Archive - October, 2011

A Funeral … A Good Reminder…

October 31, 2011 in The Kitchen Table with 0 Comments

I attended a funeral this morning for a father of someone from our church family. This certainly was not your normal “cookie-cutter” funeral. My understanding is that the deceased had quite a bit of input into the funeral service. It certainly was a very personal service. It included tributes from a brother, a son, two granddaughters and a son-in-law. It was also clear what the deceased valued throughout his life.

The thing that always strikes me about attending funerals – is that someday this will be my funeral. Obviously, I have no idea when. I am hoping it is a long ways off, but one never knows. Not to be morbid or anything, but realizing that someday it will be my funeral, helps me to take a look at my life. It helps me to evaluate the direction I am going.

Some questions always come to mind:

  • What do I want people to remember about me when they attend my funeral?
  • Am I living my life with that in mind – “Living with the End in Mind”?
  • Who will be at my funeral? Am I building relationships with people? Am I affecting others in a positive way?
  • Have I left a positive impact in the world because of my existence?
  • What changes do I need to make in my life?
  • What do I hope to accomplish prior to my funeral?
  • Am I living out my faith in Christ? Can people see that I am a follower of Jesus? This goes well beyond words.

Just some questions to ponder today…

Have you ever thought about your funeral? More importantly, what about your life prior to your funeral?

Lessons from the Half-Marathon – part 2

October 24, 2011 in The Kitchen Table with 0 Comments

This is a continuation from my previous entry.

The importance of encouragement. Several hundred people lined the paths throughout the entire race. They rang bells and yelled words of encouragement. I also recall several times where people would say things to me directly. Things like, “You can do this”, “You look strong”, “Way to go”, “Keep it up”… These words had a big effect on me.

Encouragement is important in getting through life – especially through challenging times. If you don’t have relationships with people who can cheer you on when life is hard, you need to find those relationships. I can’t stress this enough. You need people to come alongside you and tell you that “You can do it!” You also need to be doing this for others when they go through hard times.

The importance of perseverance. As I mentioned in my previous blog entry. The last three miles were pretty bad, especially the last mile or so. Really bad. I spent the last mile concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and just hoping I wouldn’t fall.

Sometimes life gets hard like this as well. It is when life is hard, we are called to persevere, to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. We have found that it is when life is really hard, you focus on smaller things. You strive to just get through the day – or the hour. You set shorter goals – I am going to eat well and exercise today. I am not going to think about the next 9 months, just today.

The importance of recovery. When the race is over, we are given an abundance of liquids and food to help us recover from the race. Water, juice, milk, yogurt, fruit, bagels, sandwiches, pizza, muffins, replenishment drinks were all in abundance. We were encouraged to start getting nutrition back into our bodies right after we were done to aid our bodies in recovery. Even with this, I have been a hurting unit these past three days. People ask me how I am doing and my common reply is, “I am fine – as long as I don’t move!” My thighs, calves, Achilles tendons and right ankle – ok pretty much anything below my waist – are very sore. It is getting better with time – and sometimes time is our best recovery factor.

In life, after we go through a difficult time, we also need to recover. Sometimes this recovery is done through counseling or meeting with others who have been through the same situation. Sometimes a spiritual retreat is necessary to really connect with God and allow Him to help rejuvenate you. We need to realize that the adage “time heals all wounds” is kind of correct here. Things do seem to get better with time. That doesn’t mean the pain goes away, just that things get a little easier with time.

The importance of review. The day after the race, someone asked me, “What did you learn from Sunday? What would you do differently if you had to do it over again?” These were excellent questions. It forced me to sit down and think about the event and process my thoughts. If I had to do a half-marathon again or a whole marathon, I would prepare better. I would really try to follow the pre-race plan to a tee. I would also make sure I got in more liquids at the aid stations. I drank 3-4 cups of water at each station, but that really wasn’t enough as each cup only had about 2-3 ounces of water. I should have had twice that amount.

Likewise in life, I think it is important to take time and review. These times are necessary not only following a hard situation (“What did you learn? What would you change if you had to do this over again?”), but also are necessary throughout life. Do you take some time every six months or a year to look at your life? Are you happy where you are at right now? First, where are you? Where do you want to go? What is God doing in your life? What changes need to be made? These are all excellent questions to help us review our lives on a regular basis.

