The Choices We Make

Years ago as a youth I would read the book series called, "Choose your own adventure".  It was a book that allowed the reader to follow along the story and at key points in the book the reader was required to choose from a few different scenarios, which allowed you to feel apart of the story.

Sometimes those choices led to victory others it led to less than desirable results. The moral to this story is that you could make a choice and not have someone tell you how the story would end. You ultimately determined the outcome of the story based on the decisions you made.

Do you remember the movie 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade'?

There is a portion of this movie that shows what rejection of truth can lead to...



Indiana succeeds and finds himself in a room with the last Knight, kept alive for seven hundred years with the power of the Grail, which has been hidden among dozens of other cups. Elsa selects a gilded cup encrusted in jewels for Donovan; when Donovan drinks from it, he rapidly decays and crumbles into dust. Indiana, recognizing that the Grail would be that of a humble carpenter instead of a wealthy king, selects the plainest-looking wooden cup in the group, which turns out to be the correct vessel. He fills it with water and quickly takes it to his father, pouring the holy water onto his chest and giving it to him to drink, which instantly heals his gunshot wound. As they prepare to leave, the Knight warns them to not take the Grail past the great seal in the temple's floor, but Elsa disobeys, causing the temple to collapse. Elsa falls to her death into an abyss because she will not give Indiana the free hand with which she is trying to grab the Grail; Indiana nearly suffers the same fate until his father convinces him to let it go by calling him by his preferred name for the first time. The Joneses, Marcus, and Sallah narrowly escape the collapsing temple, while the Knight watches them with his mission accomplished. The four then ride out of the canyon, and into the sunset.

Reference: Indiana_Jones_and_the_Last_Crusade

As we know things in real life are much different than the movies. Movies are fantasy, whereas, our lives are real stories being played out daily. Our choices have an eternal impact. When someone dies in the movies due to poor choices or unforeseen circumstances it moves on to the next scene and we never really think twice about their eternal destination. In the script we call life, we too have adventures and choices to make; much like in Indiana Jones and 'Choose Your Own Adventure' where God gives us the opportunity to make choices too. This is what is called free will. He doesn't make up our minds for us. He allows us to choose how we want to walk through this life He has blessed us with. Sometimes we make wise decisions and other times we make not so wise ones. He still loves us regardless if we make poor decisions. Just like my earthly father would instruct me, God instructs us too when we choose poorly. It is a learning opportunity and we must decide if we will embrace the correction or reject it.

Embracing the correction will lead us down a path of righteousness and success. It will mold us and shape us into maturity. Rejecting the love and correction will only make things worse and can lead to destruction. When we refuse to make wise choices and reject counsel and correction it shows our lack of maturity. In the movie, the last Knight responds to the character Donovan after he is greedy and drinks from the jeweled cup saying, "You have chosen poorly". When Indiana Jones drinks from the cup that is plain the Knight expresses, "You have chosen wisely". 

Once again, God gives us free will and we have the option to choose. When we reject truth and what is right it will lead you down the path of rebellion, destruction and possibly death, but when we choose wisely and follow the Way, the Truth and the Life our lives will be blessed. This does not mean bad things won't happen. Life isn't always peaches and cream. We live in a fallen world that is full of sin and corruption. This is why it is so important to choose wisely and walk in truth and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. It is my desire to 'choose wisely' and hear my Heavenly Father express to me when He calls me home, "Well done thy good and faithful servant!"

So when you come to that fork in the road where you must make a decision, pray about it and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you into making a wise decision. When we listen to the voice of Truth we are always choosing wisely.

There's no place like home

I have not written in several days mainly because I have wanted to have a breathe of inspiration to write about or even something informative for that matter. My training has been doing well lately and I have steadily increased my mileage over the last 2 weeks and am feeling good. My ankle has been responding very well and is getting stronger with each day and hasn't been as tight in the cold as it had been.

Last Friday evening the family and I ventured up to Northeast Kansas to visit my family and celebrate my niece's 6th birthday and a belated Christmas since sickness and winter weather prevented us from making the annual trek north during the week of Christmas. I love my family with all my heart and enjoy when I have an opportunity to go home for a few days; even though it isn't the home I was raised in. Another thing that I enjoy when I go to visit my parents is the food that they prepare. I can always count on having some very hearty meals when I go up there, but I have to be careful or else I will overindulge and not even bat an eye. Saturday was no exception. I ate very well and ate some more; not to mention a cupcake for the birthday party.

