Chicago Part 1

I completed my first marathon this past weekend in Chicago!  More importantly than that fund-raising for Active:Water reached over $1000!!  If you're new to the blog it's the reason I started running in the first place.  The fund-raising page doesn't shut down just because the race is over and the goal has been reached.  There's always a need!

Active:Water Fund-raising Page

Last week I was a bit anxious for the trip to Chi-town.  Monday started with the girls waking up at 2:30 in the morning and not feeling like going back to sleep.  Aimee and the girls eventually fell back asleep but I did not and I zombied my way into work.  One of the first things I did was take an extra day off making last week a two day work week!  Focus was in short supply knowing what was coming up that weekend.

I approached my professors about my two days of class I'd be missing and they were surprisingly accommodating.  In New Testament I had to turn in a half page paper Friday but he allowed me to email it to him.  In Greek New Testament the prof let me take a test Thursday, that we planned on taking Friday.  Thursday I took the test and was not exactly focused.  I ended up not understanding a few questions and bombed it.  I finally understood the questions halfway to Chicago.  Another thing I realized on the trip was that I didn't email my New Testament professor the paper.  Just so I don't leave anyone on the edge of their seat my NT prof didn't mark me off any points for turning my paper in a couple days late.

On to the trip!

Early Friday morning we dropped off the girls at my mom's and embarked on our 7 hour journey to the great city of Chicago (after I forgot some stuff and we had to go back to Kaydees house to pick it up).  The time went by pretty quick.  When Aimee and Kaydee weren't sleeping we played some good car games, got some grub and Kaydee learned that Mount Rushmore is in the United States.  My wife has had similar moments involving the location of major cities.  Maybe it's just a Keim thing?  ANYWAY!  We took the rural route as opposed to the turnpike.  It took an hour longer but it was less miles and we didn't have to pay any tolls.

Chicago!  We made it!

Our only stop in Chicago on Friday was the expo.  For anyone who hasn't run a race or been to an expo it's basically a trade show for running companies.  At the expo the runner picks up their bib, timing device, race shirt, S.W.A.G. and purchase whatever treasurers they'd like. 

Picture of the race shirt.

The experience was a bit overwhelming.  I've run races in Cleveland, Columbus and Canton but this expo was about the size of Canton.  It felt like we were the only people paying attention to where we were walking too.  I don't know if it was the crowds, driving in the city or everyone walking right in front of me but I didn't enjoy the expo.  I went in and bought some merchandise, picked up my bib/shirt and left pretty quick.  Not before a forced photo opp by my wife.

She was trying to help me enjoy the experience.  I don't blame her at all.  I'm just not great with crowds (unless I'm running in them).

We left the expo and I happened to not notice any of the signs saying I had to pay for the parking before I left the garage.  I thought there would be an attendant to pay.  Little did he know...  So after taking some laps around the parking lot and finding a place to pay we left and headed to the hotel.  The ride to the hotel happened to be during Friday afternoon rush hour!

Our ten minute drive to the hotel was about thirty minutes, chalk it up to poor planning.  As I wrote in previous blogs the hotel was paid for partly by a generous donation from a friend.  Weeks later the same friend paid for the rest of the hotel so it was completely free!!

A couple months ago our car took a dump and all the money we had saved for the trip was gone.  Every last penny.  An amazing thing happened though.  In the final months so much extra money came in that we ended up having more than we expected.  Truly a blessing!  Praise God!

Because of this blessing we weren't worrying about finances during the weekend.  Everything was separated out so we knew how much we had for everything from parking and gas to shopping and eating.

Saturday was our big day in the city.  We followed the Garmin GPS thing into the city and at one point it had us going the wrong way down a one way road.  Awesome!  Fastest U turn I've ever done!  After this "experience" we found our parking garage and were happy to be on our feet.

If you don't know me personally I'm kind of a hat aficionado so our first stop was at the New Era flagship store (I'm not sure how it happened but our parking garage was right next to it..).  Any guy who has been shopping with a significant other knows the feeling of standing there, for what seems like forever, while your loved one walks past the same rack over and over again.  In the New Era store that was Aimee.  I made my choice, finally, and we left.  Aimee even bought something.

