Memphis Marathon: Sub-3:00 Achieved

It happened: 2:58.49 (or within a second or two of that). Most all of the tumblers aligned for me to have a good race.

1. Trained well.
2. Avoided injury/illness.
3. Relatively flat course.
4. Decent weather (a little cool, a little breezy, but OK).
5. Run a smart race.

I went out a little fast (~6.40 pace) in the first few miles, and had to pull back a bit in Miles 7-9 (6.55 pace), but got into the groove I needed from Mile 9 through Mile 23 (6.45 pace). This allowed me to build a cushion for those last few miles. And, I did slow down a bit the last three miles (closer to 7 min pace), but to feel that good so late in the race was a new experience. There was fatigue and some pain, but I actually enjoyed this race from start to finish. By the time I started feeling rough, I knew I was going to break 3.00.

I am quite sore today, but no damage done. And, my switch to Adidas prevented the dreaded and ghastly black toenails I normally get from racing 26.2. They are not discolored at all or even sore.

Thank you for your support and prayers!

Memphis Marathon: T-Minus 2 Days

Alas, no online tracking for the Memphis race. Bummer. But, I will do a write-up after it's over.

Please say a prayer for safety, swiftness, and endurance, and that God would teach me about my limits and His Creation through this race.

Feeling good. Feeling strong. Weather will be chilly (30s), but that is not bad for racing as long as the winds stay down.

Please comment if you know of any "must" restaurants in Memphis.

Memphis Marathon: T-Minus 5 Days

The St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, TN, is five days away and this will be my first realistic shot at breaking 3 hours. I think it will be extremely close, as my training and recent shorter distance race times project me right at 3:00 to 3:02. It is a fairly flat course, the weather looks great, and I am in the best shape I've ever been for a marathon. If I avoid illness, I'll have a legit shot.

That said, it is unwise to underestimate or disrespect the distance that 26.2 miles commands. The teeth of this course comes in miles 15-19 during a slow ascent, but it's nothing drastic--it's more the timing. I'll be tired by that point and keeping pace will be tough. But, from 19 until the end, it's a slow descent, so that will be a nice mental boost if I can run at pace through mile 19.

If this race provides online tracking, I will post a link later this week.

Brown Skies, Smiling At Me

Check out these satellite pics from China. Also, read the NY Times story on the causes of these brown clouds.

World Record Marathon

Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) broke his own world record by 27 seconds and became the first human ever to run under 2 hr 4 min for a marathon. He did it in 2.03.59. Yep, one second.

I thought this might be a good time for a lesson in the speed of world class marathoners. Geb ran 4.43 per mile pace for 26.2 miles. I don't know if you know how fast you can run ONE mile. I am pretty fast by recreational runner standards (I can probably run 5.15 for a mile), but I certainly can't run this fast for ONE mile.

This little experiment will give you some idea. Go to a local track. SPRINT for 200 meters (just half a lap on the track). If you can't do it in 35.3 seconds (and most people can't!), then you know what pace Geb ran...FOR 26.2 MILES!

Amazing.

The Next Christendom 1

I am reading Philip Jenkins' The Next Christendom, so I expect to share some of it on this blog from time to time. Jenkin's basic thesis is that "Christianity was as authentically African or Asian as European" and that "far from being an export of the capitalist West, a vestige of European-American imperialism, Christianity is now rooted in the Third World, and the religion's future lies in the global South."(1)

He offers a couple of interesting tidbits in support of his thesis early in the book.

Of the five ancient patriarchates of the chruch, only one, Rome, clearly stood in the West. The others were at Constantinople, Antioch, Jerusalem, and Alexandria--three on the Asian continent, one in Africa. If we can imagine a Christian center of gravity by 500, we should stil be thinking of Syria rather than Italy...(2)

When we refer to Christianity forming a relation with the secular state, Western historians think first of Constantine, who granted toleration within the Roman Empire in 313. Far less celebrated are the other early states that established Christianity as their own official religion in the fourth century, namely Ethiopia and Armenia. Almost certainly, Armenia was the first state anywhere to establish Christianity as an official faith, which it did around the year 300. (3) [bold mine]

For good measure, Jenkins plainly states that "monasticism is an Egyptian invention." I expect to gain a more balanced view of the history and direction of Christianity through Jenkins' work and I will try to pass along any jawdroppers that I encounter. I am about 50 pages deep, and I can already highly recommend this book.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Jenkins, xi.
2. Ibid, 21.
3. Ibid, 22-3.

The Prune Effect

Today, I had a piece published in Rise Over Run, WKU's student-run online magazine. It is mainly a defense of the type of course that I teach called "University Experience and the Prune Effect."

Kentucky Hated Abraham Lincoln

The Kentucky Museum on the campus of WKU is currently building a permanent Civil War exhibit called "A Star in Each Flag: Conflict in Kentucky." The exhibit opens in mid-October 2008, and it promises to be a good one. Mark your calendars. Further, the bicentennial of Lincoln's birth (in KY) is fast approaching (1809-2009) and there will undoubtedly be much programming at the KY Building celebrating this event.

That said, as I was in the KY Building with my classes this week, I picked up a copy of Lowell Harrison's The Civil War in Kentucky (Lexington, KY: The University of Kentucky Press, 1975) to skim over between classes. In the opening pages, I learned something quite interesting about Lincoln and Kentucky: he got trounced in his bid for the presidency in his home state. You can't swing a dead cat in this state without hitting a poster for an event connecting Abe to the land and place of his birth (near Hodgenville, KY, just an hour or so up I-65 from Bowling Green). Kentuckians love to lay claim to Lincoln.

