Think On These Things - Fitness

The healing body

Thu, 27 May 2010 07:00:00 -0700

The human body is impressive, and yet who really thinks about its complexities until something goes awry? It is at that point of failure that you realize how much you rely on your (insert ailing body part here) as a critical component to your overall physiology, mentality, etc. In my case, a simple bruised knee (we'll call it that until the MRI {invented by young earth creationist Dr. Damadian} reveals more), affects everything I do, even the way I rest.

Researching your injury or disease, realizing how your body is supposed to work and recognizing how your body can heal itself right down to your DNA, opens your eyes to just how fearfully and wonderfully made you are. I thank God for this. Granted, because of sin and the curse, we are all dying, some in my life doing so with a great deal of peace, even joy, despite the pain. What a testament to how the indwelt Holy Spirit can change one's perspective, focusing on the hope we have in Him. God teaches us that in and through everything, we are to thank Him (Eph 5:20, 1 Thess 5:18). That can only be done with the right heart.

In light of all those who are suffering greatly, I realize that I am hardly qualified to write on such matters. Indeed, I've never had but a light affliction. Nevertheless, I am thankful for prayers and for Gods provision, and amazed at His crowning achievement of creation.

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Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:56:00 -0700

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A Monster of a Race

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 18:59:00 -0700

A Monster of a Race

I thought I'd do a writeup of the Monster Adventure experience, covering not just the race, but also the teammate - Dan B. - one of the two great minds behind Hardy Breed. To the other - Jason - a tribute. Jason was Dan's original partner but could not make it for the race. For Jason, there's a song for every occasion, so I've added links to music that is relevant, if only by their name. [The music is mostly hard and fast - just like Jason's racing - listener discretion is advised :-) ]

An Unexpected Invite
It all started with a simple invitation: "Andy, ya wanna do an adventure race with me?" He could very well have said, "Andy, ya wanna endure over 5 hours of torture consisting of leg cramps, itchweed, flooded trails, sand in your shoes, killer climbs, and monster descents, all seasoned with occasional frustration and confusion?" My answer to either question was the same: "When do we start?" My only reservation was that Dan has smoked me all year and I was afraid that I'd slow him down. Who needs that kind of pressure?

It's true, I wasn't sure what I was getting into. Was my nemesis simply exercising the old adage, "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer?" But there was no denying it, he had me at "adventure." I love the idea of mixing things up; combining multiple skill sets into one race. It's why the multisport experience is so appealing, and an adventure race seemed to be the epitome of that. Just please, please don't make me swim.

And so Chapter 2 of my relationship with Dan begins: From Nemesis to Ally. He picked me up the evening before and we headed west in style. We got to talking and almost crossed the Mississippi before we realized we had better figure out where we're going. We checked in at the hotel and arrived at the Pre-Race Dinner with the race organizers. There, the organizers were peppered with questions, and all the while I was plagued with one of my own: "What do you mean we can't go up for seconds?" But while my appetite for food was (eventually) satisfied, my appetite for racing had only grown. I couldn't wait for the next morning. I got up before the alarm (set at 5:15), hit the shower, and then hit the lobby for some coffee and came back.

While Dan was showering, one of his gadgets beeped. I sifted through them. Which one was it? Was it the XM Satellite radio? No. Was it the Heart Rate Monitor? No. Radar Detector? No. Garmin? No. IPhone? Yeah, that was it! It was a text message from Jason, who was scheduled to meet us at the race to serve as our support. It read: "Diarrhea, vomiting, fever. I'm not coming. Sorry." He really must have been Infected with something nasty. I thought about Jason, and how I got called up from the minors to fill in due to his injury, and I realized it was a really good thing he broke his collar bone, because if Jason got sick the morning of the race, Dan would have killed him right then.

I relayed the message to Dan, who replied with a text message of his own. I think it read, "2 Bad. L8R." Kids today.

