A New Normal

This past week has been one of adjusting back to life in the States and with my family. My running, when I've been out has been great, but with all the little things going on around my life it’s been difficult to get them in. Part of that is because my youngest daughter (Daughter #3) is off in college. I missed her graduation from High School and the great trip to take her to college. So I'm trying to discover a new normal around the house with just my wife and son. It is vastly different then I imagined.

I think I'm getting to the point in my life that normal means things change...and I have to get to the point that it’s okay for things to change. I'm a planner by nature. I plan everything in my life, even my home-coming from Kuwait...but as others have pointed out...life is what happens while you are making plans. So change is a constant...my goal is to learn to ride out the changes and learn to adapt as quickly as I can to this new norm...while it last. And if all else fails...I can go get a run in.

Back to the Fires

I have to be honest...running with camels isn't fun at all. They are always stopping to scratch themselves on the street signs. Here is one of my running buddies...scratching himself on the post...I just ran off and left him.

Well, I'm home now. Back to southern California and our wild fires. We have a fire right here in Palos Verdes today, so I had to alter my course, but still got a nice 7 mile run in this afternoon. Also the weather here is so much nicer then what I had to deal with in Kuwait. So I'm not going to complain about anything.

This past 6 months I was working with the US Army at Camp Buehring in Kuwait as the senior ranking chaplain. Being an Air Force Chaplain embedded with the Army had some very interesting twist to getting the job done, but in the end it was and always has been the same job...taking care of Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines. I had the chance to meet and work with incredible people and we as a nation should be very proud of our service men and women. Also this was the first time I worked with our National Guard. I had the pleasure of working with units from Oklahoma, Alabama, Minnesota, and Wyoming National Guard. Their professionalism and heart to serve was second to none. My prayers are with them daily as they go about their duties and responsibilities.

My goal for this year was to run 12 marathons in 12 months…so that one when down the drain really fast. Before I deployed to Kuwait, I twisted my left knee during the Surf City Marathon which caused me to drop out at the 18 mile point…then the following Friday I re-injured the same knee running my Air Force Fitness test. I then flew to Kuwait the following week. So I arrived in Kuwait with a bum knee and feeling very out of shape despite having just finished 7 marathons in the past year. I set two goals for myself. The first was to lose 30 pounds in my 6 month deployment and the second was to prepare myself for a marathon on my return from Kuwait.

One of the advantages of being deployed is that the food is the same day after day. Selecting low fat diet really wasn’t hard…staying away from the Ice Cream was…. So over the 180 day, I went from about 194 to 163. Talk about the difference the weight makes…I feel so much better losing that weight.

My second goal was to run a Marathon…well I’m signed up to run the Marine Corp Marathon in Washington in October. This year I’ll be running the race with my oldest daughter who lives in the DC area. It will be her first marathon and I’m looking forward to enjoying the adventure of running around DC with her. Another side note to this is the fact that I’m moving to DC as well at the end of September. I have an assignment working there starting in October. I will miss California and Los Angeles, but this move gets us closer to family back east…so it is a good move for us at this time in life.

Who knows since I’m back east there, I may even try to do the JFK 50 miler in November.

Home

I'm back. I returned home today after 6 months working with the Army in Northern Kuwait. Give me a couple of days to get back on schedule around here and I'll be back to blogging soon. Just to keep you up to speed on my running...I did run about 600 miles while I was gone, that included about twenty-one 5K fun runs and one Half Marathon.

Sorry...I'm out of contact

Sorry, but this will not be kept up to date for a few months. My work requires me to travel out of country and for all kinds of reasons, this Blog will not be updated. For my friends...thanks for your prayers.

Running...In Memoriam

Tomorrow, I will toe the line with a few thousand fellow runners at the Surf City Marathon. Many of us will be there for different reasons but with one goal of finishing 26.2 miles. As we struggle along the Pacific Coast Highway at Huntington Beach, we will each make the journey in our own ways. Yes, each one of us will be placing one foot in front of the others, but some will be in wheelchairs, and some will run on artificial leg or legs. But the distance is the same. The test is not only physical…but more so a test of our mental and spiritual abilities.

For most first time marathon runners and many non-runners, they see the marathon as only a physical task. But those of us who have accomplished the task before know that in the final measure of the race, is it’s the spiritual side of the equation that tips the scale from not finishing to finishing the distance.

In October 1977, I ran my first marathon. At mile 23, I was beaten. I was on the verge of quitting. Snow flurries swirled around me. As I broke the crest of the hill walking, there before me were a handful of people clapping and yelling encouragement…still I wanted to stop…but one elderly man setting in a wheelchair on the side of the road caught my attention. He was clapping and yelling for us to finish. On his lap was a list from the local newspaper with the name and number of each runner. He looked at the paper then at me. I was walking at the time. And I heard him call my name. “Don…you can finish this.”

With tears in my eyes, my body tired beyond belief, I found myself running. In those final three miles, every time I wanted to quite and walk…I remembered that man in the wheelchair…and I kept going…for him. That connection for just a quick moment on that cold October morning got me to the finish line.

This marathon tomorrow will be my first since my father died. My dad saw a few of my High School races, but he never saw me run a marathon. But I think, as I run tomorrow…he will be there by my side. As I make each stride, as my body fatigues from the distance and effort, and as I fight back the desire to quit, I will remember him. And that will give me the toughness to carry me to the finish line. So this race tomorrow is for my father…my mentor and friend.

Keep a health perspective on life

With everything going on in my life, it seems the last thing I want to do this weekend is run another marathon. My training has been awful for the past two months. So why bother? Because it is there and I love the challenge.

To be truthful, this run is not about time. My goals are simply to enjoy the day, the fellowship of other runners and complete the distance. A final reason is that this will be the last marathon I run for a while. My work requires me to put on hold my goal to run a sub 4 hour marathon until next year. In fact my updating this blog site over the next several months will be difficult.

What I would like you to take away from this rambling today is that life needs to be lived. Do the things that you can...but don't get upset if your plans have to be placed on hold. As it says in Ecclesiastes, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace."

Yea...it’s an old passage that you might have heard before like in the 1960's when it was a hit song. But...the truth remains. There are seasons in our lives, just like there are seasons in the year. So this Sunday, I'll be there in Huntington Beach to run the Surf City Marathon...and the weeks following...I'll be off to the other side of the world to take care of our wonderful sailors, soldiers and airmen serving in the Middle East.

Gulf Island National Park

I'm still visiting with my mother and family in Mississippi following my father's funeral last week. I have found the time healing and at time fustrating...so I've headed off for some runs over old courses I ran in high school. One of my favorite runs was through the Gulf Island National Park that is near my home. Back when I ran through the park it was a state run facility and the roads were shell covered paths...today...hard black top surfaces. Still there was something fun and relaxing in seeing the Gulf at dusk. The cool temperatures also helped remind me that I really like living in Southern California now. Still it was good to be home.

I know many of you have offered up prayers for my family and me...thank-you. Your words and thoughts have meant a lot to me. I'll be headed home this weekend to prepare for the Surf City Marathon on the first. So keep running.