We went to most of the cool lakefront landmarks.  The bean, buckingham fountain, waterfall wall things and so on and so on.  I won't post all the pictures that we took since most of you probably clicked on this link from my Facebook.  All of the pictures are on there or Aimee's page.  We would have liked to go up Sears tower and go to the Navy Pier but there isn't enough time in the day and I didn't want to completely wipe myself out the day before running a marathon.

The city was a bit busier than normal.  The night before the marathon was a big college football game between Miami (FL) and Notre Dame.  We saw fans everywhere we went.  Other things we did while in the city:

Women shopped
Took pictures
People asked us for money (one guy just about cornered me for it)
Jamba Juice

That night we met for a team dinner with a couple other runners for Active:Water.  Aimee, Kaydee and I had the pasta and what not while everyone else ordered pizza.  I was a little jealous, I won't lie.  The pizzas looked great but I'm a bit paranoid and didn't want to try something new the day before a race.  Luckily they ship pizzas everywhere in the country so I will have one of those pizzas soon. 


We headed back to the hotel after a pretty busy day.  I had no problem falling/staying asleep that night, to my surprise considering what was coming up.  I did wake up once or twice because of a wedding reception that was happening at the hotel.  Heard a lot of drunk people outside.

That's all for now.  I'll share about the race itself next time.  It won't take a month either!

28 Days

Phew!  It's been a busy few weeks.  The end of last month saw me finishing an eight week chunk of training at work, followed by a week of additional work training, and when I was finally done being trapped in a training room I started my semester at Malone.  My workload is light, I only take a couple classes a semester, but this semester I'm taking Greek New Testament, which will definitely stretch me.

Speaking of a stretch, we're in the home stretch for the Chicago marathon (28 days to be exact).  I still remember sitting at my desk back in February waiting for the 1 o'clock hour to hit so I could register.  I have this fear, paranoia if you will, that every event, baseball game, concert, etc will sell out before I get a chance to buy a ticket or register.  That day I kept refreshing the page until the registration link popped up.  I signed up so fast that I wouldn't be surprised if I was bib number 00001.  Three days later the field of 46,000 runners was already filled (record breaking time).

So why did I choose the Chicago marathon?

Good question!  At the end of 2011 I felt like I had a good year of running.  It was the first year I had run any races.  I ran the Cleveland and Columbus half (with 5ks sprinkled here and there).  With my eyes looking towards 2012 I knew that I wanted to run a marathon.  I love the city of Cleveland and the Columbus half made me fond of the capital city.  I was torn.  Other races were on my radar too.  Cincinnati, Canton, the Air Force marathon in Dayton, even Pittsburgh (cringe).  To sort out the jumbled mess I sat at my desk and had a few minutes of silence, so I decided to pray.  Does God care about what race I run?  Probably.  Maybe.  I just prayed for clarity and to take the decision out of my hands.  There are more important things to focus on in life aside from what race I'll run, right?  Well wouldn't you know the minute I was done I popped over to this site Facebook and what's the top story on there?  Active:Water is asking for people to join the Chicago Marathon team.  I kid you not!  True story.  Pending wife approval, this was the single easiest decision I made.  She approved, duh.

I want to take a moment here to thank my lovely wife for being so gosh darn supportive of everything I put myself into.  Whether it's going to Armenia on a mission trip and baking hundreds of cookies to fund-raise or selling headbands, taking pictures, and watching a small countries worth of kids to raise money for this Chicago trip, she's always there by my side.  These goings on stress us (and stretch us) but we grow so close through these tests.  She's stuck with me for good!  Praise the Lord!

Training update:

Training is going good.  It could be better, but I feel like I can tackle these 26.2 miles.  Run, walk, or crawl I'll cross that finish line.  An Olympic marathoner injured himself during the race, but kept running till he finished.  At the end of the race they asked him why he kept going.  His response is famous, you've probably heard it, but I remind myself of it every so often.  "My country didn't send me 10,000 miles for me to start the race, they sent me to finish"  I'm paraphrasing that quote, but you get the idea.  All of your support and sponsorship through Active:Water is getting me to Chicago.  I'm not going to start the race, I'm there to finish!