But, the 1860 election is a real thorn in the Kentucky/Lincoln love fest. Harrison notes, "when the Democratic party split along sectional lines, one of the last political bonds holding the nation together disappeared." The Southern Dem's went with John C. Breckinridge (the US Vice President under James Buchanan) as their candidate, while Northern Dem's backed Stephen A. Douglas. Harrison then lays out the good stuff:

Kentuckians found little solace in the nomination of Lincoln by the Republicans. He was a native of Kentucky, but his "house divided" speech had alarmed many slaveholders who would not accept the curtailment of slavery expansion that he and his party demanded. As the campaign progressed, many Kentuckians turned toward John Bell, the Constitutional Union candidate from neighboring Tennessee, who simple platform was the preservation of the Union.

Bell captured a majority in 35 of Kentucky's 110 counties in 1860 and won a plurality in 25 more...Breckinridge had a majority in 36 counties but pluralities in only 7...Douglas had a majority in only 7 counties, and Lincoln did not carry a single one. The popular vote was 66,501 for Bell, 53,143 for Breckinridge, 25,638 for Douglas, and 1,364 for Lincoln. Although Fayette County contained a number of Lincoln's in-laws, he received just five votes there.(1) [bold mine]

Of course, Lincoln won the election powered by his sweep of most of the northern states. But, make no mistake, the native Kentuckian was not only stomped in his state of birth, but came in a distant fourth, garnering less than 1% of the vote! Lincoln was viewed as the anti-slavery candidate and that just did not play in a state looking to preserve the Union. Keep this in mind as we celebrate Lincoln over the coming year. This is just another interesting tidbit in Kentucky's rich and bizarre history.

Read more about the 1860 Election here.

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1. Harrison, 4-5.

Pay, Mama, Dada, Pay

I hate it when people let blogs lay silent for weeks. And, I'm guilty as charged. Long vacation, attending/presenting at a conference, first weeks of school, planning an event for 2100 college freshmen, blah, blah, blah. It's been a busy month or so.

That said, I return with what I think is a cute, fun, heart-warming, and encouraging story about my son.

Simon is talking more and more these days, even stringing three or four words together at times. Lately, when we sit down to dinner, he almost always stretches out his hands and reaches for Laurie on his left and me on his right and says, "Pay, mama, dada, pay." Which, of course, means "pray." We usually have to do this 2-3 times during the course of the meal. So, we say the Lord's prayer, a prayer for friends and family, and a prayer of thankfulness. Even at such a young age, it's clear that something special, desirable, and good comes through in taking the time to "do prayer." And, it's striking that what he picks up on is the ACT of prayer: the hands, the quiet, the stillness, the "Amen" at the end (which he emphatically shouts as "ah-MEEEN!).

In many aspects of life, the process or the act of doing is often as powerful as the language.

Saint Batman?

An interesting read for those who have seen the new Batman movie from Father Raymond J. de Souza, a Roman Catholic priest at Queen's University in Australia. Many of my friends came to mind as I read this one.

"Gotham needs a hero with a face," we are told. Yes, the world needs a witness to the truth, the goodness and the beauty of reality; a witness to the order of creation; a witness to the enduring reason through which all things were made; a witness with a human face.

We don't call those people superheroes. We call them saints.

Codex Sinaiticus

The oldest complete manuscript of the New Testament is now available online (news story here). The Codex Sinaiticus was written in the mid-300's AD and includes other ancient writings outside of the NT including the Shepherd of Hermas (on which I wrote a graduate paper and I highly recommend, especially if you like Revelation), Epistle of Barnabas, 1 & 2 Clement, and the Didache.

Enjoy!

Wendell Berry On Sex

Not entirely unrelated to Tuesday's post on abortion, I love what eminent Kentucky writer Wendell Berry has to say about sex in America.

The "conservatives" more or less attack homosexuality, abortion, and pornography, and the "liberals" more or less defend them. Neither party will oppose sexual promiscuity. The "liberals" will not oppose promiscuity because they do not wish to appear intolerant of "individual liberty." The "conservatives" will not oppose promiscuity because sexual discipline would reduce the profits of corporations, which in their advertisements and entertainments encourage self-indulgence as a way of selling merchandise.

From Wendell Berry, Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community, (New York: Pantheon, 1993): 123.

While Berry may be generalizing a bit here, I think his point is a sharp one. And, to Tuesday's post on China's sex-selective abotions, abortion (and unwanted pregnancy) is a result--not a cause. Perhaps a focused conversation about sex can elicit better thinking about some of the issues Berry points out. Of course, that's the issue. The "two sides" would rather make it about political jostling than addressing the root of the problem. As Berry says, there's a lot to lose by doing that. A close examination of our views of sex, its use as a marketing tool, and sexuality's role in Creation (big C, not just procreation) might help give us fresh perspective on sex in America. But, that takes some transparency, courage, and a willingness to (2008 Buzzword Warning) change.

Too Many Boys in China?

Freakonomics famously connects the passing of Roe v Wade (1973) with the mid-1990s drop in U.S. crime. Their argument (short version) is that many women opting for abortion are single, poor, and do not want a child. Children born unwanted to single, poor mothers are much more likely to become criminals. Levitt and Dubner, the authors of Freakonomics, contend that a large percentage of the precipitous drop in crime in the 1990s can be be attributed to a chunk of the (would-be) population that was never born into these less than desirable environments. I should add that the authors merely conclude that there is a connection--not that abortion is "worth it" or that abortion should be legal. They simply make a positive analysis (a connection between abortion and the crime drop), not a normative one (that abortion is "right" or "wrong" or should/should not be legal). That's a different kind of question.

That said, here is an interesting take on sex-selective abortion and crime: surplus males and the skyrocketing crime rate in China.

