"What matters supremely is not in the last analysis, the fact that I know God, but the larger fact which underlies it - that He knows me.  I am graven on the palms of His hands.  I am never out of His mind.  All my knowledge of Him depends on His sustained initiative in knowing me.  I know Him because He first knew me, and continues to know me.  He knows me as a friend, one who loves me; and there is no moment when His eye is off me, or falters.  This is momentous knowledge.  There is unspeakable comfort ... in knowing that God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching ove me for my good.  There is tremendous relief in knowing that His love is utterly realistic, based at every point on prior knowledge of the worst about me, so that no discovery now can disillusion Him about me, in the way I am so often disillusioned about myself, and quench His determination to bless me.

- J.I. Packer, Knowing God

"But grow in the grace and knowlege of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  To Him be glory both now and forever!  Amen."

- 2 Peter 3:8

I love going to church.  I come home feeling properly fed.  I wish that I can feed myself better..even to the healthy degree as when I'm in fellowship. 

Happy Father's day!  God bless.

 YES!  I've just learned that I've been chosen out of a pool of runners to be one of the official pacers for the upcoming Seafair Marathon three weeks from now!!  WOW!    There will be 24 pacers total + one alternate.   For me, my responsibility will be keeping those that choose to run with me at a steady 10 min. 52 secs. per mile pace.  This will be a tagteam event meaning that I am to wait for my pacer partner to hand off to me at mile 19 and then I run to the finish!  This is so exciting!!  Why?  Because it's the responsibility that gets me going and it's quite fun encouraging those around me to get it done!  I can't run too fast or I'll burn out the runners and make them upset.  I can't run too slow (10:52 is slow by the way) or I'll fail to get these runners to meet their finish time goal (4 hours and 45 minutes).

Plus, I love the free perks:
top of the line running shoes
high tech shirt
hat
free entry into the Seafair Torchlight Parade 8K race a few weeks later
free entry into the Seafair Triathlon (which I'll skip since I'm not a strong swimmer)

This will be my second time being a pacer in this race.  What I loved about it was that at the end, my fellow runners were so nice to me and thanked me for running the correct pace and helping them meet their goal.  That was so sweet of them.

2006 Seafair Torchlight 8K - The running bananas!

The Seafair Torchlight Parade 8K was a BLAST!!  Running in front of (get this) 300,000 people really gets me going and my heart pumping!  Miles of fans watching and to run through.  That is AWESOME!  Wow, I'm just so thrilled!  I thank God for taking care of me..I'm all smiles!

As I was browsing or surfing Pandora, I discovered new music in many genres.  Right now, I'm finding humor in some of the songs that country singer Joe Dee Messina sings.  I mean, it's not nice to laugh at people's broken hearts and relationships, but dang!  This song by Joe Dee would definately cheer me up in a breakup of a relationship.  "My Give A Damn's Busted"..that's the title of this one song...and I'm sorry to be cracking up as I write this, but for some reason, I find it hard to stop doing so.  The lyrics talk about the recovery process of a broken relationship.  It's so funny and I see it kind of a pick-me-up kind of song for those sad times.  Joe Dee has a very beautful voice and she has this slight country slang that I like.  Anyway, heheh, I have to stop being so mean and thank God for His blessings upon this life that I'm in.

I was watching our DirectTV that we've just had installed last week.  Before DirectTV, I've been watching public television.  I don't really watch much TV, but our old TV was bleeding us with recurring repair bills.  So, I had the TV guy fix it once again, then we stored it away.  I then purchased a HDTV.  I hope it lasts longer than our old TV did.  So, this HDTV, without satellite/cable service, can pick up MOST of the public TV stations, except for ABC and KING5 TV.  So we chose to get DirectTV and so far so good.  I like the worship channels that they have there.  I was waching another channel which had Turning Point on the air.  I love what the bible says about us eventually having new bodies when Jesus comes back, and how we will never ever ever be away from Him again!  Can you imagine seeing all of your loved ones in Christ?  I miss my family and friends that have gone on before me.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.  For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

If you truly believe that, then you must be confident and happy such as I.  I had to talk about and quote bible verses during my mother's eulogy.  How can I not share His good news to those that don't know or are discouraged?  God's Word goes a long long way in stengthening and comforting our hearts.  I find myself very ashamed as I do think and pray, but I need to read and pray more so that I can grow spiritually.  I haven't been doing that as much as I would like to.  Life is so busy, but I never want to be too busy to build on our relationship together.  I don't want to become luke warm and like coals that are out of the fire..do you know what I mean? 