With that said yesterday I went out for my long run of the week and it was very rainy.  To the point where my eyes were barely open.  Big, hard-hitting, rain drops.  I wore a jacket, thinking it would keep my innards dry.  ha.  I was a big 200 lb wet blanket by mile 5 or 6.  Parts of me really wanted to stop or cut the run by about 10 - 15 miles but I focused on a video that I saw recently.  (Note to Blogger: there are other sites that show videos.  Help a brotha out and let me post a vimeo video on my page.)  The video is of kids using a well pump.  The water coming out is crystal clear and the kids love it.  They're cupping their hands and drinking it, some are just putting their hands under the pump to feel the water flow between their fingers.  They were so excited for something that we look at as nothing more than a convenience.  I'm not going to say that thinking of this made me break a personal best or I was then able to float above the concrete but it kept me going till I finished.

The video I talked about is one Active:Water's facebook page.  Go check it out.  Since you're surfing the Internet anyway, how about you mosey on over to my fund-raising page and sponsor me!  I'm asking everyone to just give 5 dollars, that's one pumpkin spiced latte.  A donation of $5 is bigger than you think and can help a lot of people!

https://activewater.myetap.org/fundraiser/Asia/individual.do?etapCacheBuster=1343581307551&participationRef=3357.0.20368397&shareMedium=label.facebook

I'm almost one third away from reaching the goal I chose.  I have faith that it'll be reached.

THANK YOU!

Once the race is over I'm going to write out hand written thank yous to everyone who gives.  I'm not saying that as an incentive to give.  You've read my blog, my writing isn't a prize lol.  It's actually barely legible!

ANYWAY

I have the upcoming week off work.  The first week off I've had this year!  I have visions of making breakfast for the girls, "sleeping in" (for me that's about 7 or 8 a.m.), and staying up late playing songpop with my wife.

Have a good week everybody!

P.S.  Buy Lecrae's new album "Gravity"!  It's great!

Speed Bump

Today has been a very trying day.

Last night I had met up with some guys from work for a fantasy football draft where I ate way too much food.  To the point where I don't even want to share all that I ate.  Not because I'm ashamed, even though I kinda am.  I don't want to share because I may get sick.

Which leads us to today.
 
My alarm clock went off at 4:30, so I could go out for a 9 mile training run.  I swung out of bed to turn off my alarm clock and my stomach was in a good deal of pain.  Back under the covers I went!  A couple hours later I was out of the house and heading to work, feeling much better.  The days schedule included an all day meeting on Continuous Improvement (Nationwide's version of Six Sigma).  I learned some things, heard the song "Ring My Bell" one too many times and the day went by fast.

After work I headed to the auto shop to get an oil change.  Now for all of those other people out there driving older cars you know the pitch at these appointments:  "We completed your oil change and it looks like you need a new air filter, brake fluid, new serpentine belt, blah blah blah".  I prepare myself for moments like these.  I put up the wall.  This time was different...  The first words out of his mouth were "This car isn't safe enough to be on the road".  OK, you've got my attention.  At this point he took me back to my car and gave me a guided tour of all the things needing repaired.  (I don't know much about cars so don't be surprised if the following names are far from actual car parts)  Tie rods, ball joints, shocks and tires.  These are the items needing work just so the car is safe for the road.  The complete list to fix everything is so long I don't think I'll be sharing it here.  I hadn't talked to Aimee, and I didn't have money with me, so I paid for my oil change and headed home.

We had no choice.  The car needs fixed.  It's the only car we have and I can't put my girls in there in it's current condition.  So I called my guy.  The guy who fixes cars for a living and gives me a deal.  I know he'll save us some dough. 

No pick up. 

Voicemail. 

He calls back!!  "Hey Thomas, I got your voicemail.  I'm sorry but I'm not doing that kind of work anymore." ..............but he's my car guy!  Bye bye car guy.  Hello hiked up repair bill.