I have been asked several times the past couple days if I would do this again. You know, I don’t know. I think so. I am still intrigued with the thought of a full marathon some day. I do have the confidence now that with time and the proper training I could do a full marathon. It is a huge time commitment though. It has been good for me physically and spiritually. It’s kind of like asking a woman who has just given birth if she plans to have more children. The pain is awfully near right now. I guess time will tell.

What have you learned through your challenges in life?

Lessons from the Half-Marathon – Part 1

October 19, 2011 in Christian Living, Goals with 1 Comment

This past Sunday, I completed the Des Moines Half-Marathon. My previous blog I detailed the event, mainly focusing on the physical part of the race. Today, I would like to share about some lessons I have learned in tackling this endeavor.

The importance of preparation. I signed up for the half-marathon this past June. I really didn’t get serious about my training until mid-July. I found some plans on the internet and selected one that fit me and the time I had available. While I did not stick to the plan exactly, I did jog 2-3 times a week. I certainly would not have been able to complete the race without the preparation. In fact, I wish I had been better prepared for this challenge.

Are you prepared for your next challenge? Maybe the better question is, are you preparing for your next challenge? Sometimes, like this half-marathon, we know what our next challenge will be. Unfortunately, in life, we don’t always know what is behind that next corner. We do know that there will be challenges. Are you preparing – financially, spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally?

The importance of gifts and abilities. When I started the race and when the marathon leaders passed me, I was amazed at the vast array of talent level that were participating in this event. We had the very fast, the very slow, the young, the old, the skinny people and the fat people.

This made me think about life. In this world, we have a vast array of talents and abilities. Some are made to run, and as a friend of mine says, people like me are made to move things. Do you know your gifts and abilities? What are you good at? How has God gifted you? I think it is important to recognize your strengths and celebrate and focus on them. But, that doesn’t mean you are only limited to areas that utilize your strengths. Sometimes you need to be used where you are needed. It might take a little more effort and time when you work in areas outside of your strength, but it is possible and important.

The importance of monotony. In the half-marathon, miles 3-10 were really pretty boring. We ran through a park-like atmosphere and had people cheering us on, but it really was the time you just “put in the miles”. For me, this was the time I just kind of got in my rhythm, my mind wondered to many topics, I spent lots of time in prayer and in thought. It really was pretty boring and monotonous.

We need these boring times in life. All too often, I think our society is always looking for the next thrill or experience. While I think these times are great, we need to realize that a good percentage of life can be boring and monotonous. We go to work, we come home, we are faithful day after day after day. There is a song I like by Chad Brock called “My Ordinary Life”. Ordinary and boring is good sometimes. When I drive anywhere, I want ordinary and boring. When people have their yearly physicals, we all want ordinary and boring. We certainly need excitement and thrilling experiences in our life, we just need to realize that it takes times of monotony to get us to those thrills.

The importance of replenishment along the way. Every mile or so on the half-marathon, we had aid stations. These stations offered water, Gatorade and sometimes some candy to replenish our systems. This was vital for anyone wanting to complete the race.

It is also vital in life. We need times to replenish our bodies physically. We also need times to replenish ourselves spiritually. Rest and sleep are critical for physical health. Times to connect with God on a consistent basis are important to keep us spiritually healthy.

 

My Half-Marathon Experience

October 17, 2011 in Goals with 4 Comments

On Sunday I ran the Des Moines Half-Marathon. Ok, running would be a strong word. It felt like running, but if you compared me to everyone else, it would not be running. But again, if you compared me to everyone else I would be a fat, old person. Wait, don’t compare me to everyone else…

It was an interesting day to say the least. I am going to give a brief recap or the event (I hate to call it a race) and share some thoughts I discovered through this whole process.

