Quick Morning Run

This morning I had my best run since the accident in Birmingham.  It was still just a five-miler.  But, my pace was surprisingly brisk--especially in the last mile.  And, it felt great.  If I had been able to spend a bit more time, I felt as if I could really keep running at that pace another two or three miles.  Maybe, just maybe, I can ramp up for St. Jude--and hopefully, without injury.

October Totals

Despite a slow recovery from the Uttermost and the near-disastrous accident on the streets of Birmingham, October was a pretty good month: I finished with over 155 total miles.  And, my pace was a real surprise--albeit, coming in mostly in really short spurts.  Still, I'll take it. 

Wary of the Traffic

This past Wednesday morning while running in Birmingham, I was very nearly hit by a a speeding car. It swerved around a corner and zoomed toward me in the pedestrian crossing. I was somehow able to lunge to the side of the road before stumbling over the curb and going down hard. 

I've got a few nasty scrapes. And, I'm sore all over. My shoulder is particularly achy several days later. But, other than that, I count myself very fortunate.

You hear about stuff like this all the time. Thankfully, I'm back out on the roads--I've lost a couple of days of my scheduled training for the St. Jude Marathon and I'm no where near where I need to be on my long runs (my shoulder starts really hurting at about mile 4, so I am curtailing the length of my workouts for the time being).

You can be sure though: I will be far more wary than I ever have been before this brush with disaster.

This Is Why I Run

As if I needed yet another reason to run for the kids of St. Jude, a remarkable young lady like Hillary comes along. 

On the first Saturday in December I will join all the other St. Jude Heroes running the 26.2 mile course in Memphis. But, as great an accomplishment that will be for us, it pales in comparison to the race (both figurative and literal) that Hillary has run. 

She recently became the first St. Jude patient to cover the distance of a marathon while receiving inpatient care at the hospital.

Hooked up to fluids and an IV pole, with a mask covering her face to protect her from infection, Hillary walked the hallways and corridors in the Bone Marrow Transplant Unit at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. When she turned the final corner, a crowd of onlookers broke into loud cheers and applause. With confetti flying around her, Hillary hugged her mother, then members of her care team.

Wow. What an inspiration. What a story.

Keeping Going

"Motivation is what gets you going. Habit is what keeps you going." Jim Ryun

The St. Jude Memphis Marathon

In just a few weeks I will be running the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis. Once again, I will be running the 26.2 miles for a very special cause. I will be raising funds for essential cancer research. If you'd like to make a pledge, you can do so online right here on my St. Jude fundraising site. My goal is to raise $1000 for St. Jude Children's Hospital this year. Won't you help?

The reason I picked St. Jude as the focus of my fundraising efforts is actually very simple to explain: this nationally renowned children's charity hospital is one of the most remarkable and effective medical research institutions anywhere in the world. St. Jude has treated children from across the United States and from more than 70 foreign countries. And yet ability to pay is never an issue because St. Jude is the only pediatric research center where families never pay for treatment not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. Not one penny! Not ever! Zip! Zilch! Nada!

The treatment of children and the onging research at St. Jude includes work in bone marrow transplantation, chemotherapy, the biochemistry of normal and cancerous cells, radiation treatment, blood diseases, resistance to therapy, viruses, hereditary diseases, infectious diseases, and psychological effects of catastrophic illnesses. Vital work, indeed. And again, always made available to families regardless of their financial means.

Obviously, this kind of care is very expensive. Won't you help me support the remarkable ministry of St. Jude to children and families battling cancer? Please donate now and come back to visit my St. Jude site often. Tell others about what I'm trying to do. Learn how my effort to help find cures and save lives is going. I need your support to help me reach my fundraising goal for the kids of St. Jude. Oh yes, and do pray for my training!

It costs $1.8 million a day to operate St. Jude. Did you know that 70% of the funds come from the folks like you and me? That means your donation, no matter what the size, will help!

How your donation helps:

• Thanks to ordinary volunteers and donors like us, no family ever pays St. Jude for anything, including lodging, food and travel.
• St. Jude will continue to improve treatment of childhood cancer and other deadly diseases through its groundbreaking research.
• For every child treated at St. Jude, thousands more have been saved worldwide through St. Jude discoveries.

Thank you so much for your support!

We Did It!

"Have Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals And Take Baby Steps." Leah Busque

We did it! Together we did it. Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make the Uttermost Challenge such a great success. 500 miles run. 1500 miles biked. 13 miles swum. But most importantly, $30,000 raised for families in need. Sum Ergo Zoom! Soli Deo Gloria!

