My thoughts on the 4th annual Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon in Murfreesboro, TN

Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon
October 16, 2010
www.themiddlehalf.com

My Run:  Overall, the Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon (Middle Half) in Murfreesboro was my sixth half marathon, and my second long-distance race in the last two weeks (Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on 10/03).  This was the second time I have run the Middle Half, which is capped at 2,250 runners.  Actually, the Middle Half in 2008 was my first long distance event ever.

I went into this race with absolutely no goals.  Being two-weeks out from the Twin Cities Marathon, I just wanted to do this one by feel.  On top of that, I also had a stomach virus the previous weekend where I lost 4 pounds from my already low post-marathon weight.  With this in mind, I decided to do a 10 to 15 minute warmup before the race, including some stride-outs, and then see what pace felt comfortable.  On race morning the weather was absolutely perfect and I felt surprisingly good.  I decided that I would start the race around a 7:00 to 7:15 min per mile pace, and then go from there.

There were a number of members from my regular running group who also ran in this race.  Many of these are gearing up for the Marine Corps Marathon in two weeks, and were using this race as a good solid tempo run.  My buddy Paxton even turned this into his final long run before Marine Corp, by adding miles before and after the race.  He ran 20 miles in total.

Beginning on Sunday, October 10th and continuing through Wednesday, October 13th, I will be preaching at a Gospel Meeting for the Old Charlotte Road Church of Christ in Pegram, TN. You are invited to join us as we look at the following critical questions:

• Sunday AM Class (9 AM) – How should we observe the Lord’s Supper?
• Sunday AM Worship (10 AM) – What does it really mean to have faith in Jesus?
• Sunday PM Worship (6 PM) – Why do we need God’s laws?
• Monday PM Worship (7 PM) – Where should I build my life?
• Tuesday PM Worship (7 PM) – What is the cost of discipleship?
• Wednesday PM Worship (7 PM) – How should we approach God?

The Old Charlotte Road Church of Christ meets at 8663 Old Charlotte Road Pegram, TN 37143. DM me or email me at timagee@yahoo.com for more information.

Please Join Us!

My thoughts on the 29th annual Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
October 3, 2010
www.mtcmarathon.org

My Run:  Overall, the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon (MTC) was my fifth full marathon, and my first since the Country Music Marathon in April 2010.  All five of my marathons have been within the past 12 months, with the 2009 Chicago Marathon being my first.  In the first four marathons, I set PRs in 3 of them, improving from 3:53 in Chicago (10/09) to 3:39 in Knoxville (03/10).  Even though I was steadily improving, I knew I needed a better cross training program if I was truly going to take my running to the next level and ultimately qualify for Boston.

With that in mind, I started P90X in June after doing a lot of research into cross training programs.  Even with the improved training I knew that closing a 24-minute gap to qualify for Boston by the MTC in October would be exceptionally difficult.

Throughout my training this summer I began to see steady improvement, and as of August began to think about setting 3:30 as a goal for the MTC depending on the race day conditions.  However, when I stated this goal to someone in our running group, their response back was “You’re faster than that! You should be going for 3:15!”  This was both encouraging and terrifying at the same time.

As August moved into September, our group did a couple of marathon pace indicator workouts, and things seemed to be pointing in the direction of being capable of doing a 3:15. With this in mind, I started increasing the speed of my tempo runs.  My first attempt at a 10-mile tempo run at 3:15 marathon pace was a bust.  I only lasted through 7-miles.  However, my next attempt of 11-miles was very successful.  After discussing this with several members of our running group, I decided to go for it at MTC provided that weather conditions were favorable.

When I woke up on race-day morning, it was 39 degrees, and the highs during the race were only supposed to reach the low 50s.  Perfect conditions!  Unfortunately, there was not a 3:15 pace group, only a 3:10 or 3:20.  At the advice of several from my group, my goal was to run even splits as much as possible, and not try to bank any time.  From their experience, they indicated I would need all of the stamina I could get for the hills beginning at mile 20.

Sara Agee – TC Toddler Trot Finisher (with Papa)

Kate Agee – TC Kid’s Marathon Finisher!

My wife and I currently have 3 full-season tickets to the Nashville Predators for the 2010-2011 season, and are looking to split these tickets with one or more parties.

