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After taking my normal rest day on Wednesday (Day 24), I ended up missing my run on Thursday (Day 25) due to a brief stomach illness, but thankfully was able to pick back up with week 4 of my “Return to Running” program on Friday afternoon:
- 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
- 3 x 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown
Friday’s Run (Day 26)
I started off from my house, and ran through the streets of Bellevue in a steady rain that was quite heavy at times. My legs felt reasonably fresh after two days off, though I tried to keep my pace fairly chill. The temps were relatively warm, and the rain not very refreshing, which left things feeling quite muggy. All-in-all though I was pleased with the run. It is interesting though how after taking two days off the aching in my left leg returned. It had been MUCH better on Monday and Tuesday, but was back on Friday. Strange! In total I finished 45 minutes of running and just over 7 minutes of walking for a total of just under 5.8 miles completed.
- Miles: 5.79
- Time: 52:17 minutes
- Pace: 9:02
- Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#7)
- Route: Streets of Bellevue
Saturday’s Run (Day 27)
Brian agreed to run with me again this Saturday, and we started off with our running group from the Bread & Co parking lot. They planned to run to Percy Warner Park, and then onto the main drive of the park. I’m supposed to avoid significant hills, so we joined them to the main entrance of the park, and proceeded to run the infamous “zig-zag” route through Belle Meade created by our friend Edward. It was very humid during the run, but we kept the pace extremely chill, and I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation with my friend. We ended up having to add a little bit on to the end of the route to finish the intervals. In total we finished 45-minutes of running and just under 17 minutes of walking for a total of 6.1 miles completed.
- Miles: 6.12
- Time: 1 hour 1:53 minutes
- Pace: 10:07
- Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#1)
- Route: Zig-Zag Route – Belle Meade
No running today (Day 28), since it is my rest day. Finished 23.8-miles this week. Hope to start week 5 tomorrow.
Cross-Training (Day 26)
- Pullups >> Test Day – 12 consecutive reps completed
Cross-Training (Day 27)
- Stationary Bike >> 30 minutes completed
By Timothy Agee
Do we choose what we desire?
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (I Corinthians 10:13, ESV – emphasis added)
There is no doubt that the biblical view of homosexual lifestyle is increasingly under attack in our culture. Within the past couple of weeks, I have read columns written by members of the mainstream media that called our viewpoint “completely and totally stupid” and “hateful bigotry.” While this is distressing to Christians, it should not be surprising. We must remember that our message is “foolishness” to the world:
“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” (I Corinthians 1:18, ESV)
One thing about this discussion that is surprising to me, is that when faced with this topic, many Christians will first argue that homosexual desire must be a choice rather than a true yearning that occurs within an individual. Going down this road will immediately illicit a strong response from anyone who supports a homosexual lifestyle, and the rest of our message will most likely be lost on them. I agree that the practice of homosexuality is a choice, which is contrary to God’s will:
“For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” (Romans 1:26-27, ESV – emphasis added)
Considering that Olivia and I have shown no signs of musical ability, we are quite proud of how much progress Kate has made in her piano lessons over the past couple of years. Here are a few short numbers I recorded tonight…Enjoy:
When the Saints Go Marching In (0:31)
Dance Theme – Variation (0:42)
Green Frog Hop (0:33)
We’ve been having fun tonight with the kids asking Apple’s Siri a bunch of silly questions. This was one of my favorite responses:
Yesterday’s Run (Day 22)
Yesterday marked day 2 of week 4 in my “Return to Running” program, which includes:
- 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
- 3 x 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown
Yesterday also marked my reunion with the Bellevue Trio (Nathan and Paxton) for a morning run. I arrived a bit early at the Edwin Warner nature center to get in my walking warmup, and then we did the remainder of the run on the Harpeth River Greenway and Edwin Warner Park. It was very good to be back running with the guys, and my legs felt fantastic. After my fairly brisk run on Monday night, along with an intense leg workout, I thought I would be toast. However, we still kept the running pace around an 8:30 average. In total we finished 45 minutes of running and just over 9 minutes of walking for a total of just under 6 miles completed.