A snippet from Mara Hvistendahl's The New Republic Piece that the Freakonomics blog references:

The macho violence spurting forth through outlets like war games is a growing trend in Chinese society--and China's one-child policy, in effect since 1979, is partly responsible. The country's three decades of iron-fisted population planning coincided with a binge in sex-selective abortions (Chinese traditionally favor sons, who carry on the family line) and a rise, even as the country developed, in female infant mortality. After almost 30 years of the policy, China now has the largest gender imbalance in the world, with 37 million more men than women and almost 20 percent more newborn boys than girls nationwide.

This could be a painful lesson in unintended consequences for China.

Dialect and Dollars

I've blogged before about regional dialects. Over at the Freakonomics blog, Steven Levitt summarizes some University of Chicago research on how speech patterns affect salary. Research by his colleague Jeff Grogger has found that "sounding black" costs you about 10% in salary per year. So does "sounding southern." Not sure how the researchers defined their terms, though...

Anyway, Levitt summarizes:

His main finding: blacks who “sound black” earn salaries that are 10
percent lower than blacks who do not “sound black,” even after controlling for
measures of intelligence, experience in the work force, and other factors that
influence how much people earn. (For what it is worth, whites who “sound black”
earn 6 percent lower than other whites.)...It turns out you don’t want to sound
southern, either. Although pretty imprecisely estimated, it is almost as bad for
your wages to sound southern as it is to sound black, even controlling for
whether you live in the south.

Humans. Strange creatures. This is why I find economics interesting. Of course, regression analysis has its problems proving causation, but there are a lot of arrows pointing in the same direction in this research.

After being in academia for 14 years counting my time as a student, I have learned to dial back my rural Kentucky accent at least to a "mild" level if I feel the need. But, honestly, I kind of like "leaving it on" sometimes. And, I have to say in defense of accents, one of my most brilliant history professors had a heavy, gravelly, Mississippi drawl and another great prof had a classic Southern accent.

And, of course, there is a difference between speaking English well with an accent and speaking English poorly with an accent.

Adventures in Automated Software

When is "Gay" not "homosexual?"

Only your computer knows for certain.

11 Best Foods You Are Not Eating

And, in some cases, they are relatively inexpensive foods, too. From the NY Times wellness section:

Eat These Eleven

To be honest, I don't eat beets. But, I'm willing to shred them and try them as a salad base. I'll let you know how that goes.

New U.S. Religion Data

I love maps. My office walls are covered in them. And, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has a whole mess o' new maps, charts, and graphs related to American religion. For a quick taste, here is a portrait of American Evangelical churches.

There is more here that you probably ever wanted to know about religious demographics in America. You can sort by tradition, gender, income, race, region, and on and on starting on the main page.

My early favorite for weirdest question in the survey: "How often do you receive a definite answer to a specific prayer request -- would you say at least once a week, once or twice a month, several times a year, seldom, or never?"

And, Jehovah's Witness members took home the Golden Clasped Hands Award for praying the most. A whopping 89% said that they "pray daily." Mormons and historically black churches took silver and bronze. Evangelicals finished a disappointing fourth.

Seriously, this is really interesting data full of thought-provoking pieces, cultural insight, and humor. Give it a look.

Sued in the Spirit

The next time you plan to have the Holy Spirit knock you down, make sure you have a couple of big, strong, burly "catchers" nearby lest you crack your head on the floor. Otherwise, a mess of stitches, head trauma, and litigation, may occur.

From the plaintiffs complaint:

Mr. Lincoln received the spirit and fell backwards striking the carpet-covered cement floor with the back of his head and back, causing him to sustain severe and permanent injuries ...
[Mr. Lincoln accuses the church of being] negligent in not supervising the catchers to be sure that they stood behind the person being prayed for and in front of the visiting minister to assure that they could catch someone should they have a dizzying, fainting or falling in the spirit as had occurred on many occasions before.


Be careful out there, people.

How to Ruin A Marathon

From The Onion: How to Ruin A Marathon

Teaser:

"After you've been ruining a marathon for a couple hours, your body will
just take over and you won't even realize that you're spoiling the day for
everyone. I call that getting in the "ruiner's zone." It's like my arms and legs
could just keep dumping buckets of cooking oil off a highway overpass forever."

Fuel for the Gas Fire

What has driven oil prices through the roof? Well, lately, the sexy explanation has been "speculators."

BP chief executive Tony Hayward says that that theory is "a myth." He chalks it up to good ol' supply/demand economics.

Remember the mid-1990s?

The rise in oil prices has been remarkable. In 1997 the average price of a
barrel of Brent crude was $12.72. In 2007 it was $72.39. And earlier this month
it touched $137.

Can supply/demand really explain this price explosion? The story linked above says so.

The tight balance between supply and demand creates an environment in which even
minor news stories about disruption to oil fields can cause sudden leaps in
market prices.

More and more people in China and India are consuming oil like Americans have for a long time. LOTS and LOTS of folks live in those countries. Hence, it creates huge demand and it appears the supply/demand gap is very narrow right now.

So, oil up your bicycle chain...but, even that costs more than it used to.

From Stockholm, Sweden, to Brownsville, KY

When two of your favorite things overlap, you must sit up and take notice. That happened today when Justin Wolfers wrote about his Stockholm Marathon experience on the Freakonomics blog. It's hot dogs and beer at the finish at Stockholm!

And, also in the running vein, tomorrow is my first 5k of the year. In fact, due to injury last fall and marathon training all winter, I have not raced a 5k since last September on Labor Day. So, I do not have a good idea of how fast I will run. I know it's going to be HOT, so it will be a tough go.

Tomorrow's race is a fundraiser 5k for the Edmonson County High School cross country team in Brownsville, KY. I set a 5k personal record (PR) on this course last year (17.45). It's not flat, but there is more downhill than uphill. With the forecasted heat and wind, getting under that time could be difficult, but I think I'm in pretty good shape.