The End of the Beginning

And, we're off: the final two days of the Uttermost Challenge with the whole FCS community running and biking at the Shelby Bottoms Greenway trailhead. We are less than $5000 away from our goal of $30,000 for the Chalmers Scholarship Fund. It is, of course, not the beginning of the end. Rather, to appropriate the inimitable phrase of Winston Churchill, it is the end of the beginning.

Uttermost Challenge Update

Week 12 of the Uttermost Challenge is now in the books; I got in a good 14-mile long run this morn; and we've got just six days and about $13,000 to go.  Won't you help us?  Donate online at the Uttermost Challenge site. 

Fewer miles running this week--because I've finished the run portion of the challenge: 500 miles in 12 weeks.  I finished the swim portion last week: 13 miles.  So now, only 80 miles of biking remain--with one week to go.  I want to finish those miles with the whole FCS community at the Uttermost Festival this coming Thursday and Friday at the Shelby Bottoms Greenway near downtown Nashville.

Uttermost Challenge Week 10 Update

With less than three weeks to go I've now run 447 miles, biked 1200 miles, and swum 10 miles. We're getting so close! The end is finally in sight!

But, now comes the hardest part: finishing strong, staying injury free, and of course, raising the scholarship support for deserving, needy students.  That after all is why we've undertaken this challenge in the first place.  Currently, our donations have topped $12,000. Won't you help us get all the way home? Please visit our website to donate right online.  As always, every little bit helps: pennies, nickels, quarters, dollars, widow's mites, whatever.

Speed and Distance

Uttermost Progress: Week 7

This week my riding was largely interrupted by a heavy speaking and travel schedule.  But, I was still able to get in nearly 52 miles of running.  As a result, I am more than two-thirds of the way to my goal--with six weeks remaining in the challenge.  If I am able to stay injury-free, it appears I may be able to accomplish this once-nearly-impossible goal. 2013 miles! 

Uttermost Progress: Week 6

I am now at or over the halfway mark for all three disciplines: run, bike, and swim. But, with the academic year getting underway this next week, the miles are going to be a lot harder to come by--simply because the time is going to be a lot harder to come by.  Thankfully, I am just a bit ahead of schedule at this point.  And, so far, I've been spared all but the most minor of injuries.

Now that there is just a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, it is time for me to start ramping up the fundraising part of the challenge.  I still have $22,000 to go to reach my goal.  Won't you help me get across the finish line?

Uttermost Progress: Week 5

After five weeks I'm over halfway on both the bike and the swim--but, still a long, long way from done. 

This next week, a couple of our schools begin teacher orientation and in-service preparation for the coming academic year.  I'm privileged to be able to speak at five different training sessions at three different schools.  It is in times like this that the great need to bless as many students as we possibly can weighs on me.  It's precisely why I've undertaken this challenge.

Won't you help me raise scholarships for worthy, needy families? http://ow.ly/nvgBK

Uttermost Challenge: Week 4

The first month of the Uttermost Challenge 2013 is now in the books.  This week, we made good progress, particularly in the biking and swimming portions of the challenge.

Monday: 3 miles running, 59 miles biking
Tuesday: 5 miles running, 59 miles biking, 2000 yards swimming
Wednesday: 6 miles running, 59 miles biking, 4500 yards swimming
Thursday: 3 miles running, 66 miles biking, 4000 yards swimming
Friday: 7 miles running, 67 miles biking, 4000 yards swimming
Saturday: 5 miles running, 13 miles biking
Sunday: Sabbath Rest

Total running miles: 29
Total biking miles: 323 
Total swimming yards: 14,500

Overall running miles: 147
Overall biking miles: 701
Overall swimming miles: 8

Running miles goal: 500

Biking miles goal: 1500

Swimming miles goal: 13

Grand total milage goal: 2013

The purpose of this challenge is to raise $30,000 in scholarships for worthy, needy students.  I am entirely resolved to make certain that no child be denied a Christian education simply because of a lack of financial means. 

Won't you join me in the important cause?  You can donate to our scholarship fund right online--any amount, large or small is very much appreciated.

Uttermost Challenge Week 3

Three weeks in and the miles are starting to add up.  The end is hardly in sight, but it appears that I am on track.  The swimming portions start this week.

Monday: 5 miles running, 12 miles biking
Tuesday: 6 miles running, 14 miles biking
Wednesday: 3 miles running, 18 miles biking
Thursday: 7 miles running, 24 miles biking
Friday: 3 miles running, 76 miles biking
Saturday: 9 miles running, 12 miles biking
Sunday: Sabbath Rest

Total running miles: 37
Total biking miles: 156

Overall running miles: 118
Overall biking miles: 378

Running miles goal: 500

Biking miles goal: 1500

Swimming miles goal: 13

Grand total milage goal: 2013

I am taking on this challenge in an effort to raise $30,000 in scholarships for worthy, needy students.  I strongly believe no child should be denied a Christian education simply because of finances. 