- Miles: 5.91
- Time: 54:19 minutes
- Pace: 9:12
- Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#1)
- Route: HR Greenway
No running today (Day 23), since it is my rest day. Hope to pick back up with week 4 tomorrow.
Cross-Training (Day 22)
None
Cross-Training (Day 23)
- 100 Push Up Routine >> Week 4 / Level 3 / Day 2 – 141 total reps completed.
I started week 4 over again this week because of all the difficulty I had going through the first time. Definitely easier than the first time through for Day 2.
- Pullups >> 25 total reps completed
- Ran out of time for my core workout. Hope to get it in on Friday or Saturday.
For students in my Wednesday night class on Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: Handouts and Notes for Acts Chapter 19:1-20 are now available online. Lord willing we will cover this text during class tomorrow night at 7pm at Bellevue Church of Christ!
Yesterday’s Run
After a rest day on Sunday (Day 20), yesterday marked the beginning of week 4 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:
- 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
- 3 x 15-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown
This is by far the biggest jump in running time since the program started, moving from 30 to 45 total minutes of running. I just started off from my house and ran through the streets of Bellevue. When the first running interval started, my legs felt fairly rough. The gears were definitely grinding. However, this gradually got much better throughout the first interval. By the second interval, everything felt great and my stride felt smooth. This resulted in a fairly brisk pace, which was very comfortable. I was surprised how good my legs felt all the way through to the end of the final interval, and there was almost no hint of aching in my leg. In total I finished 45 minutes of running and just over 8 minutes of walking for a total of just under 6 miles completed.
- Miles: 5.98
- Time: 53:11 minutes
- Pace: 8:54
- Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#1)
- Route: Streets of Bellevue
Cross-Training
- 100 Push Up Routine >> Week 4 / Level 3 / Day 1 – 120 total reps completed.
I started week 4 over again this week because of all the difficult I had going through the first time. Moving back to Day 1 was definitely easier than the first time through, though the shorter breaks still makes it quite a challenge.
- Pullups >> 23 total reps completed
- Balance Squats x 25 reps (each leg)
- Calf Raise Squats x 25 reps (2 x 20lb dumbbells)
- Wall Squats – 90 Seconds
- Step-Back Lunges x 15 reps (each leg with 2 x 20lb dumbbells)
- 3-way lunge x 15 reps (each leg)
- Chair Salutation x 2 (30 sec each)
- Toe Roll Iso Lunges x 20 reps (each leg)
- Hip Hike 2 x 20 reps (each leg)
- Monster Walk with Band 3 x 10 reps (each leg)
- Clamshells with Band 2 x 15 reps (each leg)
- Toe Flexor x 60 reps (each leg)
- Dorsiflex Raises x 75 reps
Days 4 and 5 from week 3 of my “Return to Running” program are now in the books, and I’m looking forward to starting week 4 on Monday. Week 3 has included:
- 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
- 3 x 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 3 to 5+ minute walking cool-down
Yesterday’s Run (Day 18)
On Friday I met up with Nathan at Bellevue Church of Christ for an easy effort in a steady drizzle through the streets of Bellevue. It was good to get back out there with Nathan again. My legs were a bit fatigued after Thursday’s run and leg workout, but I still felt pretty good throughout, especially with the easy pace. In total we finished 30 minutes of running and just over 10 minutes of walking for a total of 3.78 miles completed.
- Miles: 3.78
- Time: 40:01 minutes
- Pace: 10:36
- Shoes: Saucony Kinvara 3 (#7)
- Route: BCOC loop
Today’s Run (Day 19)
This morning I decided to start at the same place as my running group, even though I couldn’t do their 11.2-mile run. I had not seen many of them in a couple of months, so it was good to re-connect. Brian was just coming off of the 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indy last weekend, and doesn’t have another race on the schedule, so he agreed to join me for my modest workout. We kept the pace very chill on the moderately hilly route through Percy Warner Park, but everything felt really good. The aching in my leg was actually a lot better than during the previous couple of runs. In total we finished 30 minutes of running and just under 11 minutes of walking for a total of just under 4 miles completed.
