Day 28 - Sunday, Sunday, Sunday

Things that happened today:

1. A relaxing morning reading, just me and my [amazing] heated mattress pad. I'm reading "Counterfeit Gods" by Timothy Keller, and I'd definitely recommend it.

2. Church. A blessing, as always.

3. Friends for lunch and another chance to fix that delicious chicken paprika I mentioned a few weeks ago.

4. Library time. It is finals time, after all.

5. 45 minutes of cycling for my cross-training. Nothing to write home about.

6. More library time.

This week will be busier than normal as I attempt to wrap up academic things in order to close out the semester. I'm confident it will all get done, but I'm not confident that I'll get enough sleep while getting it all done. Oh well. I'm hopeful that this week's runs will prove a respite from the busyness, rather than an added stressor.

Hope you're all well!

Day 26 - To Be, Not Do

"God asks us to give away everything of ourselves. The gift of greatest efficacy and power that we can offer God and creation is not our skills, gifts, abilities, and possessions. The wise men had their gold, frankincense, and myrrh, Paul and Peter had their preaching. Mary offered only space, love, belief. What is it that delivers Christ into the world -- preaching, art, writing, scholarship, social justice? Those are all gifts well worth sharing. But preachers lose their charisma, scholarship grows pedantic, social justice alone cannot save us. In the end, when all other human gifts have met their inevitable limitation, it is the recollected one, the bold virgin with a heart in love with God who makes a sanctuary of her life, who delivers Christ who then delivers us. ... What if, instead of doing something, we were to be something special? Be a womb. Be a dwelling for God. Be surprised."

- taken from "To Be Virgin" by Loretta Ross-Gotta

Day 23 - 10 am Gym Call

Today's schedule run: 3 miles

Today's completed run: 3 miles
Pace: 8:35 (consistently; I was treadmillin'.)

I found another ideal time to go to the gym: 10 am on a weekday. I had my pick of whatever treadmill I wanted and a lot of free mat space to stretch. Love that.

Normally I'm in class from 9-12, but I had an exam this morning that took less than an hour to finish, so I was free for some gym time. I thought an even 7.0 pace on the treadmill seemed like a good goal, so I pushed the up arrow, put Florence + the Machine on repeat, and ran. Every now and then, I would glance up at the TVs in front of me. My choices were Rachel Ray's cooking show or a show on Green Planet that featured volcanoes, man-made avalanches, tribal hunters, and sky burials... All that in one show!

All in all, a good run. I step up my Wednesday mileage to 6 miles tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it. I only hope the weather in Baltimore isn't as yucky tomorrow as it is today!

To end on a nerdy note, I received two packages today, both of which contain reading I plan to get done over Christmas break.

- Inside box #1: four books from Ligonier (R.C. Sproul's ministry). I got the books plus shipping for just $23 on Black Friday.
- Inside box #2: six FREE resources from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Social workers can't turn down free resources... ever.

And, in case you did the bulk of your growing up in the 90's, like me, you'll be very excited to learn that Lisa Frank has a clothing line... for adults. Yup. I like the Rainbow French Terry Top, personally. Stylin'.

Until tomorrow...

Day 19 - A Busy Rest Day

As usual, today is a rest day, which is good because I am busy, busy, busy with a lot of fun things. I am headed to DC this weekend to spend some time with friends there, which is always a gift, because I have some wonderful friends there.

The weekend starts with volunteering at the race expo for the RAM Racing Hot Chocolate 15k/5k, which is tomorrow at National Harbor. I was supposed to run the 15k, but my plans changed. However, I'm still going to pick up my swag (because it's a jacket, not a t-shirt!) and volunteer. I've never been able to volunteer at an expo because of work schedules, so I'm looking forward to it. Happy running to those who are running this weekend, BTW!

After the expo, the weekend will be filled with visiting friends. It won't be all fun and games, as I have a 20-page paper to write for my Human Behavior class, but I've already planned a study party with a friend of mine who is taking classes right now. It's always nicer to study together, even if productivity drops significantly during that time. :) I'm also looking forward to the 6 miles I have scheduled for tomorrow. It's a drop from the last few weekends, and I'm feeling strong for it already. Let's hope that stays!

To close, I'll leave you with two very interesting articles from Runner's World.

Why Is Running So White? This article was so interesting to me, both as a runner and a social worker. In fact, I brought it up yesterday in my policy class, because we were talking about health disparities based on various demographics, i.e. income level, race, etc. Something so basic that I had never thought of before is that if you are living in an unsafe urban area, as so many people of color do, running is not an option. Running is a flight technique, not exercise. So interesting and so relevant for so many of our Baltimore residents and neighborhoods.

Transcendental Steps I read this article this morning, mostly because I've been trying to figure out if I want to challenge myself to run iPod-less. I'm not interested in the Buddhist meditation aspect, for obvious reasons, but I do think the principles are transferable in some ways. I could spend time meditating on the things of the Lord (Philippians 4:8), and I could simply talk with Him. I should relish that opportunity, not fill it with bad music. I'll let you know how it goes...