With that said our Chicago Marathon fund is now on life support.  My first thought was that we'd lost all the money we saved up.  Then a weird thing happened.

I was fine.

Our saving for the trip is all but cleaned out, but we have the money to fix the car.  This is a blessing in, and of, itself.  I'm going to be thankful for this experience.  I've got faith that we'll get over this speed bump.  The trip will be a success and through this race, and all the donations we'll receive, hundreds of people's lives will be saved.

To make up for yesterday I ate very good today.  I was able to feel good all day.  I even ate dinner!  An hour later Bryce came over and we headed out for 9 miles.

Then it hit me.

Within the first mile I was confident that this would be the first time I would have thrown up during a run.  I lasted 4.6 miles.  Didn't throw up either.  Although I was close a few times.  I still don't feel too good right now.

If you take anything from this entry let it be this:

1.Have faith in the Lord and He will see you through the rough times.
 2.Don't eat lots and lots of food.

I'm going to lay down.

P.R.

P.R. - personal record (used when talking about the longest or fastest run you've ever completed)

I'm providing this definition because if you would have asked me what it meant a couple years ago (before I was a consistent runner) I would have no idea what it meant.

Like I mentioned in my last post,  I ran the Canton Half Marathon on Fathers Day and I finished with a P.R. of 2:20:22.  Crushing my Columbus Half Marathon time by an entire minute.  I'm OK with being an average to slower runner.  As a matter of fact, when I talk about running with fellow runners I always mention that I don't care too much about my pace.  I've even set my watch to not tell me the pace I'm running.

I have to make a confession to everyone, I'm telling a lie.  In February I purchased my first running watch, and for the first couple weeks I was consumed with my pace.  During those two weeks I ran horribly so I changed the settings on my watch and never looked back.  So, it's not that I don't care about my pace.  The truth is I care too much so I ignore it.  Ignorance is bliss.

Until yesterday.

Yesterday, Saturday August 11th, started early.  I woke up at 4:30 to go on a training run (for the Chicago Marathon if you're new to the blog).  After I rolled out of bed I started my pre-run routine, with one exception.  I decided to eat something before this run, with a Clif bar being my choice of foods.  After a fierce Canton traffic jam, my pal Bryce York and I set out for what would be my fastest 13.1 ever.  Bryce was on board for the first five miles since he's training for his first half marathon (my constant prodding about running actually worked on someone!).

From the get go he kept saying that we should slow down.  I verbally agreed but my body didn't get the memo.  About 4 miles in, during our final moments running together, I told him I should probably slow down, which I did.  But not by much.  From this point the run got a little interesting.

Before every run I map the course online.  For yesterday's run I added a neighborhood that I was familiar with, but had never run in before.  I haven't been in this neighborhood since my sister lived there almost ten years ago.  Maybe I was feeling nostalgic.  On the street leading to this neighborhood my mind went back to a day that I don't always think about, but I'll never forget.

I don't talk too much about my dad.  Mostly with family or with people who ask about him, and even then it's not too specific.  He had a lot of medical issues.  Fell off of a military oil truck in the winter and broke a lot of bones, which caused him to retire early for medical reasons.  He caught bacterial meningitis and was pretty much dead.  I mean called-in-our-priest-for-his-last-rights dead.  Miraculously he recovered from it.  From this point on he would be in the hospital every few months or so for years to come.  My dad wasn't perfect, and neither is anyone on this earth.  I look back now and see that he was fighting a lot of demons throughout his life and didn't handle it great all the time.  Being a teenager I also probably wasn't the best support group.  Hindsight's twenty-twenty, I guess. 

Anyway, back to my trip back in time.

The day before my mom, sister, and I were up seeing my dad at the Cleveland clinic and something was a bit off.  He was in with complications from a past trip to the Cleveland clinic.  Under pressure situations, even when he had his first symptoms of meningitis, he always kept his cool.  He would speak to the paramedics picking him up like there was nothing wrong with him.  That night he was talking really loud and seemed a bit out of it.  After a while we left and headed back to Canton.

