Saturday, December 19, 2009

Now's the Time to Plan for a 1-Year Marathon

I'm carbo-loading for my second 1-year marathon. It begins Jan. 1 and ends Dec. 31, 2010.

If you've never read the entire Holy Bible, but have always wanted to, now's the time to start planning. You're runners; you're disciplined people. So, there's no doubt you can do it, if you want to. If you don't, no big deal. But, if you do... I did it in 2008, took off in 2009, and am going to do another one in 2010.

I've always been a New Testament junkie. I've read the New Testament over and over, enough times now that I feel I have a good sense of who Jesus is and how he would prefer we behave towards each other. I can't quote Bible verses, but I have this sense.

I had never read the Old Testament very much. And, I was getting indigestion from others taking a few lines out of their context and shoving them down my throat. I wanted the whole story so I could make up my own mind. But, how do I approach such a big reading assignment?

The One-Year Bible. The entire Holy Bible broken up into daily readings, starting Jan. 1. Old Testament, Proverbs, Psalms, and New Testament every day. A mere 15-20 minute reading commitment each day. And, on New Year's Eve 2010, you finish the whole thing. I like to start my day with it (say, 3:30 a.m. for me) and then I have my 4 a.m. run and the rest of the day to give that day's reading some thought. One could start his day in worse ways.

If you've ever wanted to read the entire Holy Bible, now's the time to go get you a One-Year Bible and lay it out so you are ready on Jan. 1. Good luck. You just ran a half-marathon or marathon. This will be a walk in the park compared to that.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

My Work is On the Roads

I ran up on a young man this morning at mile 2. He was maybe 20. Maybe not that old. Walking, but didn't seem to really be walking anywhere. Short sleeves. It was 4:20 and 42 degrees. He looked scared.

I started doing a lot of praying. Praying for warmth. Praying he would get to wherever he was going. Praying a police car would come by and give him a warm ride somewhere. Praying for guidance on what I should do. I turned back towards home at mile 3, and when I got back to mile 4, he was gone.

Jesus and I had a pretty good little conversation the last 2 miles. What if he were my son out there? (Well, isn't he? Really? -- sometimes Jesus answers me with a question.) What would I have wanted someone else to do if it were my son? What should I have done? What should I do?

We came to the conclusion that I definitely needed to start carrying a cellphone. And, I've got plenty of room in my windbreaker pockets for an extra pair of gloves and maybe a Clif bar. And, a sweatshirt tied around my hips isn't going to make me any slower than I already am (and, who cares how it looks -- it's 4 o'clock in the morning, for crying out loud.)

I'm beginning to think there is work for me on the early morning roads of Garland.