Tuesday

Ready for a ride in the sun

Good morning! Happy Tuesday to you! It's going to be a little cooler today, which is fine. We'll enjoy whatever comes our way today.

Yesterday was a good day. Kedra and I went with Ben to Ivy Tech to get him all fixed up. He is going to attend there in the fall to study criminal justice. His ultimate goal is to be a state trooper. It is difficult to become one, but this course of study will certainly help him. He is going to take some classes on line and will attend others in Bloomington and Bedford. Ben is a good young man and we are proud of him.

On our way back yesterday morning we had just enough time to stop in and see Cora. Funny how that works out. She was sweet, pleasant, and cute, as usual. She laughed out loud at one of my goofy moves, so you know what that means. Yes, I will continue with that same move for a while. I don't care what others think.

You know my old line about ministry and interruptions. "I used to complain about interruptions to my ministry until I realized the interruptions are my ministry." That's a paraphrase of something Henri Nouwen taught me. Yesterday I got an urgent call from someone quite upset. A family had learned a relative had been killed in a car wreck. I went immediately and found out more. It happened two years ago but the family just found out yesterday. The deceased was a family member who had been out of communication for a long time. It was/is a sad situation.

Later in the day, I managed to get a 30 mile ride in. It was pleasant and what I needed physically, mentally, and spiritually. It was so pleasant and refreshing. Last night I was able to wash a lot of other stuff away with a one mile swim. This was added to a very short run before the sun came up. My hamstrings are so tight you could bend nails on them, I think. I am in the early stages of rehab.

Rand had a good Boston Marathon. He is an inspiration to me in lots of ways and has been for a long time. He is a tough-minded endurance athlete. He gutted out this marathon on a bad knee and low miles.

In my reading this morning I came across one of my favorite passages regarding discernment. It's in 1 Chronicles 12:32.

From the tribe of Issachar, there were 200 leaders of the tribe with their relatives. All these men understood the signs of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take.

Our culture is rapidly changing and has been for the last several years. Guiding a church through all this is challenging to say the least. I like, also, something Napoléon said. It goes something like this:

The role of a leader is to define reality and to provide hope for a good future.

That's my paraphrase and what I see as my job. Couple those two statements and move on. It begins with honesty about yourself and the situation. That's the best policy, of course.

OK, that's way more than you bargained for today. Thanks for stopping by.

Monday

Saturday's Centurions

Good morning! I hope you are well on this mild Monday morning. It is so very nice to have nice weather, isn't it? The weekend was amazing! There is nothing quite like warm sunshine and air temps in the 70s. Perfect!

A few of us did a Century or a 100 miler on Saturday. Pictured above, holding up fingers to designate how many centuries this year, are Scott, me, Jim, Roy, and Iron Bill. Bill did not hold up fingers because he doesn't have enough to show how many centuries he's done this year. Seriously. He did a few on a trainer. Amazing!

We rolled out of Parkview right at 8 on Saturday. Some of us ate breakfast at McDonald's first. Timmy G rode south for the first hour with us and then turned to go back. We headed to Orleans and then made a move to the southwest, into the hills toward French Lick. It was beautiful, stunningly so! The hills were hard but not terrible. After a few miles we headed back east, into Orleans.

After a very brief stop at Huck's, we headed south again, going past the Syria Christian Church, on our way to 56, which we took us into Livonia. From there it was the hilly Livonia to Hardinsburg Road, 7 more miles of beauty. Bill wanted to take the unaware and uninitiated to Chainsaw Hill, which is out on 66, which goes to Milltown. It was quite a climb. The payoff? A yard full of chainsaws poked into the ground. No kidding. Weird and funny.

After turning around and screaming down the hill toward Hardinsburg, we stopped at the General Store, a neat store run by Mennonites. There we got some water and replenished are nutritional supplies. We were sitting on 60 something miles. I was wearing down and the sun was warming up. Bill is a great leader. He got me back to 337 and then pulled us all from Livonia to Orleans. We had a nice little tailwind and averaged 20+ on that segment. 

From Orleans we road 37 back to Bedford and finished up our 100. It was not my best century but it wasn't terrible. I didn't bonk but wasn't as strong as I wanted to be. I'm glad we did lots of hills. They will make me stronger. Ironman Florida only has 1 hill, I think, which is a big bridge over a canal.

Rand is in Boston, probably getting ready to board a bus to be transported to the start line. I have such wonderful memories of all those experiences. I hope he has a good day today. I texted with him last night, and I think he is ready to enjoy the day.

We had a great weekend with our family. Luke surprised Kedra and me by coming home with Rebecca and Micah. What a nice surprise! Friday night we had all our kids home to enjoy some smoked chicken and other good stuff.

