Major Race-Finish Shout-Outs!

I mentioned in my long run post a couple back of my online running buddie's awesome race finishes 02/16/08. First off, Tim's incredible first half marathon finish at the Run the Reagan half marathon race in 1:55:46, which is amazing for a first time half. Way to go Tim! Here's a pic of him coming to the finish line in black and white in the pic below.

Then, there is the awesome first marathon finish of Marion who ran an official time of 4:09:45 in her inaugural marathon at the Myrtle Beach Marathon. That's an average pace of 9:32 minutes/mile for 26.2 miles! I can only hope to do nearly as well as her in my first marathon and will be grateful to simply finish! Amazing race, Mar! Here's a pic of Marion nearing the finish line of her marathon. I am so proud of you my running friend!

So much time and training went in to both of these individual's races and they are both such awesome stories of determination and dedication! Congratulations to both of you! Enjoy your well-deserved time of rest and revel in what you have just accomplished!

Good Luck Marion and Tim!

My online running "dotcomrades" (term as stolen, err, borrowed from Kooky on RA) from RunningAHEAD (RA) and fellow running bloggers, Marion and Tim, will be running two big races this weekend. Marion will be lacing up for her first marathon, the Myrtle Beach Marathon, which the gun will go off for bright and early Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m. I wrote about what an inspiration she has been to me in my own running, and life, and her incredible weight loss road that she has paved for herself, not traveled, in a prior post here. She's a remarkable story of heart and fiery determination. If you have a moment, I encourage you to head over to her site, Shut it and Run, and leave her a note to wish her well in her race. As I said, she has been a huge inspiration to me and one of the driving factors the Lord put in my life to set a goal of running a marathon myself. It's been said that the marathon is simply the victory lap for all the exhaustive miles and training you run preparing for it. Mar, you've trained hard and well, my running friend... now go out and enjoy the whole experience of your victory lap!

Tim is an incredible story as well and only began running just a year ago in January and, at that, had only really started walking at that time. He has lost 80 pounds since, run numerous races, many of which were 5k's in which he has shattered his PR (personal record) in them time after time, and is now gearing up to run his first half-marathon, the Run the Reagan, down in the Atlanta-area of Georgia tomorrow. His story of determination to get himself healthier and the incredible strides he has made in doing so have been an inspiration to me as well. You can head over to his blog, 26.2 Quest, and cheer him on in as well.

There are some amazing people all around us, that do amazing things, under amazing circumstances and, these are just two of them. May the Lord bless you both in your races tomorrow, with peace of mind, strength, endurance, and physical health. You're both amazing individuals! I can't wait to hear about your races. Good luck and... have a BLAST!

Well Done, Jennifer!

I just wanted to give a shout out to my RA (RunningAHEAD) running friend, Jennifer, from San Diego, CA, on her awesome performance in the Surf City Marathon she ran yesterday in very tough windy and rainy conditions along the Pacific Coast Highway that you can read about here on her blog. Great race report, Jennifer!

You're an inspiration to me Jennifer and thanks for all the encouragement and support you have given me here. I truly appreciate it and... you! Congratulations on an awesome race and... on to Boston! :-)

Now I can lace up my sheet metal studded homemade winter trainers and head out for my scheduled 4 miles on the newly iced-over southeast Michigan roads. The kids had another two hour school delay due to the weather so, as soon as they head off to school I will head out in the ice/slush for my run, then on to some inspections. Did that rodent see his shadow Saturday? Cause I am about DONE with winter weather! :-D

Tickled to Near-Death

I just got back from my long run. Before I go into that, I should announce that Lindsey and Sami got a "1" rating, the highest rating, on their duet at Solo & Ensemble today and earned a blue medal! WAY TO GO GIRLS! YOU DID AWESOME! Sami also got a "1" rating on her solo she performed as well so, earned a second blue medal. Congratulations, Sami! We're very proud of both of you and all your hard work and brilliant perfomances! ;-)