Genetic Limits of Obesity

The latest reports suggest that childhood obesity is leveling off. Whatever the reason, that's good news. Hopefully, it will start to decline.

But, some experts suggest that we've merely saturated the field of those predisposed to become obese at a young age. Here is a snippet, but you can read the whole piece here.

If, at 17 percent, we've hit the "saturation" point for child obesity, we're extremely lucky. There's no historical basis for knowing where the saturation point is, since our species has never before lived in an environment so full of ease and abundance. The far more dangerous possibility is that the saturation point is higher. In fact, given that we evolved in conditions of scarcity, it's logical to suspect that the tendency to seek and store fat is nearly universal. As the Los Angeles Times observes, "the idea that childhood weights have simply topped out doesn't quite square ... [One expert] said the fact that 60% of U.S. adults were either overweight or obese suggested that children had plenty of room to grow."

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

My brother-in-law gave me a book for my birthday last Monday (thanks, Jason!). A punishing, desolate, soul-crushing novel, The Road helped me further realize the beauty of life and the earth by reading about how it would be if it were all turned to gray.

Set in a post-apocalyptic world of gray skies and gray ash and gray water, this book could be veiwed as a real downer (and that would be correct in many ways). McCarthy shows us a world that has been utterly obliterated at the material level. Wildlife has been erased. Trees are but black, crispy ex-trees. There are no names of people or places anywhere in the entire book. But, the story is really about the love of a father and son, and their will to survive in a world without color, food, trees, skies, or life as we currently know it. What remains are the father, the son, a shopping cart, and an undending search for clean water, food, shelter, and safety. It is a penetrating look into what life might be like if we were reduced to living to fulfill our basic needs (the lowest level of Maslow's hierarchy). And, ultimately, this is a book about faith.

That's all I'm going to say about what happens, as I am not one to give away plot details, but I had to post something about this book and urge you to read it.

McCarthy has written ten books, including All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men, with the latter being put made into a tremendous film that became last year's Oscar darling (Best Picture). And, if the Coen brothers and/or No Country are not your style, even Oprah liked The Road. If Oprah liked it AND I still read it and liked it--well, it must be good.

32

I turned 32 years old yesterday. Overall, it seems like a fairly nondescript birthday. Who really goes all out for their 32nd birthday?

But, I did find myself philosophizing about aging and time more this year than normal. I am someone's dad now. I now have been driving longer than I had to wait to drive. I can distinctly remember when my parents were my age. I am getting older.

I recently read or heard (but I don't remember when or where) that the reason time "goes by faster" as we age is that each minute, day, year, decade, is a smaller percentage of our "time lived" as we get older. For example, when one is nine years old, and is waiting to be ten, that year is waiting for one tenth of your life to pass before you turn ten. But, this year, only 1/32nd of my "lived life" passed. For someone turning 80, it's 1/80th. Time does not speed up so much as that each increment is a smaller part of our total life experience.

The challenge is the same: appreciate the past and carry it with us, have eternal hope in the future, but live in the now and experience the moment, the life stage, the season, etc.

And, by the way, I had a great birthday.

Arithmecrats 4

Last night, Hillary Clinton won West Virginia by a huge margin, but it did not really make much of a difference in the math. Clinton will likely gain about 10 more pledged delegates in West Virginia than will Obama. For some perspective, Obama has picked up 27 Superdelegates in the last week. Clinton won a landslide margin, but there is not an avalanche of delegates in West Virginia.

So, she won big, but this is not a big win, mathematically speaking. She may be able to make some political hay out of this wide margin, but she is under growing pressure from the party to scale back the negative ads and not damage Obama further as he looks to be the nominee. Obama is already acting like the winner, being very gracious to her in his defeat, scooting off to Michigan and Florida to generate general election support, and talking about debates with John McCain.

The next potential milestone is next Tuesday when Obama could conceivably secure a majority of pledged delegates with a solid win in Oregon (Obama leads by 14 points in current polls) and a decent showing in Kentucky (Clinton leads and is expected to win handily, currently up 28 points).

Arithmecrats 3

I'm sure you know the old cliche about statistics, and I'm sure you know people who (or maybe YOU) have unfairly twisted statistics to support a point or bolster an argument. But, the numbers, as well as the "feel," of Democratic presidential nomination race has been pretty one-sided for quite awhile. And, we hit another milestone over the weekend.

In January, Clinton led Obama by 100+ Superdelegates. Exactly one month ago, Obama had whittled that lead to 25. According to the Associated Press, Obama passed Clinton over the weekend and now leads 277-271 in Superdelegates. Obama has secured 21 Supers to Clinton's 2 since last Tuesday's NC and IN primaries.

Obama now leads in pledged delegates, Superdelegates, primaries/caucuses won, and the Superdel support is swelling from a trickle to a small stream. Some of those are even defectors from Clinton's camp. She will win big in West Virginia and slightly less big in Kentucky (most likely), but Obama will have more total delegates when this is done. And, if the Superdelegates want to end this, he may even secure enough to claim the nomination outright.

How close is he? Well, he needs 2,025 total delegates to win the nomination. He currently sits at 1,867 (Clinton: 1,697)--that means he needs 158 more. Here is what remains.

West Virginia: 28 pledged delegates
Kentucky: 51
Oregon: 52
Montana: 16
South Dakota: 15
Puerto Rico: 55

That's 217 pledged delegates and, as of today, there are about 250 (+/-) uncommitted Superdelegates. So, here is the simple math.

Obama needs 158 of those those 467 total delegates (33%).
Clinton needs 328 of that same group (70%).

