Blog closed...

Hi

I have stopped using this blog for now and moved to www.runningwithafriend.com

I think I have more options there.

Keep running!
Stephan

Running on coffee

32k 2h 41min

Almost! I did a trial run to see if I can keep running @ 5min per k for 30k.  I ran with a small bottle of coffee for the first time and it was great. It kept my hands warm, hydrated me and gave me energy when I needed it.

On the negative side I kept on looking at stray dogs to see if it isn't Happy. Happy went out on Thursday night and never came back. There are so many Happy look-a likes  in the city. I just pray that I will get know what happened to him. I just have nasty feeling that one of our neighbours may have killed him since they have complained about him howling from time to time. Apparently the superstition is that it is a bad omen. Meanwhile I miss the dog more than I thought I would.

Irene said today that if we feel this way about a lost dog how must people feel who lose their children. Not to mention how the Heavenly Father must feel about losing His children. 

Matthew 18:
  ¹² “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? ¹³ And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. ¹⁴ In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.

Keep running
Stephan

Marathon game plan

9.5k 51min

So far nicely on track to complete 70k this week. There is still no more news about the Chandigarh marathon that was said earlier to be on the 19th of February. This kind of thing cannot be left until the last minute because runners have to time their buildup just right to be able to give their best. Usually for a marathon I reach my peak miles around 2 to 3 weeks before the run and then have some time to taper and rest for the event. Being fit enough is just part of the preparation for a marathon. You also have to eat right and have the right gear and rest enough and have a game plan.

For the game plan the question is what can you trust your body to do on the day. If you aim too low you will feel you have not given your all. If you aim too high and start too fast you won't be able to keep it up until the end. Finding that magic pace comes with experience as you run the long runs before the marathon, but more so if you look at your previous track record for the distance. If you can run a steady pace throughout the race and are totally spent at the end of it, you have timed your race perfectly and that is what I always aim for, but have not been very successful at in the marathon. I have done it with half-marathons and also had a near perfect Comrades (ultra) marathon in 2006, but the marathon is difficult...

Maybe because of the pain-factor that always comes into it more than in shorter races. Will-power comes into it big time if your legs starts cramping and giving out and you feel nauseous and dizzy. So there needs to be some mental preparation as well. But the game plan helps to keep you focused even when it gets tough.

My preparation has gone very well so far this year. So I will try to go for my personal best which is 3 hours 34 minutes. If I can break 3 hours 30 minutes... That means I will have to run a fraction faster than 5 minutes per kilometer on average. The terrain is almost dead flat so I need not make any adjustments for ups and downs.

Anyway, there it is.  The Bible says do not boast about tomorrow.  It is not in my hands alone. I give this plan and myself into Your hand, Lord Jesus.

Keep running
Stephan

Haiku and prayer

15k 92min

Ran to Sushant's house (Sushant recognized me in the dark as I ran past him while he was cooling down after his run.) and back and then a nice, peaceful run next to the lake with the early light shimmering on the water. 
I usually let my thoughts wander anywhere they like to during my runs, but sometimes they become a prayer of thanksgiving or of asking blessings for someone. Today I again realized how important it is to often turn one's thoughts to Him who gave us life and salvation.

Reedy melodies
rhythmic footfall on the path
my silent partner

I just love Haiku as a form of poetry since it often describes nature so beautifully.  It is for me an impression - just a glimpse of something that your imagination can take further.

And so on my blog I also let my thoughts wander...
But coming back to the point: I long to become more a man of prayer.

Lolololololipop.

32k 2h45min (yesterday)

I ran to the botanical garden did 5 rounds and then came back again. I saw on mapmyrun that a route where you go somewhere, run a round and then back, is called a lollipop.   In this case probably a lolololololipop! Apart from freezing fingers I had a lot of fun  (for laughing out loud...)

I cannot think of anything else to write today.

Keep running.
Stephan

Counting blessings

8k 41min + 8k 61min



It is Republic day in India. The only sign of it on my run this morning (I did two circles of the lake) were the few policemen obviously getting ready to protect some dignitaries on their way to the festivities in sector 17. Freedom is something that you do not appreciate when you have always had it, but only when you have experienced oppression and bondage.

Most good things are like that. You hardly recognize them until they are taken away.  There's this old song from Amy Grant where it says "You don't know what you've got till its gone."  This is the version of Counting Crows: http://youtu.be/FdLEdkiXm9c
I know I do not appreciate my wife and my kids as I should. And what about my work and not to mention my health and the ability to run. Irene still cannot run due to her foot injury and she is getting rather frustrated with it. She will have to work hard to get out of the "bondage" that this causes. But how much more she will appreciate the ability to run again when that day comes.

 I guess what I am saying is "count your blessings". What have you got to be thankful for. Whatever it is, it can be taken away at any moment so appreciate it while you have it! Well, almost everything can be taken away. See what the Bible says about something that cannot be taken away.

Romans 8:
³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Keep running
Stephan