I'm whipped and have to stretch yet and shower and head out to rehearsal at church and then meet the family at Texas Roadhouse for Lindsey's 13th birthday dinner so, I'm just posting my notes from my log on RunningAHEAD here on my long run of 17 miles today. Another new furthest milestone for me. I felt really strong on this run and am very thankful for that confidence boost. :-)

Summary details:

Miles ran: 17
Total time: 2:42:37
Avg. pace/mile: 9:34
Calories burned: 2,355

Here's the notes I put on my log:

Very good long run in crappy conditions given the snowfall we had yesterday and the road shoulders having about 6 - 8 inches of plowed snow on them so, I had no choice but to run on the roads, which made me nervous since vehicle traffic isn't very accommodating even when I'm on the shoulders. Everyone was pretty cool though with the exception of a couple of vehicles which did not give way at all.

Anyway, overall, I felt pretty darn good especially given the fact that I physically felt beat up even before going on the run. I shoveled a lot of snow yesterday and my low back was killing me and my neck and shoulders. NONE of this bothered me during my run however! I was amazed. I'm sure I'll be feeling it tomorrow, but I'm tickled at how good I felt during my run. My knees got to aching around mile 5 or 6, but held up quite well and probably due to running on all pavement. I did wear my brace on my right knee and before I put it on I put body glide on the side where it rubbed last week and I had no issues this week. Garmin says I burned 2,355 calories.

Took a gel at mile 7 and 12 with water after each, a total of one 16.9 oz. bottle. That was fine. I do have some blisters on the bottom of my feet from them getting wet and rubbing at the very end of my run, like the last 2 miles. Here's the mile split times:

1: 9:27
2: 9:40
3: 9:46
4: 9:54
5: 9:55
6: 9:54
7: 9:48
8: 9:51
9: 9:36
10: 9:50
11: 9:46
12: 9:39
13: 9:24
14: 9:14
15: 9:10
16: 9:02
17: 8:39

Pretty happy with that. In fact, I am tickled... to near death. :-)

Focker... out.

Hopeful News for the Zachrich Family

Bob Zachrich is my manager at Grange Insurance and I related the story of his wife, Bettyjo, and her trials since cervical spine surgery 10 months ago a couple of posts ago here. They recently traveled to The Cleveland Clinic to see if a surgeon there could help them with the wound in her esophagus. Bob just posted the results of Bettyjo's consultation and course of action for Bettyjo on the Zachrich Family Times blog. You can read of what transpired by clicking on that link.

Bob, Bettyjo, Brenda, and Emily, rest assured that many folks are thinking about and praying for you and that this procedure will put an end to this trial you have endured for so long. God be with you all. ;-)

Bettyjo Zachrich

My manager's wife, Bettyjo, was to have had a cervical spine vertebral fusion before Easter last year. There were complications in the surgery in which a metal disc that was placed in her neck ended up eroding a hole in her esophagus allowing ingested matter to leak out her neck. Several weeks after the surgery they finally found what had happened and she has essentially been on a feeding tube ever since. She has battled infection and had one or two subsequent surgeries on her neck and even underwent hyperbaric chamber treatments recently in order to try and get the still existing wound in her neck/espophagus to heal. Everything has failed to date.

Bob, my manager, and Bettyjo traveled to Cleveland yesterday and are to see an ENT surgical specialist at the Cleveland Clinic who specializes in rebuilding the esophagus of esophagial cancer patients for either evaluation or pre-op examination for possible reconstruction of her esophagus. The Zachrich family, Bob and Bettyjo, and daughters, Brenda and Emily (who are very close in age to my girls), have understatedly been through a mountain of trials over the past 10 months or so. I just wanted to let them know that I, and many of my friends and family in the Toledo-area and more, are thinking about them and their family today and praying that this surgeon will be able to help Bettyjo in her recovery. May God bless you Zachrich family and restore you, Bettyjo. You are in my prayers.

Caution - Rick, Err, I Mean Turtle Crossing

I actually took this pic today when I was out on inspections. I was heading to Shelby Township from Clinton Township in Macomb County (north of Detroit) driving kind of along/parallel to the Lake St. Clair lakeshore, when I drove by the Metro Beach Metropark entrance drive and saw this sign! I couldn't believe it! I actually turned around to drive into the park to get a picture of it for Marion, who is fast like a hare, and me... the prodding turtle. So Mar, I finally found a place where I can run and be protected from the traffic and fast little hares. Metro Beach Park... here me and my turtle runnin' shoes come! WOOT!

