Wednesday

Good morning! Hey, it's a little cool out there! Oh well. I wish this was the weather for Monday's Boston Marathon. Really! It would be perfect for me if it were to start in the 30s and slowly warm toward the 50s. The long range forecasts have been all over the place. The one pictured above scares me a bit. The temps would be OK, but the strong NW wind would be an issue. We run north east, so the race would be right into a 15-20 mph wind. There are so many people running that it might be noticeable, however. I'm a weather junkie, so I know the forecast is likely to change a couple of more times.

After last night's run, Kedra and I talked some about our travel plans, we mapped out our meals in Boston. We fly out Friday around 10 a.m. Ben is off school Friday, so he will take us to the airport around 7 a.m.  Eating, specifically carbo-loading, is what we focused on. We are staying in an apartment in Boston, so we have a full kitchen, which is nice. This place is half the price of the hotels and is downtown, so we feel blessed.

How did we score such a place? My niece Jean has a sister who lives in Boston. In her apartment building they leave a suite open for family members who come to visit. She was able to reserve that for us for Friday through Monday. She has also offered to order groceries for us, so that we can cook. We made a list last night. We will eat out a couple of times, but it will be nice to have food that I am used to.

Our Boston group will gather on Sunday afternoon for a meal. That should be lots of fun, and then I hope we will gather again Monday night to swap stories and experiences. The 8 of us running are staying in various places, but they are all pretty close together.

* * *

I got kicked out of the courtroom yesterday! I was there to support my friend in a custody hearing. When we walked in, the mother's attorney looked at me and said, in not very nice tone, "Who are you?" I told her. She said, continuing her not nice tone, "I don't think I want you in here." I said, "Listen here you dust-eating snake, I WILL stay in here, and  YOU will LIKE it! Got it?" At that point I was arrested. It was just a small scene.

Well, some of the previous paragraph is true. The bottom line is that I left the courtroom and waited outside. Sometimes there is a difference between what we think and what we say. This is usually a good thing.

Today I have meeting with other ministers in the Mitchell area. We like each other and play well together. Today we will try literally working together. We are meeting at Bryantsville to bag corn and talk about stuff. Imagine this: a bunch of preachers doing manual labor. I know this is a difficult task for some -- to imagine preachers working on a day that is not Sunday and to imagine physical labor! Having said that, I am not going to participate in the manual labor part. Hey, didn't want to disappoint you!

I don't want to risk injury just a few days from Boston. Plus I will be on my way to a funeral in Loogootee. Jim Jeffers, a wonderful member of the Shoals church, died on Sunday. He was only 51 years old. He struggled and suffered for a long time with various health issues. He lost the battle for physical health but won the victory of eternal life. He was a good man.

The rest of my day involves study, organizing our Honduras trip, meetings, and teaching. Yep, gonna be a full, fun day!

Numbers

We had our last Tuesday night group run before Boston. We did 10 strides in the 2nd mile and then got blown around by the wind. We did 5 miles. I will probably run 2-3 more times before the marathon on Monday.

This evening I looked at my training log and found these numbers:

Swim:

12 hours and 45 minutes. I have no idea on distance. When I actually start swimming I will keep track of distance.

Bike:

278.83 miles (I did 31 on New Year's Eve but it's not included in this total)/18 hrs, 55 mins, 55 secs

Run:

563.85 miles/82 hrs, 25 mins, 05 secs

I love keeping these stats on www.beginnertriathlete.com. It imports all my data from my Garmin, and, of course, I can manually enter data as well. It's going to be a very helpful tool as I transition to triathlons. (Thanks Mike J. for pointing me to it!)

Look up!

Look! Up in the Sky! It’s a Bird, it’s a Plane, it’s . . .

Do you spend much time looking up? Probably not. That’s why we have to be told to do it. It’s unusual.

If you are like me, then it’s really easy to spend almost all of your time looking down, back, straight ahead, and all around–all on the human/horizontal plane. It can be discouraging, because it’s easy to see problems everywhere.

I need to look up!

Psalm 121:1,2

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.

Let’s spend some time today looking up. How about it?

Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, but faith looks up!

Tuesday a.m.

Here we go, Tuesday! My mind is starting to turn eastward, toward Boston. I woke up this morning thinking about nutrition and carbo-loading logistics. What? Well, I usually run marathons that are close to where I can get home cooked meals right up to race time. Going to Boston on Friday means that I have several meals to figure out. We are staying in, basically, an apartment with a kitchen, so I will be able to cook some. I will tell you more about our accommodations and how they came to be later in the week.

The other big factor, besides nutrition, is the weather. I can control, to some degree, the nutritional piece, but the weather I have not mastered control over that. I tried saying, "Peace, be still!" once and a lightening bolt struck nearby, so I kinda let that idea go. The forecast that I see looks good: 50s. Jim S. came up with one that shows 80s, so who knows?  If it's in the 80s, then it could get really interesting (and slow). Medical tent anyone?

Tapering for a marathon is not much fun. You feel fat and slow. No kidding. Last night's run was not good, which is probably a good sign. Tonight we run another 5 miles with some strides thrown in. That should feel better. After tonight it's down to a couple more short easy runs.

