High-Octane

12 Hours of Driving today from Joplin, MO home....Thinking "such as a time as this"...

As I left I was torn with the feeling that I wanted to stay and do more. The devastation was great in the city. You can stand in the center of the Tornado's path and look 360 degrees around you and see nothing but demolished homes and buildings. It looks like a war zone with very few structures standing. The huge trees that probably stood 40 of 50 feet high (it would take three people to reach around one) were either blown over or most all of the limbs were torn off. Even the bark was knocked or blown off of the trunks. Cars that had been in the area looked like the ones you see in a junk yard, smashed and completely destroyed. At the outskirts of the tornado’s path you would see one house that looked fine and across the road a completely destroyed home.

We were doing a variety of things including demolishing a home that was completely beyond repair, cleaning an elderly man's lawn of the debris that had blown into it, helping a young family (3 small children) move because their house was destroyed and helping feed volunteers, workers, homeless and locals. At one home I spent time walking around a man's house, with him, as he relived his life through the debris and household items he saw. Each thing he saw had a deep meaning and he contemplated the importance of each.

We aligned ourselves with a couple of guys who have been in Joplin since a few days after the disaster. One is a young entrepreneur who built up and sold several business and retired five years ago and has been living "for himself" for the five years. His draw to Joplin was the excitement of the disaster and his hopes to use his "rescue" dog to find survivors and bodies. ...He could not leave after he saw the need and has been there ever sense. He is organizing volunteer groups to help the victims as they try to reorganize their lives. He was made for “such as a time as this”…

The other is a missionary who also arrived in Joplin just a few days after the tragedy. His group set up initial response teams and stayed a couple of weeks and then decided to leave. This missionary refused to leave...even after his group informed him that they were taking all the resources and supplies. ...He would not leave. He now has a huge set-up with tents, cooler trailers and cookers in the High School parking lot and feeds anyone (volunteers, workers, locals, homeless, anybody) three meals a day. There were probably 500 people there on Saturday at lunch alone. He was made for “such as a time as this”…

In the story of Esther, Mordecai (Esther's step father) challenged Ester to step up and be the person she was created to be and save the Jewish people from destruction. I challenge you to step up and be the person God has made you to be...In your life…where you are… The mother who tenderly loves and cares for her children, the husband who honors his wife, the Son who cares for his sick mother, the Friend who encourages his hurting friend.

"Such as a time as this"..."Such as a time as this"...What is your time?

This was a hard day running. I guess 12 hours of driving the previous day really took a toll on my legs. They felt puffy and very heavy. I kept looking down to see if someone had strapped 10 pound weights on each foot. I struggled through the 12 miles very hot, tired and sweaty!

Oh...does walking count as running? I walked 3 miles in the evening also :-)

7/11/2011
Mile	Time	Best Pace	Heart Rate	HR %
1	9:30:00		121	58%	Ran Out Towards Old Church & Back (Easy Pace)
2	9:09:00		134	67%
3	8:53:00		132	65%
4	9:30:00		139	70%
5	9:02:00		132	65%
6	9:32:00		128	63%
7	9:07:00		129	63%
8	8:54:00		133	66%
9	8:43:00		137	69%
10	8:49:00		139	70%
11	8:21:00		139	70%
12	7:43:00		150	78%
Total	107:13:00		134	67%
Pace	8:56:05	78 Deg. @ 5:30am

Well, today was much better than yesterday. My legs didn't feel nearly as heavy. I'm not exactly sure how to log todays run since it was just above easy (which I catagorize as 140 HR or less). I guess I could call it half easy and half MP but the fastest of the miles are a little too slow to be called MP. I'm considering anything at 8:00 or below MP even though my only marathon run (injured) was 8:19 (I'm still mad about that!). Man it feels hot and humid down here. As soon as I step out the door I start sweating. I lost 6 pounds on this run.