It was an awesome day. My 8 mile run this morning was done in 45 degree temps and went very well. I probably could have ran in shorts had I thought to do so. It was beautiful running this morning, the shoulders were clear of snow and mostly clear of ice, and SOFT, and the wind, while substantial, was not a factor for me given the directions I was traveling. My hips felt much better today than yesterday after Saturdays long run which did them in a bit, and I had no other "physical" issues.

I got pretty much everything I wanted to accomplish inspection-wise done, got a return phone call from my college roomate - I've only left him two voice mails in the last two months! - so it was great hearing from him and catching up on what he was up to and how his family was doing, and got home in time to see Lindsey play her first league basketball game. She didn't score I don't think, had several shot opportunities that didn't go, but she did very well otherwise on defense, rebounding, and had a couple of assists. Went from her game to church for a vocal rehearsal and then home for pizza and greek salad. Yum! Then, finished off the evening watching the goofy folks on American Idol with the family and helped Linds with some homework.

So, there you have it... the summary of an awesome day. I hear the wind howling outside right now though and the temps are a-dropping. Supposed to storm overnight, winds gusts to 40 mph, and dropping temps to 12 degrees with windchills down to -20 they're (the brilliant meteorologists) saying. The one day winter reprieve was nice while it lasted. Tomorrow is a 4 mile day. If the winds are what they say they are to be, I may not get out. We'll see.

Scheduled 4 Miles In

I got my scheduled 4 miles in this morning and my hips were none too happy with me from Saturday's 16 mile run. At the moment, I am a SCANT 2 tenths, that's 2/10 or 0.20, of a mile ahead of my running pal, Marion, in our monthly mileage! It's neck and neck. She completed her 20 mile run this past Saturday in preparation for her Bi Lo Myrtle Beach Marathon coming up on February 16, 2008 and did an awesome job of it! She rocked her 20 miler! Way to go Mar!

Other running pal, Sara, ran a half marathon race down in St. Louis in prep for her St. Louis marathon on April 6, 2008 and rocked that race to a 2:09:50 personal record (PR in running lingo) in a race that she thought she was doing terrible in! Way to go Sara!

It was 19 degrees when I ran this morning. This afternoon it got to 43. Tomorrow we have a chance of thunderstorms!?! Wacky weather. It's supposed to be in the 40's again tomorrow and then in the 20's the following day.

I've also developed a cold in the last day or so, which was inevitable since everyone around me seems to be sick. So, I'll be dealing with that for the next week or so.

I have 8 miles scheduled for tomorrow. Looks like I may be runnin' in the rain. Beats trying to run in the snow. Have a good night and great Tuesday everyone!
:-)

Living in "The Miracle of the Moment"

It seems everyday, in some way, God reminds me how precious our lives are and, in so doing, has been working a miracle in me not to be so selfish or to take things for granted. Four years ago on this date, on a snowy, wintery stormy Friday evening, two young friends ventured out on a trip to the mall, but didn't come home. One of them was the just-17 year old daughter, Vanessa, of a woman I've known since I have had a memory, Carol. Carol lived across the street from me when I was a kid and I watched her grow into adulthood and eventually leave the nest on Pickard Road. I talked with Carol earlier this week because I wanted to ask her permission to talk about Vanessa on my blog, which she graciously agreed to allow me to do, and, to just let her know that I think about their family and Vanessa's loss, not just on this anniversary date every year, but almost daily, as God's reminder to me to not take my blessings for granted and to live in "The Miracle of the Moment" every day.