Yesterday was a good day at church, and then the afternoon's weather was icing on the cake! It was a good weekend no matter how it was measured. This week is going to be crazy. I have a trip to Nashville on Thursday and then all kinds of things this weekend. Oh well, it will be fun. Thanks for stopping by.

Friday

Good morning! It's Friday. How did it get here so quickly? It's going to be a nice day. I have a counseling appointment this morning, along with several things to do to get ready for Sunday. I am hoping I can get all that done by noon or so.

This afternoon I am going to fire up the smoker. My little girl is coming home, and she likes smoked chicken. Hey, I aim to please! While the smoker is doing its thing, I can work around the yard. I really need to work around the yard. The long winter was pretty hard on lots of things. It should be a very pleasant day to be outside.

Yesterday was good. I got a lot done. At the end of the day, I waited for Iron Bill to get out of school, get ready, and ride to Mitchell. I then joined him for the next 20 miles of his 40 mile ride. We had a nice time riding over to the Orleans area and back. I'm sitting on 70 miles for the week, so the 100 tomorrow will make for a nice total. It will be my second biggest week this year.

Last night I got in the pool and swam a mile. I'm seeing some improvement there. It's just a matter of keeping after it. Soon we will move to some open water swims, probably in 2 weeks. I would like to get 2-3 of those before heading to Terra Haute.

This morning I will resume running. I am going to ease into and hope it goes well. I have neglected stretching and really working to rehab my hamstring. Shame on me. I resolve to begin doing that.

My good buddy, Rand, is heading to Boston tomorrow. He is running the Boston Marathon on Monday. He's been a bit injured, but I am sure he will do well in spite of it. It's quite an experience, and this year, especially, will be amazing, after last year's problems. I wish him a wonderful experience! After Boston, he will be focused on Ironman Florida, along with a few others in the area.

OK, I need to get moving! Thanks for stopping by.

Thursday

Good morning! Looks like a really nice day ahead. Yesterday was pretty nice too, at least the sun was very warm.

I'm reading through the entire Bible this year, which is my usual practice. This year I am using a program that attempts to arrange the text in a chronological order. I am really enjoying it. For example, this morning's reading weaves together some of David and Saul's adventures with some of the Psalms David wrote about it. I am finding it very helpful. I am also reading from a different translation this year. That also keeps it a little fresher and less predictable.

Breaking News: Cora rolled from back to front yesterday! Hey, that's about as important as a lot of CNN's "Breaking News" of late. Anyway, she did it. She changes a little bit everyday.

I got a late afternoon ride in yesterday. Wow, it was tough going out. I went out to the county line, right into the southeast wind. It was actually more east than south. It was a nice ride on the way back. I had a good time trial workout and was pretty pleased with it. I hope to get another ride in this evening. Tomorrow I will try a short run. Saturday is a 100 mile ride.

Everything is coming together for Sunday. We have several unusual things planned for our assembly. All of them require extra work. We have lots of really good people who have stepped up to help out. I am very thankful.

Wednesday

Good morning! It's another cool morning, but I heard the weather guy say this will be the coldest day of the next 7 days. It's getting better, and soon it will be hot. Please don't complain about it, when it arrives.

It was another good day on the planet yesterday. Life in the little city went pretty well. Somehow I am managing to knock things off my list that have been carried over for weeks. Each Sunday night or Monday morning, I look at last week's list and carry over the things I didn't get done. Some of those things are disappearing. For example, last night between supper and swimming, I was able to complete a set of simple bookshelves in the basement.

These bookshelves were in another room, a room claimed by Ben a few months ago as his bedroom. The shelves were taken down and the books piled in Luke's old room. By putting up the shelves and moving the books, I accomplished three things: 1) got the pile of shelves cleaned up, 2) got the books all cleaned up, and 3) and got bonus good husband points. I love it when a plan comes together.

Two weeks ago I constructed shelves in the storage room in the basement. These are the things I am knocking of my list, which feels good. I've got a few other things as well, church things that keep getting carried over, that are getting crossed off as well.

Last night I did get in the pool, for the second night in a row. It was a frustrating winter for swimming. The school cancellations, due to the weather, shut the pool down on a regular basis, so I probably only averaged 1 time a week. Now, at least for the last couple of weeks, I am managing 3 times a week, which is what I need.

I am about ready to try resuming running. I miss it a lot, but I want to be wise. I think the bike miles will fund the running pretty well, but, still, I need to run for various reasons. The Terra Haute tri is my focus right now. It has a 5 mile run at the end, which I can do. I just want to do it at a decent pace.

OK, lots going on today! Thanks for stopping by.

