June 13, 2009 by john.

Well, it’s been a while (like over 3 months) so maybe it’s time to check back in again.

First, let’s tie up some loose ends.

After hurting my knee three weeks before the race in March, I rested and did light workouts for the next two weeks. Then I ran a couple of times before the race and headed out on Saturday, March 28 for the big day.

The weather the day before the race was great. The weather the day after the race was great. The weather the day of the race was crummy. Picture it - cold wind, temp around 28 degrees, snow flurries, spitting rain…. yep, you get it! 170 people signed for the race, 107 showed up. Anyhow, I was there, I ran and actually did better than my training times. I finished in 36:22, was 61st out of 107 and was 3rd in my age group (yes, there were more than 3 in my age group!). In fact, I finished before the winner in the ladies 60+ group - thereby proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that after all my training I can run faster than an old lady.

Moving on from there, I participated in the local Relay for Life, running 8 laps and walking about another 10 or so at a local high school track. On one of my running laps, they had lit the luminaria bags and then turned out the lights while I was running. That was a really neat experience running in the dark with only the candle lit bags lighting the track. Our team raised over $1000 for the American Cancer Society, so that was also a successful venture.

Life goes on and I’m still working out a few days a week at the gym. Lately I’ve started running 3.25 miles on the treadmill once or twice a week. My last couple of times were around 39:58 and 39:32. Not great, but at least respectable.  There is a race in Denison next weekend, but I’ve got too much to do around the house and farm next weekend to spend it on the race. I’m still training, though, as if I was going to run just to give myself a decent goal to strive for.

Now on to today.  I’m sitting in the airport in Nashville waiting for the boarding call for my flight that has already been delayed an hour. [break] OK, now I’m actually on the plane heading home. This weekend was The Gathering ‘09, a celebration of life, love, story, and The Great Romance. I’ve got so many thoughts running around in my head that there will most likely be several blog entries coming on this (yeah, right - I really AM planning on writing more soon!). For now, you can read more about the Gathering, and about Ted Dekker (the host) at www.teddekker.com and www.teddekker.com/gathering09. [note to self: check links]

One of the main themes that resonated throughout the talks, the drama, the dance and the stories of the Gathering was that there really exists only one main story - the story of The Great Romance. We all have a part in the telling of that story, In fact, our lives are an integral part of The Great Romance, whether we are aware of it or not. Yes, dear reader, that includes YOU!

What is The Great Romance? As depicted in Ted Dekker’s novels, Black, Red and White (and coming in September, Green), it is the story of the love between Elyon and His people - the innocence at the beginning, the betrayal of that love by the people, and the wooing, redemption and restoration of the people by Elyon - the ultimate triumph of good over evil. It is depicted by Tolkein in the triumph of virtue over evil in the quest to destroy the One Ring that enslaved the hearts of man. It is depicted by the apostle John in his description of The Word becoming life and light and piercing the darkness of man’s heart and soul. While Dekker and Tolstein use allegory, and John’s Word is an abstract allusion to a very real God, the Great Romance is most demonstrated through the very real person of Jesus Christ, through His life, His death, His resurrection, and His return to be a part of His people in this day and time. That is the heart and soul of “The” story.

[Note to reader: As I write these blog entries, I always try to bring out some down to earth relevance. I like to call it the “So what” moment. Head up - here it comes.]

So what? [I told you so!] You ask, “How does this boring little diatribe have anything to do with me, my life, my struggles and my triumphs?” I am so glad you asked!

But before I answer, allow me to interject another thought that came from Ted Dekker’s comments at The Gathering. He stated that we were co-authors with him of his stories. All he can provide for us is the framework of the story. We have to complete the story by reading it and fleshing it out in our minds. Reading is an active endeavor, where the reader blends life experiences with the author’s framework to complete the work.

In that same sense, we are the co-author’s with The Master Author of the Great Romance. He put the framework in place before even creating the world and all that is in it. Yet we add to the story through the living of our daily lives. So the relevance, the “So what?” is that you, through the ups and downs of your life, are contributing to the color, to the fleshing out of the framework, even to the extension of the subplots found in the main story.

I’ve read several novels recently, with a few of them classified as “young adult” novels.  Those that are thus classified, I find somewhat disappointing. It took me a little while to figure out why, but it pretty much comes down to plot lines.

A novel that really grabs me, one of the “can’t put it down” variety, will have multiple plot lines that are weaving in and out of each other and making my mind work to keep up with everything happening. This mirrors the complexity of real life and, hence, brings a sense of reality to the story. In contrast, the young adult novels that have fewer plot lines are less complex and, frankly, are not nearly as interesting.