The last 2 to 3 years have been a struggle in my relationship with my oldest daughter Chelsea, who is now 16. Not because of anything I've done, other than parenting her, or anything she's done, other than going through adolescence and all the growing pains that go along with it in beginning to "break away" from mom and dad and discovering how to be independent. She's a great young woman, but we have had our share of discouraging moments in our father/daughter relationship over the past couple years or so where she doesn't like me much I'm sure, nor I her. That's not to say we ever stop loving each other. I have been to the point where I was so exasperated by her or her actions that I feel like giving in and giving up and not fighting the good fight on her behalf, which she will never understand until she is older. I'm her father... her protector, the lover of her soul, the shaper of her character... I cannot ever give up on her because there is no one that can take my place.

I've talked to Carol on a couple of occasions about my relationship with Chelsea at this stage of our lives and she could relate well. Vanessa had gone through very similar "growing pains" and just prior to her accident and death, had been coming around and living for the miracle of the moment with Carol again. Carol said they had a rocky relationship the couple years prior, much like Chelsea and I, but that something was working in and changing Vanessa before her death which gave Carol the hope, joy, and peace that everything would be alright. She said Vanessa was beginning to rise above her mistakes and getting on a good path and was not ashamed to admit it and be an example to her friends. Of course, we believe this was the spirit of God working in Vanessa as she was an active part of our church and served lovingly on KidsStreet, our childrens' ministry, and was adored by the young children there.

Carol told me that 3 weeks prior to Vanessa's death, she would get up early around 5:30 a.m. as she had been used to it for early school which had discontinued at that point, and would slip into bed in front of Carol and sidle up to her and Carol would just stroke her hair. She was more clingy, to the extent that Carol had the urge to push her away because of her clinginess, but thankfully didn't. Carol reminded me in our discussion that, no matter what your kids do, just love them and, don't stop, but above all, NEVER give in or give up on them. As much as I have been frustrated in parenting, I will NEVER give in or give up on my girls and with the Lord's daily help I pray I will never take for granted my daily blessings and I pray that you do not either. "Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." James 4:14

Pirrones and Mr. and Mrs. W., I think of your families almost daily throughout the year, I pray God has brought healing to your hearts and given you comfort in the knowledge that one day you will be reunited with your children. Please, have a listen to this, let it speak to your heart and work in your life so you don't miss "The Miracle of the Moment."

Thank you, Carol, for allowing me to speak of this very personal matter here. You have been, and continue to be, a blessing in my life.

"I Need You"

Are you fiercely independent? Do you rely on your own abilities in almost all circumstances, even when they aren't enough? Do you find it a weakness to seek the help of others? Does foolish pride get in the way of your asking for assistance when you need it? Boy, I certainly could answer affirmatively to most of these questions almost unequivocally in my recent past. Thankfully, God has been changing my heart with respect to seeking help in my weaknesses.

Pastor Mark did a great job again this morning in continuing his series on "The World's Most Powerful Phrases" with his message titled "I Need You". He reminded us that God has created all of us with weaknesses that we cannot fully overcome by ourselves. Think this was by chance? Not a chance! God is God, He created everything and could have made us perfect if He so chose, but He didn't. Why is that?

God wants us to rely on Him in our weaknesses, for one. Pastor Mark pointed out Psalm 121:1 - 2, which states, "I lift up my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." Who better to come to our aid than the Maker of heaven and earth. I can't think of any better ally in my times of need. What does that help look like? Well, Pastor Mark said that God's help almost always comes in the form of another person. Makes sense as I can't think of recent times, other than in the Old Testament, where God has directly intervened in our lives, other than perhaps the 6 Day War the Israeli's had back in the 60's.

Anyway, this makes total sense to me in that I know with certainty this has been my experience in my life. I have many personal testimonies, the greatest of which is the salvation of my marriage, where God has placed people or groups of people in my life, or my family's, that have made ALL the difference in times of difficulty. The key? Letting those closest to you know that you are experiencing difficulty or need help and let them help as they will be inclined to do so. Being transparent, setting aside your foolish pride, and being authentic are the keys to allow God to work through others to help you.

Pastor Mark's two main points are to: 1. Identify where you are strong (God gifts everyone with some ability or strength) and... SERVE in that capacity and, 2. Identify where you are weak and... ASK. It's hard to humble one's self, take a hard, realistic look at yourselve, identify your weaknesses, and then ASK for help. Kind of a counter-cultural thought in this self-help, self-sufficiency, self-seeking day and age where everyone turns inward and inside.