I ramble on I know.  God bless! 

What do you think?  If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine [secure sheep] on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off?  And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one [lost] sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off.  In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost. (Matthew 18:12-14)

Well, I don't have much to say.  I ran a half marathon recently with a time of 01:54:35 which is a 08:44 minute per mile pace that I did.  Can I actually do a sub four hour full marathon?  I don't know about that.  I'm aiming for 04:30 but if I feel that I have extra in the tank by midway through, I'll pick up my pace.  I still have until October 7th to train.  This weekend will be a 15 miler.  Following weekend 17.   After that is the BIG 20!!  I'm a little nervous about that one.  I suppose I'll just have to climb that hill when it actually comes.  Right now, I'm feeling pretty good.  I do have this new foot ailment though called Morton's Neuroma which is the pits to run with.  My coach tells me to relace my shoes so that I purposely miss the top eyes so to create more room for feet to spread as they impact the ground.  In addition, I'm to stretch my calves more.  Well, so far, so good.  Less sharp pain on the road helps a lot.  This is partly why I'm a bit concerned about the 20 miler.  I'll be purchasing new shoes well in advance for that weekend so to break them in properly.  The lacing technique helps that's for certain. 

Other significant items to note is my change in running technique/form.  I'm now running faster daily runs of 08:45 minute per mile pace instead of the usual nine minute.  No longer will I try and run with long strides.  Coach tells me that shorter strides and quicker turnover is more efficient for the body.  I'm finding that this is true.  I just have to get use to this..it's tiring on the body but I'm hanging in there..

I've been listening to county music lately.  Some songs are pretty deep and some are pretty sad, and then there are some that does pick me up.  Slow and steady music...yes, I'm in this mood..  

Awake, sad heart, whom sorrow ever drowns;

Take up thine eyes which feed on earth;

Unfold thy forehead, gathered into frowns:

Thy Saviour comes, and with Him mirth.

Arise, sad heart, if thou dost not withstand,

Christ’s Resurrection thine may be;

Do not by hanging down break from the Hand,

Which, as it riseth, raiseth thee.

George Herbert

The Dawning

I find myself to be obsessed with running.  I must be in order to meet the grand goal of finishing this route of slightly over 26 miles come October.   So this will be my third week of running 5x per week.  My feet are a little sore, but I can and must continue.   Ran 29.5 miles last week, and I'm working on ding 27.5 this week (including 3.5 miles in a few minutes from now).   Still visiting the gym 3x/week.  Drinking LOTS of protein shakes and taking BCAA supplements to curb muscle breakdown and enhance the recovery process.  They seem to be working..just not so well on my feet.  lol.   True, this will be my second marathon that I will be running in this life I'm in.  I plan on finishing it, and doing so with a smile! 

For The Honour <--click to sample

to worship, given over
abandoned to the ost amazin god
pure and righteous
there is no one like you
take your rightful place in our hearts
lord we long for you
desperate to see
your power fill this place
for the honour of the king
to declare your fame, eternally
for the honour of the king
everyday i live my life
for the honour of the king

I just finished my run this morning of 13.5 miles.  Total miles for the week is 29.4  Let's hear it for sore feet!  Wooohooo!    So this concludes another week that I've run FIVE times!  Yes, I will say that I'm proud of myself indeed!    My running coach says that I may hit a wall within the next two weeks due to the extreme change in weekly mileage that I'm running.  I'll just have to deal with that when it comes.  Push through it I must to improve.  My feet ache.  I've said that already haven't I?