[break again - it’s now a week later, finally getting this blog finished]  We don’t live at the Young Adult level. Our lives are fully entwined with those around us, with the many tendrils of our own plot lines interacting with the plot lines of our loved ones, our friends, our coworkers and even those that we casually come into contact with in the process of living each day. If there is any truth to the Six Degrees of Separation theory, then our life plot lines very quickly intertwine to create a global story that really is The Story.  We may not recognize it as such, but we live The Great Romance.

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February 24, 2009 by john.

Wow - 8 days since my last entry, not for lack of anything to write about, but more just not taking time to reflect and gather my thoughts to share. So let’s get caught up…..

After my record breaking day last Monday, I thought I’d push a bit harder on Wednesday’s run and shave a bit more off my time.  So I picked up the pace a little and noticed about halfway through that my left knee was really starting to hurt. About two thirds through I had to slow down and concentrate on just finishing by walking. I even had to slow my walking to about 3.7 mph instead of my normal walk of 4.0. Final time 42:54, 3 minutes longer than Monday. I hobbled back to the shower and found that I even had a hard time walking out of the gym.

My dear wife, Debbie, came up to my office and brought a knee brace, ace bandage, ibuprofen and some salves, doctored up my knee and went on about her day. You would think that after so many years of seeing how God works things out in our lives that it would become common place. NOT! The only day that Debbie wasn’t called into the local elementary school where she substitute teaches was last Wednesday. Any other day that week she wouldn’t have been available to come to my rescue. God knew that I needed her more that day than the school, so he made sure there wouldn’t be a need for her there.

Speaking of the phrase “My dear wife, Debbie”, I’m not differentiating which wife is dear - just got one and don’t want more! When you’ve got the best you don’t need any extras!  Although Debbie has jokingly said if I get another one, just make sure she cleans house - she wouldn’t mind sharing that.  Well, that’s my attempt at wittiness at 2:30am…… Better move on…..

One thing that I’ve noticed in reading through various websites and blogs about running, is that there is occasionally an event called a couples race. That concept intrigued me, so I did a little more searching to see how it works. Basically two people sign up together, their ages are combined to place them in a bracket, and their running times are combined for the final tally. So at the end of the race, while maintaining their individual identities and individual times, the final result is based on the team effort of them both. It also seems that many times the couples that sign up and run in the race have also trained together as partners, each encouraging the other as they get ready for the big race. Running mates is a good term for that relationship.

Running mates is also a great description of the relationship between Debbie and me.  Through the race of life we feed off of each other’s strengths, support each other in our weaknesses, encourage each other and keep pushing through to the end together.  While we will both reach the finish line independently with our own identities and our own finishing times and results, the team effort will have yielded much more that either one of us could have done individually. I am so blessed by the good Lord to have a running mate that adds such depth, breadth and color to my life.

So what about the knee?  I’ve given it a few days rest and will be back in the gym on Wednesday. I kept it wrapped for a few days, but not even doing that now. It has been prayed for and I believe that through God’s Holy Spirit healing has taken place and I need to move on. Debbie recently wrote in her blog, Farmer Woman, “Passion is what drives us, focuses us, excites us, encourages us, gives us the determination to push on when it’s just not fun to push on.”  It’s not fun to run right now, but I’ve still got something driving me on to keep going. I’ll start out walking the 5K again and build up from there. As I mentioned before, my goal is to finish the race. I have no time to beat and am competing only against myself. Of course with the NEXT race I will have a first race time that I’ll naturally want to beat, the testosterone will kick in, hmmmm….. there ARE other people running, wonder if I can place…….. well, you know how it goes. But I’ll leave that for the next one.

I went to the doctor Monday morning for my normal blood pressure and blood sugar checkup and mentioned that I had injured my knee last week, but it seems to be getting better. I told him that I was going to start back with walking and build back up again unless he had any other suggestions. His only comment, in a scene worthy of the Marx Brothers, was that if it hurts when I run, don’t run. Do something else. Well, THAT’S helpful. Sorry, the passion is still there.. I’ve got to finish that race.

I’ve said before that I don’t know why I have this passion to run a race. My normal response to the existence of a race was “Why?”, not “Count me in!”. But I’m starting to get a glimpse of one of the places where in God’s great kaleidoscope of colors this may be fitting in. A couple of weeks ago at church I mentioned to a friend that I was starting to run. He said “you need to talk to Sharron, she runs marathons.”  I had no idea. Sharron has been an acquaintance for several years, but we’ve never really had anything other than normal pleasantries to say to each other.  I asked her about her running, she got excited and called to her daughter, Stephanie - who is also a runner, “Hey, John’s started running!” Boom - connection made. And God steps back and smiles because the family tree just grew a little stronger. He knew what was coming down the pike and had a reason for that connection to be made.