The protest yesterday morning was peaceful. It made the front page of the Bedford paper. I was there for over an hour, mostly standing in the background. I was there primarily to support Missy, the grieving mother. A few of us went into the Superior II courtroom for the proceeding. I really felt sorry for Missy as they went through the plea, which included a description of her son's death. The courtroom was lined with police officers, but everyone remained calm. There was a lot of emotion in the room.

I made progress in the pool last night, so my confidence is growing there somewhat. After Boston I will get more focused on swimming and biking. I may look for a sprint triathlon some time in June. I can envision surviving one without drowning now. ha ha. 

Today I go back to court to support another person. I am becoming fairly familiar with all this court stuff. Thankfully it has been as an observer and supporter.

Resurrection Realiy

So what do you do on the Monday after Easter?

If you follow Jesus, then yesterday was probably a big day for you: great worship, large crowds, extra emotion and enthusiasm. It was wonderful!

But now it’s Monday morning. Back to reality.

Yes, but it is a Resurrection reality!

We follow a Savior whose first words after his resurrection included:

"Don’t be afraid."

"Peace be with you."

These are words that work really well all the time, even, and especially, on a Monday.

Monday a.m.

Good morning!

Oh Monday morning
Monday morning couldn't guarantee
That Monday evening
You would still be here with me.
OK, so I broke out in song--the old Mamas and Papas song... Sorry. Oh no, here's comes so more.

Ba-da ba-da-da-da Ba-da ba-da-da-da Ba-daba-da-da-da Monday, monday (ba-da ba-da-da-da) So good to me.

I hope you had a good weekend! Mine was simple and simply enjoyable. All of my children were home, and we were able to spend some time together. Lester and Maddie came in Friday evening, and Luke arrived around bedtime. Saturday I went for a nice easy 10 mile run and then went to help at Lester and Maddie's new place. Everybody was pitching in, working, helping out. It was a lot of fun. Saturday evening I grilled out some steaks, and we enjoyed a nice meal together after a day of working. That's hard to beat, for me.

Yesterday was a good day at church: a nice crowd and a good assembly. We ended it with the video above, which captured our theme and the images we were thinking through during the sermon. We invited people to tweet yesterday, and they did (#mcoc). That was interesting and entertaining.

We had a nice family gathering after church. A good meal followed by an Easter egg hunt. Sadly we had to say good-bye to our kids going back to where they live, but that's OK. They are all doing great, and, of course, Lester and Maddie will be living here soon. That reality hits me occasionally. I just smile when it does.

Yesterday afternoon I went on an enjoyable bike ride with Mike, Morgan, Greg, Dan and Bill. It was so pleasant riding our 30 mile Amish loop, soaking up the sunshine, talking and laughing. That will be my last ride until after the Boston Marathon. I want to keep my legs fresh.

Today I am going to start my day at the courthouse in Bedford, supporting a friend of mine whose son was murdered almost two years ago. It's outside of my comfort zone, but I care a lot about this grieving mother.

My run today will take place this evening in Bedford. I want to run with the group. This week is all about hard taper, so 5 today, 5 tomorrow, 4 Wednesday, and a short run or two between then and Monday. Tapering is hard in lots of ways. I've got to really watch what I eat this week since I'm not burning my usual 7,000 extra calories. After this evening's run, it will be another adventure in the pool for me.

It's Friday...

It was Friday, but Sunday was coming.

Friday was a day of defeat and death. It was a day of darkness and depression. The dream of a new life seemingly was destroyed. Crucified.

Things are not always as they seem! It was Friday--but Sunday was coming!

It took long time coming, but Sunday finally came. Sunday was a day of victory, a day of resurrection!

When we have problems and struggles, trials and temptations, it's Friday, but we know that Sunday's coming as God works out the problems for our eventual good.

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

Daily, we are reminded of our ultimate Friday, because daily we see death. But thank God Sunday's coming, when we will share in His resurrection and have eternal life with Him!

It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

Good Friday

Last night at the pool, a guy with a video camera slipped in and started filming. I really resisted him, but he insisted. Finally I said, "OK, only if you change the name to protect my identity." So that's what he did. You can see from the video that I have made some progress over the last few weeks. With a new fast bike and being in good running shape, I am getting ready to rock the world of triathlon. Watch out Lance, you have some competition.

The highlight of yesterday was having Rebecca come home! It was so good to see her. She looks good and is doing well. Today she is going to school to observe a couple of teachers as part of one of her Lipscomb class assignments.  To make her visit back home even more pleasant, she brought home Starbucks Coffee! Her meal plan, that she does fully use, allows her to buy coffee at the Starbucks at Lipscomb.

Today I have a meeting (here in a few minutes) and then I speak at a Good Friday service at Tulip Street. Following that I plan to ride 30+ miles with some friends. It will be a little cool, but it will be fun.

This evening Lester and Maddie will come from Indy and Luke will come from Nashville. Everyone should be home by bedtime. I am looking forward to that and to the weekend. Tomorrow morning I have my last double digit run before Boston - an easy 10 miler. Ten days!