Full Moon

Tomorrow night is December's full moon.
It has not been cold enough for large sections of the St Croix to be frozen yet.
And, there is a Leeland Concert tomorrow night. So, the verdict is still out on whether I'll run tomorrow night.
In January, the full moon is on the 9th, a Monday.
In February, it's mid-week.
However, keep Feb 3 or 10th open as potential Full Moon River run nights.

It is time to Blog again

I am not the same person I was a year ago.
That is the best way to state it.
No, the best way would be to say that I have tasted the unmerited grace (and mercy) of a Father and it has left me profoundly undone. So undone, that only recently have I felt that it was time to begin blogging again.

Discs

In February of this year, my back began to bother me. It continued. About two months ago, it bothered me more. Some mornings, I couldn't get out of bed unless I shifted the direction of my head.
Since I haven't run much this year, I couldn't blame it on long runs. So, I blamed it on a lack of running.
I went to the doctor. She sent me to physical therapy. There was some relief. I went to the chiropractor. There was significant release for about 4 hours.
I returned to the doctor. I had an MRI.
I have a herniated disc between the C4 and C5 vertebrae.

I am not certain what this means for my running. Time will tell.

New Shoes

I have been running in Brooks Cascadias for nearly five years. I've burned through about 6 pairs. That's a lot for me. With only one exception, they have been incredible for trail running, snow running, ice running, road running and plain not running.

My good friend Pete does not run in Brooks. He has run in just about everything, pausing on Montrail for awhile. I love running with Pete, primarily because he never pushes anything on me. I hope that by now, he could say the same of me.

Several weeks ago, after running together at O'Brien, Pete let me try on his bright red Inov8s; I think they were the X talons: a minimalist trail running shoe. This means that it has very little heel cushion and very little midsole support.

They felt like nothing I've ever put on. So...... after finding a discount online store, and then adding my UMTR discount, I've temporarily taken a leave of absence from Brooks:

Zeke Makes the Big TIme

Our children take fiddle lessons from the renowned Brian Wicklund. The little kids listen to Brian's CD during playtime. Little did we realize the pervasive nature of blue grass music until this:



Watch it on youtube as well - help this video go viral!

My Plug for "A Mile of Dreams"

Recently, Marty and I met a great couple, Jim and Chris.
It turns out that Jim has written a book; about running.

Jim recently told me that Run N Fun is carrying it now. The book is other places as well.

Amidst all the books on running out there, try reading this one from someone in our backyard.

Here's a synopsis:

Jim Trevis, a former 800-meter runner, has written a novel called A Mile of Dreams. It’s central theme is Joe Mitchell’s desire to join the track team his senior year, fall in love and win the conference mile race. On deeper reading, the novel is also about strained family relationships as rural culture transitions from isolated, one-family farms to modern, commercial agriculture. The novel accurately portrays the toil that a dairy farm requires, consuming nearly every waking hour of the family. This constant grind gnaws away at the family physically and emotionally, jeopardizing the very relationships that family farms are supposed to embody. Despite the fact Joe’s absence threatens their livelihood, Joe’s father allows him to run track. That decision drives the novel into unexpected twists and turns. Having to reach their own grand pledge to help Joe achieve his dreams, his parents also come of age—once again finding that relationships— parents to son, husband to wife—are far more important than farm mortgages. The happiness and fate of all the book’s main characters hinge on whether Joe gets his chance to run the mile of his dreams. Signed copies of the book are available through Trevisbooks.com. Or it can be ordered through Xlibris.com (publisher), Amazon.com or Barnesandnoble.com.

A Good Movie

Marty and I have found that we prefer independent movies over box office movies, in general.
This last week, over the course of several evenings, we were hauntingly delighted as we worked our way through a Russian movie "The Island." We labored through the main character's endless and numerous trudges to get coal but found that "just around every corner" was another deeply insightful portrayal of mercy, forgiveness, insanity, compassion and hope.

This is a very moving and gripping story and I would recommend it highly to anyone who has despaired of their sin or has struggled to understand those who have.

Running for Something Bigger than Myself

If you are looking for a way to run for a purpose beyond just mileage or views or peaceful Saturday mornings, try this. I'm always amazed at what other people are doing for others.

RUN for HOPE 5K

Friends of ours support relief efforts in a village called Madala, outside Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Check out their website. Then click on the Home tab to see more.
They are holding a 5K race on May 7 at Como Lake to raise money to build a preschool in Madala.
If you can, take part.

Concert Tonight

Come to a great concert in Stillwater tonight.
Marty and I will be shaking hands and greeting at the door.

Ethiopia Photos

Emma is now back from Ethiopia. There are lots of photos, everywhere.
A fellow member of their group sent a link to her photos. You can see Emma in some of these.