With our oldest daughter starting kindergarten this year, and what seems like overwhelming time commitments in other areas, it is just not possible for us to attend 41 games any more per season.

These seats are fantastic.  They are in section 310, Row C, Center-Ice.  We have been sitting here for 7+ seasons, and the fans in this section are really great.

We are open to many different options for splitting these.  If you want 5 games, 10 games, 1/2 a season, 1/4 of a season, whatever….we can work out the details.  Price will be the same season ticket rate that we pay, which is less than the current face value.  We locked in our pricing before last season.

If you have any interest at all, please send me a DM on Twitter or Facebook, or shoot an email to timagee@yahoo.com

Thanks!  Go Preds!

Tim & Olivia Agee

Last Saturday, my wife Olivia and I completed our first round of the P90X Home Fitness program.  As a runner, my goal in doing this program was to improve my marathon performance, specifically targeted at three marathons I’m running this fall and winter.  I knew that I needed a better cross-training program, and was really wanting to take my running to the next level.  After completing 4 marathons within the previous 9 months (as of June), there were a number of areas where I obviously needed to improve if I wanted to see better marathon times.  These included:

• Better muscle balance – My running muscles were very strong, but the opposing muscles were very weak.  This was especially true in my glutes, hamstrings & hips.  Poor muscle balance greatly increases the risk of injury while running. Also, I have been notoriously weak when running hills, and my hope was that this program would improve the consistency of my running when facing a hilly course.

• Improved core strength – On long runs (15+ miles), I could really tell that my core was weak.  My posture would begin to fail and my lower abs would be very sore after the run.

• Improved flexibility – Again, having poor flexibility greatly increases the risk of injury, and I was about as flexible as a steel pipe.
• Higher anaerobic threshold – I had been doing weekly track workouts for about the last 6 months, but wanted to add some additional anaerobic interval workouts to my routine to try and push this threshold even higher.

We began the program in June 2010, after doing a lot of research into various home fitness routines.  We additionally followed the general guidelines of the nutrition plan, and used a Weight Watchers maintenance plan to help with knowing how many calories to consume daily.  It was tough to maintain the 6-day a week P90X schedule while running 40 to 50 miles per week, but it has been a blast seeing the results.

I’m thankful that my wife agreed to try it with me, though I’m not sure she knew exactly what she was getting herself into 🙂  Her before and after results with the “Fit Test” were very impressive (see below), and I’m proud of her for sticking with it.  She is also entered in 3 races this fall and winter (half marathons), and I’m confident she will see significant gains in race performance.

I’ll probably do another post at some point to review the program itself, so I’ll not go through all of the routines.  However, my overall review is that this program is excellent and really does work.  Anyone who dismisses it simply because it is typically promoted through infomercials, is really missing out on a fantastic routine.  It has a great mix of resistance, cardio, and flexibility training.

As part of the program, all participants are encouraged to do a “Fit Test” before and after the 90 days.  Olivia and I both saw pretty dramatic improvements in these exercises, and I have included the highlights below:

Timothy – Fit Test – Before & After

(01) = Before Day 1 / (90) = After Day 90

• Rest Heart Rate (01) – 59 
• Rest Heart Rate (90) – 57
• Pull-ups (01) – 2 
• Pull-ups (90) – 10
• Push-ups (01) – 28 
• Push-ups (90) – 42
• Wall Squat (01) – 98 sec
• Wall Squat (90) – 240 sec
• Bicep curls (01) – 11 w/ 20 lbs
• Bicep curls (90) – 20 w/ 20 lbs
• In & Outs (01) – 45
• In & Outs (90) – 80

• Weight Lost = 8.5 lbs

Olivia – Fit Test – Before & After

(01) = Before Day 1 / (90) = After Day 90

• Rest Heart Rate (01) – 67 
• Rest Heart Rate (90) – 67
• Push-ups (01) – 4.5 
• Push-ups (90) – 28
• Wall Squat (01) – 60 sec
• Wall Squat (90) – 120 sec
• Bicep curls (01) – 20 w/ 8 lbs
• Bicep curls (90) – 26 w/ 8 lbs
• In & Outs (01) – 33
• In & Outs (90) – 60
• Weight Lost = 7.5 lbs
  
  

Timothy – Training Run Stats – Year over Year (2009 vs. 2010)

While all of these improvements can’t be solely attributed to P90X, it has no doubt helped a significant amount.  The comparison is year over year to try and see stats in similar running conditions.