South Park Start
A crisp Autumn air greeted us and the sun began to Illuminate the darkness as we departed the hotel and made our way to the South Park Pavilion. We were handed a map with various destinations and highlighted, suggested routes to take. We memorized the street names as well as wrote them down on a cheat sheet, neither of which, as it turns out, did us much good. A short time later, we approached the starting point on our bikes. With one shoe clipped into the pedal, I was raring to go. But alas, it was not to be. A quick change of plans, says the organizer. We immediately hop off the bikes and run down a hill and find and retrieve a specific tag, which would be needed later. Huh? "Welcome to adventure racing," I thought.

Back on the bikes and at last, The Wait Is Over. The racers took off en masse. Perhaps we were overzealous, but wasn't long before Dan and I glided past the peloton and took the lead. Adrenaline was flowing. Our legs were ticking over the pedals nicely. We crested the top of the hill, and looked back... We were all alone. Dan I looked at each other, dazed and confused. In the distance, a dog barked. Did we get lost already? Dan pulled out the map and rode no handed as he concentrated. Sure enough, we missed a turn. Thankfully, we needed no adjustment to the route. As we reengaged with the recommended course, we looked behind us, and in the distance were several teams - a good half mile behind. A few more more mistakes like that one and we'll win hands down! We headed into The Wilderness, our first checkpoint, for a trail run, followed by a trail ride.

"The Wilderness" - You're Not Kidding
It was in The Wilderness that I was reunited with my first love - the trails. But oh, we were off to a rocky start. Like all relationships, there were some twists and turns, ups and downs, and the occasional mud flinging. A younger fella caught us during the trail run, but was kind enough not to take the lead so that Dan and I could take turns eating the spider webs and falling in the mud holes. "Young Freshie" was no dummy.

We pressed on. It was as if the course was designed to Destroy the Runner. At one point I was stumbling through a creek, sinking about 2-5 inches into silt with every step, when all of a sudden, two inches became two feet. I was in mud past my knee. I struggled to get my leg out, cognizant of the fact that my foot better still have a shoe on it when I pulled it free of the muck and mire.

We transferred from run to bike. The Freshman was now out front. Nice guy, really, and it made for some friendly competition. After a creek crossing, with a mixture of mud and sand coating both us and our bikes, we realized the futility of attempting to bike any further. We carried our bikes, along with the the additional 10 pounds of earth that had accumulated on them, through a quarter mile of loamy, swampy ground, until finally, I could set my Cannondale Scalpel down and carve some trail.

After awhile, the Fresh Faced youngster, who was blazing the trail ahead of us, had turned around and was coming at us with a look on his face that made us think he lost his Nerve. Turns out he had feared he missed a checkpoint. We assured him it was still ahead, and off we went, down a patch of flat road, and into a steep climb. We dropped down into granny gear and spun up the hill at a high cadence. It was time to test him - could the Fresh Prince hang in the high hills of Quincy? We glance left, and there he is, off his bike, walking alongside us, keeping pace. Outstanding!

At long last, we depart the trails. Dan examines the map for our next checkpoint, and locates A Better Way than the route suggested by the race organizers. We take it, and it proves to be a wise move as we shave off what appears to be a mile of road, thanks to Dan's keen mapology. And it was a good thing too - we would need every second of time made up here for the ensuing debacle.

Kayaking in Moorman Park
We arrived at Moorman Park, and after some confusion, we were eventually directed to the appropriate location to drop bikes, run to the kayak, and plunge it into the water. It was nice to be off the legs for awhile. We proceeded to methodically paddle to each hole punch, strung atop stakes protruding from the pond - all that is except one. Think giant floating puzzle, with one piece missing. What happened to it? Was it gone? Was it Sabotage? By the second lap around the pond in search for the missing hole punch, we were paddling hard enough to pull a skier. Finally we found it, hidden on the other side of a small island. Finally we could proceed of the water, make our way through some obstacles, and get back on the bike for our first real urban assault through intersections and traffic. No mistakes here, just some good road riding. Next stop: The Veterans Run.