7/12/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate	HR %
1	8:42:00	125	61%	Big Loop & Out Lonley Road Almost to Old Church
2	8:28:00	137	69%
3	8:15:00	137	69%
4	8:39:00	146	75%
5	8:20:00	140	71%
6	8:21:00	140	71%
7	8:51:00	142	72%
8	8:36:00	139	70%
9	8:22:00	138	70%
10	8:41:00	143	73%
11	8:32:00	144	74%
12	8:22:00	148	76%
13	8:15:00	155	81%
Total	110:24:00	141	78 Deg.(again) at 5:30am
Pace	8:29:32		Very Humid

Genesis 3:19
By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”

Another one of those days where I ran mostly AMP miles. I though, when I first went out, that today would be a faster day and I would be able to increase my run intensity. It was completly dark and I didn't even look at my watch until after mile 6. I was feeling good and just running by feel but at mile 10 I kinda bonked and began to really struggle. I'm assuming it's the heat and hmidity and maybe me getting dehydrated. I felt a little light headed and really struggled from that point to the finish.

7/13/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate	HR %
1	8:21:00	128	63%	Big Loop & Out Lonley Road to Old Church
2	8:10:00	142	72%
3	7:51:00	143	73%
4	8:42:00	149	77%
5	7:59:00	145	74%
6	8:00:00	149	77%
7	8:15:00	149	77%
8	8:17:00	149	77%
9	8:14:00	151	78%
10	8:19:00	153	80%
11	9:27:00	150	78%
12	8:21:00	154	80%
13	8:45:00	143	73%
Total	108:41:00	147	76 Deg. at 5:30am
Pace	8:21:37		70% Humid

 ²⁷ John replied, “No one can receive anything unless it is given from heaven. ²⁸ You yourselves can testify that I said that I’m not the Christ but that I’m the one sent before him. ²⁹ The groom is the one who is getting married. The friend of the groom stands close by and, when he hears him, is overjoyed at the groom’s voice. Therefore, my joy is now complete. ³⁰ He must increase and I must decrease.

Here's a good article about running in the heat:

http://www.over40runner.com/info/RunningInTheHeat.html

LHR run today. I just took it easy. My HR seemed lower than normal for the pace. I don't have very many runs where I run this slow to compair this run to.

7/14/2011
Mile	Time	Heart Rate	HR %
1	9:08:00	122	59%	Big Loop & Out Lonley Road to Old Church
2	9:17:00	131	65%
3	9:09:00	129	63%
4	9:39:00	133	66%
5	9:12:00	127	62%
6	9:03:00	129	63%
7	9:17:00	128	63%
8	9:14:00	129	63%
9	9:07:00	129	63%
10	9:16:00	131	65%
11	9:22:00	134	67%
12	8:44:00	133	66%
13	9:20:00	135	68%
Total	119:48:00	130	78 Deg. at 5:30am
Pace	9:12:55		80% Humid

Matthew 16:18
I tell you that you are Peter. And I’ll build my church on this rock. The gates of the underworld won’t be able to stand against it.

Today was a faster pace day so I decided to cut it to 10 miles. I am pretty happy with this run based on the weather conditions. Also happy with the negative split on the two block of 5 miles (I ran 5 then took a short break to get a good drink of water). The split paces were 7:37 (146 HR) and 7:24 (158). At the end of the run I was pretty tired but recovered quickly.

I think I've figured out that I heel strike more when I run slow. My legs and knees hurt more when I run at a 9:30 pace than when I run at a 7:30 pace. Today I concentrated on the "pose" and where my feet were landing. When I run slow I just plod along and run too straight up.

7/15/2011
Mile	Time	HR	HR %
1	7:32:00	129	63%	Out & Back Run to Straight Road (took a couple of minutes rest after 5)
2	7:41:00	146	75%
3	7:32:00	151	78%
4	7:50:00	151	78%
5	7:30:00	152	79%
6	7:11:00	151	78%
7	7:21:00	158	83%
8	7:35:00	159	84%
9	7:24:00	160	85%
10	7:32:00	163	87%
Total	75:08:00	152	79%
Pace	7:30:48	78Âş - 50% Humid

James 2:20
Are you so slow? Do you need to be shown that faith without actions has no value at all?

It was all about just doing the miles today. 10 easy miles on the treadmill. I slept in until 7:30 and then went to a friends house to help him with some remodel work on his house. Came home, took a nap and then ran my 10. My hip had a little tweek in it so that's why i kept it slow and easy (124 - 128 HR). I plan on sleeping in again in the morning to catch up on some sleep since I've been feeling a little tired the last couple of days.

10 miles - 10:00 pace - 126HR