Also picked up some sunglasses.  They are polarized and wow that makes a big difference in the sun!  No glare and the green looks greener and the vision is clearer in general over that seen with the naked eye.  I prefer the brown lenses over the gray. 

It's nice and sunny outside and in the lower 60's  Feels great!  This is a good start of a weekend.  Hoping that yours is just the same as mine. 

Nothing new really happening with me.  I am pretty proud of myself though I must say.  These past two weeks, I've ran five, yes FIVE, days per week.  That's about 25-30 weekly miles.  I'm finding that my favorite running shoes (I cycle through three pairs throughout the week) are my Brooks Beasts.  Why?  Because, they're a heavier shoe that can take the pounding and they stablize my feet as they impact the ground much better than the other models (which are Brooks Addiction and New Balance 667).  The New Balance shoes are so soft, but too soft is not good for heavy weekly mileage as I can feel my feet becoming more sore the more I use them.  So, I think I'll use the NB's on Tuesdays where I have track interval workouts.  Shoes are most important to have..the proper fitting shoes that is..or the dreaded shin splints will make a visit.  Yeeks!

Last Tuesday, I was astonished at how fast I was running.  As a warmup run, I ran two miles from this shoe store and over to this track.  Two people were pacing me on the way over there.  They were running about eight minutes per mile!  I normally run a 09:00 minute per mile pace but I loved how they ran using short strides/steps.  It seemed effortless to them and I tried to follow in their technique.  Shorter strides equals faster turnover of the legs.  Moving your arms as you run also has a direct relationship with how fast your legs go.  So, at the end of this run, I was so sweaty, but I also felt good.  Eight minute mile pace is good once in a while.  I would love to run a marathon at a eight minute per mile pace!  More realistic for me is running at 08:45 or 09:00 minute pace.  We'll see by October 7th...the Portland Marathon will be the true test. 

Oh yeah, I was at the gym last week and I lifted more than my own body weight for the first time in my life!  Woohoo!  That may not be saying much if I were to weigh in at less than 100 lbs would it?  lol   just kidding!

Love is always patient and kind.
It is never jealous.
Love is never boastful or conceited.
It is never rude or selfish.
It does not take offense.
It is not resentful.

Love takes no pleasure in other peoples' sins
but delights in the truth.
It is always ready to excuse,
to trust,
to hope,
and to endure...
whatever comes.
  

This week, I'm starting a new training plan.  For which race you may be asking?  It's been about two years since I've run a full marathon (26.2 miles) which was the Seattle Marathon.  Now, I want to focus and run the Portland Marathon which is October 7th.  Portland has less hills, but don't let those hills fool you.  Fellow runners tell me that the second big hill starts at mile 16 and, though true it decreases elevation from that point to the finish, it does so in a rolling hill fashion.  It's exciting to follow the running plan that my coach has given me.  It forces me to run 5x/week with a long run being every Saturday a.m.   Track/hill workouts every Tuesday should improve my speed. 

At this point, I've been visiting the gym 3x/week and running 2-3x/week including a long run each Saturday between 8-16 miles.  Man, I'm finding that my threshold of pain gives at about mile 14 and 15.  That's the point where I start to become noticably slower and eventually will shuffle my feet to get to the finish.  What's good about this is 1) It's good for me as my body adapts to the workload (as long as it's not too much of a workload)  and 2) I'm running with fellow runners who also share in my pain..lol! 

So, wish me the best?  Pray for a training season without major injuries?  Thanks!   

Onto another note.  My auto accident a few weeks ago yielded me the opportunity in purchasing another minivan!  Odyssey's maintain a superb residual value and I used my insurance proceeds towards a newer model.  Sure, I'm now making payments again (after about two years of payment-free freedom from the other van).  However, I love to carpool people and enjoy the fellowship from those experiences.  God has blessed me so much.  I do continue to pray that my leg scars eventually go away from the recent accident.  I'm still able to run and that is one huge blessing!