Fast forward to this past Sunday.

Sharron mentions something about a “family restructuring”.   Because we have made a connection, Debbie and I were able to approach Sharron to ask about her “family restructuring”. That opened up an opportunity for me and my life running mate to share some of the shadows from our past as an encouragement to Sharron that even in the worst of times and through some of life’s greatest pains, God still has his plans and He can change things around in a very short time. Without the connection made a week or two earlier, I don’t know that I would have felt as free to approach her or for Debbie and I to open up our lives to her as we did. So is this one of the reasons God put a passion to run in my life? Yes, I believe it is one reason, although I don’t think it is the only one.

The kaleidoscope has ever changing patterns as the various colors collide with each other. I wonder where my color will be in the next pattern in God’s kaleidoscope!

Thanks for stopping by!

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February 16, 2009 by john.

Well, it’s been a few days, so let me get caught up.  First off, I wasn’t able to get to the gym on Friday morning, so I went that evening after work.  I changed my pattern a bit and was really pleased with the results.  For most of the time, I alternated walking and running segments, very pleased to be running just over 2 1/2 minutes each time. At the end I ran most of the last two segments, bumping my speed up to 6 mph for the last segment and finished in 41:17, at 4.5 mph average.  Not bad, knocked off about 4 minutes in the first week of training. I wonder what I’ll be doing if I actually run the whole thing? Hopefully I’ll be there in the next few weeks.

The general schedule I’m following is running Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, rest Tuesday and Thursday and try to do a light run on Saturday or Sunday. Rather than driving into town, I was trying to think of a way to do a run around here. Debbie suggested the Whitewright High School track. So Debbie and I went there on Saturday evening and I made my first shot at running on a track. We were there for just a little while, and I made three laps while Debbie walked two.

Today (Monday) I was back on regular schedule and went 5K this morning. By alternating runs and walks, bumping my running up to 5.5 mph with a sprint for the last minute or so at 8 mph, I was able to complete the run in 39:56, avg 4.6 mph.   Yahhhhoooooooo!!!!!!!  Now, let’s see…… if I knocked 6 minutes off my time in the last 10 days,  and continue dropping 6 minutes each 10 days…… by the time the race gets here I’ll be done before I start!  LOL!!  Yeah, right… I’ve got a hunch that the incremental improvements will be getting smaller and smaller… but they WILL be there.

Sorry, but nothing witty or profound tonight. It’s late and I’m ready to hit the hay.

Thanks for stopping by. I’ll try to be more entertaining next time!

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February 12, 2009 by john.

Ran again today and find it getting a bit easier. Started out the same as last time, but changed the pattern in the middle of the run. I was pleased to see that my head didn’t explode when I changed patterns. Debbie can tell you that I’m VERY pattern conscious and don’t do well with randomness. That’s probably why I do well as a programmer.

Anyhow, back to the run this morning. After the first few segments, I changed to walking (4.0 mph) the first 90 seconds of each segment and then jogging/running (5.0 mph) the last 70 or so seconds. That worked OK for a few segments, then my knee started hurting. Rather than continuing to push, I talked to the hurting knee and told it that God’s Holy Spirit is in me and gives me dominion over it and that it had better start working right. After walking two segments, I started back up running and all was well. In fact, I even tried to run most of the last 4 segments. When I got near the end and there was a segment with a 4% incline, the knee started hurting again, but so did many other parts of my body, so I walked about a minute and a half of that one, but finished the rest of the course out running. Final time: 42:33, avg speed: 4.3 mph. Not bad - by reducing the intensity of the running I was able to increase the duration, shave off a half minute total time and raise average speed by .1.

One lesson learned today: Pacing is critical. Slowing down a bit allowed me to do better overall and improve results. For most guys, including me, who generally operate in conquer mode, that’s a tough lesson to swallow. I believe this lesson is one of the major keys to avoiding burnout not just in a race, but in all aspects of our life.

I did a bit of searching today on winning times in 5K runs. Wow! Not having any idea, I was thinking a 30 minute run would be good. Turns out the winners are usually in the 15 minutes neighborhood. Well, I know that ain’t happening here! After a bit of calculating, it looks like I’d have to do much better than 9 mph overall to place in the top levels. I know that ain’t happening either. Don’t get me wrong, my primary objective in this first run is to simply finish the raise as a biped (i.e. in some relatively upright position), as opposed to a quadruped (i.e. crawling in on my hands and knees). If I can keep up a running pace through much of the race, so much the better.