The next day I went from my junior intro to psych class to Mr. Bolton's English class.  As class began the phone rang and I had a sinking feeling.  "Thomas, you need to go to the office".  Heading to the office I saw my sister standing in the hallway and the feeling completely sunk.  Before going up to see my dad for the last time we stopped at my sisters place in this neighborhood.

I'm not going to go into the events that followed the next couple of days.  Maybe at another time and not on a blog.

It's now 2012 and I'm running through the neighborhood again and I was balling my eyes out mid stride playing those days in my head like a movie.

Running can be a very zen like experience.  A moment of meditation.  But this was a little ridiculous.

I don't know if it was this moment of extreme emotion, training, the planets aligning, or really good weather, but I eventually finished the run 14 minutes faster than any of the past three 13.1 runs I've completed.

While I was, and still am, very excited about this accomplishment, one day that P.R. will change but I don't think I'll soon forget this run.

-----------------

Fund-raising update:

Thanks to a friend's donation our hotel plans have changed.  Instead of spending around $350 for a hotel room we were given hotel perks and now only have to pay $120!  With those savings we were able to donate to Active:Water plus towards the expenses involved with the trip.

Thanks to that donation, plus donations from other friends, and we're now at $290 raised out of the goal of $1500.

Sometimes I feel like I'm nagging when I ask for people's money but knowing how much people need our help keeps me motivated.  The Lord calls us to help those in need across the globe.  You don't have to run to do it either!

Here's the link to my page:

ActiveWater: Asia Project

-----------------

Finally, I wanted to throw something out there that I failed to mention on my last post and another news event that I'm really excited about.

On my last post I didn't talk about the Pro Football Hall of Fame 2 & 5 mile run.  It was my friend Jermaine's first race!  I've been pushing him to do a race for years and he finally broke.

My friends, and running partners, Scott and Shannon have been pursuing a domestic adoption for the past two and a half years and on Friday they signed the paperwork to have their little boy Elijah!  A very deserving bunch of people.  Elijah is a very lucky kid!  A big congratulations to them!

Thanks for reading everyone!

Miles Ran Today: 4
Miles Ran This Week: 32

Chicago Trainin'

Welcome back everyone!

I haven't posted on here since Mother's Day.  I felt like all my posts had to be deep and full of meaning so I've kinda been putting this blog on the backburner.  Until today!  I'm posting with a renewed vigor.  I will stick to the K.I.S.S. formula for my posts from here on out.

A brief overview of the last few months....

My wife turned her love of everything involving our little girls into an at -home business making headbands and hair clips.  I chose the very original name too:  Two Cute Girls Headbands and Hair Clips (find them on Facebook).  I missed my true calling of working in marketing. 

I ran my fastest 5k at a small race in Minerva.  This race is also the first time I had a hand in making the coveted race t-shirt.

Oh yes.  I'm also in the t-shirt business.  I'm the head motivator for the Isaiah Project Clothing Company.  The IP is a company that creates scripture/faith based t-shirts and gives a portion of each sale back into the church body for missions or whoever may be in need (find them on Facebook).  They also do corporate orders that you can design yourself or leave the designing to the CEO/baldest member of IP, Bryce York.  My job description is to keep us moving in the right direction, help the creative process, occasionally screen a t-shirt, and provide comic relief when I freak out every time the darn t-shirt screening contraption falls down.

Speaking of Bryce York, he completed his first triathlon a couple weeks ago!  Big shout out!  Maybe next year I'll give one a shot.

Moving on, June 17th was the Canton Half Marathon.  For a week leading up to the race I was scared of how hot the weather people were predicting it would be.  My only goal was to finish before they closed the race course for the safety of the runners.  No such thing happened!  The weather was perfect.  Overcast and 70s.  I went to the race with my good pals Scott, Shannon, and Lorrie Radcliff and Matt Martin.  In his longest run ever Matt finished in under 2 hours!  Scott, Shannon, and Lorrie finished just over two hours!  And I... finished!  I was cruising for the first part of the race and forged ahead before the hills started.  Once they started they never seemed to end.