Average Speed:

• June 2009 – 6.1 mph
• June 2010 – 6.7 mph

• July 2009 – 6.5 mph
• July 2010 – 6.9 mph
• August 2009 – 6.4 mph
• August 2010 – 7.0 mph
• Sept 2009 – 6.6 mph
• Sept 2010 – 7.4 mph 

Average Heart Rate:

• June 2009 – 165 bpm
• June 2010 – 153 bpm
• July 2009 – 166 bpm
• July 2010 – 153 bpm

• August 2009 – 161 bpm
• August 2010 – 150 bpm

• Sept 2009 – 160 bpm
• Sept 2010 – 150 bpm

Well….the real test of the results will be at the Twin Cities Marathon on October 3, 2010.  My current marathon PR is 3:39, and I’m hoping to significantly improve upon this finish time.  Anyone else have a positive experience with P90X they want to share? I would especially love to hear from anyone who has gone through the program to improve their running performance.

Kate just lost her first tooth!  Very excited about the first visit from tooth fairy…

Kate and @OliviaAgee getting ready for first day of Kindergarten.

Beautiful but hot day in the Big Apple.

I was fairly appalled by the ESPN program on Thursday evening called “The Decision,”  a one-hour, prime-time special concocted by LeBron James to announce his Free Agency decision, and welcomed by the four-letter network with open arms.  The following are my thoughts on this spectacle as it relates to both LeBron and ESPN.  

LeBron – The “King’s” decision to make his announcement during a one-hour special on ESPN is the epitome of Narcissism and Ego that is rampant in professional sports.  How “me” focused do you have to be to call a TV network and tell them you want your own prime-time special to make an announcement regarding which team you have selected.  It doesn’t matter to me that the Ad revenue is being given to the Boy’s and Girl’s Club, because there are many, many other ways to raise money for charitable organizations that do not involve a prime-time special.  In one hour, LeBron went from a player who was almost universally praised for his knowledge and respect of the game, his demeanor with the media, and his professionalism off the court to someone who can now be lumped in with Terrell Owens as wanting nothing but to just “Love me some me!”

This self-centeredness is even further amplified by the revelation that his former team, the Cavaliers, found out about his decision during the telecast.  This is shocking, even for a professional athlete.  What is not shocking is the Cleveland fan’s outrage over the way the announcement came down, or LeBron’s lack of emotion regarding leaving his hometown team.  (What is shocking is the “Open Letter” from the Cavaliers’ owner, but that is for another post on another day) If you listened to the interviews, you could tell it was ALL about him.  How many times did he refer to himself in the third person or refer to HIS talents.

More than any other professional league, The NBA is driven by it’s “Stars,” and it is this type of behavior that makes me want to turn the channel away from these personalities.  I have no beef with the decision itself, but he handled it about as badly as possible.

ESPN – While this is not a new trend, “The Decision” marks the final leap of ESPN from Sports NEWS to Sports ENTERTAINMENT.  I guess this is appropriate since the “E” stands for “Entertainment.  Instead of covering the story, ESPN sold it’s soul for the right to be part of the story.  All day today, sports personalities from talk-show hosts, to former players, to coaches, etc. have been openly critical of the way LeBron and ESPN handled everything.  However, turning over to ESPN TV or Radio, you come away with a completely different slant.  Why?  Because they were part of it.  If they are critical of the event, then they have to be critical of themselves.  This isn’t journalism.  This isn’t covering the story.  This is the story!  What little, tiny shred of journalistic integrity remained at the four-letter network is now gone.  

Well, that’s my two-cents….what do you think?

Back in April I wrote a post on my first impressions of the iPad on the day the 16gb version was released to the public. In that post I was fairly critical of a number of decisions that we’re made regarding it’s design and configuration, and questioned what niche the iPad was designed to fill.  In the months since that initial post, I have since changed my mind regarding a number of those earlier criticisms (not all), and have even obtained an iPad of my own as a tool to use in teaching and public speaking.  I have eaten my crow, and now would like to share my updated impressions as an iPad owner and user.

