Oh, what a beautiful morning...

It was a beautifully cool 61 degrees this morning when I got up and there was just the slightest of winds. I couldn't have ordered better weather. Wow!

I started off with the goal of running an hour since that was the next time step in my "5 minutes more" program of mileage increase. I ran out to Highway 61 first to check out the progress on the road construction. It's coming along nicely. There was a long line of trucks ready to dump stuff into the paving machine today. Woohoo!

I ran north on 61, then took the dirt road east a mile and then south down to Highway 54. I actually saw a couple of pickup trucks. One passed me going south, the other dusted me up nicely going north. I was coughing and sputtering for a little bit.

When I got to 54, I turned east and ran over to the Wildlife and Parks road and ran south to their headquarters before heading west on Lake Road. It was about this time that I figured out that I was going to be running a little more than an hour. I didn't care. I was feeling good and my pace was improving. I dropped from 9:01 and my "worst" to 8:58. Yippee!

At Country Club Road, I turned north and ran back into town where I turned west onto Sixth. With less than a mile to go, I started picking up cans to give to the kids to send them to camp next summer. I ended up with four pop cans and one Bud. Not a bad haul. I ran up Commodore, circled around the hospital and ran along 54 till a break in the traffic appeared and I could run across to the Dillon's parking lot. I ran through the lot and hopped onto Howard which took me past the 8 mile mark and on home. Ahhhhh! (garmin data)

Beating the skinny kid again...

One of the first things I do every morning when I get up is look at the temperature. This morning it was 68 degrees. The second thing I do during the summer, if I think of it, is check the relative humidity. Today it was 72%. I do both so I know what to put on for my run. Today I wore compression shorts, shorts, short socks and shoes. Anything more and the humidity would kill me.

I started out planning to run 55 minutes. That meant 27 or 28 minutes out and the same coming back. My goal for that 55 minutes was at least 10K. After yesterday's slowfest, I knew I needed to pick up the pace a bit, so I started out faster than normal. I was running just over 8:00 pace for the first couple miles before settling into a slightly less demanding 8:15.

Just before I'd left the house, my wife had wondered out loud what traffic was like out toward the school. I decided to go scout it out for her. I ran on the sidewalks along Highway 54 until they ran out and then ran on the wide shoulder. The construction work hadn't started when I ran out to the school. The workers were setting up cones as I ran back into town.

I'm really pleased with my time and pace overall. I quit at 10K even though I hadn't hit 55 minutes. I wanted to save the 10K time since it is one of my best and much faster than the skinny kid I set out to beat when I first started running. (garmin data)

Staying close to home...

When I woke up this morning, the sidewalks and streets were moist. It's been so long since we got any rain that I wasn't sure what had caused this wetness. I knew I hadn't left sprinklers on. Turns out, we got a half inch of rain overnight.

I dressed and headed out the door only to discover the air was electric. Flashes of lightning off to the west made me think twice about running. I thought once. I thought twice. I thought three times and left my driveway. I figured if I ran around the blocks close to home the whole time, I wouldn't get too wet or too electrocuted.

I ran up and down the streets, through parking lots, over little streams, dodging puddles all the way. My left foot was hurting again, but not as badly as it did last week. I'm pretty sure I have a bone out of place. Perhaps a trip to the chiropractor is in order.

After a brief pit stop at the 5K mark, I decided to begin my build up for the Run for Missions 100-miler (www.runformissions.org) this fall by increasing my time out by five minutes each day. That meant I needed to run at least 50 minutes this morning. I zigged and zagged for another 22 minutes after my break and reached my time goal close to home. I walked for 10 minutes or so to cool down before going in. I was still dripping with sweat when I finished. 78% humidity. Ugh! At least it was a cool 68 degrees. (garmin data)

Love God and man...

“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.” (1 John 2:9-11)

Do you really think you can hang onto grudges, cling to bitterness, act hatefully toward someone else when you are filled with the Spirit of God? You cannot love God and hate your brother or sister or neighbor or coworker at the same time. If the God who loved the world enough to send his Son to die for it is in you, he will love the world through you. His Spirit inside you will cause you to love. You cannot contain the love of God within you. It will spill over into loving action.

Listen to what John wrote later in his letter.

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (1 John 4:19-21)

God’s command – the one that Jesus said was the second greatest after loving God – is to love your neighbor as yourself.

Are you obeying that command? Do your actions reflect the way that you would like to be treated? How often are your words less loving than you’d like them to be?

If you are struggling to love others, I urge you to cry out to God for help. Confess your sin to him. Ask him to give you a true sense of his love for you. Allow him to love others through you.

Back at it...

I'm not sure why I took last week off or why I didn't run yesterday, but it was definitely time to get back at it this morning. I'm never going to be able to run 100 miles in a day if I don't start increasing my volume. Ugh! It's so miserable running when it's 77 degrees with high humidity. I almost drown!

I woke up at 5:20 and headed out the door about fifteen minutes later. I figured I had time for four or five miles, so I headed east on School and made my way up to Maple to run over to Highway 61. I passed a couple out walking their dogs just before the highway. I ran over to the other side of the street so I wouldn't startle them. When they saw me pass they offered a cheery hello. I returned it and ran on.

I ran south down 61, then turned onto 54 and ran east to Fincham where I turned south again to run down to Sixth. I streetlight at Sixth was out as I approached the intersection, but turned on just as I was about to step into a manhole. Perfect timing! I avoided a potential trip to the asphalt.

I ran across town to Main Street, enjoying myself as much as one can while running. I turned north on Main and ran up the sidewalks. At 54, I had to stop to wait on cross traffic before running on. The motor carrier inspector was waiting there for some poor unsuspecting trucker. He paid no attention to me darting across the road and running on.

Running up the sidewalk I kept a sharp eye out for uneven concrete and ill-parked vehicles. Some guy had parked his pickup across the sidewalk at one point, so I had to run out into the street for a short time. I rejoined the sidewalk and ran on up to Maple.

On Maple I ran east to the church, then turned south on Lawrence. I ran down Lawrence crunching my feet on the new chip-n-seal surface and ran around the weird angles of School/Cambridge/Manor/Edgeford to home where I stopped.

I've cooled down now and really need to get ready for the day quickly. I'm taking my daughter to Hutchinson to shadow a pediatrician. (garmin data)

A quarter century of bliss...

On August 1, 1987, I married the most beautiful woman on planet earth. After courting Susan for nearly three years, I was sure she was the one God had for me. Today, I’m even surer of that than I was then. Through all the ups and downs of the past two decades plus, my wife has been my greatest help, my best friend, my most loyal supporter. She tells me the truth when I’m out of line. She laughs when I’m mildly funny. She cries when I’m wounded. She rolls her eyes when I’m more than a little bit wacky. She offers suggestions when I’m at my wit’s end. She growls when I’m misunderstood by others.

God did a good thing when he brought Susan into my life a quarter century ago. I’m thankful to him for giving me a godly wife. He gives few gifts greater than that.