

Rain during camping has everything to do with timing. I'm not talking about time of day like how it ruined dinner (though that did annoy me). I am talking about when it rains in relation to when you need to pack up and leave. In this particular case, it was not favorable. Everything was soaked when we packed up to leave. We had to re-pitch our tent and let everything dry out when we got home. It wasn't the end of the world, but it was still annoying. Rain was not my friend that weekend.

Rain Experience 2: Rain is my friend

 

A couple of weeks ago, I was up in 1000 Islands in upstate New York for vacation. You may already be wondering how vacation and rain being my friend can go together. Just hear me out and it should make sense. It rained a few days during the week. Like camping, this proved to be good bonding time. Unlike camping, however, the rain never ruined dinner and we didn't have to pack up wet things. In and of itself, this would typically leave me indifferent about the rain. And for the majority of the week that's exactly how I felt...indifferent. But there was one rain storm that brought me to that place of actually loving it.

As you most likely know (and as the name and purpose of this blog even attests to), I am a runner. I love to run. And if you read any of my blogs that I wrote looking back at my vacation, you know that I ran on 4 separate occasions for a total of 20.2 miles. One morning, it was raining (drizzling to begin and a good, steady rain to end) when I went for my run. I was in my "happy place." I love running in the rain. I don't know if it's the cool feel of the rain, the lack of humidity, the change from monotony, the reminder of God's sovereignty, the rain's calming/relaxing nature, or a combination of  these things and more (most likely), but I really do love running in the rain.

Some people turn to the lame, boring treadmill when they look outside and see the rain. I try to lace my shoes as fast as I can so I don't run the risk of missing the rain during my run. Last year, during a 20 mile run while in marathon training, it rained the entire time. I even stepped into a big puddle (not my favorite, but not a big deal either). That run was the easiest (and dare I say best) long run I have ever had. I enjoyed the run from start to finish.

So, that's my love-hate relationship with rain. When it's camping I hate it. When I'm running I love it. If you're one of those people who hits the treadmill you see a drop of water fall from the sky, I want to encourage you to give running in the rain a try next time. You might even end up loving it as much as I do!

more than i can chew?

As I mentioned in a post the other day, Genevieve and I have been in need if increasing our distance with the jogger as we train for a 10k next month (9/10/11). Up to this point, we had only run 2.2 miles (on three separate occasions). In an effort to build up to at least a 6.2 mile training run (though preferably 8-10) I opted to run 4 miles with her today.

As I also mentioned in a post from the other day, the only way to run more than 2.2 miles (a loop near my house) while considering Genevieve's safety is to drive somewhere. There is a long bike trail 20 minutes from my house, so that's where we decided to go.

The game plan for plotting the distance was simple...2 miles out, 2 miles back. The tougher decision regarded the speed. Should I run at an easy pace or push myself for some speed? My 2.2 mile run on Wednesday night was at an 8:30 pace. I decided to maintain that pace for this 4 mile run as well. Now that these decisions were made, it was time actually run.

Genevieve was ready to go...

Before I say how the run went, it may be worth noting (or it may just be a lame excuse) that it was hotter (and more humid) than I expected.

I went out (first 2 miles) at around an 8:30 pace. Considering the scattered hills, I feel it was comparable to the current route I run so I hit my mark. Great, right? Nope. I was already exhausted. There was no way I was going to be able to keep that pace up for another 2 miles. I had to make a decision on the fly. I decided to run at an easy pace for the 2 mile run back. In hindsight this would have been a good plan from the beginning (running my near usual distance at my current pace and the other half slower to add distance). I turned around and headed back.

My arms were ready feeling it on the run back. When I run on my own, my arms are at a 90° angle and slightly swinging on the side of my body. With the jogger, my arms are being used to hold, stabilize and push the jogger. This expends extra energy. That was energy I was longing for at this point. I labored on.

There was one point that I definitely wanted to stop and walk for a bit. I knew that would be a bad move for me and prayed for strength to persevere. Why would that be a bad move, by the way? If I don't push through that wall in training, I will not push through during the race either.

It also proved beneficial that I watched the movie "Soul Surfer" last night. If you're unfamiliar with the basics of the true story, I will summarize it for you briefly. Bethany Hamilton was arising starin the surfing world when at age 13 she was attacked by a shark and lost her left arm. She also lost 60% of her blood meaning her survival was nothing short of miraculous. Perhaps as amazing as her survival, however, was the fact that she was back to surfing within a month. She did turn pro a few years ago and remains competitive, even with only one arm. As a solid Christian, she attributes her success to God's grace. This is an area we are in clear agreement on. Every time I run (or do anything), it's in His strength and for His glory.