It is interesting being part of nearly 8,000 people lined up down five blocks in downtown Des Moines. They try to get you to line up according to your projected pace – with the faster runners up front and the slow ones to the back. I went immediately towards the back. There really isn’t a lot of chit chat amongst the group that I could see – just a lot of people eyeing each other up and down and wondering if signing up for this thing was a huge mistake. I certainly felt out of place since I outweighed 97% of the others by at least 100 pounds. Ugh…

I was so far back in the group, I could not hear the start, so I don’t know if they just said, “Ready, set, go” or if they shot a gun. I could just see the crowd start bobbing and moving. It took a minute or so for our section to get moving and we all walked the 3-4 blocks to the start line. Once we hit the start line, people started to jog. I was very surprised at how many people planned to walk the entire thing. I spent the first mile or so zig sagging amongst the walkers.

I intentionally planned to go slower than my projected pace the first mile or two. That was not a problem with so many walkers to try to avoid. An interesting item, within the first half-mile, I saw Danny Wright. Danny was on a contestant on “The Biggest Loser” who moved to Des Moines to be near his girlfriend from the show (no idea what her name was). Danny is a fellow “large person”, so I took lots of joy as I “flew” past him! (Just kidding Danny if you read this. I didn’t take great joy, just some. It’s hard to have great joy in anything when you are running).

The first couple miles, the half-marathon people are running with the full-marathon people. We broke from each other at the bottom of a big hill. The marathoners had to go up the hill, while us “halfers” got to veer to the left avoiding the hill. Praise God!

I really felt very good the first six miles or so. I briefly spoke with an older gentlemen who had a big knee brace. I asked him if he were recovering from surgery. He said that he was trying to hold off surgery, that he needed to have some work done, but wanted to complete his running a marathon or half-marathon in all 50 states. He was from Florida and Iowa was his 49th State. He told me the last one, but being oxygen deprived, I don’t remember if he said the “District of Columbia” was his last one (is that a state?) or if it was Alaska or Washington. I don’t know, but I was impressed. I told him this was my first one. He said I was looking strong (this was at mile five). He is my friend.

My goal for the race was to get to mile ten before I stopped and walked – except during each water station. I did stop at each water station to make sure I got water or Gatorade into my system. The volunteers were very nice and encouraging.  I wish they put more liquid in each cup – they only fill each cup about 1/3 of the way. I would try to drink 3-4 of these cups at each station, but that was still only getting around 8 ounces every mile. In looking back, I should have probably double this amount.

I did make it to mile 10 – which is around the bridge for Gray’s Lake. I walked around a quarter mile and started back into my slog. The walk was helpful and I felt that I might be able to finish the last three miles without walking again. Wrong…

The last three miles were HORRIBLE! As I reflect, the last three miles might be the most difficult thing I have ever done. I spent most of these miles just concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other. My quads felt like they were just on the verge of cramping, but so did my hamstrings. I was afraid to stretch anything because I felt if I stretched my hamstrings, my quads would cramp and vice versa. My calves, ankles and feet were also VERY sore – and tired of running.

At around the 11 ½ mile mark, you climb a pretty steep hill to cross the river. I saw the hill and immediately decided to walk to the top and then a little farther. I was feeling so bad at this time, that it sucked to even walk. I ended up walking maybe a half mile. Now, it was only a mile and a half to the finish line. I started slogging again. It’s amazing how long that last mile and a half can be.

We jogged down the road and had to turn left to head to the finish line. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other trying to get to that turn. I expected a big feeling of relief when I made that turn and could see the finish line. I was wrong. I made the turn and did see the finish line, but it was still 5-6 blocks away. That wasn’t good. I truly was concerned if I would be able to finish. A couple times I thought how bad it would be to get within 5 blocks of the finish and have to drop out. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other until I hit the finish line!

At the finish line, they give you a medal and then people help you get the timing device off you shoe. I am thankful people are there to help with this, as I am sure I could not have bent over and done it myself. I also know if I sat down to do this, there is no way I would have been able to get back up!

I had hoped to hang around and see some people I knew who were doing the full marathon. After 30-45 minutes, all I could think about was getting off my feet and getting home.

All in all, I am glad I ran the half. Would I do it again? Don’t know. What did I learn? I will share about that on Wednesday’s blog.

What’s the hardest thing you have ever done physically? Mentally?