So, you may be saying to yourself again, well Rick, what the heck does this have to do with running and training for a marathon? Well... I'm glad that you asked! Even if you didn't I'm going to give you my answer anyway cause, heck, it's MY blog! My answer is: I created this blog because to train, prepare for, and run this marathon is daunting and I need you! I need you to post comments, I need you to tell me I am not nutz (even if you want to lie to me in doing so), I need you to support and encourage me. Just thinking about running the marathon makes my stomach flip. All kinds of questions of physical and mental self-doubt surface. I'm just being transparent here. It kinda scares the daylights out of me whether or not I will be tough enough to finish this marathon. So, why do it? To that I say please read my Preface and Purpose for that answer.

So, there you have it, I need you! I'm not too proud to say so and know from experience that when I do ask for help, God will put people in my life that will see me through. I will be relying on the strength of the Lord and my family and friends who will be encouraging me along the way, which I know you will do because... I have asked you to.

Thanks for the great message, Pastor Mark. I'm learning.

"Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!" Ecclesiastes 4:10 - 11.

Jennifer, Marion, Tim, Sara, Zoomy, Mike, and anyone else ramping up for a marathon this year, especially a first... you're gonna ROCK your races! You're all training hard and I KNOW you will ALL succeed!

This Time... The Humans Won

Let me apologize upfront to any animal activists, PETA people, Greenpeace, vegetarians, pescatarians, liberatarians, green party, republicans, democrats, independents or any one else that this post may offend, but I am an omnivore and I do eat animals. Funny, Marion had just post on her blog, Shut it and Run, about encountering road kill on runs and commented about Tammy whipping up some tasties with the flattened critters (jokingly people!). Funny she should have mentioned road kill though, which we have a lot of here in Bedford Township, as I went to a wild game dinner at the Erie Fire Department this evening with my friend, Jeremy, as a guest of his dad. Jeremy had smoked a couple of turkeys for the dinner - I know, you're wondering where did he get big enough wrappers and... how do you keep them lit? - which were excellent as usual! So I had a variety of game for dinner including salmon, venison, caribou, elk, buffalo, duck, pheasant, rabbit, squirrel, alligator, turtle, ostrich, and yes, even kangaroo - which was quite tasty I should add. I may have ingested some other animals that I am not aware of too. The food was very well prepared and this is the best game dinner that I have ever attended as far as the food preparation goes. It was a great evening with a great friend and his family and friends. Heard a couple of cool successful elk hunt stories in northern Michigan this past fall from a local woman and man and also Jimmy Gretzinger, from Michigan Out-Of-Doors, was a special guest who related some humorous stories from his adventures in the field. So, thanks Mr. Floyds (both of you) for the great evening, I really appreciate you guys thinking of me for this dinner!

Focus, Grasshopper, Focus

I was on my way back from my inspections yesterday afternoon, the last having been north of Detroit and was heading south down I-75 about 4:40 p.m., not the place you want to be on a Friday afternoon with the North American International Auto Show going on in the City of Detroit and every auto enthusiast from Germany to Sweden to Japan and every car manufacturer in the U.S., etc. in town for the dang thing. Oh, I should say at this point, Bob (my boss) and Chelsea (my driving 16 year old with a cell phone addiction whom I have warned not to use whilst driving) should quit reading here. Anyway, so I decide to give our family friend, Amy, a call to thank her for an encouraging note and a couple of timely articles on parenting teens she sent me ealier in the week following a great dinner conversation we had the Friday before. As I am having this great phone conversation with her and thanking her for her thoughtfulness, I somehow missed staying on the freeway in the heavy rush hour traffic and ended up SMACK DAB in downtown Detroit! AHHHH! The traffic, the people, the craziness! Needless to say I excused myself from the conversation with Amy (sorry Amy for the abrupt stop to the call) to try and extricate myself from downtown Detroit. The upsides (2 of them actually) was I was stopped at a red light waiting to make a u-turn right in front of the Renaissance Center (GM World Headquarters for you non-Michiganders) and got this cool shot of it from my windshield. The other upside was that when the light turned green, I missed hitting two vehicles and two pedestrians, one of which gave me some sort of a hand signal(?), while making my u-turn and got right back on the freeway within about 5 minutes of my little blunder. Yippee! So, that was my drive home yesterday, the rest of which was uneventful, other than a nice conversation with my sis, Vicky, whom I hadn't really talked to since Christmas.

