Six on Saturday

Yes, I am again cribbing from the TGO's blog.

1. I ran 16 miles today. My legs were pretty much dead for the last two miles, and so I walked them (like... really slowly), but I got it done. Coach Ronnie asked how I was feeling, and I mentioned that I hadn't had a long run in three Saturdays, and my last run period was last Sunday (for the Carlsbad 5K). He told me that the lack of training this week just threw me off rhythm, and it's not a big deal and that I can shrug it off as a bad day. Although, 16 miles on a bad day is still cool -- because who does that on a regular day, right?

2. While on those 16 miles, I had to amuse myself. That's a long time that we're not allowed to wear headphones or have mp3 players. (This is because we're not in an official race, but training on the streets, so we need to be aware of our surroundings). I ended up making a Taylor Swift parody (?) to her hit "You Belong With Me", but from the perspective of a guy singing to a girl... (And no, I'm not a Taylor fan, but darnit, this song was all over the place and is catchy.)

You're at the bar with your boyfriend, you're upset

'Cause he ignores you for all his friends that you've met

He doesn't appreciate you like I do

You're dropping hints that you're ready to go home

But he's drunk and he is talking in loud tones

He doesn't think about you like I do

But he wears jerseys, I wear polos

He's into beer pong, and I play piano

Writing out a song that expresses exactly how I feel inside

So I'm singing out now

If you could see that I'm the one who'll be there for you

Do the things you like

So why don't you know

That your man's a schmo

That your man's a schmo

And when I got to that point, I thought that was enough ridiculousness for the day. And so I moved on to focusing on the cute girl running in front of me... (Just kidding.)

3. This is my medal and bib from the Carlsbad 5k. Pretty cool, yeah? I feel.

4. My delicious dinner at Hash House, where I was with The OSFs and some of Chris' family. This was a mashed potato and bacon burger. They know how to serve you up at this place, that's for sure. I ate half and saved the other for tomorrow. It was filling, and I didn't wanna stuff myself completely. Plus, Jordan's trying to get me to lose, and I gotta stay strong.

5. Apparently I have guns. Or am starting to have guns. As in my arms. I say this because I caught up with some friends tonight that I hadn't seen in a few months, and the three girls were all "whoa, you are looking buff!" Then they asked me to flex my biceps. And I did. And they felt them. And they said "oooooooh"... And then we moved on and chatted about real things... And then when our time was over and we had to split up, we all hugged and they asked me to flex one more time. I obliged, and they felt me up. It was just a funny moment to me, as this has never happened.

6. This video is one of the reasons I love Lea Michele. If only we had gone to see her at this cabaret before "Glee" had taken off! Now an intimate event like this with her there will never happen... But still, she amazes me, and this song from Spring Awakening reminds me and re-affirms my love of the show.

On a Sunday, I'll think it through...

The title for this blog entry is the name of one of my fave Jimmy Eat World songs... but has nothing to do with the song. I just wanted to jot down some reflections on today, tis all.

IT WAS AWESOME! =)

Act 1: Carlsbad 5K

Got up there just in time to meet up with Pete, who had his family there to cheer him on, and my old roomie Ben. The three of us gathered together at the start line, and off we ran! We all pretty much made our goal times. Ben finished in at just about 26 mins, Pete in an even 28:00 (when he hoped for 29), and I clocked in at 29:39 - just under 30, which is what I was hoping for! I tried to give it all I had, which needed to include a few walks to catch my breath, but this race marked another improvement (pace-time wise) from my previous run (new pace 9:33 min/miles vs 11:06 min/mile). After I caught up with the guys at the finish line, we got our t-shirts and went to the beer garden. Because apparently that's what you do at these things: you run a good distance, you treat your liver to some alcohol... Cassandra snapped a pic of us guys with our beers in hand, and I hope that pic soon to commemorate a fun run. There were professional photographers taking pics of all the runners during the race too, and I hope those get posted online during the week.

Act 2: Oggi's Pizza

After the race, I wanted to treat Ben out for some pizza. Post-run is a good time for that usually unhealthy meal, heh. Plus it was his birthday a few days ago. So the two of us former roomies went down to Oggi's Pizza and shared our usual pepperoni. Definitely miss hanging with the dude, as he's always been a stand-up guy and one of the very few that I could always be real and raw with.

Act 3: Coffee with Matt

After I got home/showered, I went over to Linda Vista and had coffee with my growth group leader (Matt) at a little shop by the Flood campus. He was my prayer partner for the week, so we caught up on the latest hap's and discussed life... I'm liking being in growth group this time around. It's still a little hard to break down my walls and talk sometimes (although I did manage to give my personal story last week), but I know it's something I need to keep trusting God to work in and through the group.