Lightening Fast – This is the iPad’s killer feature.  In my initial review I noted my disappointment that the iPad was running the same OS as the iPhone and not full blown OS X.  However, now I realize this decision along with some pretty solid hardware specs has resulted in a device that is ridiculously fast.  For years there has been talk of the “instant on” computer, and the iPad pretty well fits this description.  Even though my netbook will allow me to do more related to content creation, it is also very slow comparatively speaking.  With the impending release of iOS4 for the iPad, some of the OS limitations will be resolved, such as multitasking.

Better than Expected Keyboard – my initial reaction to the on-screen keyboard was that it was usable, but would be a bit of a struggle.  However, I’m finding it to be even more usable than I originally suspected.  So much so that I’m actually writing this post using my iPad. In my first week of using the keyboard, I’ve become proficient enough to type with all fingers in landscape mode, and have even been able to take notes in business meetings. As I originally noted, typing in portrait mode is still painful.  It is too wide to use your thumbs, and too narrow to use all fingers.

Battery Life – as of right now, I have been using my iPad for about 3 hours, and my battery meter is still at 78%. This is way better than either of my netbooks, and miles better than any laptop I’ve ever owned. Honestly, it’s better than my iPhone as well.  This makes the iPad great for travel and really long meetings (which are both common for me).

Size – the size is perfect for carrying around or placing in your lap during a flight. True that it is heavier than the dedicated eReaders like the Kindle, but this device is so much more than just a reader.  The screen is also large enough that it works well for web browsing, viewing e-mail, documents, pictures etc.

Web Browsing – from the moment the iPad was introduced by Steve Jobs I have been very critical that Flash was not included.  It is purported that up to 85% of mainstream web sites use Flash, and I saw it’s absence as a major hole in the potential Internet experience. However, after using the iPad for a while, I can honestly say that I barely miss it. Some of this is because I can see what an impact Flash can have on mobile performance (e.g. Flash on Android), but mostly this has to do with many mainstream sites offering iPad optimized versions of their sites, or even separate apps for viewing web content (e.g. Netflix and ABC.com).  I will occasionally run across a video that I cannot watch without Flash, but this has been the exception, not the rule.

Email – as I noted in my initial impressions, the email app on the iPad is hindered by the lack of a universal inbox and the 4 taps required to switch between mailboxes. However, this will be resolved once iOS4 is released for the iPad.  Otherwise, the mail app on the iPad is fantastic, especially in landscape view.  I find it to be a better experience than using my laptop or desktop.

Books – the iBook application and store are really elegantly designed, and the iPad is a fantastic device for illustrated children’s books, or any other illustrated text. Reading on the iPad in a non-glare environment is really very pleasant, but reading under direct light or in sunlight is next to impossible. I you simply want a reading device, nothing compares to the Kindle or Nook, but the iPad is about so much more than just eBooks.  The iBook application is what I use to store and view all of my PDF notes for teaching classes and preaching sermons.  It really is an excellent PDF viewer, and the interface makes it easy to organize your files.  As a side note, the Kindle app for the iPad is quite beautiful, and since my wife has a Kindle, I will mostly likely us this app should I choose to purchase a standard novel, biography, etc.

iWork – my initial observation was that the iWork suite of apps were unintuitive and difficult to use.  I have backed off from that a little bit, but they still have two critical flaws.  (1) the inability to directly access cloud-based file services such as Dropbox, Sugarsync, or Mobile Me iDisk.  While I realize that you can use the Dropbox, Sugarsync or iDisk apps to open files in iWork, I do not know of a way to save them back.  (2) the inability to save/export Numbers or Keynotes files to Excel or Powerpoint format.  This makes those two apps almost unusable from a business perspective.  If I create a new spreadsheet in numbers and then send it to myself or a client, we would have no way to open it.  Fatal flaw

As an alternative, I highly recommend Documents to Go (14.99 from Dataviz) which allows access to an array of cloud based services, and allows you to work natively with MS Office file formats.

Apps – I plan to write some additional posts reviewing some of the apps that I find most useful for iPad. In general, I don’t understand why Apple failed to include some of the base apps that are in the iPhone such as Clock, Weather, Calculator, etc.  As I noted before, existing iPhone apps that have not been ported to the iPad look really bad.  Native iPad apps such as Pulse, ABC Player, and Bloomberg are very elegant, but it will be a while before the selection of native iPad apps is in the same league as the iPhone.