When we had traveled up on Friday the weather was an unseasonable 70 degrees. Crazy! When we got up on Saturday morning the temperatures had fallen to the low 20's and stayed in the 20's all day with an occasional snow flurry or two. After eating some good food and some sweets I knew I needed to do my due diligence and ensure that I was being wise about my caloric intake since I am doing the Zeal for Life 90 day Challenge. It is my goal to lose weight, trim up and still feel good.

I love running in the extreme weather, but when you are not totally prepared for the cold weather it can be challenging. I packed light for our trip and didn't really observe the weekend forecast and hence I did not pack a lot of warm running clothes. Nonetheless when I decided to run Saturday I wasn't worried too much about it and took the bull by the horns and just did it. I dressed in a long sleeve shirt, shorts and my Nike stocking cap and took off for a nice, cold run. Let's just say the weather was of course getting colder by the minute and I was about 30 minutes from dusk. The bone chilling wind from the north howled fiercely. As soon as I turned north to run towards the track my entire body was numb; especially my face and hands.

I hadn't been able to run on a track since my last visit home a year ago during Thanksgiving and though it was cold then, it was nothing like 22 degrees and wind chills in the single digits. Call me crazy for running in this, but I love training in the elements to build up my mental toughness and abilities to overcome extreme conditions. Each time I circled the track I braved the wintry blast from the north and then slowly warmed up as I turned to go south on the backside of the track. I did 10 laps, two and a half miles, on the track along with the half mile there and half mile back to my parents house. A three and a half mile run in those conditions made me an instant candidate as Mr. Freeze.

Once my body thawed in the warmth of my parents home, I settled in to have an enjoyable evening with the family opening Christmas gifts and enjoying a large plate of Chili Nachos; one of my dad's specialties and a family favorite. It felt great knowing I didn't have to worry about what I could eat or not eat after burning 650 calories in my afternoon workout. I have to say that I am extremely blessed to have a loving family and the opportunity to make wonderful memories with them.

Looking forward to seeing them again soon when we have Micah's birthday party next month. And just like Dorothy clicked her heels three times in the Wizard of Oz and stated, 'There's no place like home'.  Whether it is in frigid Kansas during January or nestled in my home in Oklahoma where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, I can honestly say there's no place like home!

I love a rainy night

Last night I was planning on laying low and munching on some food and watch some television before going to bed for the evening; however, my plans changed. Once I started calculating my calories and foods I had eaten for the day, I was about over my daily limit. This was not acceptable in my book and I made an executive decision. I was going to go for a run and I didn't care what time it was nor what the weather was doing. The longer you read my posts you will learn that I love running in the elements. It is challenging, but liberating.

Don't get me wrong, I like running in ideal conditions: mid-60's, slight breeze, sunny. Who doesn't? I prefer to not run in the extreme heat, but have run many times at night when it was still 100 degrees outside. Doesn't make for a fun workout, but still you sometimes have to get the miles in.

Last night when I decided to take my evening run, I started at almost 11 pm, so by the time I completed my 2 mile trek it was getting pretty late and to get up for work in the morning would be an adventure all on it's own. As I stepped outside with my shoes laced up, my music and Nike app ready for play, my stocking hat pulled down and my long sleeve tech shirt on for extra warmth, it was still raining. It had been raining off and on for the evening and so it made me happy. The night air was cool and the splashes of rain drops numbed my face as I took off into the wind and down hill. About mid-way through my run, the rain stopped and it remained windy and chilly, but I pushed on anyways up the hills and down the streets of Shawnee and ended up running my 2 miles in 17:13; which is around an 8:35/mi pace. So while i have some work to do to get back into shape and improve my speed, I am not disappointed.

If you have never run at night, you would be in for a big surprise. There are a lot of challenges and it will keep you on your toes. I don't always exercise the greatest night running etiquette, but I am safe. Some runners run with lights and reflectors. I run with light colored clothing and ensure that I am aware of my surroundings. Running in the dark can be difficult and dangerous if you aren't familiar with your surroundings. Potholes and other road hazards can wreck havoc on ankles and knees, curbs and drainage culverts, on-coming traffic and limited visibility can wreck havoc on your nerves. I always run against traffic so I can see what is coming towards me and allow myself adequate room and time to adjust and get over to avoid traffic. Even when I have been as cautious as possible there are still instances of a crazy driver out there who is texting and driving or not paying attention and regardless of the precautions you take, they don't see you.