In the last month, the math has gone from "tough" to "this one stumped Matt Damon's character in Good Will Hunting." Clinton needs 1) a miracle, 2) an Obama gaffe of historic proportions, 3) to cheat, or 4) a good exit strategy.

Wrath of God

Peter Venkman: This city is headed for a disaster of biblical proportions.
Mayor: What do you mean, "biblical"?
Ray Stantz: What he means is Old Testament, Mr. Mayor, real wrath of God type stuff.
Peter Venkman: Exactly.
Ray Stantz: Fire and brimstone coming down from the skies! Rivers and seas boiling!
Egon Spengler: Forty years of darkness! Earthquakes, volcanoes...
Winston Zeddemore: The dead rising from the grave!
Peter Venkman: Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

People often think of "the wrath of God" in this Ghostbuster-ish way. Our church is currently working through Romans on Wednesday night, and I talked about Romans 1.18-32 gives us a slightly different perspective on God's wrath last Wednesday night.

Saint Paul tells us that the "wrath of God" is the other edge of God's two-edged sword: Righteousness and Wrath. So, in a sense, it is merely another way of "putting the world to rights," as N.T. Wright would put it. Saint Paul was writing primarily against idolatry in this section. People were fashioning gods from clay, wood, or metal and worshiping them. Absurd! Not only did they make the mistake of not worshiping God the Creator, but they even one-upped the common pantheistic mistake of worshiping His creation. They took that falsehood a step further by worshiping their OWN creations (images of humans, animals, birds, reptiles) that mimicked the Creation of God. This is TWO (three?) steps removed from the only source worthy of worship.

Romans 1 reminds us to acknowledge God in all things. "The righteous will live by faith." Those who abandon this are given over to their desires to be "free" of God or to be God (not that they will actually BE free or BE God, mind you). This results not in an elevation of their own status, but a degradation of their lives. Instead of pursuing the immortal God, they tout their own ways, human ways, of thinking. This leads to a false sense of intelligence and knowledge which leads away from God even as they believe that they are being enlightened.

Thus, the wrath of God is the other edge of that sword of righteousness. Both edges ensure that we understand who is the Creator and ruler of all. Wrath can be viewed as punishment, but it seems to be more of a way of setting things right.

Redfoot/Cool Hand Luke Show on Friday

Please make your way to Westminster Bible Church (824 Lehman Ave) for our next show this Friday, May 2. Cool Hand Luke, an excellent band from Nashville, is headlining this gig. Singer/songwriters Jon Russellburg and Aaron Roche will also play solo sets.

You can get tix from the church website for $5 or pony up $7 at the door. Doors open at 7 pm and music begins at 7.30 pm.

Boston Marathon 3 (Reflection/Recovery)

The soreness is gone. I have been consuming lots of peanut butter, avocados, and milk to aid in my muscle recovery. I am jittery with anticipation to run today and I'm meeting my running group in just a few minutes. And, for the first time in my running life, I have that feeling of, "Now what?"

In the short term, what is next is a summer of shorter distance races that shift my focus from long distance training to increasing my speed workouts. However, I still want to maintain my huge base of miles. I think of myself more as a marathoner than a 5k or 10k racer these days, so I will probably do less intense track workouts (none?) and more longer runs. I think my running identity lies more with the marathon, and frankly, I think I'm a more competitive racer at the longer distances. My body lends itself more to distance running, too. Might as well use this coat hanger build to my advantage. I'm not designed to play football or explode with top-end speed in shorter races. So, I will go with what God gave me: namely, a body that can run lots of miles with minimal impact due to a small build.

In the long term, this recovery cycle will allow me to think about what marathon I might want to run in the fall and next spring. Right now, I'm thinking Memphis in December, but I'm completely open next Spring. There are lots of interesting races to be run.

I have spent the last week basking in the Boston afterglow, but it is time to turn my thoughts toward goals for the Summer and Fall.

1. Run a sub-17.30 5k by September
2. Set a 10k PR in October (currently 37.57)

I hope to do this while still keeping up my long-distance training so that I will be peaked for Memphis next fall.

Most of my entries are not quite this self-focused, but I wanted to get some goals down in writing for all to see and to help motivate me as I work through this Boston hangover.

Boston Marathon 2 (Marathon::Life)

As I've said before on this blog, I champion running as my preferred form of exercise mainly because our bodies are designed to do it. It requires no apparatus of any kind. No special court/field/pitch/stadium/pool/etc. No balls, bats, racquets, flags, discs, poles, hoops, gloves, weights, or any other objects are needed. If we did not become so dependent on shoes so early in life, we would not even need those. In fact, for most of human existence, we didn't. Running simply requires speeding up the normal motion of walking until you become airborne. Then, you are running.

Beyond that, running a marathon is a test of Will vs Physiology. The motion of running is normal. Running 26.2 miles as fast as possible is NOT normal. Weird things happen to your body when you run this far especially when trying to cover that distance in as little time as possible. Any fast runner can line up and blast out a fast 100 meters. But, even the fastest runners would not be able to run 26.2 miles without some endurance training. And, this is where marathoning and life intersect.

Success in life and marathoning comes with learning how to handle adversity and change. Marathon training will bring pain, injury,and loneliness along with joy, comfort, and a sense of accomplishment. This life offers much the same. Becoming a better runner, much like the Christian life, hinges on this: consistency over time. There will be periods of great health and poor health, personal records and disappointments, sunny weather and brutal climates. But, as James 1:2-3 tells us, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." We can do this because God is constant and unchanging (consistency over time). We attempt to mimic that constancy by taking heart in who God is, what Christ has done, and what he is doing/will do. Our individual acts and flaws will cause us to stray and doubt at times, but with each setback or shortfall, the race continues and we keeping running even when it would seem easier or feel better to stop. But, we do not stop because that would keep us from the ultimate goal.