The race I’m training for is the St. Luke’s Run for the Rails, to be held in Denison, TX on Sat, March 28. I officially signed up for it yesterday. R minus 45 days and counting. In many ways, that sure doesn’t seem that far away.

I’ve also been checking out the various running websites to try to prepare for my inaugural race day. Things like what to eat before the run, what’s it actually like on the course, how to go through a water station….. even found one discussion where someone was wanting to know the proper etiquette for dealing with a runny nose on the course. Read that one just before the race and you won’t have to deal with eating breakfast. I’ll have a pocket in my shorts and will stick a tissue or two in before the race, thank you very much… and sure hope the runner in front of me does the same!

So I’m spending 6 weeks preparing for a race that will last about 30 minutes (hopefully not too much longer!). I’m doing extensive research on how to prepare for that 30 minutes, what it’s going to be like for the 30 minutes, and simultaneously anticipating and dreading the start of that 30 minutes. But, what about the marathon that all of us are already running, the race of life. We didn’t have any time to prepare for this one, we hit the starting line the day we were born. So we have to work out the details as we go along.

Fortunately, we have a Coach that will direct us if we just listen for His voice. And His play book with the rules and winning strategies is available to all. The apostle Paul talked about life being a race, keeping your eyes on the finish line and “… pressing toward the goal…”. I’ve tried running the big race under my own direction as well as under the direction of the Head Coach. I heartily recommend following the Coach. You’d be surprised at the sidetracks you can get lost in that are off the main race course if you are following your own direction. The Coach keeps you on the right track. I want to hit that finish line with my head held high and run right into the arms of the Coach!

I’m already wondering what it is going to be like after the 30 minute race. Will there be refreshments? Or maybe even some FOOD? (I’m guessing I’ll be famished by then.) What will the awards ceremony be like? I’m just glad that the Coach’s play book already tells us a little about the end of the big race. Food? Yup, the marriage supper of the Lamb. A feast like we could never imagine. Awards? We’ll be given crowns of gold. And even more, we’ll have the most wonderful honor of laying those crowns at the feet of the King of Kings. Wow!

So I’ll continue preparing for my 30 minute race, and will enjoy every moment of the preparations, the race itself, and the exhilaration of completing the race. I’ll applaud and congratulate the winners and immerse myself in the whole experience. And I’ll consider the whole process a small taste of the big race that I’m already running.

Thanks for stopping by. Talk to you again in a couple of days!

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February 9, 2009 by john.

 First off, thank you to the folks who have posted comments. It’s both exciting and humbling to know that someone is actually taking the time to share in my newbie ramblings.

Monday again, so back to the gym, back to the treadmill and back to the 5K Fun Run program. This time I started on a pattern that seemed to work and give me a good starting point for building.

At 4 mph, the program divides the workout into 3 minute segments. After walking the first 2 segments I started running (5.5 mph) the first 60 seconds of every other segment. I was pleased to find that after the first couple times running it got a little (emphasis on “little”) easier as I went along.  I made a big push and ran the last two minutes. The 2 mph slow down after that was really appreciated. Total time to go 5K today: 43:06, avg speed 4.2mph.

Rest tomorrow. Run again on Wednesday. The plan is to gradually increase the running time and shorten the walk times. Run on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with rest (a.k.a recovery) days in between and on the weekends. We’ll see how well that works out.

Sorry this entry is rather boring. I’ve got plenty of thought to write about but, frankly, I’m ready to turn in for the night. I’ll try to bring something a bit more interesting next time!

Thanks for visiting!

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February 7, 2009 by john.

According to the training sites I’ve found, a good plan for training is alternating running days with rest days. Today I am living proof that the muscles really do need a rest the day after running.

It’s Saturday so I didn’t have to go into the office, but I did spend most of the day sitting in my home office working. The peace of the office was shattered by a strange moaning every once in a while, usually followed by a faint snicker in the distance. The moaning was found to be coming from me every time I went to stand back up after sitting for a while and the snickering was coming from an unnamed source, seeming to originate from the family room where quilting was in progress. I stretched my leg muscles out every so often, which seemed to help. Then I walked to the mailbox this evening to give the legs a light workout - Oh, yeah - did I mention that the mailbox is at the end of the drive….. 1/4 mile away….. uphill both ways (well, that’s not true but it sounded good!) - making it a 1/2 mile round trip walk to loosen up the muscles a bit.