So, with Bethany Hamilton's perseverance in mind and with God's strength on my side, I pressed through. When I reached the 4-mile mark, I was spent. To be honest, I felt miserable. I ended up running a 9:30 pace for the final two miles. In encouraging news, even that's a faster pace than I ran my first 2.2 mile with her about a month ago.

Running with a jogger has proven to be tough. I erred in my thinking with regards to my plans for today's run. The question is begging to be asked: "Have I bitten off more than I can chew?" The answer: it depends. If I run on my own strength, then yes. But as long as I remember that my strength is from the Lord, I know I will persevere on 9/10/11 just as through His strength I persevered today!

tresdoscuatro

I don't think it comes at a great surprise to people who know me that I love sports. I love to play them and love to watch them. It's probably also not a great surprise that when it comes to being a spectator, I root for all teams Boston. This has proven to be a fun reality over the last decade as our teams have dominated. And none have dominated more than the Patriots. That being said, they are also the team that has gone the longest without winning. As such, I've been excited to see them working toward building another legitimate contender for this season. And no move has been bigger this off-season than the addition of Chad Ochocinco.

For those who don't know, Chad Ochocinco legally changed his name from Chad Johnson so he could have his self-given nickname (Ochocinco) on the back of his jersey. Ochocinco is Spanish for 8-5. His jersey number is 85 (notice that it's not Spanish for 85).

I also enjoy playing fantasy sports, including fantasy football. I decided to honor the addition of Ochocinco in naming my team. I was trying to pick a significant number. I thought about my favorite number (if you followed my old "such is life." blog, you may know that 43 is my favorite number). Although it's my favorite number, though, it is so arbitrarily, so it just didn't jump out to me as significant enough. I thought about my college soccer number (7) but as a single-digit number it wouldn't have a good ring to it. I finally decided on "tresdoscuatro." Clearly, I meant this to represent 3-2-4 (or 324). Why 324? Let me explain.

Anyone who runs races knows that you are issued a bib number. The numbers are typically generated randomly based on when you sign up (unless your an elite runner who automatically gets either their name or low number). Needless to say the number rarely holds much significance since you don't get to choose it (or I would probably choose 43). "324" was the bib number in my last race (2011 Sharon Timlin Memorial 5k).

So if numbers are generated randomly, what qualifies the bib number from my last race to be significant? The answer: it was also coincidentally the bib number from the 2010 Hartford Marathon - my last race before the 2011 Sharon Timlin Memorial 5k. What are the odds of having the same bib number twice? I'm sure that based on their randomness, the odds can't be high. Especially considering I was issued bib 324 in two straight races. I may never get that bib number again (the odds are probably even less likely for that now) but the number will now always hold significance to me.

I'm not at all superstitious (I'm God-focused) and don't believe in luck, but that doesn't mean that I didn't/don't appreciate this crazy coincidence. Is that weird? Have you ever had the same bib number twice? Have you ever held a number dear to you for a random reason?

from jogging stroller to running stroller

Considering the fact that we needed to pack enough stuff for Polly, the baby and me for a whole week and taking into account the fact that I only have a Subaru Legacy (not an especially big car), the jogging stroller didn't make the cut of things to bring with us on vacation. In actuality, it's tough enough to fit the jogging stroller in the car without everything else (I have to remove the front wheel to make it fit [it's designed to do this quite conveniently]). Not being able to take the jogger meant that I couldn't run with Genevieve for a whole week. Considering the fact that our race is only slightly more than a month away (9/10/11), this reality was not incredibly helpful. If anything, I need to be increasing my training with the stroller, not decreasing it. But, there was no legitimate alternative solution. Chalk that one up to "such is life." This truth made the importance of getting out there and running with the stroller more of a priority.

Out of a need for some overtime at work (especially after a week of vacation) I chose to work 3 overtime shifts this week. That means that there are only three days I can run this week. One of those days was yesterday. As I was on my way home, the weather seemed reasonable (not too hot, too cold or raining). I called Polly and told her that I needed to run with the baby. Polly informed me that my schedule for doing so was tight because Genevieve was tired from waking up too early from her previous nap.

I got home, changed quickly, grabbed the baby and got ready to run. Genevieve gets cranky when she's tired. She wasn't cranky at the moment, but the longer I took the more tired she could be.The pressure was on. The faster I ran, the faster Polly could put the baby down for her nap (of course, she could have slept in the jogger if she was really that tired).