No Fun on the Veterans Run
We passed right by a lackadaisical Veterans Home checkpoint volunteer, from whom we got no love. If he wasn't wearing earbuds I would have thought him to be one of the statues lining the parkway. He was reclining in the precise location on the map where we were to find the next hole punch, yet he motioned us further down the road. It was at this point we realized that the Monster Race was beginning to test our patience as much as our endurance, but we managed to maintain our Composure. We fought back cramping and pushed through the route, guided only by a map. One more notch in our punch card as we finished up and headed back to South Park, where it all began.

Me 'n Sandy
What's worse than carrying forty pounds of sand on your back for two miles? NOTHING! Except perhaps a single axle trailer dropping onto your foot just before you're to carry a sandbag for two miles. That's just what happened when I set my sandbag atop the trailer to remove excess sand from it. It teetered like a see-saw with the weight of my sandbag, and crashed upon my foot. I thought my toes were Broken. Other than that, the sandbag carry was wonderful. Sometimes when I'm bored, I'll go buy a bag of Sacrete at Lowes and just walk around town with it. On training races, I'm told Dan tosses one in his camel back for the extra challenge. When we emerged from the creek, we were informed it was time to take Sandy for a walk around the park. Yes, we were spending so much time together I felt it was time to give that ol' bag a name. It was one park lap I won't soon forget. With some of the looks we got, I felt as if we were in a Two Man Parade.

When I got done, I felt as if a tremendous weight was lifted off my shoulders.

I'll never forget you, Sandy. Nor will my lower back.

Up next - more obstacles, one of which consisted of two 5 gallon buckets attached to a string suspended by a pulley system hung on a branch of a large oak tree. The bucket on the ground had at least 10 lbs of sand in it, and the other was suspended in the air, about 5 feet above our heads. We were to toss bags of sand into that bucket until it outweighed the bucket on the ground and dropped. The biggest trick I quickly learned was to avoid getting bonked on the head by a missed shot from your teammate (I am pretty sure he wasn't aiming for me).

Final Run
We were A Mile Away from victory, and now was a good time to look back at a great race that wrapped up a fun season. We let up our pace just a bit and used this time to relax and compare notes. Dan was a great teammate; his experience and tenacity made him the best partner one could ask for. I was thankful to have done the race, and to have done it with him instead of against him. We crossed the finish line, and I looked up at that clock, ticking away: 05:09:04...05:09:05...05:09:06...

5 hours. The Older I Get, the more I'm aware of that clock's tick. We can't control it; rather, it controls us. It is what we do with the time we're given that matters most. My kids, born just yesterday it seems, are now doing their own bike races. It won't be long before they're able to dust their old man. (Not that I will go down without a fight.) While racing for me is something I've loved since my Big Wheel days 35 years ago, the trick will always be to properly balance it with the more important things in life, things such as those represented by the final link in this article, below.

So that's the story of my first adventure race. I wondered to myself, will this be my last, or the first of many? Time will tell. But with the race over, my only immediate concerns were to replenish, rehydrate, and relax. Now, where can I get something to eat?

Andy
1 Timothy 4:8

Neighborhood Connection 5K - Top 10

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:25:00 -0700

My pastor asked me to help him with a small leaflet we'll be placing in the packets of the runners participating in our church sponsored 5K race this weekend. It's titled "Top 10 reasons to give First Naz a Try. Here are some of my suggestions. Any others? * We'll spot you 10 seconds at next year's 5K
* Pastor's sermon is shorter than your best 5K time.
* Water stops on either side of the sanctuary. Three if you count the leak in the roof.
* No preregistration required. No training required either.
* We welcome first timers as well as the more experienced.
* You already know how to get here.
* If you can get up at 8:00 am on Saturday for a race, you can get up by 10:30 AM on Sunday for church!
* Plenty of pre-Church carbs available at Cafe Mosaic.
* The walk from the parking lot to the church is completely flat.
* There is no better place to experience "active recovery."
I also thought this Bible verse would be good: Train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come" (1 Timothy 4:7b,8)

How to Be a Good Nemesis

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 15:14:00 -0700

I've occasionally posted on exciting races I've had in the past, but this year, someone has done all the work for me.

