Stay Strong - Run Long

Last week while I was sitting in my basement on my computer I was thinking to myself "Your birthday is tomorrow. What is your calling?" I know, kind of a weird thing to think about with so many places I could go on the internet. So during my nightly prayer I asked God to help me discover what my purpose is and how I can use some of my passions to find it. I wasn't asking for a lightning strike and a burning bush, I was just asking to help me find out what my true calling in life is. A couple of weeks ago I signed up for a daily devotional type of thing from a place called Teen Hope Line.com . I know, I know, 28 is not a teenager anymore, but this website was founded by the lead singer of Seventh Day Slumber and I love them. While I was at the concert a couple of weeks ago I signed up for the newsletter just as another resource to strengthen my walk. I really haven't thought too much about my question to God in the last week, but I open my email this morning and there ...

Alright. The time has arrived. With one week until the Dam to Dam here is where I am at. Had a little set back in my training schedule late last week, much too long of a story so I will not even go into it. It is a work thing that upsets me, so enough said. I decided late Tuesday afternoon that I had to get out and get at least one more long run in before the race, so when I got home I threw on my gear and headed out. I had initially planned to just do another 10 miler and call it good, but when I got out I felt really good (albeit a little tired) and decided to keep going. I got back in to town, looked down at my watch and saw "11.80 m" and "1:53". FREAKING SWEET!!!!!!!! I think that I will be able to break my previous D-T-D time by almost 10 minutes. I called my best friend (besides my wife of course) last night (Wednesday) and found out that had also run the same distance at almost exactly the same pace. YES!!!! We are going to Git-R-Done and beat the crap out o...

So I haven't written on here for a while, but it is not because I have forgotten about the one or two people that read this. I have been insanely busy with family, work and all of the cool things that are happening in my life. Last week I was listening to the radio on my way in to work and heard the DJ talking about a concert that was coming to a Church a few miles from our house and really wanted to win tickets to the show. As the DJ was talking he was saying that he had a few tickets to give away in a few minutes, but to my dismay I was just getting ready to head in to work. This station has recently changed their format at bit to "recruit" non-believers to listening to music that has a Christian spin. They have changed their name, call letters and slogan (if you live in Des Moines and listen to Christian music you know which station I am talking about) and one of the things that was supposed to disappear with the old station was the on-line stream. I am still a fan of ...

For the past 5 months I have been on a journey to really discover my true faith and where I feel God is leading me. It has been an extremely incredible experience that I can't even begin to explain. I started this trip a broken and beaten person and the people at my Church have really brought out my true potential and my love for Christ. Late last week I got an email flier from our Church that was talking about the current series we are in and was talking about embracing eternity. Because I have been really engaged by this series and all of the good things that have been happening in my life, I felt intrigued to tell someone my story. Now, I wasn't sure if anyone actually even read the emails when you hit the "Share your Story" tab. I just figured that I could write something, hit send and it would be saved in an email bank. Shortly after that one of the pastors, whom I have come to know and trust in the last few months, emailed me back and said thanks for sharing my ...

So, sorry I haven't posted in a while (I don't even know how many people read this) but I have been really busy as of late. The weather is nice and work has been keeping me going at about 1,000 mph. A couple of things have taken place recently. We finally got a new car. It is super sweet. It's a 2007 Dodge Caliber and rocks the house. We had to get a new car because my pride and joy 1996 Honda Accord finally was about to take a dive. It was such a good car, but had so many problems. We got a really good deal on it and have really enjoyed driving around in a really reliable car. I have caught the bug again. The running bug that is. When I am at work running and going home to all of my girls are what I spend my time on. Don't worry. I am working, but while I am working I am listening to running Podcasts and looking at the pictures of my girls. They just make me smile. I have been keeping to a pretty consistent training schedule for the Dam-To-Dam. I am doing anywhere from...

So after the nipple issue I decided to take a few days off from running and let my "areas" heal a little bit. We had a great weekend with family in town just kind of hanging out enjoying some nice weather for a change. Monday I got an email from a co-worker about heading out for a run. Gladly I accepted because I love to break up the monotony of running solo and run with a group. Even though most of these people are probably more fit and faster than I am, I went out with them. We started out running a course that I have never done before, but heard about. It's a route that was described as "a little over 5 miles" and "a little hilly." That should mean to mean closer to 1,000 miles and through the mountains. Figuratively speaking of course. So we head out. 50 degrees and beautiful. We start going at a decent pace. Enjoying talking and getting to know each other a little more as not everyone in the group knew each other. So we headed up a street that I h...

I couldn't resist the title. So, yesterday I was planning on going for a run, but because it was raining I was going to hit up the stupid treadmill. When I got down to the gym I guy that I have run a couple of times with said, "Hey, why don't you go out with us." I had looked outside prior to going to the gym and it wasn't raining that hard, plus I had some pants and a long sleeve shirt to stay warm since it was only 40 degrees. We went out and it really wasn't too bad. It obviously was raining, but nothing horrible. We were having some good conversations enjoying just being outside when I started to cramp due to the hard hills workout that I did a few days prior. I backed off and let everyone go ahead of me. I finished a 5 miler in about 45:00. A little faster than my normal pace so that was good. I got back to the gym to shower and get ready for a meeting that I had. I showered and had the normal nipple irritation that I usually get after a run but really di...