Tuesday

Cora and Ben hanging out

Good morning! What's this I see? 33? I loved 33 all fall, for that was Ben's football number, but I'm not crazy about the number on April 15th on my thermometer. Hey, it will be ok, though, won't it? Yes, it will. A couple of more days and we hit a streak of seasonable temps. Bring it.

Yesterday was a good day, a good Monday. I got a lot done, a lot that was on my list. You know me, being task/list oriented, it is always satisfying to cross things off. Sometimes if I do something that wasn't on my list, I will add it so I can cross it off. Some of you know what I am talking about; others are like, "You are so, so sick." Hey, I am honest.

I made some good progress in getting ready for Easter Sunday, and I also spent some time on Honduras stuff. I am not going to Honduras this summer. There are lots of reasons. We do have a team going, and they will do a good job of continuing our work there. I hope to go back in Feb and July of next year. We have lots of things going on here this year, including Ben's graduation and Luke's wedding.

Guess who showed up at my house around supper time? That's right, Cora! We had some major fun. She was 3 months old yesterday. She is starting to think about rolling over. She rolls to one side. I still turn to goo and get goofy when she's around. It's the craziest thing, but here's the thing, I don't care! ha ha

Kedra had 18 women to our house last night, which meant one thing for me: get out! ha ha Fortunately there was swimming last night, so I was able to go do something productive. I am very slow in the water, but the thing I have to focus on is this. Two years ago I couldn't make it across the pool without panic or some kind of assistance. My first official tri is coming up on May 17th. It is wetsuit legal, so I will have no problem. I will be slow, but I will get it done.

OK, got lots to do today, so I better get after it.

Monday

Good Monday morning! I hope it's not Monday mourning for you. Get it? Word play so early. What can I say?

It's raining and thermometer is standing on the edge of the cliff ready to jump. It's going to be a slow, wet, windy descent into the 30s. I can't say I'm excited about it, but the good news is it will bounce back and soon we will complain about the heat. The long, extended winter makes me think it is more like mid-March than mid-April We are almost to May and really warm temps. OK, that's the weather commentary for today.

The weekend was good but busy. I worked most of the day on Friday, and then Saturday I spoke three times at a youth conference. That went well, and I enjoyed it. It did keep me mostly inside on a beautiful day. I did get out and enjoy some of the evening. I did not do any endurance activity on Saturday. The rest was good. I was keenly aware six of my buddies were on a 100 mile ride. It was the first time for a couple of them.

I decided to go out yesterday afternoon for a little while on the bike. I knew it was windy, but, wow it was really windy. I like to go into the wind first and get the hard part done (insert sermon here). The return then becomes the reward for the hard work. I headed right into it for quite a while and managed a total of 20 miles. I thought I might do less, but I was pleased to knock off 20 miles. Heading north was sweet. It was easy to hold 25-30 mph most of the way back. I had to dodge a few Amish kids in their Sunday attire. We are the Amish Country Cyclists, you know.

Lester ran a half marathon on Saturday in Carmel and did really well. He broke 1.35 on very light miles for the year. He juggles a demanding job and new family and tries to fit fitness in. It's a challenge, but this performance gave him, I think, some confidence and encouragement.  It was Cora's first race. She plans to be there when I finish Ironman Florida. This was good prep for that. ha ha

Another busy week is awaiting. Easter Sunday is coming, which means a different sort of week and a different sort of preparation. It's all good. I do need to get after it, so... Thanks for stopping by.

Friday

Good morning! Friday it is. And it looks like it might be a pretty decent warm day. I'm glad spring finally has shown up. I know what the forecast says for next, but I am going to ignore it. Maybe it will go away?  I've got a busy day ahead with a variety of things to do. I think I am ready to take it on.

Yesterday was nice. Jim S. and took off fairly early on our bikes. He wanted 45-50 miles, and I was content with that. Earlier in the week I had visions of more, but I really had no good reason for doing more at this point. As we headed into a very strong wind, I made the decision that 50 would satisfy me.

We had a challenging ride south, but it wasn't too bad. We wandered around and ended up somewhere northeast of Paoli. This positioned us for a nice ride back, pushed along with a strong tailwind. We had to do a little more wind work to get the miles to add up to 50 but mostly we headed north. It was a pleasant ride.

I cheated and did some work in the afternoon, which will help me for today. The highlight of the afternoon was a request for me to babysit Cora while Maddie and Kedra went for a walk. Cora and I get along really well. She is growing and changing everyday.

Today is all about preparation for tomorrow and Sunday. I will be gone all day tomorrow and then Sunday will show up after that. I guess I better get busy. Thanks for coming by, and have a great weekend.