So, I was in a rush. Being in a rush meant that I had to run at a "fast enough" pace. Running with a jogger has been new to me. I am slower when I run with it than without. I don't think I need to explain why this is the case. Each time I have run with it (3 times now), I have run the same 2.2 mile route (more about that and the issue there in a moment). Here are my times for the first two 2.2 mile jogging stroller runs leading up to yesterday:

Run 1: 21:46
Run 2: 19:48

Before I tell you about yesterday's run, let me get to the issue of the route. It's a 2.2 mile loop around my house. The route is hilly (which is good for training, harder on time), but that's certainly not an issue. I enjoy running hills. The issue is that I haven't ventured a farther distance yet because it's the only area around my house I feel safe enough running with her (we don't have sidewalks in my back-woodsy location). The reason this is an issue is because the race is 4 miles longer than this route. I would like to run at least the 10k distance prior to the race, and my preference would actually be to go for 10 miles. There is a bike path 20 minutes away that I can go to, but I need the time to do that (the time to get there and back as well as the time to run the farther distance). Being in a rush certainly didn't leave me the option of venturing out on this occasion. So, that's why I once again stuck to this route.

Since I can't improve the distance until my (and Genevieve's) schedule allows, I need to work on getting faster and pushing harder. So, I tried to go at a decent pace yesterday. Running faster up hills is a great workout...and really tiring. I ended up shaving another minute yesterday making it 3 minutes since the first run:

Run 3: 18:46

I would like to run the entire 6.2 miles (10k) in 8:00 minute miles. This means 4 more miles at a slightly faster pace than yesterday. That's a lot to achieve in the course of a month. But I'm confident that with God's help, I will accomplish that goal. I had been taking it pretty easy to this point (even yesterday), but I want to go take it from being a jogging stroller to being a running stroller. Who likes to "jog" anyway?

For the record, Genevieve ate and immediately conked out upon our return...

by the numbers: vacation edition

4: Number of times I ran while on vacation. This was directly proportional to the number of clean running shorts I had at the time of packing. One pair of shorts seems to have gone missing and the other was used to run the night before I left. Six pairs of running shorts is not nearly enough, so I will be investing in more shortly. I ran on the Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of my vacation.

20.2: Total miles ran during those four runs. I ran runs of 5, 6.2, 4 and 4. This is my highest weekly total since marathon training from 2010.

2.5: Miles run while carrying a newspaper. I ran to a local market to get the newspaper. The market was precisely 2.5 miles away so I had to run the 2.5 miles back with the paper in hand. As it turned out, this was mostly uphill. It's also worth noting that I did this run on the Sunday. For those old school folks who have ever purchased an actual newspaper, you are likely aware that Sunday papers are easily the thickest of the week.

.25: Distance of my intervals for my Thursday run. I ran a half mile warm up before stretching. (I only stretch before running when I'm doing speed workouts.) I then traded off sprinting and jogging quarter mile intervals for 3 miles. I finished by running an easy half mile to cool down before stretching again. (I always stretch after a run regardless of the speed or distance.)

5:19: The fastest pace my GPS watch clocked me at during my intervals. I averaged under 6-minute miles for the first couple sprinting intervals, but ended closer to 7-minute miles. The 5:19 simply represents the fastest I was running at any moment. On the one hand, it was encouraging to me to see my speed hit that mark while still so early into my objective of getting back into running shape (it had been about a month by that run). On the other hand, it was discouraging in the grand scheme of things because my fastest timed mile in high school was 5:17. I ran faster than the fastest I ran while "sprinting" for an entire mile about 11 years ago. Looking at my actual average makes it worse. I was running just under 1:30 quarter miles, which is far from the 60 second quarters I was running in high school. Ok, ok...so I'm getting older, but at age 28, shouldn't I be in the peak years of my life right now physically? Maybe it's because I was 30 lbs lighter in high school when I ran those times. *Note: I don't sprint my absolute fastest during the "sprints" but simply go the fastest I think I can maintain for the entire quarter mile.

6.2: The longest distance I ran in one run during the week. This is also the equivalent of a 10K which I will be running with my daughter in just over a month. I'm not going to lie...adding the jogger into the mix is going to slow me down. Let's just hope it doesn't slow me down too much.

5: Slices of pizza I ate when we went for all you can eat pizza on Wednesday night. Normally, I don't eat pizza at all and definitely don't exceed 2 slices. But, when you're on vacation, you do crazy things. Hey, it was $5/person...I wanted to get my money's worth. On the positive side, I could have undoubtedly scarfed down another 5 no problem, but showed restraint. Pizza is not necessarily a runner's best friend, but there are plenty worse things one could eat.