Today's Agenda - Not That You Care

I'll be on the road today for work for most of the day doing inspections. Today's route is to the left. The body of water on the bottom of the map is Lake Erie and above is Lake St. Clair for those not familiar with Michigan. I am working Bob. :-) Bob's my boss, and a good one, and hopefully looks in on this inanity every once in a while. His blog is in my right sidebar, which updates the condition of his wife, Bettyjo, who has had a nightmare, to put it mildly, of an experience following what should have been a "routine" cervical fusion surgery prior to Easter last year, the severe complications of which continue to this day. So, if you pray, please keep the Zachrich family in your prayers as they really could use the uplifting and encouragement through this. When I get home I have a medium long run to do, hopefully not in the dark. I am SO glad the days are getting longer. Tammy and the girls are going to a "Body Shop" party this evening hosted by our friend, Tami, not to be confused with Tammy, soooo.... I borrowed the whole Bourne movie series from Tammy's cousin, Seth, last night and am having a guy's movie night at home tonight with Carsen, our dog. Although, I kinda think Carsen will probably sleep through most of the movies. Speaking of last night, we had a great dinner made by Tammy's Aunt Rose with her and Seth, and Tammy's Mom and Dad. Thanks again so much, Aunt Rose, the dinner was awesome! That should have been obvious though by how much I ate! GAH! I wish I would stop doing that! Beat you to the punch, Uncle Jeff! See, he was going to comment on my blog here on what a pig I made of myself at dinner and how I am breaking one of my 2008 Goals (previously posted) to "quit eating when I am full." Nice try though, just like Marion, who keeps trying to get past me in running mileage for the year and may, temporarily, today. Well, lots to do today, so I best get at it. Have a great day everyone! :-)

Rest

Today is a day of rest. As much as I am itchin' to lace 'em up and get out there to get some miles in (and stay ahead of Marion and the pace bunny), I have to resist the urge. With race training, rest is as vitally important as getting runs in are. The body needs time to heal, restore, renew, and refresh, which this time of rest allows. My good friend and kind of a "running mentor" to me, Dianna, reminded me of this yesterday. She kinda felt that I may have been slower in my 10 mile race last Sunday because I had run too much prior to it and not properly rested my body as a runner should. I think she is probably right and, since she has been running for like 20+ years, I think I will heed her advice and fight the urge to go out today. Darn you Marion! I hope it's icy as can be in South Carolina today and you can't get out to run! Sorry, I digressed into a little competitiveness.

Heck, even Jesus called us to rest at times saying, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. Anyway, I am a bit weary today and my right leg a little sore, so like our most loved family dog in the pic above, Carsen, I will be physically resting today, and everyday in Jesus.

ps - Dad does not condone Carsen's sloth on the couch in the family room. He has his OWN bed and... he is not at his pappa and grandma's who let him sleep wherever he wants!

Busy Evenings

Yesterday was kind of a typical evening in our family. Tammy was going to go to coffee with her girlfriends (which is a-typical as she does not get enough time for herself and never has) from church round 5:00, which I am always thankful she gets to do... gets to vent about me and all offer support for each other for the knuckleheads their husbands can be. Hey! I'm a realist and I know I am a knucklehead when it comes to being a husband and father... on RARE ocassions. Seriously, I'm sure that is not ALL that they talk about... I hope.