All in all the iPad is a killer media and data consumption device and is better at content creation than my initial observations. It is a much better business tool than I could have conceived.  Tomorrow I have a 2 hour meeting with a very important client in NYC. Do I put the iPad to the ultimate business test and leave my laptop behind?  Time to see how proficient I can be at taking notes on the iPad.

What are your thoughts on the iPad?

Sara’s first haircut…

Just need to vent on various topics….warning, strong opinions on current world events to follow:

• Gulf Oil Spill – I am wondering when the Michael Moore film will be coming out chronicling the mishandling of the gulf oil spill by the Obama administration?? Not holding my breath.  How in the world can we LAMBAST GW over his handling of 911 & Katrina, but barely say a peep about Obama’s reaction to the oil spill.  What exactly has he or his administration done to help the situation other than make crude, public statements disparaging BP?  Wasn’t he supposed to be the president that would be committed to protecting the environment?
• Gulf Oil Spill (Part 2) – This should not be a problem that is placed solely on the shoulders of BP.  Why does it matter at this point who is to blame? This event is going to effect so much that we should be exhausting every available resource to stop the leak, and clean up the mess, instead of simply making antagonistic statements towards BP.  And for this notion of boycotting BP gas stations???  That’s a GREAT idea.  Let’s further financially cripple BP so that they won’t have the resources to continue working on the problem or the cleanup.  

  What about offering a One Billion Dollar reward to the first company / individual / etc. that can successfully stop the leak. Wouldn’t that be worth it? I mean, how many BILLIONS in economic impact is this spill going to cause?  From the fishing industry to tourism to cleanup cost to ??? Instead, our current administration seems to be content to sit back in Washington and yell at BP, while the oil slowly destroys the gulf, and the Louisiana, Mississippi & Florida coastlines. We need a leader right now, and not a politician.

• Arizona Immigration Law – I just don’t understand the uproar.  To quote one of my favorite movie lines…”I feel like I’m taking crazy pills!”  Our country is in an uproar because Arizona is saying that they have the authority to enforce the LAW?  To enforce that aliens are required to have the proper paperwork?  Haven’t we been complaining about the problem of illegal immigration for years?  I don’t get it?  When I go to Honduras, I get stopped by the authorities almost once per day.  If I can’t produce a valid US Passport, then they would take me immediately to jail until the proper paperwork could be produced.  My understanding is that this is very similar to other countries in Central America, including Mexico.

• Nashville Flood Telethon Donations – Has any of this money actually reached the people who need it?  I hear about all kinds of organizations providing bottled water, and what they describe as “basic necessities,” but what people really need is drywall, carpet, bathtubs, etc.  Will any of this donated money actually go toward meeting these needs?  Our local media has done a very poor job of providing information on exactly where this money is going.

• College Football / Basketball – From the USC violations & sanctions to the impending conference shakeups, it seems as though College Athletics is in disarray. College presidents are famous for always talking about how a football playoff system would negatively impact academics, but this is clearly a hypocritical stance. This impending shakeup is ALL about money, and so is the bowl system.  I’m not necessarily a proponent of a playoff system over the bowl system, but I am a proponent of college football and basketball.  I’m nervous about how this formation of 3 SUPER conferences (SEC, Pac-10, Big-10), and the elimination of the Big 12 will affect College Athletics, and particularly the schools that are not in these conferences.
• Stephen Hawking – Earlier this week, the famous scientist Stephen Hawking was quoted as saying that he was confident science would eventually disprove the existence of God.  Interesting position coming from a man whose science can’t even explain the origins of the matter that (supposedly) randomly and accidentally resulted in the formation of the solar system, the earth, and human life.  I wonder who actually has more “faith?”  Me in my God, or him in his science?    

Tuckered out at Tee’s Fireside Cafe.

Happy Birthday Sara!  Can’t believe you’re a year old today!

Sara – One Year Ago!  Happy Birthday my little Sara bean!!

