mar replied to your photo: Kate & Sara with their cousin Harper in the middle…
Does he use them or just collect like Jay Leno? That is a whole MESS of tractors!
Mostly just a collector. I don’t think he uses any of them for actual farming, but they all still run. They range in years from the 1920s to the 1960s, and he takes them to various shows and fairs for display.
Over the past couple of weeks I’ve become a bit lax in keeping up with Tumblr, and specifically in posting running updates. Well, I’m still here, and I’m still working my way back to a full running schedule after the injury.
Since completing the Chickamauga Half Marathon two weeks ago, I’ve continued to increase my mileage slowly and wanted to mention a few highlights.
Track Workout
A week ago Thursday, I finished my second track workout since the injury. This particular workout was 3 x 1-mile repeats with 400m recovery in-between. At my peak I was running mile repeats with splits between 5:55 and 6:10. However, I had no idea what to expect after the long layoff. I had a hard time getting a feel for my pace while running, but was pleasantly surprised to run these three with times of 6:28, 6:17, and 6:14. Not quite up to my old self, but felt pretty good none-the-less.
Run to the Hills
Until I finished step 7 of my return to running program (about a week before Chickamauga), I was instructed to avoid speed work and significant hills. Now that I’ve been released to both, last Saturday I decided to give the acclaimed 11.2-mile loop in Percy Warner Park a try with almost 2,200 ft of cumulative elevation gain:
Well, that route kicked my tail! However, I finished it and know that I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me. Incidentally, the next day was when I was originally registered for the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon, which consists of running the 11.2 loop in both directions. This run let me know that it was not just a matter of my MD advising me not to run the marathon, but also that I was not physically capable of running it.
Total Mileage Milestone
Last week I eclipsed my 2011 running total of 1,763 miles completed, and still have an outside shot at 2,000 for the year, which was my goal for 2012:
I feel pretty good about this considering I missed 6-weeks with the stress fracture. Not sure whether or not I’ll hit 2,000, but I’m not gonna push it to just hit a mileage total.
Well, that’s the recap of the past two weeks. Tomorrow Olivia and I will be running Boulevard Bolt, which is one of the largest 5-mile races in the country (if not the biggest) with over 8,200 participants. Again, I’m not sure what to expect. My PR for 5-miles is 32:22, so I’m thinking that anything between 34:00 and 35:00 will be a reasonable goal.
Anyway, hope everyone has a great turkey day!!
Beast Mode….ON!
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“Joy in Trials” (James 1:1-12) – Audio recording of my Sunday morning sermon at Kingwood Church of Christ in Murfreesboro, TN on October 7, 2012.
I delivered this same sermon at Bellevue Church of Christ on October 28, 2012, though that sermon was not recorded.
This sermon looks at the reasons why James says that followers of Christ should find joy in trials (or suffering) of life.
James 1:1–12 (ESV)
1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, 10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. 11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. 12 Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
When my wife and I were there for the race this year we had pasta the night before at Cafe Giovanni (117 Decatur Street), and it was fantastic! Highly recommended.
If you look at the main page of my Tumblr blog, you will see the first thing I mention about myself is that I’m a Christian. This is THE thing that defines my life. As a matter of fact my priorities could be summed up this way:
I am not ashamed of it, and I will not hide it from the world. However, I also understand that not everyone agrees with my beliefs.
From the very beginning this blog has been about many things, including my Christianity, my family, and my journey as runner. While I thoroughly enjoy interacting with my followers, gaining followers has never been my motivation for starting this blog.
That being said, I do hope you will continue to follow. I also hope you will take a moment to read the article that prompted your anonymous message. Maybe you’ll read it and completely disagree. Maybe you’ll read it and could care less. Or just maybe it will give you something to think about.
lifewithkim replied to your post: 2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon
Have you done a marathon in Arkansas yet? How about Colorado? When you are ready, we have a great couch….come visit and knock off some more states!
Thanks Kim….I have not. Looked at Little Rock for the spring, but was a bit concerned about this hills since I’m coming back from the stress fracture. What marathons would you recommend in Arkansas and Colorado?
Well, tonight Olivia and I officially decided on the 2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon as the race for my marathon comeback. I wanted to wait to register until I got through the Chickamauga Half Marathon last weekend to make sure my leg held up ok. Since that race turned out waaaaay better than I expected, we signed up tonight (Olivia signed up for the half).
My only hesitation in picking this race was that I’ve done it before, and it will not be contributing to my goal of doing marathons in all 50 states. Other than that, it seems like the perfect place for marathon #13. Time to work out a training schedule, and get to work. Almost feels like old times again!