So, Lindsey had to be picked up from b-ball practice (she made the 7th grade team this year) at 5:00, then I had to run her over to the foot doc for continued assault on a nasty wart on her left foot that just won't go away. We got back home a little before 6:00. I whipped up some spaghetti and garlic toast for her and I (Chelsea was working at 5:00). Scarfed down the dinner and cleaned up the kitchen as best as I could. I grabbed my horn, kissed Linds goodbye, and headed over to my awesome friend and CrossRoads worship brass team leader, Jeremy's, house to meet with the rest of the team (Leo, Vicki, Barry, and Marky-Mark) around 6:30 to listen to and select some music to start working on for this year. His oldest son, Jarred, had just fractured his ankle a couple of days ago sliding down the basement stairs in a box! Didn't surprise me as his boys are very much boys! :-)

We finished up there around 9:00 and I headed home to dump off my horn and music and let Tammy know I had to run up to the fire station to clean my area for the week (it has to be done by Wednesday night at midnight... see, I've said before and I'll say it again, I am the KING of procrastinators!). Missed the second new season show of American Idol, but got my area cleaned and was getting ready to head out when my station house officer, Jim, showed up to do his area around 10:30 (Ok, so maybe I am NOT the king of procrastination, but most certainly a court jester at least!). Had a great conversation with Jim for quite a time. It was good to talk with him like that as I haven't in awhile. He's a great husband, father, and fire department officer, even if he does have issues with timeliness. HA! Pot calling the kettle black! I was glad to get a chance to remind him though that I respected the husband, father, and officer he is.

Left the fire station and got home round 11:40, showered and asleep by midnight. A busy, but good and well-rounded evening, other than not being able to see enough of my family. Thank you Tammy, Lindsey, and Chelsea for your tolerance of all my "busyness". I love you all more than you know! Muah!

Reflecting

I was paid a most high compliment by my running friend, Marion, over at her blog, Shut it and Run, in her Monday, January 14th post. She was saying what a great job I had done in the 10 mile race I had run the day before which was cool and everything, but the comment I appreciated the most was at the end of her post when she said, "Pop over to his blog. He's really a great inspiration for anyone, runner or not. Makes ya wanna be a better person all around, not just on the running trail:)" It brought tears to my eyes. You see, my life goal is to become more Christ-like everyday and to be a servant and encourager to others as He is to us... there is no greater goal or model for me to conform to. I want to reflect His character to those around me and Mar's comment provided me with some affirmation that I am on the right path so, thanks SO much Mar! I read this from 1 Corinthians 10:23&24 this morning where the apostle Paul says, "'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." It is fallen human nature to be selfish and self-serving. It is my prayer this morning that God continues to change the nature of who I am to speak and to act for the good of others and reflect His character and not my own. Amen.

"I Believe in You"

This was the title of the message Pastor Mark gave today at CrossRoads Community Church. It was a great message. Too often I am critical of my wife and kids and those around me and too quick to point out the negatives. Do I tell them enough though that "I believe in you"? If I don't, I am sorry and I will work at doing a better job of being an encourager. I know that is something that I desire, to know that my family and those closest to me believe in me so, in knowing this desire of myself, I should certainly work harder at letting those closest to me know that I believe in them. Bottom line is, God believes in all of us, He wouldn't have sent his son for us if He didn't. But, we're still human, and even though I know this of my heavenly father, I still need to know it from my earthly father and those close to me. It's important to me. So, Tammy, Chelsea, Lindsey, and everyone else close to me.... I DO believe in you, am proud of you just for being you, and am so thankful for all of you in my life. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) I have a race to go get ready for now... wish me luck.

Toledo Jazz Orchestra's Tribute to Maynard Ferguson

This doesn't have a lot to do with running, but I went to the Toledo Jazz Orchestra's Tribute to Maynard Ferguson featuring Patrick Hession and Ric Wolkins with my pals from CrossRoads Community Church's worship band brass, Jeremy, Leo, and Vicki. It was phenomenal! Brought back a lot of memories of high school when we listened to the album Chameleon perpetually, the Interlochen concert, and camping road trips with Mom and Dad and Vicky listening to the album, Carnival, over and over and over again. The screaming trumpets last night courtesy of Mr. Hession and Mr. Wolkins definitely jacked me up for today's race so, I guess this does have a bit to do with running. My trumpeting pal, Leo, has run 6 marathons in his now ended running career including the Toledo, Columbus, and Boston. I've been gleaning some tips from him. My other band-pal, Vicki, is also a marathoner having done one in her college days. Dad, wish you coulda gone to the concert with us, you would have loved it!