2: Number of "coins" I purchased at a shop in Alexandria Bay. They were inspirational runner coins. On the front is a picture of a runner. On the back is the phrase, "With God, All Things Are Possible." This is a direct reference to Matthew 19:26. This is not at all what Jesus was talking about in this passage but that doesn't make it any less true! The coin was a cool piece that flows well with my running motto: "in His strength. for His glory." I will run with one of the coins during the 10k I'm running with Genevieve next month and then gift it to her after the race as a memento for her first race and a reminder of where her strength comes from. The other I already gifted to my running partner and teammate from East to West Running Club Peter Stivers (follow him on twitter @300_therunner).

2: Number of chapters I knocked out in Ryan Hall's book Running with Joy. I obviously intended to read a lot more while on vacation but opted to veg out a bunch instead.

100: Satisfaction level that I bought a GPS watch with my Christmas money earlier this year. I use it at home as well and it certainly has a great benefit to me, but the convenience of running on vacation without haven't to figure out mapping a route beforehand is a time saver and stress saver. I recommend this tool to all serious runners!

now that's running that teaches, eh?

"I recommend the Old English Pub in Gananoque." The Canadian customs officer handed back our papers (Polly and my passport and Genevieve's birth certificate) and sent us on our way. Polly and I quickly decided to take the officer's lunch suggestion. We had no reason not to. We were completely unfamiliar with the area. Forget southeast Ontario, I had never even been to Canada. Polly visited this area once but she was only a kid. Having a suggestion from a local was a benefit. Our plan was to find a random restaurant. After all, our whole purpose for grabbing lunch in Canada while on vacation in upstate New York was so I could finally leave the United States for the first time in my life (which is sad considering that I grew up about 3 1/2 hours from the Canadian border). We were going to Canada to say we went to Canada. So, I followed the signs for Gananoque and we were on our way. (It's also worth noting that this was Genevieve's first trip out of the country.)

Unsurprisingly, southeastern Ontario looked a lot like New England. That aspect didn't make me feel like I was in a foreign country. In fact, only two things really jumped out at me and reminded me that we were no longer in the U.S.A. as we made our way to the restaurant.

One thing that jumped out at me was the prominence of maple leafs and lack of stars and stripes on the flags waving high. I have noticed this phenomenon before while traveling through the Canadian waters of the St. Lawrence River during previous vacations to 1000 Islands, but this was my first time experiencing it while driving down the road. I have grown so accustomed to seeing the American flag that it was eerie to me not seeing one.

The other thing that jumped out at me was more significant. Within less than a minute I saw a sign featuring the speed limit. The speed was written in kilometers with the equated miles per hour listed beneath. I was immediately thankful that the miles per hour was listed. Why? Because I don't know the metric system! I am from the U.S.A. We are one of only three countries (Myanmar and Liberia are the others) in the world that do not use the metric system.

*Random Soapbox* I have never understood why the U.S. has been so stubborn and refused to move to the metric system along with nearly every other nation of the world. And it's not as though the world uses it for no reason...it's a better system. Why wouldn't you want to use a base 10 system instead of a system that has no true base. How many meters are in a kilometer? 1,000. That's easy. Why is it easy? Because the system makes sense. Now, how many feet are in a mile? 5,280. How does that make sense. (To be fair, I wouldn't have known the answer with certainty without Google's assistance.) I want the U.S. to switch over. It might be tough initially, but it will make all the sense in the world (literally) moving forward. *End of Rant*

Unfortunately for me, the first speed limit sign was the only that included the miles per hour as well. I suddenly realized that I had no clue what the speed limit actually was. We saw a sign for Gananoque: "14 KM". Awesome. How far is that? Then it hit me (actually, I think Polly brought it up)...I can roughly figure this out. How? I don't know the conversion for our stupid system to metric, right? Well, I actually do...sort of. Here's what I remembered I knew. I run 5K's. 5K is roughly 3.1 miles. That means that 14K is just under 15K which would be nearly 9.3 miles. Figuring that 1K is roughly .6 miles based on this knowledge, I decided that 14K must be around 8.7 miles. I saw a speed limit sign for 50 KM/hour. That was an easy one...roughly 31 mph. Suddenly I realized that running prepared me better for visiting a foreign country than my extremely American math class. Now that's running that teaches, eh? (We did actually hear Canadians use "eh." It humored me).

Now, you may have just read the previous paragraph and screamed my ignorance to me. What ignorance? Well, shortly after figuring out the conversion rate using my knowledge of 5K's, I realized that speedometers also include KM/hour. I'm sure I knew that before, but never having used it I clearly forgot. I felt pretty dumb when I realized this. What can I say though...such is life. I guess it's a good reminder that sometimes the most obvious answer is the one right in front of you. (I compare it to how many times I see something I previously missed while reading the Bible. That's why there's no such thing as reading it enough.)