Marathoning, like the Christian life, is mostly about learning how to deal with good and bad--that is, how to deal with life. Marathoning makes us acutely aware of the joy and pain of this life. One takes on the long months of training knowing that there will be an investment of time and pain. One toes the Boston Marathon race starting line accepting the reality that to reach the ultimate goal, whether it be winning the race (Robert Cheruyiot, Kenya, 2.07.46) setting a personal best (me, 3.06.04), or simply finishing the race, there must be a fierce trial with pain in order to achieve the prize. Reaching the ultimate goal has little to do with machismo or toughness and a lot more to do with acceptance of reality and a willingness to participate in that reality.

This is not to say that everyone should run marathons, of course, but that if you are going to run 26.2, there are some very real requirements and sacrifices: time, comfort, sweat, pain. This is true for most things in life, marathoning just happens to be the one that has been teaching me of late. But, these things not only bring joy, but teach us to realize the joy not only in what is gained from these sacrifices, but in the sacrifices themselves. To be sure, the joy of short-term accomplishments like finishing a marathon (or whatever your particular goal might be) is wonderful, and I am relishing it. But, the pain, the shortfalls, the letdowns--these are great teachers and motivators to continue to press onward and finish the race.

Boston Marathon 1 (Top Ten)

I think I'll break up my Boston trip into a short series. Today, let's talk about the race. Also, you can see pics of me in the race by searching here. Choose "Boston Marathon 2008" from the race selections, then put in my last name (Basham) and my bib number (4006).

But, first, I have to thank my friend Ceci for making the trip practically stress-free in regards to obtaining a place to stay, food, transportation, etc. All of the external things that can create added stress to an event like this were handled for me by a good friend who knows the city, the marathon, and how to drive in Boston. She set me up at a friend's house who has hosted many athletes before. It was GREAT to have a real, home base in Boston instead of a hotel. Thanks, Ceci and Sue!

OK, I think today I'll go with the Top Ten Things You See While Running the Boston Marathon.

10. BLUE. The Hynes Convention Center in Boston was bedecked in blue trimmed with yellow for the runner's expo and race packet pickup. And, the pickup (indeed, the entire event) was a model of organization and efficiency. There were literally thousands of runners there when I picked up my number, race bag, and race shirt, and I was in and out of there in just a few minutes. Incredible.

9. During a 1.5-hour start-and-stop bus ride to the starting line in Hopkinton, you see people jumping off the bus and sprinting to the woods to relieve themselves (#1 and #2). Or sometimes, NOT sprinting to the woods and just going right next to the highway. Think about it: you have 25,000 people on buses who have been eating and hydrating to run 26.2 miles for days. In light of this information, it's not surprising that many could not wait to get to the port-a-potties after being forced to sit for 1.5 hours on a cramped bus. Still, kinda weird. But, everyone was in the same position, so it simply seemed like part of the process. Everyone laughed it off.

8. A man dressed as Minnie Mouse. Not a spectator: a RUNNER. 26.2 miles in big mouse ears, white gloves, and a red polka-dot skirt? To each his own, I guess. For what it's worth, I passed "Minnie" about Mile 22 even though s/he started ahead of me. However, an Eagle scout (in full khaki unform) blew past me at about Mile 24. There were all kinds of interesting outfits.

7. Team Hoyt. Dick Hoyt, who pushes his son Rick (who has cerebral palsy), through triathlons and marathons including 25+ Boston's. If this is news to you, I implore you to watch this video. If this does not inspire you or move you, I fear that you are beyond hope.

6. The start line. 25,000 people waiting to embark on a 26.2-mile journey to the most famous marathon finish in the world.

5. The Women of Wellesley College. Wellesley is at about Mile 12 in the race, and the women treat the runners like rock stars. The shrill screams of 2,300 college women is enough to perforate eardrums. For at least two minutes, I know what Elvis must have felt like every day of his life. Several had signs that said, "Stop running and kiss me!" I politely declined, opting for the safer occasional high-five. Several other runners around me took them up on their kiss offers, though.

4. Newton Fire Station. When you make the hard right turn here, you know the teeth of the course is coming. It's a disheartening feeling to be getting tired at mile 16 and know that the hard stuff is yet to come.

3. Heartbreak Hill. Actually, it's the series of hills in the Newton area. Heartbreak is simply the longest hill and it's the final punch in that flurry of hills from Mile 16-Mile 21. But, it sure does break hearts. Lots of runners were stopping, walking, cramping, even sitting and lying flat. If Heartbreak were the ONLY hill, it would merely be "just a hill." But, the hill after Newton Fire Station tenderizes you a bit, then a series of smaller hills beats you up before Heartbreak's attempt at a knockout punch.

2. Boston College. When you hit Chestnut Hill, you know that the worst is over. It's 5 miles of downhill running at that point. The question is, how much do you have in the tank? In my case, not much. Enough to set a PR and finish well, but I was leaking oil.

1. Finish line. The home stretch was packed with spectators and the roars were amazing. As tired and exhausted as I was, the sound and energy of the crowd really helped push me home. It was quite a feeling finishing the race.

Boston Completed

Just a quick update to let you know that I survived Boston in 3.06.04. This was a personal best at the marathon distance.

I will post a detailed story of my trip tomorrow, but for now:

1. My knee was never an issue. I think it healed up right on time. It simply was not a factor.
2. My sinus infection was nearly gone, but it was a small factor. Not bad, though.
3. I have some UGLY toenails. REALLY painful late in the race. Two of them are pitch black today and three others are purple. Probably gonna lose a couple. That's just part of the deal for me when I marathon.
4. But, I'll take my toenails and smile because otherwise I feel OK. I am extremely sore, of course, but there is no significant damage. Hips and feet and really stiff/sore, but that will fade in a few days.