Another RA Inspiration

This is yet another of the inspirational people on RunningAHEAD.com (RA) and running friend, Marion. She's been leaving kind comments and words of encouragement on my blog here, which I appreciate a ton! She's also the one that pestered, err, encouraged me to get my own blog going. Created a monster now, didn't you Marion?!? Mar's an amazing story as well. Since April of 2005 she has lost like a gazillion pounds after embarking on her weight loss and fitness journey! Ok, that was a slight exaggeration. In reality, she has only lost 100+ pounds! That's like a whole person people! During the course of her 2 1/2 year weight loss odyssey she sustained an ankle fracture running in '06 and then a stress fracture early in '07, so swam every day to stay active, and after her recovery trained for and ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) in October in under two hours with the last 3.1 miles (5K) a full 2 minutes faster than my fastest 5K without having ran 10 miles preceeding the 3.1! Marion is now training for the Bi-Lo Marathon in Myrtle Beach (sounds a bit better than Toledo, OH) on February 16, 2008. She just ran an 18 mile training run today. Whew! You can track her training progress here http://www.shutitandrun.blogspot.com/ and leave her words of encouragement! On top of all her running and weight loss accomplishments, she is an awesome wife and mom to an adorable little girl and boy, knits, sews, designs skyscrapers, is a nuclear physicist, expert culinary chef, and accomplished juggler. Ok, so a couple of those are writer's embellishments, but she is very gifted and does a ton! Oh, and she has a couple cats and a pooch too. Marion you rock and have been an inspiration to me! Stay healthy!

Running Friends from RunningAHEAD.com

Much of the inspiration I had to even think about running this marathon, other than my oldest running daughter, Chelsea, friend, Dianna, fellow firefighter, Kathy, and those that can't like Cassy, has come from many fine folks who log and post on the above site. There are truly some amazing people on that site that never cease to inspire and encourage me. One of those is Sara, an awesome young woman and attorney from the St. Louis area who had already run a couple of half marathons. To tell you how special a person she is would be an understatement. Case in point, on November 11, 2007 (my birthday), Sara was scheduled to run The St. Louis Track Club & Special Olympics Half Marathon (HM). Her mom was bringing her cousin's 3 year old daughter at the time (I think she may be 4 now), Anna, who has severe spina-bifida and is paralyzed from the chest down, to the race to see Sara and do her own 1/2 Mile Youth Run as part of the race festivities that day. Sara's HM race started at 8:00 a.m. and the 1/2 Mile Youth Race, Anna's race, started at 8:45 a.m. While Sara is an awesome runner, there is no way she could finish a HM in 45 minutes to make it to Anna's race so she selflessly traded in her HM race bib for a 5K race bib, ran the 5K at 8:00 a.m., and then after running a 3.1 mile race, sprinted to the start of Anna's race to be there to "run" it with Anna. The first thing you have to realize is the countless hours of running that Sara had to do to train for the marathon. And, to set aside her goal of a more glamorous HM race that she had trained for to run a 5K so she could get to the start of Anna's race is simply the epitome of being unselfish.

Sara is now training for her first marathon, The St. Louis Marathon on April 6, 2008. True to her nature, she is not undertaking this race out of simple selfish ambition but has partnered with Team in Training and has committed herself to raising $2,500.00 through Team in Training to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and is running in honor of Ryan Brown, the son of her high school friends, who at 5 years of age, lost his battle to cancer on July 10, 2005. You can partner with Sara, as Tammy and I have, in pledging toward her race in meeting her Team in Training fundraising goal by clicking on her link here http://www.active.com/donate/tntgmo/saraholtsman. Even if you can't donate to her, I do encourage you to at least read her Team in Training site as it's an awesome story and her blog, Running Lawyer, to leave her encouraging words in her unselfish training toward her first marathon. Sara, you are an inspiration my running friend! May the Lord bless your efforts.