The Amazing Pace

Mon, 24 Sep 2007 10:54:00 -0700

Panther Creek Challenge I haven't written anything about this summer's short yet sweet race season, and it feels like a good time to wrap things up with a quick post about this Saturday's Panther Creek Challenge 2007 at the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife area. My family made a day of it. We were involved in three races, one for my wife, one for my kids, and one for myself. My wife made a spontaneous decision earlier in the week to race in the "first timer's" category at 10:00 a.m. - a 5 mile loop around Drake Lake, and finished 2nd of about 5-10 riders. I am very proud of her spunk, spontaneousness, and stellar athleticism. While she raced, the kids and I collected flowers for her, along with some frogs and bugs. She liked the flowers best, and it wasn't until much later that we found out that the yellow variety I had picked for her was actually ragweed, which she's allergic to. No wonder I've never seen it in a flower shop. Drama ensued when the biggest grasshopper you ever did see clamped down on my 4 year old's finger just as my wife was approaching the finish line. It made for some interesting audio on the camcorder. Bad grasshopper! As a way of making an example of him, we took that big grasshopper and threw him into the lake. Later, the kids raced a small loop around the prairie and took home 1st and 3rd place medals as their over-protective father ran behind them and boxed out any competitors. They were very excited, and spent the remainder of the day hanging out on the playground and chasing their friends around the prairie. But enough about them :-) My race began at 1:30, the "sport" class which consisted of a 17 mile loop around Prairie Lake. My endurance for the 1+ hour race was questionable, given that my training consisted solely of bike commutes of 7.5 miles, or 25 minutes, twice a day. I had ridden trails only once in over a year. In addition, there was no "expert" class, and so I anticipated the pace to be fast. And it was. The race started out with a 1/4 mile mad dash down a gravel-ish road which bottlenecked into the trailhead - the recipe for a spectacular crash site. I was positioned fourth as we headed into the trail system. I suddenly realized my heart was in my already dry throat, my legs were burning, and I was gasping for air. I expected this, given the desire not to get behind a slow trail rider, but I wasn't at all happy about it. Within one mile, I had moved up one place into third, but the gap was widening between myself and the second place rider, and I was still gasping. I couldn't even see the guy in first place. He was gone. I continued to ride in the "red zone" because I wasn't willing to settle for third. But my heart rate was too high and I couldn't keep the pace for much longer. That's when I glanced behind me and saw another rider swiftly approaching. With the pace he was keeping as he passed, I was no longer worried about catching the 2nd place rider, but rather being out of medal contention altogether. This was mile four, and I was in fourth place. Up to this point, I was still not comfortable on the bike. My trail skills weren't where they should be and I was making the turns very slowly. It was on one of those turns where the third place rider ahead of me sealed the deal and vanished on the trail ahead of me. I succumbed to the realization that I was not going to catch them, and I settled into a slower pace. It was then that it happened. Satisfied with just being out there, having fun with my family, who all have taken on a passion for biking equivalent to my own, riding along on a beautiful Saturday, I remember smiling. I remember pedaling in circles, adjusting my front and rear suspension, hitting the corners better, leaning into the curves, accelerating out of them, going faster, while at the same time, controlling my breathing. I felt lighter. I started thinking to myself, could I catch them? No way. But the thought began to warrant a real possibility. In jest, and perhaps due to dehydration, I imagined myself defiantly waving my fist at the trail ahead of me and yelling "don't count me out yet!" Hee. Where the sun peeked through the canopy, I began to see something - dust in the air. DUST! That could only mean one thing - I was gaining on a rider! I couldn't believe it. Before long, there he was! The former 2nd place rider was right in front of me. I passed him around mile 12 and kept going. Motivated, I began to wonder... Surely I can't catch another rider... But if this guy could be caught... Click "more" to the right to finish the article. [More]...