Won't you help me help them?  You can give right online--any amount, large or small is greatly appreciated.

Uttermost Challenge: Week 2

Total running miles: 35
Total biking miles: 142

Day 14: Sabbath Rest
Day 13: 9 mile run and 20 miles on the bike
Day 12: 5 mile run and 36 miles on the bike 
Day 11: 7 mile run and 22 miles on the bike
Day 10: 6 mile run and 24 miles on the bike
Day 9: 5 mile run and 20 miles on the bike
Day 8: 3 mile run and 20 miles on the bike

Why am I doing this, you ask? Well, simply because no student should be denied a Christian education simply because of a deficit of funds. So, I am asking for your support to provide them with scholarships through the Chalmers Fund. Won't you help?

Uttermost Challenge: Week 1

This summer I'm running 500 miles, biking 1500 miles, and swimming 13 miles--along the way, I'll be joined by some of my friends and students. 

Why would we take on such a huge challenge, you ask? 

Well, we want to raise $30,000 for the Chalmers Fund to provide scholarships for worthy, needy students. Won't you support us?  You can give online right here, right now.

Meanwhile, here is the progress report for the first week:

Total running miles: 45.92

Total biking miles: 80.55

Day 7: Sabbath Rest

Day 6:  3.5 mile run and 22 miles on the bike

Day 5: 10 mile run and 22 miles on the bike 

Day 4: 3 mile run in the Firecracker 5K

Day 3: 8.25 mile run and 12.75 miles on the bike

Day 2: 11.4 mile run and 11.8 miles on the bike

Day 1: 9.77 mile run and 12 miles on the bike

2013 Uttermost

This July, August, and September, I will embark on the toughest physical challenge I have ever attempted: running 500 miles, biking 1500 miles, and swimming 13 miles.  The purpose is to raise the much needed financial support for the Chalmers Fund to provide scholarships to needy, worthy students.  This year, our goal is to raise $30,000.  

Won't you help?  

You can pledge a flat amount, pledge by the mile, or pledge by the month.  You can be one of our title sponsors.  Whatever.  Every little bit helps and every gift, large or small, is deeply appreciated.

Just Another Day at the Beach

Itinerary for the San Antonio Spurs:

1. Fly to Miami.
2. Beat LeBron and the Heat.
3. Show the world real class in the process.

Just another day at the beach.

Next Up: The Uttermost Challenge

With this one now in the books, it is time to lay out the next challenge.  So, I thought, "Why not go for broke?"

And, that's exactly what I'm going to attempt to do.  

Over the course of the summer I am going to try to tackle 500 miles running, 1500 miles biking, and 13 miles swimming--for a grand total of 2013.  Along the way, I hope to garner support for our Chalmers Scholarship Fund benefiting deserving, needy students.

A great cause deserves a great challenge.

Country Music Marathon

The torrential rains did little to dampen the spirits of the 30,000+ runners on Saturday, April 27 who took to the streets of Nashville to run in the St. Jude Country Music Marathon.  Along with the others, I had a wonderful time on the soggy, splashy, squishy course.

Although I think we all would have wished for drier conditions, the fact that it was so wet kept the temperature nicely in check--I for one never got over-heated or even thirsty.

In the end, I had a much better time than I expected: 1:52.04 (I was hoping just to be able to break 2:25.00).

A good time was had by all.

Marathon: Just Around the Corner

We're less than three weeks away--and I'm not nearly ready.  But, I will be before the gun goes off--at least, I better be.  Hoo boy.  Work to do.  Hills this weekend.

Getting in Some Base Miles

This week, I'm ramping up consistency in preparation for the Country Music Marathon at the end of April.  So far, so good:

Monday: 3 miles just before the rain.

Tuesday: 3 miles in the early afternoon and 2 more after dinner--with a bit of interval training along the way.

Wednesday: 4 miles in the brisk, sunny morning.

If I can get in a couple more good morning runs, I plan on a long run Saturday afternoon.

Running in the Snow

Though it is hard to describe, there really is something wonderful about running in the snow for me. It heightens my senses. It deepens my joy. It lifts my eyes to the horizon.  It strengthens my resolve. It extends my mileage. Like walking barefoot along a deserted Florida beach at sunrise, or coming upon a surprising misty vista in the Smokies, or coming home after a difficult day to Karen's warm embrace, it just makes me smile.