Slowly, but surely, my speed and endurance are coming back. Tonight’s run was by far the best since coming back from the injury, and was a BIG confidence boost for the future.
The conditions were pretty nasty (45º and raining), but I still felt FANTASTIC. My heart rate is coming down, and my pace is picking up. The totals for tonight were 7.9-miles completed in just over 1-hour. This comes out to a 7:39 average pace with 56:20 of actual running and 4-minutes of walk breaks. My average pace for the running segments was 7:23 per mile.
This Saturday I’m scheduled to run the Chickamauga Battlefield Half Marathon (transferred from the full after my injury), with my doctor’s permission, even though tonight’s 7.9-mile effort was my longest in 10 weeks. I’m still not sure how I’m going to get through a half marathon, but right now I’m thinking about doing a 10/1 run-walk ratio. Regardless of what I decide, the goal will mostly be to just get through the race without injury, and give my training a jumpstart toward a successful spring racing season.
Beast Mode….ON!!
Today was a glorious day for running or doing just about anything outside. For the first time in 10 weeks, I met up with our group for part of their Saturday run. I was also joined by Brian who has just moved to Bellevue with his family, and has been attending our church. Brian and I ran just under 4-miles out Old Natchez with the group before heading back while they continued. Our running pace was between the 8:20s and 8:30s, which felt very comfortable, and overall it was quite an enjoyable run.
This run marked the end of Step 7 in my “return to running program” after completing similar runs on Wednesday and Friday (did a track workout on Thursday).
Even though there has been some frustrations along the way, overall my return to running has gone extremely well. I ended up completing 97.8-miles for the month of October, and 33-miles last week. Not quite where I was before, but way ahead of where I thought I’d be starting November. Thanks to everyone for your continued support.
Beast Mode…ON!
Tonight, for the first time in 10 weeks, I returned to track with the Jim Spivey Running Club (JSRC), and it was a whirlwind of emotions. My last time at track was one of the best workouts I’ve ever had, and then the next day my running came to a halt for six weeks, taking with it my hopes of running a BQ this fall.
Overall I’ve tried to maintain a positive mindset throughout the injury and recovery, but tonight things kind of overwhelmed me. First of all I was nervous for a number of reasons. Also, I was reminded of how high a fitness level I had reached through the summer, and how far the injury has set me back. It brought doubts about whether or not I can ever get to that level again without injury. I realize that all of this is incredibly minor in the grand scheme of life, but it is also hard to express to others how important running is to me.
However, I tried to push those emotions and doubts aside and just focus on having a good workout. I tried to remember that this is important milestone in my recovery, and how well things have been going so far. It helped that Paxton arrived as I was warming up, and it was great catching up with him.
Tonight’s workout was very simple, 2 Sets of 3 x 600m, which seemed to be perfect for my first night back. I quickly realized that I had very little feel for my pace, but somehow I still reeled off somewhat consistent intervals. After an initial repeat of 2:32, where I was still trying to get loose, my next five intervals were 2:22, 2:22, 2:18, 2:22, and 2:18. While this was not quite up to my prior standards, I’m pleased with the consistency, and pleasantly surprised at how good I felt.
It’s good to have reached a new milestone in my recovery, and I look forward to continuing to work hard and reach even greater heights in the future.
Beast Mode…ON!
Romans Chapter 5 Handouts and Notes are Now Online
For students in my Wednesday night class on Romans: Handouts and Notes for Romans Chapter 5 are now available online. The plan for tomorrow night is to complete the second half of chapter 4, and then move into Chapter 5 if time allows. Hope to see you tomorrow night at 7pm at Bellevue Church of Christ!
Walt Disney buys LucasFilm (Star Wars Episode 7 in 2015)
When I first saw this I thought it had to be a joke, but unfortunately it is true! Since I mostly try to pretend that the prequels never happend, I hate the idea of making even MORE movies.
This morning’s run with Nathan marked the completion of my modified Step 6 of the “return to running” program provided by my doctor. Steps 5 to 7 originally only included a single 20, 25, or 30-minute run, which never made sense to me because Step 4 included 45-minutes of actual running. I ended up altering these steps by adding an additional 15-min and 10-min running interval to the end with 1-minute walking segments in-between…
After a less-than-steller Step 5, which was hampered by post-Disney fatigue, Step 6 turned out to be fantastic. This was especially true of the run yesterday in which I completed all of the running segments at sub-8min pace. Today’s run with Nathan was also quite enjoyable, though it was pretty chilly. This was the first run since last winter/spring where I had to wear tights.