For the record, our three-hour venture into Canada was well worth it. We had a great time. The Old English Pub proved to be a good recommendation. I ordered the Buffalo Pot Pie (made with locally raised bison). Polly got a burger. Genevieve tried her first pickle (which she seemed to like). The food was delicious. We walked around a bit and window shopped. The only store we bought something from was a candy store. We bought some good maple toffee candies to share, a chocolate treat for me and an ice cream for Polly. I paid with a $20USD and received Canadian change back at a 1/1 rate (which was slightly to my advantage based on the actual current exchange rate). I used some of the newly acquired Canadian money to get back over the bridge into the U.S. Lacking the desire to stop and exchange the rest (seven dollars Canadian), we opted to save it for Genevieve as a souvenir for her to remember her first trip into Canada (and out of the U.S.).

This blog post seems to have taken on a life of its own and didn't even include an actual run, but I will be sure to post about my actual runs as well as other stories/lessons from my vacation tomorrow.

if a = b and b=c then a=c

It's my favorite time of year again...time for vacation. Polly's family has been going to Thousand Islands on the Saint Lawrence River in upstate New York for many years. Polly and I have gone up there numerous times since we've been a couple, but last year was the first year we went up for the full week together. We shut off our phones and computers and just relaxed. We enjoyed the relaxation so much that we decided to do it again this year. This year marks a special family vacation, however, in that it will be our baby's first. This is our chance to set a precedence of setting aside vacation time as a family.

Last year when we went up, Polly and I decided to camp for a few days on Wellesley Island before we joined her family. Minus the ridiculous amount of spiders crawling on everything (literally thousands), it was an awesome time. Last year's vacation fell in the middle of marathon training so I didn't really have a choice but to run. I bought a hydration pack because of the trip. They were out of CamelBak's at the EMS I went to so I had to settle for a different brand. It was okay, but I exchanged it for the CamelBak upon my return from vacation. Wellesley Island was just over 8 miles of roads going across, so I had to run an out and back (total of 16 miles) while camping. I was committed, but I didn't have a choice...I needed to train, so I did.

So, how about this year? I'm not currently in the midst of marathon training (my next marathon is not until next May), just working toward getting in solid shape for when I do start. I can afford a week without running, right? Absolutely. There's no question that my body won't lose anything consequential physically if I opt not to run at all. But as you know if you read my post "searching for middle ground" from the other day, there's no way I could handle it mentally. I would feel like such a slouch if I took a whole week off from running. Good or bad, this is simply the reality.

I want to take a quick look at whether or not this reality is a good or bad thing. Is it bad that I wouldn't allow myself a break from running while I'm on vacation even if it's not critical? The answer: I don't think so. There are two major reasons that I'm completely okay with feeling this way:

1. Lifestyle - I mentioned in that post "searching for middle ground" that I am either all in or all out. If I take a break this coming week what's to keep me from taking a break the following week too. The same people who think it's okay to take a break from exercise during vacation are the same people who think it's okay to eat whatever you want while on vacation. The biggest problem with each of these mindsets is that you don't actually get to pause life and reality while on vacation. What you do on vacation will affect you once vacation is over. Being healthy and running is a lifestyle to me. As long as I'm living, these things need to be an active part of my life.

2. Relaxation - The biggest purpose of vacations (for me) is rest and relaxation. Vacation gives me an opportunity to unwind and decompress. The reality for me (though I realize this is not true for everyone) is that running is one of the main ways I relax, unwind and decompress. I think this is the reason I actually love running so much. Running is neither work nor a chore to me; it's a treat that I look forward to. I love either praying or just letting my mind fly freely in thought (about so many different things) while running. I also love the feeling of satisfaction when I've completed a good run. Physiologically, our body is releasing endorphins when we run, so that feeling of satisfaction is real and has purpose. Not to mention that I feel joy when I know that I have used an ability God has given me and let it glorify Him (I think Ryan Hall would agree with this, so I'll throw in a quick plug for his book "Running with Joy"). This is why I talk about running in His strength and for His glory. I want to glorify God in all I do.

Focusing on point 2 above a little more, I think there's a deeper truth here as alluded to in my subject. The transitive relation of equality teaches that if a=b and b=c then a=c. Follow this logic with me for a moment as I give values to a, b and c.

a=running
b=relaxing
c=vacation

With this values input into the equation, it would read this way:

If running = relaxing and relaxing = vacation then running = vacation.

The more I think about it the more I realize that this equation proves true for me. Every time I run it's like I'm on a mini vacation. Running really is that relaxing and enjoyable to me. Anyone else feel this way?