The best part of the race was seeing my wife, sleeping infant, and my oldest daughter Savannah running up to the road holding a sign looking excited to see me.  Scratch that.  It wasn't the best part of the race, It was the best moment I've had in my storied running career of two years.

The second best part about the race was finishing.  I was ready to be done.  For it's first year the Canton Marathon wasn't too bad.  It was nice having home field advantage at a race for once.  Cool football themed medal too:

 Now on to a Chicago Marathon training update.


I'm running.  A lot.  For the first month of training I attacked the hills of the surrounding area pretty hard.  Since then I've been in cruise control.  To be honest, I was a little nervous about the distance of 26.2 miles but I'm feeling more confident with each run.  

I've started fund-raising as well.  The goal I've set is $1,500.  I have faith that the goal will be reached.  I'm very fortunate to be surrounded by good friends who have already stepped up.  Already at 8% of my goal raised!

I've also instituted a monthly drawing for all people that donate.  The winner of July is Susan Rosier!  You've won an Active:Water water bottle!  In August I'm going to have your choice of Active:Water shirt!  You know what the best part of the raffle is?  EVERYONE WINS!  So maybe everyone doesn't get a physical prize.  How about knowing that you have saved someone's life?  Sounds pretty awesome to me!

Here's a link to my donation site:

https://activewater.myetap.org/fundraiser/Asia/individual.do?etapCacheBuster=1343581307551&participationRef=3357.0.20368397&shareMedium=label.facebook

That's all I'll share for today.  A big thank you to my wifey Aimee for taking the new cover picture of this blog.  It rocks!

Miles Ran Today: 7
Miles Ran This Week: 11
Album I'm Currently Listening To: KB "Weight and Glory"

Motivation

Have you seen one of these before?  I'm guessing you have.  If you haven't, you've driven over them a few thousand times in your life.
 
I haven't done any research on them.  This isn't a blog post about the complexities of the city sewer system.  All I know is these ten inch wide mini manhole covers, as of yesterday, motivate me.

On June 17th myself, and a few thousand other crazies, will be running in the Canton Half Marathon.  I've been training for a little over a month and on Monday I felt great.  Over the weekend I ran with my friends, Scott and Shannon, and they pushed me through seven miles (figurative push) and that Monday morning I ran my fastest three miles yet.  Throughout the day I had my normal run day mixture of being sore, tired, and energized all at the same time.  It was an average, run of the mill, Monday in my cubicle paradise.  An hour before my shift was set to end I got up for break and BOOM, I couldn't walk.  I had sharp pain in my ankle that I'd never felt before.

My initial reaction was OWWWWW, combined with terrible thoughts running through my head.  "Will I be able to run this half marathon?"  "Will I be able to run the Chicago marathon?"  "How will I get to my car/home if I can't walk?"

The next reaction was to try to walk.  I walked twenty feet from my desk to the window and back and the pain subsided, slightly.  This relieved me because I'd be able to get to my car under my own power.  The first two questions remained. 

I asked friends for prayer, filled up an ice pack, kicked my feet up, and waited for the pain to go away.

Tuesday morning was an off day in the training plan.  I was walking slower than normal but I wasn't hobbling.  At this point I'm walking more than normal at work because I wanted to keep testing my ankle.  Nine-thirty rolled around and it was time for break.  Normally on break I meet up with my pal Jermaine and walk some laps in the office while we catch up on the days events.  While I was walking more than normal, I wasn't about to try a long sustained test so I compromised (with myself), and walked to his desk to talk.  A few aisles down the hallway and BOOM, can't walk again.  I was stopped dead in my tracks.  Now I'm just annoyed.

Wednesday came.  Limping quite a bit but no moments of extreme pain.  I took the trash down to my apartment complex's dumpsters and ran back to the apartment, very slowly.  Surprisingly enough it didn't hurt.

