The Training Crucible

This weekend Meg and I, as well as 10 others from our running club at church ran in the Soaring Wings Half Marathon.  This was the first major step towards our goal of running the St. Jude's Marathon in Memphis during December. So here's the damage:
1. I hadn't run consistently for 4 weeks.  My last run before the race was a 15 mile run 2 weeks prior to the race.  I ran the 15 in 2:17, so I felt confident I would break 2 hours on race.  The only problem was I also developed an infection in my right hip, with a sore that is still open.
2. I went out too quickly.  Instead of being realistic about my training (especially over the the last 3 weeks) I went out thinking I could stay at my 9 minute pace with no problems.  What actually happen was I went out at  7:30 pace during the first two miles, leading me to puke twice during miles 4-6 while I pushed out an 11 minute pace during those 3 miles.  I quickly watched the 9:00 pace leader pass me by as I trudged up one of the many hills.
3. I finished the day 46 seconds behind my amazing wife who celebrated her 30th birthday on race day.
4. I learned to stick with my training, not skip the workouts, do the work, trust the plan.

I can't say enough good things about this race.  First, it was very well organized. The aid  stations were at even intervals that made it easy to know when you had one coming up. The city of Conway obviously cares about this event.  There were people everywhere! We ran through a couple of neighbors that had people lining the streets with signs, hands out to give passing runners high-fives and cheers all around.  My favorite was the guy at the top of the hill at mile 12 that keep yelling your name, encouraging you not to give up as you came to the crest this monster hill.  But the best part was the fact that kids from the ranch were there to pass out the medals at the finish line.  Great touch!  Without I doubt, we plan to be running this race again next year!
Finally, let me encourage you to check out Soaring Wings Ranch and read about their mission to help children.

This has been the hardest week of training, mainly because I haven't done any! Last week I had the flu, then Saturday a huge sore opened up on my hip (no gory picture, sorry!).  This weekend is the Soaring Wings Half Marathon in Conway.  My main goal this week is simply to try and get healthy and just do my best at the half as Meg and I prepare for our first marathon in December.  I would rather shoot for a great performance in December, than stress about training this week for the 1/2.  Hopefully things will be better by the end of this weekend.
Honestly, I'll be very disappointed if I don't break 2 hours in my run this weekend, but if I don't I'll know it's not because I can't, it's because of the hang ups I have had the last couple of weeks.  Hopefully on Monday I'll have plenty of pictures and a good report!

I believe that this life is preparation for the next, its the training crucible that refines and develops us for the plan that God has for us in the world to come.  This is my opportunity to share with you the various things that God is using to refine me.  There are the joys that come from raising 3 girls, the challenges of working at a Christ-centered drug treatment center for young men ages 14-24, the struggle of training for our first marathon (and hopefully many more to come) and the things that just seem to happen in life.  So if you can identify with any of these areas, I hope that you will check in often and share your own experience in the crucible.

Tonight Meg (my wife) and I registered for our first half-marathon. It's goes along with the path we are taking in order to run our first marathon by the end of the year (the plan, by the way is to run the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis). But this is more than a half-marathon, here are some interesting details that will make this special:

1. The event falls on Meg's birthday. It would be right to tell you how young she'll be, but I simply love the fact that we will be out there running in the same event on her birthday!
2. The Soaring Wings Half-Marathon in Conway, AR is for a great cause. Soaring Wings Ranch is a Christ-centered ranch for abused and neglected children. For more information about the ranch you can read their mission statement or check out there homepage. If you will be in the area on October 24, you can register for the event here.
3. This event will also be amazingly fun because several people from our church's running club are already signed up and several more have given some type of verbal commitment to participating in the event. Running is so much better when you have a great support team!
4. This event also falls perfectly in line with Hal Higdon's training program that I am using to get ready for the marathon in December. Since this will be the first time for me to run either of the distances in a race, it should give me a better idea of how I hope to finish in December.

I hope you'll join us for what should be a great event!

I have learned that you are not a true fitness guru until you write a book about working out your abs. Tonight we a quick look at some of the workout books at our local Hastings- not the greatest bookstore in the world, yet I was amazed at how books they had dedicated to the art of tightening the tummy. My favorite cover proclaimed that "Cruise Moves" were the way to beat back the belly. Most of the workouts are the same, but I did find some new moves that I will be incorporating into my core workout. Once I get a plan in place, I'll let you know.

As for actually running today, the temperature today was projected to hit 100 (I am sure we got there!) so I did a quick 3 mile run this morning before it could get too hot, although it was hot enough that I was completely soaked when I came back into the house at 6:45.

I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON! I have known this most of my life, especially when I was schedule to take 8:00 am biology my sophomore year of college. I hate getting up early. Having kids has helped at little, except that last night two of ours found their way into our bedroom- meaning I got kicked, head-butted, and had some one rolling on top of me more often than Hulk Hogan at Wrestle Mania!

In about 7 weeks I will begin my official training for my first marathon (Memphis in December). Like most things that require that level of discipline it helps to write it down, have a plan, and then be able to reflect on what you have done. I figure, since I plan on doing all of that anyway, why not share it on a blog where others might find something helpful, inspiring, or at least get a laugh from an out of shape husband and father of three trying to pull this off.
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