HOPE ADOPTION

Everyone is pulling out their hair to find ways to fund their agency.
So, I know that the demands on your life are great.
HOPE Adoption and Family Services needs financial help right now. HOPE has been placing children into families for 35 years. We need help to end the fiscal year well.
If 4,000 people donate $7.00, we would be in a great position.
Check us out at:
http://www.hopeadoptionservices.org/

Join us and donate at:
http://givemn.razoo.com/story/Hope-Adoption-And-Family-Services-International

Thanks

2nd Annual Full Moon Frozen River Run Cancelled

Well, is it really a surprise?! Seven days of temperatures above 40 degrees. AND, the night temperatures never below 35 degrees!!

I have been holding out hope, nonetheless.

But today, only the SECOND day of above 40 degree temperatures, and the river is becoming un-runnable.

Let me explain:
I went out on the river this afternoon - in dress shoes and galoshes - because there were trucks and ice houses out there and I could literally see 10 inches of ice.

However, the St Croix River is fed by numerous streams and springs that, even in the coldest of temperatures, leave the banks of the river unfrozen. Today, as I drove to work, I could see from the top of the Fairy Falls hill road that the edges of the river were unfrozen. That always serves as my first gauge of the the state of the river. Then, down on the river, the sewage drain area north of the Stillwater gazebo had created a very large area of open water.

But here is the main reason that the 2nd Annual Full Moon Frozen River Run has been cancelled: presently there are pool of water on top of the ice and where there are no pools of water, there is slush ranging from 1" to 6" deep. There will be NO below freezing temperatures before Friday night, so the slush will only get worse. On a good day, I can run on the river on the hard packed snow from Marine to Stillwater in 2.6 hours. If we were to run on Friday night, it would be 3-5 hours of miserable slogging in ice cold slush. Sorry. Not my idea of a fun Friday night.

There is always another day, another cold winter and another run.

So, if you're looking for an alternative, join Marty and me for an incredible concert in Stillwater put on by the St. Croix Concert Series, a great organization that my law firm supports. Concert starts at 7:30. Drinks and food afterward at the Reve324 on Main Street. Hope to see you there; warm and dry!!

Thank goodness the iPhone can spell good!

This evening, I was typing in Holiday Inn into the notes section of my calendar for an upcoming event. As I mistyped Holiday, the iPhone happily took over.
It auto-corrected as "Hussy"

Day One in Ethiopia

Follow my daughter's days while in Ethiopia.
On her blog...you don't actually need to follow her IN Ethiopia.

It's -7 here but 70 in Ethiopia

Emma has made it safely to Ethiopia.
It was so nice to get her emails this morning.
Via her father, she will be blogging on her new blog page about her time in Ethiopia.
As is typical, you'll enjoy just about everything she writes.

Ultra Friends

Tonight, in the span of 15 minutes while rushing in to REI to replace a watch that broke, two friends from the ultra running community said hi; Steve Grabowski and Scott Mark.
What a nice surprise.
Thanks for saying 'Hi," and jumping in to my night. My head was down and tonight I would not have noticed anything but the floor. You both encouraged me greatly. Thanks.
Scott, sorry that I could not find your blog this evening.

"Oh How He Loves Us"

This song by David Crowder has been balm.
I thought it was a cover of a 16th or 18th Century hymn.
The theology is piercing, succinct and too great to consider with just a once-through.
In fact, the theology is clearer with free-flowing tears.

So I was surprised that it was written recently, real recently, by John Mark McMillan.

And then, his original lyrics have a story behind them, born out of something that involves grief. I don't know the story yet. The original lyrics state: "Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss..." I liked these but didn't know why until I read this from McMillan's blog:

The idea behind the lyric is that the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth converge in a way that is both beautiful and awkwardly messy. Think about the birth of a child, or even the death of Jesus himself. These miracles are both incredibly beautiful and incredibly sloppy ("gory" may be more realistic, but “Heaven meets earth like a gory mess” didn’t seem to have the same ring). Why does the church have such a problem with things being sloppy?

Do the Right Thing

Running ultras for the right reason....

That is a good thing to think about. It is one of the reasons I started this blog several years back; to wrestle with the questions associated with how I could justify running ultras in the face of a large family, a solo law office, and many other things.

I don't have the right reasons figured out. I have lots of the wrong reasons figured out. But just knowing the wrong reasons doesn't mean that I am doing it well. In fact, I think that one thing I could conclude after many, many miles and a few, fewer ultras is that it is critical to make certain that running ultras does not ruin or diminish the good things one has in life. Keeping tabs on that takes the wisdom of Solomon and much prayer.