Week 9 of 16: Overcoming the blahs ...

I'm not sure what it is, but the past week has just been flat in so many ways. Maybe it was the let down from our annual church summer camp, or that I ran 13 miles that Sunday evening, and followed it up with 10 miles the next night. Could be, maybe, a post-Olympic let down (like, what occupied my seldom-used TV other than that?), or just that flat spot that sometimes happens during a 16-week run-up to a marathon. Or, it could be that I looked at the fund-raising progress to $2,300 for Gawad Kalinga, and see that it hasn't budged for a couple weeks ... and the Bank of America Chicago Marathon is Oct. 12.

Whatever the reason, and even though physically I feel great, I had lost a little enthusiasm, and getting on the trails or into the gym was just a workout, or just a chore, rather than being something that is a building block to a much larger effort: to raise $2,300 that would build a home for a family in the Philippines and to run a sub-4 hour marathon in Chicago (maybe even 3 hours, 30 minutes, fast enough to qualify for the Boston Marathon in my age group).

Then I came across this video posted by Olympic marathoner Ryan Hall and Josh Cox (BTW, he's working towards a master's in Christian apologetics at Biola, where I earned a certificate in the same discipline a few years ago).

The way I see it, the Lord used it to speak volumes to me ... maybe He will to you, too ... check it out:



Talk to any veteran marathoner, and he or she will tell you that it's a given that you'll hit dead spots in training: the legs are just dead, or you have no energy, or you're just not motivated to get out there and do the work. Mentally, emotionally and spiritually you just get that blah feeling.

It's interesting, because during the marathon, you do hit a mile, or two, or a bunch of them, where you feel like that. As you push through those flat spots in training, it prepares you to push through those rough spots on race day. And, along with just physically putting one's head down and plugging along, for me, it helps that I fall back on my relationship with Jesus Christ. Not that I watch "The Passion of the Christ" the night before a race, but, like Ryan Hall, I remember His pain and suffering for me, which was meant to restore all mankind's fellowship with God, which God designed from the very beginning, but was ruined by the fall of Adam and Eve. And, I remember grace, amazing grace, that God so freely offers all of us.

Then I figure, what's a few days of the blahs or a bad mile or two (or three) in training or in a marathon? If I can pour myself out as Jesus did, as Ryan Hall describes, both physically and spiritually, in training and on race day, and point to my Lord and Savior for bringing me through (Isaiah 40:27-31) ... well, it's pretty awesome stuff when you sit down and think about it ...

So I'm doing this because ...

The goal remains to raise $2,300 to build at least one home for a family in the Philippines (see the Aug. 10 blog entry for vids from GK as well as a mission trip I went on in January). As of today, we're STILL at $620. That's great, and I thank all those who have already donated to the cause.

But we can do better ...

And I'm praying everyone else will be listening to God's still, small voice for His direction as well. Deadline to donate will be Oct. 13 -- the day after the marathon, if you are waiting for me to finish it before contributing -- but please don't wait that long.

To give online, please click here. The advantage of giving online is that your donation is instant, and Active.com will e-mail you a receipt with GK's federal tax ID number for your records (yes, your donation is tax deductible).

However, if you can only give by check, please leave e-mail me at alan.llavore@gmail.com, and I will send you info on how you can give that way.

And don't forget ... please pass along the link to the blog and the fund-raising page to family, friends and co-workers ...

Training this week
So even though I had the blahs, I still managed to do this:
Monday: 10 miles easy
Tuesday: cross trained at Cal State San Bernardino's Student Recreation and Fitness Center
Wednesday: Tempo run, 2 mile warm-up, 6 miles at 10K pace
Thursday: cross trained, core work at home
Friday: Easy 8 miles
Saturday: 20-21 miles at Bolsa Chica Beach with GK Hero's group
Sunday: Rest day, finish up the month's study in the Book of Jonah with Jonah 4 at church (yet another object lesson to look beyond one's self).

Training next week
Monday: Easy 10 miles
Tuesday and Thursday: cross train at Cal State San Bernardino's Student Recreation and Fitness Center
Wednesday: Track work, 10 x 800 (about a half mile) at 3 mins., 30 sec pace, with 3:30 recovery
Friday: Easy 8 miles (last Friday off for the summer before Cal State San Bernardino goes back on a regular 5/40 schedule)
Saturday: 18-mile "marathon simulation" ... 3 x 6.19 mile loop, with 1 min. between each set; set 1 @ 55 mins; set 2 @ 53 mins.; set 3 @ 51 mins. or faster