- Miles: 3.9
- Time: 41:58 minutes
- Pace: 10:46
- Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#1)
- Route: PW main drive – 7 to 8-mile loop
Cross-Training
Yesterday: None
Today:
Elliptical >> 1-hour completed – I never run with music, but this is one of the things that gets me through a workout on the elliptical machine. Today I hit the elliptical hard, and a lot of that was fueled by listening to “Second Coming,” which is the new album from Stryper. It is basically a greatest-hits album, but all of the tracks were re-recorded, and they are actually better than the originals. They are such gifted musicians and Michael Sweet’s voice still sounds amazing.
- 100 Pushup Routine >> Week 4 / Level 3 / Day 3 – 154 total reps completed
– The target for today was 160, but I crashed again in the 5th set, only getting 34 out of 40. This is the second day of week 4 where I haven’t been able to get all the reps done on the first try. I think I’m gonna start week 4 over again next week, and see if I can build up a little more strength before taking the jump to week 5.
- Pullups >> 22 total reps completed
Beast Mode…ON!
Today’s Run
After getting the all-clear from my doctor to resume running this afternoon, I picked back with day 3 of week 3 of my “Return to Running” program, which includes:
- 3 to 5-minute walking warmup
- 3 x 10-minute run / 1-minute walk
- 3 to 5+ minute walking cooldown
It’s been 5-days since my last run, and it was great to be back on the road. It is interesting that the aching in my leg was worse today than the last day I ran, but it is nice to know that there is nothing structurally wrong, since my MRI was clear. Even with the aching, the run felt great. I started off in the parking lot of the Bellevue United Methodist Church, and ran through the surrounding neighborhood. I took a slight detour in the middle of my second segment to take a look at the new bridge which will further extend the Harpeth River Greenway. I even ran across the bridge, though there was nowhere to go on the other side.
Anyway, in total I finished 30 minutes of running and just over 7 minutes of walking for a total of just over 4 miles completed.
- Miles: 4.08
- Time: 37:43 minutes
- Pace: 9:15
- Shoes: adidas Energy Boost (#1)
- Route: Beech Bend, Harpeth Bend, etc.
Cross-Training
- 100 Push Up Routine >> Week 4 / Level 3 / Day 2 – 144 total reps completed.
The last set called for 36, but somehow I managed to get in 40. It helped that Kate was counting for me, which provided a little more motivation to get through them. - Pullups >> 21 total reps completed
- Balance Squats x 25 reps (each leg)
- Calf Raise Squats x 25 reps (2 x 20lb dumbbells)
- Wall Squats – 90 Seconds
- Step-Back Lunges x 15 reps (each leg with 2 x 20lb dumbbells)
- 3-way lunge x 15 reps (each leg)
- Chair Salutation x 2 (30 sec each)
- Toe Roll Iso Lunges x 20 reps (each leg)
- Groucho Walk – 45 seconds
- Hip Hike 2 x 20 reps (each leg)
- Monster Walk with Band 3 x 10 reps (each leg)
- Clamshells with Band 2 x 15 reps (each leg)
- Toe Flexor x 60 reps (each leg)
- Dorsiflex Raises x 75 reps
I received the results of my MRI this afternoon, and…
Everything looked good. I’m free to continue with the “Return to Running” program, and training for the 2013 ING New York City Marathon. Leaving the bench and headed back to the road!
It’s amazing how a healed stress injury can feel so much like the beginning of a stress fracture, but it makes sense that whenever bones heal all of the connected nerve fibers will also be affected.
Whatever the case, I’m glad to be back….again! Thanks to everyone for your prayers and encouragement. They are greatly appreciated.
My conversation with Sara (she’s 3) in the car after midweek Bible study…
Me:
Sara, what did you study about in class tonight?
Sara:
5 pieces of bread, and 2 fish
Me:
What did Jesus do with those 5 pieces of bread, and 2 fish?
Sara:
He ate them
That’s a MUCH different story than I learned…