Here comes the sun, do do do do...

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 07:28:00 -0700

...But is it all right? Day 2 of the bike commute started off with some leg soreness that did not abate, and a souring of my mood. The weather report said partly cloudy, but there was not a well placed cloud in the sky. "Well placed" would have been directly in front of the sun, so that the cars behind me wouldn't be blinded and therefore I would make it into work safely. So I prayed. I know, I'm such a narrow minded, dogmatic Christian to think that I need to pray for everything, but it's not like I can move some clouds lickety split before I hit Veterans Parkway.

"If we ask any thing according to His will...we have the petitions that we desired of Him" (I John 5:14-15). "When ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them" (Mark 11:24).

And so believe it or not, just as I was entering the busy road, clouds drew near to the sun and covered it, nearly to the end. Thank you Lord. The Answers In Genesis Creation Museum is opening up on Memorial Day weekend, but us Charter Members get a sneak peek before then! My dad is getting a charter membership just so that he and I can take his 86 year old friend who already has a charter membership. So the museum gets another charter member and I get to take my family to the museum before it opens! For you jealous types, I'll tell Ken you said hi :-)

Any last minute advice?

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 08:37:00 -0700

Start out slow, then taper off... Anyone got any last minute advice for an overzealous, underachieving first time half marathoner who started training too late but did get a couple of 10 mile runs in over the last 2 weeks? I won't bother you with the details regarding the stupid training moves I made, such as purchasing new running shoes one week before the race and subsequently getting blisters on my feet which are there to this day (I'm just considering them extra cushions) or the fact that I ran 3 mi yesterday and probably should have just rested because I was still stiff from the 6 miler on Tuesday. So I'm doing nothing today at all except sitting and eating. Anything else? I've bought some Gu and plan on eating at mile 5 and 10, and drinking where they offer it, and I've got no goals except to finish. My ankle is sore, my toes are sore, my knee is sore, my hip is sore, and I'm nursing a shin splint. OTHER THAN THAT, I FEEL GREAT! I bought one of those elastic belts that hold race numbers so that I look ready. I'm going to consume a decent amount of coffee before the race because that is what I do and have a Carnation Instant Breakfast at 6:15 am, and will have a banana and and prolly some gu prior to the run, which starts at 7:30. So basically all that is left is running 13.1 miles. In a row. Advice welcomed. And yes, it is too late to back out.

Christian Warriors... Fighting in the UFC?

Fri, 15 Dec 2006 22:10:00 -0700

I am a fan of the modern mma, including Pride, IFL and UFC. Many people have, at the very least, questions about Christians liking a violent sport. What about Christians participating in such a sport? There are two mixed martial artists whose career paths I follow closest: Matt Hughes and Rich Franklin. Both have web sites, and both have Bible verses prominently displayed on their site. Matt Hughes has a forum with very active participants engaging in theological debates. Sometimes questions are asked that center around whether such fighting is Biblical. The answers are easy - no one is trying to kill another, and even if that were the case, the matches are very closely refereed. As one poster noted, "It is not violence for violence sake." This individual goes on to say:

The UFC is a professional event where professional athletes go to compete in a controlled environment. It's not a bunch of street thugs ambushing unsuspecting people on the street. So, I don't see how it is any different from football or boxing in that sense.

Then he goes on to make this point: God was involved in a wrestling match, whereby he ended up permanently injuring Jacob's hip! The argument continues: since God can do nothing unholy, and God very much participated in a wrestling match, wrestling can be considered the only holy sporting event!