I have found that running at night is a good way to unload the stress of the day and to wear my body down before I go to bed. There are pros and cons for running at night and while running during the day would be my preference, I still like the challenge of the dark. So whether or not you are running in the rain, snow, sunshine or moonshine, the important thing to remember is to go and enjoy the outdoors and get a good workout in.

Here's to a great weekend for running!

Scarecrow Runner

One foot in front of the other

How to start the new year on the right foot....would mean putting one foot in front of the other and move forward. You can't move forward if you are sitting down, lying down or refusing to do anything and standing in one spot.

Moving forward requires movement. Something called inertia. Something called force. Something that many of us don't do enough of. Too many of us sit around and think too much. We have really great ideas and thoughts and dreams, but then we never put any ink to paper or action to the vision.

You must make up your mind to do something and put action with it. Once you are moving you will gain momentum and the more momentum you have the less likely something is going to stop you. I won't lie. There are times we face huge hills and bumps and obstacles in our daily walk, but with Christ we can do all things through Him who gives us strength. And so what if you hit a wall and your progress stops. Shake it off and change direction!

Instead of staying dormant or idle. Change your momentum and your direction. Go up and over! Or go to the right or left and go around. Or even go down and under. Don't let something keep you from progressing. Whatever it is that is in front of you cannot stop you, unless you believe it can. Doubt and fear is your enemy. They will keep you from dreaming, moving forward and ultimately experiencing your breakthrough. Replace them with faith and believe.

On November 11th, the day after setting a PR for a 10K race, I thought my running days were going to be significantly minimal and possibly taken away. I was having a difficult afternoon and had been arguing with my wife about something very ridiculous. I went up into my attic to get some warmer clothes from a storage container since I wanted to set an example to my children that their father is smart to wear warmer clothes when it is cold outside. As I was descending out of the attic, of course with an attitude, I decided to step down from the second rung on the ladder, which is about 2 1/2 feet off the ground. I had done this countless times before without thinking about it and never had any issues. But apparently the angle I was turned at, when I stepped downwards, all my weight and the momentum came with me and was all on my right foot. When I landed on the ground my ankle snapped over and sent me backwards and on my back. I don't remember the entire incident as I went into shock.

As I landed on the floor I was immediately nauseated and had horrible pain in my ankle. I knew from previous ankle injuries on this particular ankle that this was not just a simple twist. I had really done it this time. All I could think of was, "all my training and running is done", "I have totally screwed it up". I actually thought my ankle may be fractured. Instead of enjoying a Thanksgiving party I was laid up on the couch with ice and watching t.v. and seeing the swelling increase.

The next day it was huge and I could not go to work. I was laid up for 2 days. I had x-rays come back saying I had a slight fracture and was told to visit the Orthopedic surgeon. He didn't agree with the x-rays and said he was treating it as a severe sprain and to begin rehabbing it as soon as I could to prevent apathy in my muscles.

I was relieved, but also frustrated because for the last 2 months, the swelling has been slow and the pain has still been present at times. I was ready to get back on the road and get back to training. I did not want to wear a protective boot and I did not want to be prevented from running again.

Slowly the pain has gone away in the last month and I have stretched it and kept it protected. I set a goal for myself and was inspired to reach my goal. The goal I set for myself was to be back to running, in some capacity, by January 1st.

On Tuesday, January 1st, I laced up my shoes and put my ace protective wrap around my ankle and headed out for a run. At first I had some tenderness in my ankle and I was a bit 'rusty', but I kept pushing and ended up running 2.16 miles in under 18:00. I was very excited that I had been able to run under a 9 minute mile pace. I was even more excited to run at all. Since that evening I have been able to run twice more as I am not wanting to overdo it and pace myself. In my first week back on the roads I was able to put in a total or 8 miles.

I could have stopped trying after injuring my ankle and just not even tried or allowed myself to stay negative, but I kept moving. I kept myself positive and determined. I was going to run again regardless of what I had to do. I put one foot in front of the other and made myself move forward. I put the pain and discomfort behind me and put my sights in front of me.