REBUILD HOUSING CLINICS TO BEGIN MEETING WITH CITIZENS THIS SATURDAY

ReBuild Clinics will be held this weekend by appointment to provide one-on-one sessions designed to help Nashvillians affected by the flood pull together an action plan for moving forward with the recovery process.  Initial clinics are scheduled for Saturday, May 22, in six locations. A team of advisors will help individuals and families evaluate the resources available to them and work with them to create a personal plan for recovery and rebuilding.  Participants will have the option to schedule follow-up appointments at nonprofit sponsor agencies.  They will also have the option of requesting follow-up case management.

******Beginning Thursday, May 20, individuals and families can call 862-6778 to make an appointment.*******  Callers will be advised of the information they should bring with them to the ReBuild Clinic.  Sessions-tailored for both renters and owners will be conducted by three core team members familiar with disaster and housing resources, personal finance, and the construction process.  Other disciplines such as legal, social service, CPAs will be on hand at each site to provide support as necessary.

Following are the sites for tomorrow:

Grace Church of the Nazarene

2620 Pennington Bend Rd, Nashville , TN 37214 

Mt. Zion Baptist Church

1112 Jefferson Street, Nashville, TN 37208

Bellevue Church of Christ

7401 Highway 70 South, Nashville, TN 37221

Antioch United Methodist

41 Tusculum Road, Antioch, TN 37013

Riverwood Church of Christ

1904 McGavock Pike, Nashville, TN 37216

St. Luke’s Community House

5601 New York Avenue, Nashville, TN 37209

Please Reblog, RT & share this information with those who may benefit.  Thank you.

Please Reblog, RT, or Share

**Service International**

Leaders from Service International (SI), a non-profit disaster relief organization headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo., are partnering with Bellevue Church of Christ to provide clean-up efforts for residents whose homes have been damaged by the flood.

SI was founded in 1993 and has since provided disaster clean-up services around the world including during the 2005 Katrina clean up.

Nashville area homeowners:

If you need help with flood cleanup from SI, download and complete the application below and return to Bellevue church of Christ

FREE Clean-up with Service International 

Nashville area volunteers:

• Meet Daily – from 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., come to Bellevue Church of Christ, 7401 Highway 70 South, Nashville, TN 37221.
• Every volunteer must sign a release form. These forms are available at Bellevue Church of Christ, or print one out at the bottom of this page.
• Ages 16 and older can volunteer; however, anyone between the ages of 16 and 18 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.
• Wear sturdy shoes, long pants (no shorts). Expect to get dirty!
• T-shirts and work gloves will be provided.
• A simple sack lunch will be provided.
• Transportation to the clean-up site will be provided.

Volunteers require no special training or professional skills. Crew chiefs will be assigned to each work site to give clear directions.

Download and print these Volunteer Release Forms and take them with you when you report to the volunteer staging site at Bellevue Church of .

• Liability Release (PDF)
• Medical Release (PDF)

**Hilltop Rescue**

Bellevue Church of Christ has also partnered with Hilltop Rescue of Nashville for churches, groups, & individuals outside of the Nashville area who need lodging while working on flood cleanup.  Workers will be required to complete a release form before beginning work with Hilltop Rescue (see link below).  Please contact the Bellevue church office for more information or to schedule your group (615-646-9828).

Volunteer Release Form

Nashville area homeowners:

If you need help with flood cleanup, download and complete the application below for Hilltop Rescue and return to Bellevue church of Christ

FREE Clean-up with Hilltop Disaster

(download and complete the application and return to Bellevue church of Christ)

**Donations**

Financial help would also be welcomed as the Bellevue Church of Christ eldership will use ALL funds to cover the extenuating circumstances of those in need.  Checks can be made out to the Bellevue Church of Christ (note “Flood Relief” in the memo line), and delivered to the church office at 7401 Highway 70 South, Nashville, TN 37221.

This Wednesday night (05/12/2010), Bellevue Church of Christ will be having a special service that will include a short devotional and then a seminar led by Drs. Jake and Melanie Morris from Lipscomb University on coping with disasters.  Devotional will start at 7:00 p.m.  Please see the image below for more details and address.  Click HERE for map/directions. (Please Reblog, RT, or Share).

Bellevue Church of Christ
7401 Highway 70 South
Nashville, TN  37221 

(615) 646-9828