August running

I haven't posted in a while - but hey it's summer and who wants to be inside or sitting in front of the computer?  In addition, life has been crazy busy between work and family.  Both my son's are going into special forces in the military, one Air Force - one Navy and our Navy guy was scheduled to 'ship-out' in late January, got a call this week and he may go Sept 12th!  He's ready to go but Mom and I are not emotionally ready, rapid adjustment needed on our part.  We continue to trust God in both His plans and purposes for the boys and now add His timing.  We know that God loves these young men more than we do, which is hard to imagine, so we are learning to trust and rely on God in ways we have never had to before - God, grant us more faith!

The months of July and August have been great running months, logged 143 miles in July and have about 150 in August, just gotta love the summer weather and running conditions.  Might also be the motivation of having registered for my first marathon, yikes! My goal is under 4:00/45 - I turn 45 on 11/16 and my time goal for the marathon is 3:50 so, yes, that's goofy but hey it works for me.!  All set for the Seattle Marathon on 11/27 - I'll be going light on the pumpkin and pecan pie at thanksgiving though (save mine in the fridge).   The boys and I ran in the Seattle Torchlight 8K on July 31 and had a fun time, over 2,500 runners and a sunny evening.  A bit warm for me (80-degrees) but fun, the guys did great and beat me easily but it was a good time, here's a pre-race pix of the runners and the "herd" on the Viaduct.

Finally, I think the part that I've enjoyed most of my summer runs is the time in prayer I've had with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He has been encouraging me and teaching me a lot this summer.  I'm reminded of the old song "he walks with me and talks with me along along life's narrow ways" - very true and I'm thankful for His interest in me and the details of my life.  I pray that we are all encouraged in the days to come and that we learn to see and hear God's calling and direction "with the eyes of our heart".

Vacation on the coast

I haven't posted for almost 30-days now and between work and life in general had been really burning the candle at both ends.  We have been down on the Oregon coast for the week at the Cannon Beach Conference Center and have had a great week.  It's been restful and a great time to enjoy my family - coffees with my wife, individual lunches with my son and daughter, and 6:30am runs on the beach.  As I've previously posted, my weekly mileage had slipped a fair bit due to my work schedule and so this week has been a great chance to get solid daily runs in - most runs 8-plus miles, did 12 miles on Thur and a shorter 6-mile run this morning - logged 34 miles so far and still have Saturday to get one more in. 

The mileage bump is good but the best part of this running schedule is that I've had a solid hour of running each morning, enjoying the scenery of Haystack Rock, the beach, and the coves south of CB - all why spending time with my God in prayer.  Although there are many "stressors" in my life right now, I've been so very grateful to God for His faithfulness and it's been in that overwhelming sense God's protection and provision that I've been singing and speaking praise to Him.  I believe God has given me this week to "rest in him" to almost "frolic" in the peace and joy of His mercy and grace - almost as if He is saying, Doug, it's good to just hang-out with you".  That my friends is a really, really good place to be!

Rough day - good run

Rough day at the office but was able to get a quick run in before the 7:20pm ferry home.  I only had about 20-minutes to run and knew that if I got home there was no-way I was going back out to run.  So I made up my mind that 20-minutes of running was better that zero-minutes and I would push-it and see how fast I could go.  Ended up being very happy with a 7:39 pace over 2.33 miles.  I'll tell you, a year ago I would have never guessed this old man could have gone at that pace, I'm grateful for healthy legs and lungs!!!  Hope tomorrow to get a longer run in and start to stretch out some miles but enjoyed my "speed run".  OK,seriously - I gotta comment on this... I track miles and pace on the Brook's Running Club group on Facebook.  Once you put in the details of the run you then are ask to note what "type of run" - this old guy has two answers... (1) long run and (2) Tempo.  Never thought I would click on "speed" but today I did and it felt pretty good.  That said, I will take a long run any day over this type of speed.  Now if I could have a long run with this speed, that would be ok :)

Long Runs are great

What a great day today was!  Attended an 8:00 meeting at the church, ran a few errands, and then got home in time to get a run in - no where to be until 4:00 so I laced up the shoes and hit the road.  Got 12.25 miles in and the weather was perfect, mixed clouds and sun and temps in the mid-60's.  The only challenge was traffic was heavy for the island since it was graduation day for Bainbridge High School.  Tried to stay off the main roads and being around the High School and managed to have have a great and safe run.  Overall, a great run with decent pace at 8:40 (total ascent was almost 2,000 feet - ouch) and the knee is feeling better.  I've realized the knee pain is tied to my quads so a bit of stretch before and during the run seemed to keep it under control - post run feels good too.

Tomorrow is Pentecost Sunday-rejoice in God's gift to each of us of the Holy Spirit and let's take on the boldness of Peter!  (Acts 2)

Big Weekend - No run (Grad & B-day)

Today was my first day back on the road after 4-days of celebration.  My son turned 18 on Friday and graduated High School on Saturday.  We were blessed in having family come in from Southern California and Canada to help us celebrate and honor his accomplishments.  The weekend weather was awesome which made the weekend events that much easier.  We had 18 for dinner after the graduation and then 25+ on Sunday for his birthday.  It was great for guests to be able to be out on the deck and the kids in the yard - even warm enough that a water-balloon fight broke out.  It was a very special weekend with family and friends.


I took today off to get my parents to the airport and catch my breath after going non-stop of the last four days.  Got on the road for a run around 2:30 and logged 8.5 miles in another sunny and 70-degree day.  Feels good to get the legs working and it was helpful to work off all the good food we ate during the celebration.  A big week at work but want to get weekly mileage back over 30-miles per week (only got 16-miles in last week running Sun thru Wed) and starting today with 8.4 is a decent start.

Quick run (literally)

A long day full of events I won't go into.  On the boat now and about to dock in Bainbridge but a highlight of my day was my quick run.  Got down to the boat late so didn't have a lot of time but REALLY needed to run.  Set off to see what I could sneak in and ended up with a short 3.4 miles but the highlight was that I logged an average 7:46mpm- yahooo.  That's a first for me!  As a typical runner I'm just glad to have gotten a run in - helped settle my mind and clear out the events of the day - perspective and trust in the only one who is trustworthy, my savior Jesus Christ.

Long weekend - Long Run

Blessed with a nice day here in Seattle and after two days of no-run, I was getting "grumpy & moody" like the shirt says that my daughter purchased for me.  Wasn't sure how far I was going to go, thought I would just head out and see how I felt.  After 3-miles I was feeling good so I thought I would stretch it out and blended into my 10-mile loop.  It was a good run and I felt really good all the way through, could have kept going but with the 3-day weekend ahead thought I would hold at 10-miles today and then shoot to get a longer run in on Sunday or Monday.  I am fighting a patella issue in my right knee though, it showed up about 1-week ago and really flares up on the downhill portions of the run.  I've had a patella strap that works on my IT band when it starts to "whine" and as long as I keep the strap good and tight it is helping my right knee.  Will do a bit of research online to see how I should be treating it post run.

Missed running 3-days this week but still managed to get 31-miles in total - not too bad.  Looking forward to a coffee with my wife this afternoon and a relaxing evening.