If you are frustrated or discouraged with something, don't get down and let those thoughts take you captive. Keep positive and speak life over yourself and you will begin to see a positive impact on you and those around you.

Blessings!

Stretch

Down for the count

Last Sunday afternoon we were debating on whether we would attend one Thanksgiving party or both and how long we would stay at each. It didn't sit well with me because I wanted to go to the party at my friend's house rather than the other party we were invited to attend. It caused a great deal of friction and division in the home that day. Fifteen minutes prior to our departure, I climbed up into the attic to retrieve some warmer outer clothing due to cooler temperatures that had set in. I found what I wanted to wear and proceeded down the ladder back into the house. It was at this point that things took a drastic turn for the worst. Like so many times before, I was standing two steps from the ground, which equals about 2 1/2 feet off the ground, and lunged down to the ground. Instead of gracefully landing my leap, my world turned upside down instantly and my right ankle and leg were immediately engulfed in agonizing pain.

My ankle was obviously weakened from the 10K I had run the day before and when it made contact with the floor it snapped over causing excruciating pain and extreme trauma to my ligaments and ankle. I writhed on the floor in agony and flashes of all the training I had put in for running sped through my mind. My initial thought was my running career could be over for an undefined amount of time. I just wanted this pain to subside and be able to overcome another one of my classic blunders.

Over the course of the next couple of hours I found myself laid up on the couch with ice packs and starving. My family went to the picnic without me and I had to settle for some NBA basketball on T.V.  The swelling in my ankle grew and manifested into something very nasty and my ankle became far from recognizable. I had only seen similar sights one time before from a sprain that I had endured and this one looked to be far, far worse. The next two days my ankle swelled to the size of a grapefruit and became black and blue and quite stiff. I proceeded to go to the Urgent Care facility and have it examined. After an examination and x-rays I was informed that I had an avulsion fracture on my ankle and would have to wear a boot and go to an Orthopedic Surgeon for an additional exam. This was not sounding too good for me and I was not looking forward to it.

My appointment would be for the following day, Wednesday, and I dreaded every waking second prior to its arrival. Then the moment of truth came when I walked into the office of the surgeon and sat on the table in his examining room. The doctor darkened the door way sooner than I anticipated. He was an older man well into his sixties and of Indian descent. He took a look at my ankle and felt around on it, probing it and asking me several questions. I answered his questions and gave him a background of my ankle injuries. He studied my unflattering extremity and said that it wasn't fractured and that he would treat it like a severe sprain. He informed me to put heat on it, do stretches and to make sure I kept it supported. I was told the swelling and pain would go away in the next couple of weeks and the range of motion for my ligaments would return a little later as well.

After his diagnosis, he walked briskly back into his office and I was on my way back home; feeling confident. To hear good news that my ankle was not fractured and that things would be getting better soon immediately made me feel better and added a spring in my step. While my ankle is still swollen and experiencing some discomfort, it has greatly improved over the last 48 hours and has restored my hope for getting back onto the roads for some running. I may be down for a short while, but I am far from out.

Back in training

I have not written on this blog in months and feel like it's time to re-establish my "training blog".
After experiencing and enduring through 2 bouts with Plantar Fasciitis since last December I totally stopped running due to the pain.

In April I competed in the Brew to Brew 44.5 mile relay from KC to Lawrence with 4 of my ACCC cross country teammates. It was a great time of catching up and running. We each ran 2 legs of the 44.5 mile relay. I ran the 5th and last leg. That day started off cool and ended up at 92 degrees, unseasonably warm for April 1st.

That was the first real running I had engaged in for several weeks. I flirted with the idea from time to time through this past summer, but spent time recovering and healing up from the PF. Finally in August the pain had left and I was ready to begin training again.

I had my sites set upon the Dirty30: Zombie Run, the 1st weekend of October. I didn't run it for time, but more for the experience with my friend Randee Stone. Avoiding the zombies was the most fun of the whole day. Weather that day was less than ideal. It was 45 degrees and very windy. Jumping in water and mud wasn't a big deal during the course, but after the race was over, we literally were ice cubes.

