Before I get to this week's entry, props to my friend Patrick Brien, who stepped up with a donation. So ... where are the rest of you men? Just wondering ...
Now, on to our regularly scheduled blog entry:
Woohoo! If you go to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon site, at the bottom of the page, they have a countdown going. As of today, Thursday, Sept. 11, it said 30 days (and some hours and minutes ... and seconds ...)
Gotta say, I'm getting stoked 30 days out from race day. I'm coming off two really good, hard workouts: the 3 x 10K marathon simulation last Saturday and the 10 x 800 meters (also known as the Yasso 800s named after Bart Yasso ... see the video on last week's blog) workout Wednesday night. While I messed up the marathon simulation by going out too fast (the first mile was in 8 minutes ... like what was I thinking?), I was able to do some on-the-fly adjustments to keep all three sets fairly even at 53 minutes and change. The Yasso 800s were just long ... it was very dark when I finished on the track. You know the expression "we closed the nightclub," which means you stayed until the bitter end? I guess you could say I closed the track ... virtually no one was left by the time I got done. The point of the Yassos is that, given one has trained well, if you make it through all 10 800 meter sets (about a half mile each), the average time is a very good predictor of what you'll do on marathon day. I averaged about 3 minutes 40 seconds to 3:35 or so (the fastest was 3:26, the slowest 3:45). That, according to the workout, means I'm in shape to run a 3 hour, 40 minute to 3 hour 35 minute marathon.
All good on paper ... but I still have to run the race. Otherwise, what's the point?
Speaking of running the race ...
One of the recurring Bible passages that kept coming up in the last couple months, especially when I really need a kick in the rear to get going, was this:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, New International Version
In more modern-day language, we might understand it this way:
You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally.
I don't know about you, but I'm running hard for the finish line. I'm giving it everything I've got. No sloppy living for me! I'm staying alert and in top condition. I'm not going to get caught napping, telling everyone else all about it and then missing out myself.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27, The Message paraphrase by Eugene Patterson
I've subjected myself to training through the summer, which I have never really done before, and which has been the most challenging marathon build-up since my first one (when everything was the great unknown). It wasn't easy sticking to the schedule -- try running 10 miles after a long day at work, or 20 miles at 6 a.m. on a Saturday when you could easily be sleeping in. It wasn't easy to make sure I ate reasonably well (more on diet and such next week), and it wasn't easy giving up other things I would rather have been doing (like, well, sleeping). And it sure wasn't easy asking people for money, especially with gas prices going up along with other expenses. But, as the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth nearly 2,00o years ago, there was a reason to "beat my body and make it my slave," and it was more than just for the medal and T-shirt at the end of the race.
The prize is more lasting than one race. It's to call attention to the poor, more specifically, the poor in the Philippines, and the effort of Gawad Kalinga to improve their lives. A lot of people can talk about how sad it is that the less fortunate live the way they do, and that something ought to be done about it. But talking about it only goes so far. As James wrote in his letter to the churches:
Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? James 3:14-17, The Message
And then follow this idea with and equally awesome grouping of words Augustine penned:
What does love look like? It has the hands to help others. It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy. It has eyes to see misery and want. It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men. That is what love looks like.
So I trained, I sacrificed (yeah, even sacrificed some of my treasure to the cause as well ... you know, live what I talk, right?) with the idea that one family will benefit from our collective effort ... yes, you are in on this, too. I can say I love the poor all I want, but if I never follow it up with tangible action, all they would have been is just empty words. I'll let you all in on a secret that was shared only with a room full of people in Antipolo back in January. I was asked to preach the last Sunday our mission team from my church was there, and one of the comments I made was that I would do what I could to be an advocate for them back in the U.S., a land that has so much more opportunity and so much more material wealth than many of them will ever experience, than many of them would even hope to imagine.
This effort is just one way I am advocating for them.
The goal remains $2,300 to build one house for one family. As of today, Thursday, Sept. 11, we are at $945. An awesome effort, and I thank the Lord for you who gave. We still have a little work to do, and the deadline is Oct. 13 to hit that goal.
To give online, please go to my fundraising page by clicking here. It is a secure server, and Active.com will e-mail you a receipt with GK's federal tax ID number for your records. (ANCOP Foundation USA is the U.S. fundraising arm for GK.)
To give by check, please write to me at alan.llavore@gmail.com, which is set up soley for this effort, and I will send you details on how you can do that.
And, please, forward the blog link and the fundraising page link to others who you think may be able to help.
Oh boy! More videos!
This is where I got the idea to run Chicago ... well, I had the idea already; this just nailed it down for me. A bunch of people I train with (at the time we were gearing up for the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon in June) got together to watch "The Spirit of the Marathon" earlier this year, and afterward, I figured, why not this year? And, thankfully, I was able to get in with GK and help out the cause at the same time. As a runner, what more could you ask for?
The movie is coming out very soon on DVD, if you are interested.
And ... A lot can go wrong in a marathon ... and sometimes it goes wrong for everyone at the same time. The 2007 Chicago Marathon was halted because of high temperatures and humidity. Check out the video from the Chicago Tribune.
Training the remainder of the week (11) and next week (12)
Friday: Here's praying I can get out the door before sunrise for an easy 8 miles ... Update: whoops, didn't quite make that one ... so Friday is the rest day, and Sunday is the easy 8 miler
Saturday: 20 miles at Bolsa Chica State Beach, the last 20 miler before Chicago (and the fourth one in this training build-up)
Sunday: Easy 8 miles
Monday: Easy 10 miles
Tuesday: Cross-train and core work at the Student Fitness and Recreation Center at Cal State San Bernardino
Wednesday: Tempo workout, 10 miles total: 2 mile warm-up, 6 miles at 10K pace, 2 mile cool down
Thursday: 8 miles easy
Friday: Cross-train and core work at the Student Fitness and Recreation Center at Cal State San Bernardino
Saturday: 18 miles at Bolsa Chica State Beach with GK (some are doing 20-23 miles, but I'm starting to taper down my mileage to get the legs fresh for Oct. 12.)
Thursday, September 11, 2008
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