Thursday morning I look at my running watch and it tells me I haven't run in a while.  Stupid watch...  I start feeling a little better though.  I'm no longer limping but I'm still walking at a turtle's pace.  That night I tell Aimee my plans to run the next morning.  My theory is that I will run on the ankle and it may hurt a little bit but maybe it'll knock something back in to place.  She doesn't think this is a great idea, and as much as I hate to admit it, she's probably right.  If you went to a doctor with sharp pain and he/she told you to run a few miles on it, saying it would set it back in place, you would find a new doctor.

Friday comes and I don't run, but strides are being made.  The usual break time walk has returned.  My ankle still hurts a little but it's nothing some ibuprofen can't mask.  Tomorrow it's go time.

The next day I get suited up and off I go.  I set a goal of three miles and a maximum of five miles (if I'm able to get to the corner of my street).  I'm shocked when I don't feel anything in the ankle but I still settle on three miles because I don't want to overdo it after missing almost a week.  And then at two and a half miles I stop.  I'm not winded.  My ankle is fine.  My hip is very sore, and has been throughout the training plan, but it's nothing I haven't run through before.  I was feeling sorry for myself.  Things weren't going as planned.

That's when I look down and see one of those small covers that simply say "WATER".  Then another.  Then another.  Throughout the week I've had moments that have stopped me in my tracks and made me question things, but at this moment I'm stopped by an answer.  I was reminded why I'm running.  It's not for an improved finishing time, the medal, or the t-shirt.  I'm running to provide water for those around the world who need it, in the name of Jesus Christ.  Feeling this fire within, I set out on a dead sprint.  No watch is tracking my speed.  I have no goal or distance.  This is how things should be.  It isn't a hobby, or a pursuit of athletic glory.  It's ministry.

With that being said, there's an update involving ministry with Active:Water.  A couple weeks ago I was accepted as a team leader for AW.  I will be sharing AW's mission, fund-raising, and recruiting a team of runners to run the 2013 Canton Half Marathon.  I'm hoping there will be a lot of first time runners interested to run a race of this magnitude, and to do it to further God's kingdom.  Because I've been in the same position. 

In closing, this week I've been taught that I need to get myself out of the way.  And today being Mother's day is a great way to further this lesson.  I've done nothing to deserve the wife I have.  She's an amazing wife, mother, and friend.  A song I've heard recently said it best "I was always looking for a 10 but then I found the one"  Happy Mother's day babe!

Athlete

What do you think of when you hear the term "athlete"? For many people it is something like this:


Or maybe this:



Both are world class athletes. They get paid because they stay in shape and compete.

Last week I read an article titled "Can You Call Yourself an Athlete?". I've never called myself an athlete and when people call me a runner I shy away from the term. I shy away from the term not out of embarrassment, but out of feelings of being unworthy. When I think of a "runner" this is what I think of:


People who weigh the same as I did in middle school, who run faster than I can ride a bike, and win thousands of dollars winning big city marathons (while before I die will have probably paid thousands of dollars running in big city marathons).

Now maybe I'm being just a tad too critical of myself. Maybe I shouldn't compare myself to these people. Maybe I should stop typing and go out for a run but this is what I think of. We always hear of girls looking through magazines and comparing themselves to the models that grace the issue. That's me looking through Runners World.

Anyway...

The article was good. I can sum it up in one sentence: If you've completed a race by running, walking, limping, or crawling you are an athlete.

Pretty simple. By that definition I'm an athlete. I didn't get the warm and fuzzies that I expected to get from this definition. And to make a minor confession I had a good idea of what the article would say before I read it.

Truth be told, I have an inflated picture of what an athlete is. I'm definitely putting them on a pedestal. I could blame the culture I live in but that'd be lazy of me.

Instead of placing blame I'm going to work on humbling my idea of what makes an athlete.

I read this quote a few days ago and I thought it was appropriate for this post:

"I don't have a runner's body, but I have a runner's heart -and that is all you need." -Jennifer Morris

I don't know who Jennifer Morris is but she hit the nail on the head.

Next week starts my official training plan for the Canton half marathon (all the other running I've been doing is unofficial). I'm excited to run in my home town. I'm not putting a time goal on it but if I finish under two hours and twenty minutes I'll be ecstatic.

Chicago marathon for team Active:Water: 186 days

Adios!