Thanks to all for all of the support. More tomorrow.

Track Me In Boston

Here is the link! I'm in Boston, and have my race number. Everything is set.

Follow me here (my bib #number is 4006):

http://www.baa.org/2008/cf/Public/EntryLists.cfm

One Week 'til Boston

Just wanted to post a quick update on my Boston training.

1. My knee pain seems to be responding well to simply running on it. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes, the elevated heart rate creates sustained blood flow to minor dings and injuries that can actually help the healing process. Anyway, it seems to be getting better. I am planning about an hour of easy running later, so hopefully the pain level will be even lower than Saturday.

2. Simon and I have been sharing a nasty cold for the last few days. The good news is that my cold is in its "exiting" stage, so it should be gone by next Monday.

3. For the first time ever, you can watch the entire Boston Marathon online at WCSN.com. Coverage begins at 9.25 am ET (8.25 am CT) next Monday. The race starts at 10 am ET (9 am CT).

4. I will post the link for tracking my progress during the race on Thurs or Friday. The tracking page will eventually be here. Simply enter my bib number (#4006) and my name will come up.

5. Forecast for race day in Boston is currently 55 degrees and mostly sunny. PLEASE let that hold up! That would be a made-to-order temperature if the winds stay down.

Arithmecrats 2

Christopher Beam from Slate.com tells us that the math for Hillary is even tougher than you might think.

Say Clinton wins all the remaining contests by a 10-point margin. (That's impossible, barring revelations that Obama does lines on the campaign bus, but bear with us.) Obama would still be ahead in pledged delegates, 1671 to 1563. Add on their current superdelegate tallies—226 for Obama and 251 for Clinton, according to Politico—and they’d be at 1897 and 1814, respectively. Even then, Clinton would need to win 211 of the still-uncommitted 300 delegates, or about 70 percent.

This is worth restating: Even if Hillary Clinton wins every single one of the remaining contests by 10 points, she still needs to win 70 percent of the remaining uncommitted superdelegates. Given that since Feb. 5, Obama has netted 69 superdelegates and Clinton has lost a net of five, it’s fair to say the pendulum is not swinging her way.

Oy. It's STILL eleven days until Pennsylvania. Clinton currently has a slight lead in the polls, and it's probably going to be a very tight race.

Simply Christian

Last night, our church finished a study of N.T. Wright's Simply Christian. We took it chapter by chapter for 16 weeks and each chapter was led by one of our Session members. I am somewhat saddened that it is over because it was such a great study. However, this book is one that not only informed me, but changed the way I see everything, so it's not really "over" in that sense. I will try to be brief in my attempt to communicate Wright's fundamental message.

There are three basic ways that people seek God:

Option 1. God is everywhere and in everything including me, you, the trees, and your pet rabbit. This is the pantheistic view.

Option 2. God and His heaven exists in some faraway place unreachable by humans. This earth is vile and corrupt and will be destroyed and replaced at some point by this faraway God and His heaven. Thus, earthly things and physical things do not matter much in eternity. This is sort of a Deist view.

Option 3. Heaven and earth interlock and overlap. The Christian life is primarily focused on doing God's will in this world and bringing it closer to the ideal--the way God intended it to be. God is not a tree or a pet rabbit, but those are part of His creation. God is also close and visible at times in this present world, but his full renewal is not complete.

Wright goes with Option 3. My tradition growing up and most Christians that I know/knew lean more toward Option 2. Seeing the world as an "Option 3 person" changes everything. This view seems much more consistent with the story of the Bible (Israel being constantly renewed and called to reconciliation with God). The redemption of the world is not only future, but also past and present. As instruments in this world, we get to participate in its restoration now and in the future.

That's my feeble attempt at a short summary. I am really making an effort to value brevity in my speaking and writing these days. For more, please do read Simply Christian. I am confident that it will challenge you.

13 Days Until Boston

Recently, I have hit some major Boston Marathon training milestones.

1. The hard training is complete. No more 20+ long runs for me. My training went very well, as I rarely had to miss a day for any reason. I cut a long run short last Sat due to some minor lower leg pain, but that was a "bonus" long run anyway. Nothing really lost by cutting that one short. Pray for the leg pain. I don't think it's serious, but I am taking a couple of days off to try to get back to 100%.

2. I received my Boston packet in the mail last week. It has my bib number (#4006) and all of the race info. I get to go off in the first wave of runners at 10 am on race day (Mon, April 21), so that is nice.

Pics of Boston documents below.















3. I have plans to visit the Old North Church while I'm in Boston, and I hope to get to Fenway Park, too.

More updates as warranted.

On Season II: Remembering Heston

Basketball season closes the doors tonight with the championship game between Memphis and Kansas. I probably care less than you do, but if you have not been reading my hoops writing, just know that once the teams without all the money and conference advantages are out, I simply do not care who wins. I can still enjoy the high-level hoops, the Final Four, and the crowning of a champion, but I honestly do not care who wins.

Anyway, that means it is not the off-season for this blog, but the ON-season! And, I have to start this on-season with a tribute to Charlton Heston.

You may or may not know that my band, Redfoot, ends most every show with a song I wrote called, "For John Charles Carter" (Heston's given name). It is a tribute to Heston's movies. I wrote it three years ago after seeing a commercial for network television's annual showing of the Cecil B. Demille classic The Ten Commandments. Before the days of VCR's, my family always made time for two annual television events: The Wizard of Oz (usually in October) and The Ten Commandments (usually around Easter). Watching Ten brings back so many good memories of family and the spectacle of DeMille's films. Once my family bought a VCR in the mid-1980s, we taped Ten from television and my brother and I must have watched that film at least 30 times. We loved it and, in retrospect, I think it was because it made a very familiar Bible story very real to us visually.

