Wednesday

(thanks Alan)

Seems like an appropriate picture to fit along with my study of Genesis 2. Actually it's probably more appropriate for Genesis 3 - after the Fall! God's creative intent was for men and women to live in absolute harmony, bringing unity out of diversity, which is a reflection of who God is (community of Father, Son, Spirit -- unity/diversity). Good marriages reflect that; bad ones reflect the curse found in Genesis 3. There's a whole lot of this latter reflecting going on! In Christ, we get a taste of the past pre-fall Paradise and the future Paradise, where all will be made new. See Ephesians 5:21ff.

Last night was Tempo Tuesday, and it was windy! And on the cold side. But neither was/is a problem if your desire to succeed takes priority over your comfort. Some would call that crazy; others call it commitment. There were a group of us, and that community of like-minded folks makes things so much easier. I must confess, that without the community last night, I probably would have opted out of running hard. Some of us even flirted with that option. "Man up!" was heard and heeded.

We did our 2+ mile warm up and stretched a little. Then it was time to tempo. There were different ones doing different paces. My group of Tim, Jim, and Ryan was after a 6.40 something pace, although we negotiated a 3 mile run at 6.50, due to adverse weather. We had also talked of doing 2.5 miles at pace, moving up to 3 miles next week. Decisions on the run would be made.

We hit the quarter mile mark a couple of seconds fast, so we slowed a bit. We hit the half a little slow, so we pushed a bit. Then it was into the stiff wind, where it was hard to judge pace. We ended up going through the first mile around 6.52, I think. Slow! Time to pick it up! The second mile of our course is the harder than the first; it has considerable inclines. We pushed up the hill before enjoying a tail wind for a little while. We hit the second mile in 6.44, I think. At this point I was feeling yesterday's 10 miler.

We held the faster pace going up the hill and back into the wind on 39th. As we neared the 2.5 mile mark, Tim the Elder indicated that he was stopping at that point (as stated last week). Jimmy said he was going on for the 3. I was torn. I really wanted to man up and do the three, but I was getting tight. The last half mile was going to be up hill, so I chose to drop off and end the tempo at 2.5, which was what we had planned to do a week ago. Next week I vow to do all 3 at a 6.47 pace! Ending at 2.5 was a little frustrating, but it fits my plan of holding back just a bit right now.

Today is an easy 6 mile recovery run. Tomorrow: hill repeats. Friday: bike. Saturday: 16 miles, which will make 45 for the week. Feeling good!

Yesterday I had a guy step back into my life. He had been absent for quite a while, maybe more than a year? Chainsaw Mike! He's another one of my collection of different, interesting people that have come into my life. Chainsaw is an interesting guy. to say the least. I helped him and his family a lot a couple of years ago. Mike, unlike some poor folks, really desires to work hard. His nickname comes from his desire to earn a living by cutting trees.

A few years ago his chainsaw died, so several of us rallied around him and raised the money to buy him a nice saw. He has done fairly well, which explains his absence from my life, I suppose. Yesterday he was in need again. It had to do with his children and their well-being. After a long conversation about life, we got him/them fixed up.

Wonder what/who today will bring?