The Reason I Do this Stuff

Believe it or not, I’m really not so narcissistic as to believe that people have much if any interest in reading about my workouts. What I’m really about is changing lives in Zambia. The idea behind the blog was just to let people know what I’m putting into this (over 150 miles so far this season!), and hopefully to encourage you to join me in supporting World Vision.

If I could get 200 people to just give just $5 each, we could raise $1000 to  change lives in Africa.

It’s very easy to support me online – visit: http://www.firstgiving.com/enoch to make a donation.

It takes a matter of minutes, is totally secure and you can even leave a message with your donation.

Thanks, and I’ll be back to my boring running blogs soon.

I Did It! … finally, sheesh …

I don’t know why it freaks me out so much, but the thought of running the 8.5 miles to work just seems insurmountable. Or it seemed like it until today.

(short pause while I pat myself on the back)

Anyway, I’m not too high on my horse because I was scheduled to run 10 today, but it still felt great, freeing actually, to finally make the run. It was my fifth opportunity according to the training schedule. Of course, the thunderstorms this afternoon kind of made me wonder if I would be riding my bike home in the rain, but it all worked out.

17 miles on Saturday. 8.5 today. And it seems like the quality and mental focus are getting better. Maybe I’m getting over the difficulty of it all, or maybe I’m just starting to really believe in what I’m doing.

• Distance: 8.54 mi.
• Time: 1:23:19
• Pace: 9:46/mi
• Max HR: 166

Boredom

Life really is boring. Actually, we set up hedges around ourselves to make daily living as uneventful as possible. Right? We prefer things to go smooth and easy. We don’t want a really interesting drive to work. We don’t tend want to live out a drama. It seems like we all want life to be the flavor of a water chestnut.

Isaiah 40:31 “But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.”

It’s a familiar scripture, but it is taking on new meaning for me lately. The spiritual high of soaring like an eagle is great, but that’s not really how life works most of the time. We spend much more time running, and much more still walking. The boring stuff.

I suppose it doesn’t help that I work in a gray fabric box for 40 hours a week. But I am quite simply bored to death. And I’ve never been very good at the day-to-day life in general. I’m much better at the fun stuff.

This kind of discontent seems to be happening more often as I get older. But I’m only 30! What’s it going to be like when I’m 40? I can’t imagine. But it’s not like there’s another option. So I guess I’ll do what I always do. Go through the motions and wait on God to breathe some sense of purpose back into my life.

Faster than a Speeding Enoch

As I rounded the corner for the finish line, I mustered every ounce of energy I had and took off at an all out sprint. I blew past the last water stop and came to another corner. And then another corner. And another… HOLY COW! Where’s the finish line!

By the time I came to the hill that led to the “actual” finish line, I was ready to pass out. I had done my sprint to the finish about a mile too soon. How cliche.

Anyway, the Y Not Run race was a good time this weekend. I did manage to set  a new personal record for my 10k, 57:11. Hey! Stop laughing! That’s pretty good for me!

• Distance: 10k
• Time: 57:11
• Pace: 9:13/mi
• Weekly Mileage Total: 26 mi

Oh, and I have pictures:

Me Appearing Energetic for the Finish

The Team

Chris Miller, Team Captain, won 1st for his age group!

Oh Em Jee. Even Slower and Heavier

Maybe I don’t get this whole training thing. It was my understanding that as you train, you will get better at running. You’ll lose weight. Your apetite will increase.  I am apparently opposite man. My appetite has decreased. I’m getting slower. And I’m gaining weight. At least two people have commented, “Well, maybe it’s muscle weight.” That is actually a small comfort when I still have this donut bouncing around my waist. Now I have even more of me to propel as I run. Chris mentioned that the same was true for him for years but that he recently dropped a bunch of weight. So if I keep this up for one more year, maybe I’ll see some more results! 11:40 average. At least if I can keep that up for the marathon, I’ll knock off half an hour from my time last year. I was really hoping for more.

• Distance: 15.1 mi (35.3 total for the week)
• Total Time 2:56:10
• Pace: 11:40/mi
• Max Heart Rate: 154

The Training Blog