A Busy Saturday

Woke up a little after 5 and made it to 41st and Riverside by 5:45 am. This was the first day of marathon training, and I ran with the beginners group. It was great to see all the people out there. The plan for the beginners was to run six miles. I started out at the head of the group, running at a pretty good clip with Gina (or perhaps Jenna or Jeannie - maybe I'll figure it out next week). After a mile or so we had caught up to the intermediate group, and it looked like she had a few people to settle in with, so I ran back to check on the rest of the group; all doing well. So, then I ran back up and ended up running/walking with a beginning 1/2 marathoner who somehow got mixed in with the intermediate marathon group, and ended up being alone, looking like she needed a bit of encouragement. Her name was Leslie. When we were almost back to 41st, we passed Joe and Michael, who were out for some extra miles. I told Leslie to go on ahead, and I ran another six miles with Joe. Michael lives near 11th and Riverside, so he just went three with us and then headed home. At the end I ran back to Peoria, where I had parked my car so as to not take up space for the crowd that showed up this morning. Total distance this morning was about 13 miles. I enjoyed the morning and can't wait to meet with the group again.

This afternoon I went to a memorial service at Memorial Bible Church for Betty Martin, who died this week of cancer. She was a gifted artist, devoted wife, mother, and grandmother, and always active teaching kids in Sunday school, or with Child Evangelism Fellowship, or on mission trips. The picture at left, which is a photo of one of her sketches, illustrates her love for children. Her goal in life was to hear the words in Matthew 25:23,

Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.

It really was a joyful memorial service, and many people shared wonderful memories of Betty.

After the memorial service, we ate at El Chico and then went to Asbury Methodist Church for another joyful occasion, a wedding in which my daughter, Melissa, played piano. She was so nervous. She did a great job, but she is glad that is over.

At the reception I saw Peggy Landrum, who used to run with our group some, and has been a long time running partner with Larry Long. She hasn't been running lately because she had a melanoma on her leg that was operated on and kind of sidelined her for a while. I told her about the training groups that started up today, and she said she would probably start up with the Tulsa Run training group in a couple of weeks.

Week In Review

Biked to and from work on Monday at a fairly easy pace.

Tuesday I ran three easy miles at lunch. At Veterans Park, halfway through my run, I did several sets of pull ups, push ups, and sit ups. In the evening I ran three miles with Brian. Mostly easy, but we did one half mile in 3:02. Afterwards, when we were just about to leave, Mike announced that he had lost his car key. So, I (as well as several others) ran back over his route looking for the key. Turns out it was in his pocket the whole time. Oh well, I guess I needed the extra mileage.

Wednesday I ran three miles at lunchtime, and just as I was finishing the run, I heard a loud voice calling out to me, "Put your hands over your head and stop, and you won't get hurt!" I looked over and there was a Tulsa sheriff's car and the voice called out again, "Put your hands over your head and stop, and you won't get hurt!" So, I put my hands over my head and then I noticed it was Allen, and he was in the car with another guy, laughing. I guess I must have been speeding.

Thursday I didn't run at noon; instead I ate lunch with my wife. I ran six miles from RunnersWorld in the evening with Michael. It was pretty hot and windy, and most of the run was at a pretty easy pace, around 10 minutes or a little faster. My hamstrings were feeling kind of tight all week, and I didn't want to do too much to aggravate them, but they felt good, so in the last mile I accelerated pretty good and finished strong. My legs feel pretty good today.

After the run, the marathon, half marathon, and Tulsa Run group leaders met at Mazzio's for pizza. Marathon training starts tomorrow, and I can hardly wait. Bobby, Deon, and I will be running with a group of beginning marathoners.

Ran on the treadmill today, which you can see in the video below. :)



Tomorrow's run with the group will be six miles, but I plan on doing an additional six or so.

Every Breath is a Gift From God

My running since the last post has been a twelve mile run on Saturday and a three mile run today (Tuesday). Saturday I ran with Joe and Paula, starting north on the east bank and then crossing over the river at 21st and heading south on the west bank to 71st. A woman new to the group, Elizabeth, ran with us for about three miles before she turned back. Paula and Elizabeth chatted the whole way. I believe I heard that Elizabeth is some sort of freelance writer. We had a good run, mostly at about a 10 minute pace. A little bit south of the sewage plant the west bank trail has a couple of good hills. I ran those pretty hard and wore myself out. I'm thinking it would be good to do more running on the west side just to get in those hills. At the end of the run, we ran into my daughter, Becky, who had just finished a 2 mile run with Christina, a friend she is in nursing school with. Christina had been a cross country runner in high school, but has not run in a long time, and then Becky talked her into getting out. Saturday was her first day. Hope she keeps it up.

The bigger news since the last post is lung cancer. Last Friday I went to a funeral for Janeen Grooms' mom. She died from lung cancer last Tuesday. We had Janeen and her family over Sunday evening. It seems Janeen is taking it pretty well, but I'm sure she will need some emotional support in the coming days. I got an email from church on Thursday that our pastor Phil Martin's mom was in the hospital. Turns out that Betty (Phil's mom) has an aggressive lung cancer and doesn't have long to live. Donna (Phil's wife) called early this morning to say Betty may die even today. Phil and Donna are the first people outside of work that Marilyn and I met when we first came to Tulsa in 1989. They are dear friends, and Phil's mom is the greatest. She has devoted her life to serving the Lord and others, and I know she will be welcomed with great rewards in heaven. Even so, I know these last days will be a struggle. Lord give Betty and her family strength to go through this trial.

Every breath we take is a gift from God. May we serve the Lord faithfully as long as we have life and breath.