As I headed out for my short walk, the baby guinea saw me and came running. They just KNEW that I was our there just to throw out corn for them. (Check out Debbie’s blog, Farmer Woman, to see the story of the guinea and some pictures.) Seems like I have this mistaken thought that Debbie and I are the head honchos on the farm, while the rest of the Beulah Land residents are convinced that we are merely the custodians here to attend to their needs. Hmmm…… maybe we’re actually all on the same page.

We provide their daily feed. We give them shelter from the elements. We confine the does and the chickens at night to protect them from predators. We take care of them when they are sick. This all seems to remind me of how God must feel about us.

He provides our daily bread. He provides our shelter. At times he even places boundaries in place to protect us from predators. He cares for us when we’re sick. And instead of treating Him like the head honcho he REALLY is, the residents of this world treat Him so often like He is merely the custodian here to attend to our needs.

And just like Debbie and I are busy behind the scenes taking care of things around the homestead to help take care of the animals, God is often busy behind the scenes preparing things in advance so they will be at the right place at the right time in our lives. Yet because what we are doing isn’t visible to the animals they really aren’t aware of the preparations taking place. And how often do we think that God is ignoring us when He is really busy behind the scenes making the preparations we will need.

Sound like there may be something to think about in that. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

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February 7, 2009 by john.

Today I started training for my first 5K run. And today I’m writing my first blog entry. Both are so far off the radar screen of the expectations in my life that they really are worthy of note - at least to me!

First, a brief history leading up to the 5K. In the 52+ years that I have spent on good old Terra Firma, I have never been the athletic type. OK, so maybe that’s a bit of an understatement.  I was the nerdy, bookish guy, skinny (oh, the memories of that!) and great at school work - all except gym.  Several years ago, I ran into a friend that I hadn’t seen in some time who mentioned that he had taken up running and was doing marathons. My only thought was “Why?”  I may be running now, but that doesn’t mean I understand it any more for me than I did for him.

Last year we had a weight loss contest at work and, since I had about 15 or 20 pounds to lose I thought I’d give it a try.  One of the activities in the contest was a lunch talk by the owner of the local Nautilus center. At the end, she passed out coupons for free week at the gym. So I grabbed one, tried it out and found that I enjoyed (that might be just a bit too strong of a term) going to the gym in the morning before work. So I started on the treadmill and then learned to workout on the eliptical. I won’t bore you with any more details right now, but will let you know that in the 14 weeks of the contest, I actually lost 12.5 pounds overall, and lost 4.5 inches off my waist. Most of that is still gone. More details of the newbie nerd in the gym will be coming in future posts.

Back to today: I got on the treadmill, found a program for a 5K Fun Run, and I was off…. at a nice brisk walk. Once I got warmed up, I decided it was time to try running on the treadmill. First a nice jog (Oh, good - I didn’t trip over my feet or fall off and look like an idiot in the midst of the jocks… Some old fears from high school just never go away…).  Then a nice slow down while my heart rate steadied out.  Then after catching my breath for several minutes, try to actually run. Watch the clock… make it for a full minute at 6mph….. grunt, grunt, puff, puff….. ok…. maybe 45 seconds is enough.  Back to 4 and get the heart rate back down.  Boy, I REALLY need to keep this training up if I’m going to even finish the 5K.  Ok, let’s try running again. Hey - I’m keeping pace with the fireman two stations down. How neat is that!  Of course he’s been doing that pace for 20 minutes and I made it for a full 60 seconds. Finally “goal attained” - 45 minutes, 4.1mph avg, went 5K.  Now see if I can crawl back to the shower….

This was Day 1 of training.  If anybody cares, I’ll keep you posted how it goes.

Now to the blog. I still can’t believe I sitting here writing this. I’ve often admired the way columnists in the newspaper can come with a column of something interesting to read that just seems to jump out of their mind. That’s never been me. I pushed hard to get my essays done as I was completing my Associates Degree a couple of years ago. I always dreaded having to take the English, Literature, and Social Studies classes that focused on writing assignments.  When it comes to creative writing, my mind usually just goes blank. But I knew that I needed to chronicle the leadup to my first race, if nothing else just to have a journal to help me understand why I’m even doing this.

So, forgive me as I ramble through my journey. If anyone cares to follow along, welcome! I’ll try to be at least somewhat interesting and will most likely throw in various thoughts on working as a programmer, being married to my wonderful and beautiful bride “Farmer Woman” (check out her blog here), living a blessed life as a son of the King of Kings, enjoying life on the homestead and bragging about my grandkids.

The title of the blog is “Who, Me?”  Running a race? Writing my thoughts down? Yup….. Who? Me?

Thanks for visiting!

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