Skytrain Inspiration

A little daily inspiration I get from a new commercial on the Skytrain. This is not an endorsement of the product or yogurt. Enjoy.

Looking Back - Not Always a Bad Thing

So I have been running a lot lately. It has been an amazing shift in my mind and heart. When I first moved to Thailand I thought for sure my running days were over with all the heat. But finally I made the decision to just try. Best decision I ever made.

I decided to start walk/run to break in slow. Then sometime in June I decided to start running. I decided to look back at my past runs on my Garmin Forerunner 101. Here are a few samples:

• June 12th - 8:38km pace for 5.2km
• June 14th - 8:16km pace for 4.78km
• June 20th - 7:51km pace for 3.24km
• June 26th - 7:39km pace for 4.92km
• July 07th - 7:33km pace for 5.11km
• July 19th - 7:18km pace for 5.50km
• July 29th - 7:11km pace for 10.35km
• Aug 02nd - 6:55km pace for 6.44km
• Aug 09th - 6:35km pace for 6.44km

Sometimes when I feel discouraged or wonder what progress I am making it is good to look back. It isn't always bad. It's important for us to track our progress. It reminds us of where we were and what we are becoming. If you haven't started keeping track, start. It's encouraging to do so. In 2 months I knocked off 2 minutes off my pace. I wouldn't have known that if I didn't follow up.

I know we are told to not look back and only look forward, but sometimes to glance back reminds of where we were, where we are and gives us hope for the future. Press on.

Spirit of the Marathon

I am less than a week away from starting marathon training. I feel ready. I feel good. I have had a lot of support from my family and my running group here in Bangkok. I am very pumped to start training. It reminded me of an awesome documentary. It is about I think 5 people. 4 average joe's and 1 elite athlete. It takes you through their ups and downs, successes and heart breaks. They are all training for the Chicago Marathon. Be inspired by their stories. It is a powerful film. Bring on Monday. I look forward to Day 1.

Sorry to throw a whole movie at you but I think you will like it. Moving.

Isaiah 40

Isaiah 40:28-31

⁸

²⁸ Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
²⁹ He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
³⁰ Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
³¹ but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Pulling Punches and Crossing Over to Crazy

So I am convinced. I am convinced more than ever that there comes a time when you just have to make a decision. We treat our lives as normal. We think, "Well I'm here. That's nice". We were meant for so much more than eeking out an existence. But for so many of us (including me) we just do enough to get by and have lost our hearts. Our passion. Ourselves.

Life is amazing! Isn't it? I mean here I am. I exist and it is awesome. What an amazing privilege. Don't get me wrong. Crap happens and tragedy strikes us all at some point, but that is something to hold on to as well. We are alive and experience it all. What a gift to get to experience life, love, hope, tragedy, but for so many of us we are paralyzed or numbed by it all and we pull up short in grabbing life and living it fully. I know I do.

I know I up and moved my whole family to Thailand. Some would say that is grabbing life and living but to be honest I still pull punches at times. I don't say what's really on my mind. I don't choose the adventure or the unknown. Even our move to Thailand was well researched and planned out as much as possible. I sit back at times and look at life and say, "I can never do that." Or I say, "Good for them, they took a risk and it worked (or it didn't)." But I don't make those choices. I play it as safe as possible. I push my limits to a point and say "that's far enough." But I have stifled the fire in my belly. We have been conditioned to stifle it. What about you? Not to be reckless...well maybe reckless. We worship "safety" and "predictability" and in the process we lose a piece of our soul.

I want my soul back.

I want to embrace this life I was given and live it. I have met amazing people in my life. They chose to live their lives by their rules and live it passionately. They don't seem to follow the dictates of their culture. I want to love people unconditionally. I want to believe I can do more than I ever thought I can do. I want to be the person God made me to be and not shy away from it. I have been pushed by those around to share my thoughts more. I tend to pull punches and say just enough. I tend to make different choices, but I don't cross the line to where people will think I'm crazy. But then isn't it more crazy to live life full of "what if's"? Surely there are worse things than failing. Like never trying.

I love my life. I love my family. I love everything about it. But I still think I am not living my life the way I was made to live it. I suffer for it. My family suffers for it. Because it steals my joy, my hope and love. So I have decided to embrace 3 things unashamedly.

1. Jesus. I want to be more like him. Honestly, who wouldn't?
2. Unconditional love for all people with no "but's" or (insert cliche' line here that makes us feel better).
3. That I have been given the "want to" to do some crazy things. Things I don't think I am physically able to or mentally tough enough to. And maybe I'm not, but I sure want to find out.

Ok. Enough talking about it. Good day.

And here I thought I was going to talk about the virtual partner option on my Garmin... maybe tomorrow.

Saturday is for Singing

Ladies and Gentlemen.... The Civil Wars.

Been Dying to Share This

I have been wanting to post this. Here it is. If you watch a tv show in an hour, take that hour to watch this instead. You don't have to want to be an Ironman to enjoy this. This is inspiring. Year after year we hear stories of not just the pro athletes but the "back of packers" and their incredible stories of overcoming, persevering, faith and sheer will. Take an hour to be inspired. You can always tevo that reality show. I am moved by this all the time. I even watch the older events. More than once. I warn you, I don't cry... I cried. It was watching the 2005 Ironman that pushed me to my first marathon. Maybe this will help push you to your goals or discover them.

This is an 8-17 hour event summarized in an hour. These are some of the greatest videos out there.

Saturday is for Singing

If I ran with an Ipod, this song would be on the playlist. It runs in my head as I run quite often. Motivating, fun, profound. And hey, who doesn't like Mumford & Sons? Don't answer that. No one needs to know.

Saturday is for Singing

Until I know you all won't judge me, I will keep my Saturday song selection conservative. I think I will keep Saturdays easy and fun by posting a song I love that motivates or inspires me. Music should touch your soul. Sometimes it is musically and sometimes it is lyrically. And on occasion I have the opportunity to present both. And here it is. Ladies and Gentlemen: The Decemberists...