Anyway, since I will be on a week-long vacation starting tomorrow, it's worth noting that I will likely not be on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or Blogger during that time. I'll talk to you all in a week!

money well spent

Some people may think I'm cheap, but I like to think of myself as frugal. I mean, I'm no extreme couponer, but I hate spending money unnecessarily. Aside from the fact that I don't exactly have unlimited resources, I also just hate the idea of wasting while so many in the world live in such poverty. All that being said, running cost money...plain and simple.

Some money you need to spend is easier to understand and rationalize than other money. For example, if you want to sign up for anything from a 5k to an ultra marathon (not that I know this one personally...yet), you can expect to pay an entry fee. But when you consider the cost of the operation to put the run together like the water and energy products, the police details, the t-shirts, the prize money, the awards, etc. it's easy to see the necessity of that money. Also making it easy for most 5k's is the fact that all proceeds typically go to a specific cause. I have never complained about paying an entry fee. Of course, if I wanted to be cheap/frugal here I could be. I could simply run on my own and never participate in events.

If you are a runner, however, then you know that the biggest running expense is not an entry fee to a race. No, the biggest expense for running is the equipment...sneakers. And, in my opinion, no matter how much they may cost, this is money well spent. Running shoes is an area that I will never attempt to go cheap on, and for good reason. Before I explain why, let me tell you how this topic came to mind.

I was at a cookout after church on Sunday. I was sitting at a table with a group roughly my age (they were in college and I am nearing 30, but I like to pretend that I still belong). I brought up running (as always) and one of the girls (she will remain nameless, but let's just say that her name could be defined by Webster as "a variable color averaging a dark orange yellow") told me that she was excited that she just bought a pair of running shoes, and GOT A GOOD DEAL. Uh oh. As an avid runner, I was immediately concerned. I asked her where she bought them. "Marshalls!" Oh no. I was afraid she would say something like that. The next question was an obvious one. How much did she pay? "$20!" Oh boy. I hated to be the bad guy here, but I said what needed to be said. I told her that it was a good thing that she hadn't paid so much because she was going to need to turn them into regular wearing out shoes and buy herself a real, good pair of running shoes. I then went on to explain to her what I will explain next.

Running is fun. Running is relaxing. Running is awesome. But running also has a risk of injury that comes with it. Our knees don't necessarily appreciate the constant pounding that running puts on them. Sometimes, neither do our shins, ankles, feet, etc. In order to reduce that risk as best we can and keep our lower body (and potentially our back) happy, we need to ensure that we have the proper equipment. And no piece of equipment is more important that our shoes. We need to ensure that our body is properly supported. (In fact, some people have recently jumped on the band wagon of minimalist shoes like 5-toed and such. I've yet to be convinced, but I am listening.) Running shoes is not the thing to get a GOOD DEAL on. I mean, if you can get a good pair cheaper, by all means, do. But don't just look for the cheapest running shoe that looks "cute."

There are plenty specialty running stores these days since the popularity of distance running has increased over the last couple decades. At these stores, staff are at the ready to analyze your gait (whether or not you pronate, etc.) and work hard to fit you into the right shoe for you. The truth is that the shoe that works for you may not work for me. In fact, I've been running in the newest model of the same series from Asics for quite some time now as they are simply the best shoe for me. The best thing about this evaluation is that it's free. You are committed to buying any shoes, but the price is the regular retail price (unless there's a sale) which means you're not overpaying comparable to what you would pay for that same shoe elsewhere.

If you are planning to start running or if you run and have never had an evaluation done (and especially if you feel any weird twinges in your body when you run) then I heavily recommend going to the experts. I promise that it's the best decision you can make as a runner and it will be money well spent. (It's also worth noting that now that I know what shoe I need, I shop around and buy it the cheapest I can...hey, I'm still frugal.)

Completely off topic for a moment, I will say that the best piece of running equipment I ever purchased though didn't need is my Garmin GPS watch. I heavily recommend them to serious runners. A close second is my CamelBak for really long runs (I ran my second marathon with it).

So, just remember, though it's okay to be frugal, don't ever let it blind you from recognize areas that is money well spent!

searching for middle ground

I don't know about you, but I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to life. I'm either all in or all out. I don't do very well with the in between. This can be either good or bad for me. Let me explain.

When I was busy gaining weight in college, I never even thought about exercise or a healthy diet. I sat my lazy butt down in my chair and played Madden. The only exceptions to this were when I hung out with friends (and for a couple of years, my girlfriend Polly Skidmore), over-reacted to a Nintendo version of Jeopardy, or investigated restricted areas around the campus. Oh yeah, and my late night McDonald's, Taco Bell, Taco Express or Andy's Frozen Custard runs. I was committed to being lazy. I was all in. Hey, gaining weight was hard work for me.