In addition to Ten, Planet of the Apes is one of my favorite books (by Pierre Boulle--MUST READ!) and favorite movies. Heston's starring role in the 1968 film is part camp, part anti-hero, part social commentary, and I love it. One of the interesting components of Heston is that he somehow was viewed as a "great actor," but he often seemed so over-the-top with his acting that it was comical. Yet, he pulled it off in a strange way and this is nowhere more evident that in Planet of the Apes. Remember: "It's a madhouse! A MADHOUSE!" Good stuff.

The song I wrote references many of his films (Ten, Ben-Hur, Soylent Green, Planet of the Apes), and while the song might be taken as poking fun at Heston, I wrote it more with tribute in mind. There might be some sarcasm and subtle jabbing in there regarding his acting style and politics, but his work truly influenced me from my earliest days and I greatly appreciate his work in film.

WKU In Sweet 16

I write about hoops for local CBS affiliate WNKY. If you like WKU, hoops, underdogs, or local success, you might enjoy blog entries.

WKU defeats Drake

Toppers in the Sweet 16!

Hillary's Conundrum

She tried being (somewhat for her) nice to Obama leading up to Super Tuesday. It did not work. She fired her campaign manager and took the gloves off for the last few primaries, sharpening her attacks on Obama. She has gotten thoroughly thrashed since then (it's 10 in a row now). The conventional wisdom is that negative campaigning works. Well, it did not work in Wisconsin for Hillary, as Obama beat her by more than two touchdowns (58%-41%).

So, does she play nice and try to win by drawing contrasts with Obama, or does she turn her negativity amp up to 11 to try to squeeze out wins in Texas and Ohio on March 4? I think I know the answer to that query.

And, this brings me back to where I started in this election process. People do not like Hillary Clinton. They like the IDEA of Hillary Clinton.

Largest Beef Recall in U.S. History

First, the good news: experts suggest that the chances of a major health crisis caused by this meat is "remote."

Now, the bad news:

The Humane Society of the United States showed videotapes on January 30 showing workers at the plant using several abusive techniques to make animals stand up and pass a pre-slaughter inspection. These included ramming cattle with forklift blades and using a hose to simulate the feeling of drowning.

These animals COULD NOT STAND on their own. It's illegal to slaughter an animal in this condition because IT IS SICK and should not be consumed. This was discovered because of some undercover video work at Westland and Hallmark Meat Co. How often is this happening when there are no cameras around?

This is the largest beef recall in U.S. history: 143 million pounds of it. And where do you think much of this meat was destined? Why, the Federal School Lunch Program and fast food chains, of course!!! In other words, kids--mostly.

I'm not a (mostly) vegetarian because of any moral issues with killing animals for food. I am a (mostly) vegetarian because of the meat industry. I am also not an evangelistic (mostly) vegetarian. But, if I don't catch it or kill it myself out of the wild, or if I cannot purchase free range or wild meats, I simply do not eat it if at all possible.

And, this situation is a big reason why.

Fattening of America

The Freakonomics blog addresses an issue near and dear to me. I've been teaching this in my classes for years. I find some of the conclusions and rationale suspect, but here's an excerpt from an interesting interview with health economist Eric Finkelstein that talks about his (and co-author Laurie Zuckerman's) new book The Fattening of America :

In sharp contrast, children are unable to make rational choices, unlike Uncle Al. I think that the government (and parents) have a critical role to minimize the possibility of children growing up to regret the diet and exercise choices they may have made as uninformed youths. Most government interventions are focused on schools, which makes sense given that the food the lunch ladies serve up is too often not that different from the birthday fare my son receives at Chuck E. Cheese. And then, of course, there’s the school vending machines. In my book, we discuss what’s happening in America’s school cafeterias, gymnasiums, and classrooms, and what can be done to help tomorrow’s adults make informed diet and exercise choices.

If we TRULY want a healthier America, we might have to take our legislative medicine when it comes to protecting kids.

Go Arithmecrats!

Your average Joe/Jane (or Republican who does not care about the Dem primary) might have glanced at Tuesday's results and said, "Well, Hillary is going to win again." After all, she took the big prizes in California and New York, and some papers even touted her "win." But, headlines and conventional wisdom do not nominate candidates. Delegates do. And, the Arithmecrats on Slate.com remind us of this fact. In that count, it was a dead heat, with both sides claiming a small win on Tuesday.

Add to that that Obama has closed a MASSIVE poll gap on Clinton in the last two months and won 13 states to Clinton's 8 on Tuesday, and it seems to me that Obama has both math and momentum on his side. The more people see Obama, the more support he garners. Further, the next several races favor Obama (Maine, Nebraska, Washington state, Louisiana, and the three Potomac races). If he wins all five, that is going to help with momentum in upcoming delegate-rich states like Texas and Ohio, where Clinton currently leads. Clinton has focused on the big prizes, which makes sense. However, Obama is cleaning up in smaller states and has drawn even in national polling numbers. If that trend continues and he pulls off a win in Texas or Ohio, it's trouble for Clinton.

Also, he hauled in $32 million in support in January while Hillary Clinton just wrote a $5 million personal check to her campaign.

Hmmm. I thought only Mitt Romney was doing that? EDIT: And Romney dropped out soon after I typed this.

Point of No Return

I have paid my entry fee. I have ponied up the dough for the flight. I have secured a place to stay for free!). All that is left is 13 weeks of training.

The Boston Marathon is on the horizon. Please pray for health, safety, and good training. I had a frustrating fall filled with injuries and setbacks which caused me to bail on both the BG 10k and my fall marathon, but I am rounding back into shape.

More updates from training for Boston as warranted.