The following week I was dealt a blow of 2 days of vomitting, diarreah and no fun. The Saturday after feeling normal again, I was dealt another blow: A Kidney Stone. Worst pain one could endure. It was unbelievable and I thought I was going to die. It hurt so bad.

I was fortunate to survive and get over the pain and discomfort; however, my training took a significant hit as I went from running 3-4 days a week to 1 run each week for a month. Surprisingly, I didn't lose much and was happy to get back to running during the last week of October.

On November 8th we ran at the airport trails and did a 6 mile test run and I felt pretty good logging a time of 56 minutes. Then on Saturday, November10th, I participated in the 1st annual OBU Bison Stampede 5K/10K run. I did the 10K - 6.2 miles in all. It was a windy morning and the temps were in the low 60s. For the lack of training I have had over past month I felt I did amazing. I set a PR for the 10K with a time of 54:24.

From this time on I will be training for some longer distance races and can't wait to see where this road leads. My goals are to run in my first marathon and ultra race. Here's to cooler weather and the 2012/2013 running season.

Anthony

Flat Tire

Hello there my running comrades...I again must apologize for not writing anything in what seems like a decade. I haven't done much writing or running for that matter in the last 2 months; especially with the holidays it was very busy around my house and I just took a siesta and did some other things.

I figure I should probably start things back up again. A new years' resolution, but 1 month late. As they say, "Better late than never!"

One of the things that sparked my desire to get back into it was through an email I received this week from a fellow writer who asked if they could be featured as a guest writer on my blog. I have given my blessing and will post the writing when I receive it. So stay tuned...more on the horizon.

You may be curious to know why my title is called flat tire...well, because I have had a "flat" tire so-to-speak the past 2 months. Back on December 5th after running that evening with our local running club I noticed discomfort in my right foot; particularly near my heel. It did not feel well and became so painful that it was difficult to even walk on.

The next day as I got up for work was not pretty. I hobbled and hopped around my house like an elderly man...it was a sad sight, but mostly painful. I could barely walk. When I got to work I began to research what may be causing this pain and learned that it was heel spurs/Plantar Faciitis...not what I was desiring to find. It turns out that it is very painful and can last a long time.  Both of my parents suffered from it and were in pain for a solid year....I don't think so! I am not about to be sidelined for a year after getting back into shape.

So I took an evening off and ran the following evening. I ran okay but still had noticeable discomfort in my heel as I ran...the longer I ran, the better it was, but still uncomfortable....when I was done, the same scenario played out and I again felt handicapped. I took another night off and proceeded to run again and still had problems. I then made a painful, but necessary decision to let my foot have some rest and time away. So between December 8th and January 29th, I did not do any kind of running or working out at all. Some days would be really painful and other days were more manageable.

I began wearing some high arched soccer style flip-flops and put some supports in my shoes and things began to improve...it is apparent that I have high arches thus causing more problems than I would like to have. Monday, the 30th of January came around and I actually felt very good and decided that I would break my time away from running and go for a run...

On a side note, I had been invited by some college teammates to join them in a race held on April 1st. It is a 44.4 mile relay event and I wanted to participate, so I said I was in...so now I have committed myself to train for something and was not totally sure if I could go through with it or not, but I was signed up.

Monday evening rolled around and I ventured out and met up with the running group that I go with and we ran a 5K...I wasn't going to go very fast and was going to just baby it, but my body said otherwise...i felt like a caged animal that had just been released. My legs and mind were ready to go and instantly snapped into running mode and thus I propelled myself into a faster than planned pace.

I ended up finishing the 5K in 25:08. Not my fastest time nor was it my slowest time ever. It was still an 8:30/mi pace and only about :30/mi off my pace that I was running in early December. The nice thing was that I was pain free during the entire run...my biggest problem was the workout my lungs got....they were tired :) and then I got home and rested and iced my heel and again the pain flared up by morning and I felt incapacitated again...but I wasn't as bad off as I have been in the past.

I rested yesterday and am ready for another go at it tonight...probably not going to push too hard, but am going to get 3 miles in and see where I stand after this evening...here's to new tires on the old model.

I will leave you with this quote that I came up with on Monday....

"Runners never get old...they just have high mileage"

it doesn't matter how old you are physically because anyone can begin running...some have run more than others and those who have run for a long time have just logged a lot of mileage...kind of like a car does after a few years.

Until next time....Scarecrow Runner