When I finally decided to change my ways and lose weight a couple of years ago, I was also all in. I barely ever ate anything for dessert, ate no junk food, exercised constantly, weighed myself daily, etc. I had simply gone from one extreme to the next. Leading up to the second marathon was much of the same.

In the two winters following my marathon runs, I have run a combined total of maybe 10 miles...maybe. After each marathon, I decided to shut it down. And when I shut it down, I shut it down completely. I often joke that it's my winter hibernation. I eat whatever I want and do not even think about exercising.

It took me longer to get back on track this year with the new little addition to our family, but now that I'm back on track, I'm on board completely. I am back to eating completely healthy and exercising constantly. I'm either all in or all out. There is no middle ground for me. And that's where the problem lies.

See, what I need is some balance. I mean, I want to eat healthy and not feel guilty about having an occasional sweet. I want to take a day off from exercising (God even designed us to work six days and then rest on the seventh, so it's clear why there's value in it) without feeling guilty and like I'm a lazy sluggard. I need to find that in between. I need to know that rest is not only okay but necessary. And it's not that I don't ever take the day off to rest...it's that I feel guilty when I do.

I don't want to lose my obsessive nature in all things. After all, God has used that to draw me near to Him and into His service as a pastor. No, I don't want to lose my passion in my walk with God, but I do hope and pray that I will find this middle ground and balance when it comes to all other aspects of my life.

every big tree started as a little seed

I'm going all out in my training for my marathon next May, so I want to make sure I enter my training in good shape. As a result, I've decided to throw some speed workouts into my regular running regiment. And what better speed workout than running hills?

I have to be honest here...I haven't "run hills" since my 2000 cross country high school season. The reason: I have never really been a fan. Having asthma doesn't help, but honestly, I'm just lazy. But, I have decided to push myself and train properly. So, I can't skip running hills.

I did my first hills workout a couple of weeks ago. Within 3/10 of a mile from my house is a 1/4 mile hill with a pretty good grade. For those of you who might not be familiar with hill workouts for runners, a 1/4 mile stretch is ideal. Running hills is pretty much what it sounds like...you run up the hill at a good pace and then jog back down. You can repeat this as often as you like. For my first one in 10 1/2 years, I opted to run the hill 3-5 times. And even though I wanted to quit after 3, I pushed through and completed the 5.

So, when I went out for my second workout last week, I was feeling pretty confident. I decided to just do the 5 again. It didn't take me very long to realize that 5 wasn't going to happen on that particular day, however. I had been doing intense workouts all week and my body was getting mad at me. I was afraid that overdoing it might be unsafe for me and could lead to over-exhaustion or injury. So, on my second trip up the hill, I decided to cap this one at 3 and run a little extra normal running after to complete my workout for the day.

Halfway up the hill the third time, I wanted to start walking. "My lungs will feel much better is I walk," I thought. There was probably some good logical truth in that thought. But thankfully the opposing thought spoke up, "You know, what you do on July 14 will impact what you will do on May 27th next year." That thought really stood out to me. After pushing through the remainder of that final hill, I contemplated that thought further. The more I chewed on the thought, the more it made sense.

Running is full of teaching moments for me. And the cool thing is that it's not always just about running. It's usually applicable to life as well. This was one of those moments for me. I mean, when expanded a little, this thought really does apply to life in general. Let's take a closer look and let me know if this makes sense to you too.

The decisions that we make today affect the decisions we will make tomorrow. This can be either good or bad. For example, if I decide to cheat on a test today, I'm more likely to cheat on my next test as well. This is what I like to call the law of depravity. The more we open ourselves up to doing something, the more we're likely to do it without even thinking about it. On the opposite side of that is this example: if I choose to live with integrity today, I'll be more likely to live with integrity tomorrow.

As I was thinking about this thought, the analogy of a tree came to mind. All big, strong trees started as tiny little seeds. If you look at a seed, it may seem quite inconsequential, but it's not. In the same way, one decision made today could seem completely inconsequential to you, but the reality is that it might turn into a big, strong tree someday. This is why every decision in our life matters, whether with regards to our jobs, school, families, faith, etc. It may seem like a simple little choice, but each choice also represents a direction that your heading.

We will all inevitably make bad choices, but even that lends to another choice: how we respond. We can also thank God for his grace that He offers us when we make choices we shouldn't. But we still have to choose to change.

I want to challenge you to take a little extra effort and time as you make your choices today and see if it doesn't benefit you more in the long run (no pun intended).