Act 4: Flood with Jess

Straight after coffee, I met up with Jess and her cousin Camille in the Flood parking lot. Chatted it up a bit and went inside for the service. Once I saw the piano on stage, I knew that The Gate Called Beautiful was likely leading worship - and they were. It was a good service - worship was awesome, and the service marked the beginning of a new series called "Touch: Real Sex in an Artificial World". Earlier in the week, another friend of mine saw the name of the series, and she kinda gave me a look, like "mmmmhmmmm..." But the fact is, sex is a big part of the culture we live in and regardless of one's age or marital status, the Bible does have lessons to learn on how we should view our sexuality. Thankfully, Adam (our speaker) didn't just throw down the stereotypical conservative church party line of "pre-marital sex is bad". (Actually, he started out with a rather hilarious look at the lyrics of Usher's song "Yeah"). But to sum, I'll just use a quote that they gave us from author Philip Yancy:

People worry that they will miss out on something if they heed the Bible's warnings against premarital sex. Actually, the warnings are there to keep them from missing out on something.

I'll definitely re-listen to the podcast, as I enjoyed the message (even if I can't properly express how it went - I'm tired now, lol) and I'm looking forward to the rest of the series. Also, this was the second week in a row that one of my original Mitchell besties, Jess, joined me for a service. Aside from the fact that it's been nice having a friend join me at church again, it's rad to feel like she's enjoying it (both the music and message), and to feel that the Holy Spirit is just doing it's thing.

And that's what I prayed with Matt during our coffee session. A lot of times I feel that uncertainty of the future, and I have my periods of doubt and lack of faith. But then I get that still voice pulling me back in and reminding me, "Hey... I'm still with you... for all those times you feel like I'm not there, or you may not even want Me there, I'm still working in your life. You may not see it right away, and you may not understand something, but trust in Me." When I hear Him reminding me of what He's already done and what He's promised us in Jeremiah 29:11, I realize that it's all good and I can put my fears aside and start finding peace/rest/hope in His love.

With that being said (quoting my Medicare mentor right there) -- Happy Sunday!

All of my life, in every season

You are still God

I have a reason to sing...

60 Days

60 days until the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon.

And I. Am. STOKED. :D

I can't believe I've been training since the end of January and that every week I'll be marking a new personal distance record until we hit 26.2 miles on race day. So far I've maxed out at 13.2 miles. This Saturday, Team in Training (who I'm partnered with) is running 14 miles in La Mesa, and I would love to do that run. Buuuuut Sunday I am signed up for the Carlsbad 5000 -- an easy 5k (~3.1 miles) run right by the water -- and I don't wanna be burned out/sore.

Sunday should be a fun run, as it's the race's 25th anniversary. Aaaaaaand two of my friends are running in it as well -- Pete and my old roomie Ben are both officially signed up, thanks to me motivating them via Twitter. I'm positive that they'll both finish faster than me, but I know I can finish around 30 minutes, based off my ~10+ minute/mile run in the Race For Literacy a few weeks back.

Will be back with race results after the weekend. :)

Let me see if you can run it, run it...

Girl indeed -- I can run it, run it.

I'm pretty sure certain those lyrics have nothing to do with running a marathon, but every time I get up to run, I tell myself that I can do it.

I haven't blogged about it yet, but I'm currently training for the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon on June 6th. I joined up with Team in Training, which is raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS), and we'll be training as a group every weekend until the actual race day, in addition to mid-week scheduled runs that we can do on our own or with others.

This morning marked our 4th weekend run - we hit the one month mark! Exciting. We're building up our mileage and endurance week by week, and there are three levels you can choose from, depending on your experience. I went with the middle group, and on that first week, we ran 4 miles. (Note: whenever I refer to a "run" at this point, I'm more of a run/walk-er. I try to run for most of it though.) Today we did 8 miles... which is longest distance I've ever gone, and it's only going to keep getting higher until we're ready to run 26.2 miles.

It's definitely going to be a mental game moving forward. I'm pretty good at psyching myself out. But then the cheerleader in my head starts beating down the pessimist, chanting "you can do it, keep going"... and it's a good battle, until I'm back at the starting point and I've completed the entire run. It's tiring, but it's a good feeling knowing I made it. It was raining for a little chunk of the run too, which was an inconvenience... but it's like they reminded us in one of the earlier weeks: though we may get tired/sore, it's nothing compared to chemotherapy. And although our hair may get wet/dirty, at least we still have our hair... it's a good reminder of why all of us are doing this. Every week we hear a story from another team member who has a personal connection to leukemia, whether that's they lost a parent, have a close friend with the disease, or their child was recently diagnosed. And to hear a story about kids who currently have it, and yet still have their spirits up and are fighting the disease, it definitely motivates the rest of us. We know we're running for them, and if they can get through all their treatments and not give up, we can get through a couple miles of running.

Team in Training has helped each of us set up a site for donations, and we all have a goal we're trying to raise. If you're interested in making a donation to the LLS, please visit my fundraising page. I'll try to keep both my blog and that page updated with how everything is going.

With that being said (a phrase I've started to pick up from my mentor - heh heh), my legs are killing me, and I worked out my back yesterday as well, so I am taking the day to rest. And then running on the beach tomorrow... good times!