Also, last week I was able to finish just over 31-miles, and am just over 90-miles for the month. Both of these are well ahead of my expectations, especially considering I’m still on the “return to running” program.
Tomorrow will be a rest day, and then hopefully I can start Step 7 on Wednesday. If everything goes well I should be able to begin incorporating speed work and hills into my training once I get past this step. I’m even considering making a return appearance at track with the JSRC this Thursday evening.
Beast Mode…ON!
davidsgoals replied to your photo: Princess Merida & Minnie Mouse at Bellevue Church…
What’s “trunk or treat”?
David….it is something a lot of churches around here do at Halloween. The idea is that the members all park their cars in a line, decorate their trunks, and then hand out candy as the kids move from car to car. Every year we get about 1,000 parents and kids from the community, so it has turned into quite an event.
With our Disney vacation over Kate’s fall break, I got a little side-tracked from posting updates on my “return to running” program. I only ended up running one time while at Disney World. I decided after the first day that running would only increase the stress on my right leg, which was already pretty intense from all the time spent walking and standing in the parks.
My one run on the first night at Disney marked the end of Step 4 in my “return to running” program, and then I didn’t start Step 5 until Tuesday of this week, and just finished it earlier this evening…
Step 5 was originally only a single 20-minute run, which never made sense to me because Step 4 included 45-minutes of actual running. I ended up altering step 5 by adding an additional 15-min and 10-min running interval to the end with 1-minute walking segments in-between.
Generally my feet and ankles have felt pretty beat up since returning from Disney, but I’m happy that my right leg continues to feel strong. The runs in Step 5 have been kind of meh, because I’ve been so tired since getting home on Monday night. However I’m glad to have Step 5 in the books. On average I’ve completed just over 6-miles with each run/walk in Step 5, bringing my weekly total so far to just over 18-miles.
Tomorrow will be a rest day, and then hopefully I can start Step 6 on Saturday. If everything goes well I should be able to begin incorporating speed work and hills into my training once I get past Step 7. This will be great, because I’m still struggling with my heart rate being much higher than it was pre-injury (Can’t wait!!)
Beast Mode…ON!
Romans Chapter 4 Handouts and Notes are Now Online
For students in my Wednesday night class on Romans: Handouts and Notes for Romans Chapter 4 are now available online. Lord willing we will cover this chapter during class tomorrow night at 7pm at Bellevue Church of Christ!
Since starting this blog a couple of years ago, I have posted content on a wide array of subjects (family, bible, preaching, etc). However, the primary purpose has always been to share notes from my journey as a runner and marathoner. Along the way, so many of you have offered support and encouragement and I am grateful to each of you.
In honor of my 1000th post, the link above is to one of the running posts that got it all started, entitled “Why I Run.” I have updated it from time, but it is mostly the same as it was from the beginning.
Apparently I’m in the minority, but I despise the @SouthwestAir boarding process. Today they decided to begin boarding 10 min early on a plane filled with kids. This meant that most of the families with kids boarded at the end, because they didn’t know Southwest was gonna jump the gun. Since no one has an assigned seat, It took an extra 20 minutes once everyone was on-board for them to rearrange everyone so that all the children would be able to sit with their parents.
Maddening!
I have now completed 2 of the 3 runs in Step 4 of my “return to running” program:
This step consists of:
Yesterday morning I ran with Nathan on a modified version of our old “Nature Center Loop” starting from the Edwin Warner Park Nature Center. I could tell the difference in running 15-minute intervals vs. the 10-minute intervals in Step 3, but overall I felt really good. We kept the pace pretty chill during the running intervals, which was good since I had just done P90X Legs and Back on Monday night. In total we finished 5.74-miles in just over 54-minutes.
Tonight after mid-week worship service I ran through the dark streets of Bellevue (and avoided a skunk). All day today my legs have been extremely sore from doing P90X Legs and Back on Monday night, so I felt a bit like the Tin Man during tonight’s run. Overall though I was pretty happy with my energy level, pace, and my heart rate which continues to improve. In total I finished just over 6-miles in just under 56-minutes.
Lord willing, tomorrow’s run will be completed at Disney World!!!
Beast Mode…ON!
From my wife earlier today on Facebook:
Stressful morning. While out running Lara and I heard screaming and ran to see what was happening. A woman had been attacked by her ex-boyfriend and stabbed multiple times in the neck with an ink pen. Kudos to the Brentwood police who were there within minutes. Also thankful for the man on the bike who stopped to help. It was very scary.
Can’t tell you how grateful I am that she is ok, and how proud I am of her for helping this woman. Thankfully she is going to be ok, and the ex-boyfriend is in custody.