I can promise you this...I was really happy with myself for making the decision that I did the other day to keep running up that hill. That decision didn't just mean that I got a better workout on July 14th, it built character toward my marathon on May 27th as well!

running deflated

We have three strollers for Genevieve...a travel system stroller, an umbrella stroller and a jogger. And to be completely honest, the only one I've been excited about from before she was born is the jogger. A little over a week ago, I decided it was finally time to use it.

I was so excited at the prospect. I called my wife on my way home from work and asked her to prepare the baby for her first run. I came home, changed really quickly and took the freshly sun-screened baby and headed for the door. But I had forgotten one minor detail...the tires didn't have any air in them.

Back when I assembled the jogger, I knew it would be quite some time before I would actually use it. With that knowledge in mind, I knew it would be better for me to wait to add the air, as it would deflate from sitting idle anyway. What I hadn't accounted for was that I would forgot by the time I was ready to use it.

I looked for our hand pump. It was nowhere to be found. That's right! It broke last time I inflated the tires on my bike. No big deal...our friends have one! This was true, but one slight problem, it wouldn't fit the jogger's tire. With no other solutions in mind and Genevieve's nap time creeping up on her, I decided just to go without filling the tires. We were ready to go.

I was only planning a 2.2 mile run, so no big deal anyway, right? Boy, don't I wish that were true. The reality: running with the jogger was tough. I was 2 minutes off the pace I have been running as of late. It was a challenging run (especially up the hills) that I definitely underestimated.

The other day, I took Genevieve out for her second run in the jogger. Only this time, the tires were inflated. I discovered two things: 1. running with inflated tires makes a huge difference (lowered my pace by just about a whole minute) and 2. running with a jogger is still challenging.

Regardless the challenge, I will keep running with my daughter. We have a 10k together in September, so there's not much choice anyway. But training for the 10k aside, I still want to run with Genevieve. One reason is that the added challenge will only make me stronger. The more important (and less selfish) reason, however, is that she really seems to enjoy it. She doesn't complain at all and just looks all around. I will guarantee one thing though...I'll be sure to ensure the tires are always inflated before we go.

i am a writer. i am a runner.

I am not new to writing. I am not new to running either. However, this blog is the first time I am combining these two passions. Well, at least publicly. (I journaled during a marathon training season once.) For my first post on this new blog, I thought I would share briefly about each of these passions.

I have loved writing for as long as I can remember. I have ranged from short stories to poetry to song lyrics to articles to blogging. And I love blogging. My last two blogs were polar opposites of each other. "such is life" was packed full of random musings. "in His strength. for His glory" was serious Bible studying. Each lacked good balance for me. This blog is a bit of a hybrid of the two. This blog will offer me a good forum to write about random things with a sometimes serious twist.

I fell in love with running my junior year of high school (spring of 2000). I joined the track team because a few of my friends were doing it. During tryouts I couldn't finish one lap around the track. My coach saw potential though so I made the team. I was turned into a distance runner. During my final 1600 (mile) of that season, I ran a 5:17 mile, which is still my fastest mile ever. I was the recipient of that season's Coach's Award. Unfortunately, however, I never did the work to get better. I ran all three seasons the following year. I graduated at 160 lbs (25 lbs more than my fastest mile running weight). By my sophomore year of college, my running days seemed over. Laziness took over. I went seven years before I would look to run seriously again.

In the Spring of 2009, I had finally had enough. I was 215 lbs of pure junk food eating couch potato. I decided to get back into shape. The only thing I knew I was capable of was running. So I did what most people would do...I signed up for a marathon that fall. I was down to about 175 lbs by the marathon, but I had undertrained (which may be an understatement) and had a tough time on the hilly course. My final time was just under 5:30 hours, which was disappointing, but better than not running. More than that though, I was hooked. I had fallen back in love with running. I ran another marathon in 2010 with much more consistent training leading into it. I wanted to finish between 4:00-4:20 but ended up a little under 4:30. I had still shaved over an hour off my previous pr. I also ran my first 5k since high school with a time just over 22 minutes.

With Genevieve coming in January of this year, I opted to take the year off. I took way too long to get back into the swing of running so it was the right choice. I ran the same 5k as last year with a time of nearly 3 minutes slower, but considering how out of shape I was, I can't complain. I am running a 10k with Genevieve in the jogger this Fall. The truth is, however, that I'm having marathon withdrawals. I've already decided to run the Vermont City Marathon next Memorial Day Weekend.

I've had my ups and downs in running and writing alike. But the fact remains that deep down I love them both and they have both taught me so much. With this blog, I'm hoping these two passions combined can help teach you all something too.