What are you up to this weekend? Anything fun? Any running?


Until tomorrow...

Day 15 - My Favorite Season

Yesterday was the start of my favorite season.

Well, that might be a bit of a misnomer, because my favorite season proper is actually Summer; but my favorite season is Advent. The expectation and anticipation, the active waiting -- I love it all. I am in awe of what we celebrate at Christmastime -- God Incarnate. I have to pause every time I think of that just to meditate for a few moments on what that means. Just as I did last year, I'm using readings adopted from the Book of Common Prayer. I'm also going through a book called "Watch for the Light," which has daily readings from a variety of writers. I strongly recommend both.

Today's "Watch for the Light" reading was a piece by Henri Nouwen -- "Waiting for God." Nouwen writes:

"Hope is trusting that something will be fulfilled, but fulfilled according to the promises and not just according to our wishes. Therefore, hope is always open-ended. I have found it very important in my own life to let go of my wishes and start hoping. It was only when I was willing to let go of wishes that something really new, something beyond my own expectations could happen to me." (emphasis mine)

It's a good reminder that the things we so often wish for pale in comparison to the things God has for us. That is humbling. In this way, hope is risky, because it means we relinquish our control, our intentions for the circumstance. Still, we know the certainty of God's promise and have it "as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain." (Heb. 6:19, ESV)

We live our lives waiting for something. I want to live in hope and trust.

Day 9 - Presbyterian on a Treadmill

Today's scheduled run: 3 miles

Today's completed run: 3.1 miles (a nice, even 5k)

The yucky side of fall -- rainy and cold -- has descended upon Baltimore, so I took to the treadmill once more. I felt good and figured I'd bump my 3 miles up to 3.1, just for fun. I kept a pretty steady 9:14 pace; I'm pleased with the run.

Rather than music, I tried a new form of "entertainment" today -- podcasts. I know people have been talking about podcasts for the last decade, but I never quite got on the bandwagon. Well, I'm on it now. Today, I listened to a Timothy Keller sermon, titled "Praying Our Tears." My only regret was that I couldn't take notes while running! It was an excellent sermon, just as I'd expected, and it kept me going. Of course, I'm an "mm-hmm"-er, so I'm sure people thought I'd lost it.

Here are a few things that really caught my attention:
- Religiosity tells us to stuff our tears (feelings), and secularism tells us to dump our tears. What are we really to do with our tears? Expect them, invest them, and pray them.
- Becoming a person of faith will cause you to weep more. [Ezekiel 11:19 and 36:26 - "I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh."]
- Planted (invested) tears produce joy. [2 Corinthians 4:17 - "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.] The knowledge of this frees us to involve ourselves in the messiness of the world, as well as others' lives, because we can expect joy if we plant our tears.
- Keller notes that the psalms, a majority of which are laments, end with psalms (146-150) of pure praise. He quotes Eugene Peterson: "What the psalms are teaching us is that all true prayer pursued far enough will become praise. Any prayer, no matter how desperate its origin, no matter how angry and fearful the experience it traverses, will become praise. It does not always get there quickly. It does not always get their easily. In fact, the trip can take a lifetime! But the end is always praise. This is not to say that other kinds of prayer are inferior to praise, but that all prayer pursued far enough becomes praise. Don't rush it. Don't try to push it. It may take years, it may take decades before certain prayers arrive at the hallelujahs of Psalm 150. Not every prayer is capped off with praise. In fact most prayers, if the psalms are a true guide, are not. But prayer is always reaching toward praise, and if pursued far enough, will arrive there."

I'm certain I'll be listening to more of Keller's podcasts, as well as some TED Talks, to make the miles fly.

Day 7 - Cross-training and the Pursuit of Glory

Today's scheduled run: not a run. Cross-training!

I have successfully completed the first week of marathon training. Only 17 more to go!

The weather was perfect for a run, but I headed to the gym instead to get in some cycling. The gym on Sunday afternoons is just the way I like it -- empty.

I spent an hour on the bike, covering 14.25 miles and alternating between reading Tabletalk and watching the Ravens game. If you saw my earlier tweet, you know that I could see the game on television as well as see the stadium out the window. Of course, I couldn't see any of the on-the-ground action from where I was sitting, but I could see the lights and the rows of fans all decked out in their purple garb. It's a pretty sweet view, and I'd rather be in the gym watching than out there with all of those crazies.

An hour on a bike that's not going anywhere is even less thrilling than an hour running in place, so I was thankful to be able to read. I'll leave you with this piece from Montaigne (AD 1580), as quoted by John D. Currid:

"Of all illusions in the world, the most universally received is the concern for reputation and glory, which we espouse even to the point of giving up riches, rest, life, and health, which are effectual and substantial goods, to follow that vain phantom and mere sound that has neither body or substance."

 Something to think about as I pursue the "glory" of completing a marathon.