Mark 262

Insanity

2012-01-26T06:27:00.000-06:00

I’ve tried resolutions in the past years and I’ve blogged about them as well. This year I actually avoided resolutions. I feel like I’m continually trying to improve myself in some form or fashion. The improvement could be based on trying to draw closer to Christ, being a better husband or father, getting faster or stronger, and getting healthier. So, it’s really about continuous improvement.

I’ve been hearing about Insanity for quite awhile from people that have gone through it. Most of the reviews have been super positive. I purchased the Insanity program back in the beginning of December in hopes of starting it during my Christmas break. Unfortunately, the Stained Concrete project got in the way and I wasn’t able to do it. For one, the house was a mess and two, doing the floors was pretty insane.

One of the coolest things about doing Insanity is that Ursula and I are doing it together. We’re now toward the end of the 3rd week. We keep encouraging each other and we’ve been good about staying on track.

Insanity is crazy interval cardio training… also known as MAX Interval Training. It pushes you to get stronger at your pace, but pushes you! I really like Shaun T. and the videos so far. They are definitely challenging. I don’t think there’s been a video that I’ve been able to completely perform. I’ve been getting stronger, but the cardio is just insane.

Some things that I really like that Shaun T. says throughout the videos:

Push through! Push through! Push through!
Dig deep!
I’m not trying to hurt you, I’m trying to help you!
That #$^#& was bananas!
I’m talking SPIT!
Peace out!

Only in the 3rd week, I can definitely feel and see results. I‘d definitely recommend this program to anyone that is trying to get fit or fitter. :) The key to this program with any program is to know your body and do what you’re capable of.

I like how the people in the video are real… as in, that they have to take unscheduled breaks as well. I also like that you don’t have to use special equipment for the workouts. You’ve got what you need! Dig deep and do it!

A Few Things About this #CLEMarathon Blogger

2012-01-24T17:12:00.000-06:00

Taking a cue from fellow Cleveland Marathon Blogger, Beal, I thought I’d introduce myself.

My name is Mark and yes, I’m addicted to running. All you’d have to do is my ask my wife, kids, or coworkers, and they’d tell ya! I wasn’t always like this… I actually hated running! Gasp! Yes, I was one of those disbelievers that running could actually be fun and enjoyable.

First of all, I was born in Cleveland. I lived there for 5 years until we moved out into the suburbs… North Ridgeville. I was never really active in high school sports with the exception of bowling. Then again, there’s not really any running in bowling. As well, the cardio isn’t popping off the charts with bowling. After high school, I served 8 years in the Air Force. Once a year we had to take a fitness test to show how healthy we were or weren’t. During that test, we had to run a mile and a half. I thought I was going to die every year! Did I ever train for it? Nope and of course, by not training for it, I dreaded running. I did enjoy racquetball because it just short spurts of running.

Post Air Force, I moved to Dallas, TX, in which I did normal things, but never really went out of my way to exercise. Fast forward to December of 2007 when my sister Denise came to visit me for the Dallas White Rock Marathon. The marathon was such an inspiration. It was awesome to see the excitement of the marathon environment.

It’s so cool to read old blog posts when I was a non-runner. It’s fascinating to see the evolution of I cannot to I can!

Denise was a huge inspiration to me to get me started on running. At the same time I knew that I’d need to lose weight, but more importantly change my lifestyle to be healthier. As well the company that I was working at (and still working at) had a Biggest Loser contest. I won that contest by dropping 25 pounds. That was a crazy time that I experienced a huge paradigm shift of living healthier.

Since the healthier lifestyle, I really took up running. I trained with groups, trained on my own, and then back to training with a group. I have ran 50+ races. I love the race environment! I train for the race environment! Over the last 3 years, I ran 13 Half Marathons and 6 full Marathons. The Marathon is by far the most challenging thing that I’ve ever done. Each time that I run it, it’s brand new!

Out of the 6 marathons, Cleveland has been my most well executed marathon. I’m so looking forward to a strong repeat experience.

My ultimate goal is to run a Sub 4 Hour Marathon. I trained really well for the Dallas White Rock Marathon, but the weather did me in. Yes, I’ll blame the weather. I honestly pushed my training, but listened to my coaches and didn’t overdo it.

I have a very supportive family. I’ve been married for 21 years and have 2 awesome teenagers in high school. I’m blessed to have them in my life!

I enjoy pushing myself to get stronger and faster, but I also enjoy encouraging others to take up running. One of my greatest joys of running has been to see my son getting the running bug. We have grown closer in sharing this bond. As well, he’s learned the value of commitment and determination. He has only been running about a year and has pretty much past me up. Here’s a knock out picture from his first Half Marathon where he beat me by 20 seconds. Being a teenager, he’s not always crazy about the training. But, again, he’s learning the value of commitment!

I hope this gives a little more insight to this Cleveland Marathon Blogger. Also, a little more of a difference is that I’m used to running in the opposite extreme weather conditions. Yes, I’ve run in 90-100+ days… I try not to, but it can be done. Hydate, hydrate, hydrate! I’ve run in a 25K race at midnight in the middle of the summer. You know the race is going to be crazy hot when it’s called El Scorcho!

It does snow a couple of days a year here and I always get out and run in it. It’s such a novelty for us here in Texas. Of course, I love getting strange looks when running when it’s snowing.

Ursula Hits the Floor

2012-01-03T08:30:00.000-06:00

Today is a big day for Ursula. She hits the floor fulltime as a Stylist at Green Peridot in Frisco. She has been working there for 18 months as an assistant. Most hairstylists are very eager to jump on the floor to get things cutting. A majority of the time, that eagerness & impatience shortcuts the learning process. (pun intended) Ursula took advantage and seized the opportunity to work as an assistant to the owner, Daniel Lewis for a majority of the 18 months. While assisting for him, she was able to learn from the best. She’s ready to put this knowledge to work.

During her time at Green Peridot she has not only assisted, but has worked on several clients. During that time she has gained their trust and they couldn’t wait until she is fulltime.

I’m a bit biased, but Ursula really cares about her work and the people that take a seat in her chair. Heck, she’s been doing my hair for 20+ years.

If you’re looking for a new hairstylist or want to try out one of those Brazilian Blowouts, please feel confident in scheduling an appointment with her. You can schedule an appointment with her at 469-362-7980.

Looking forward to the CLE Marathon!

2011-12-30T15:59:00.001-06:00

I'm so looking forward to running in the Cleveland Marathon in May. In anticipation, I wore my favorite CLE Marathon shirt today on my long run. :)

It was a pretty warm run out there, but glad to have those 15 miles in the books.

Stained Concrete – The Process

2011-12-29T12:39:00.001-06:00

Sorry for the total lack of before photos. I really didn’t know how much that I was going to document this process. Here’s a picture of my lovely bride with the carpeting in place.

There are a bunch of videos below showing the process. They’re all about a minute each so they shouldn’t be too boring. :) If you just want to see the finished look, you can go to the last 2 videos.

Since I had several days off for Christmas vacation, I decided to tackle the job of putting down Stained Concrete in the Family Room & Kitchen. Ursula has been wanting this to be done for a long time.

I’ve been researching this project over the last couple of months. I watched several YouTube videos, read a lot of blogs, and checked a lot of products. I settled on the QuikRete product line. The steps seemed simple and I really liked how their topcoat is white when you apply it.

I blogged about the Spyder Scraper blades in a previous post. Here’s a continuation of the progress after using the blades. In retrospect, the blades are great in during a small area. They’re also great if you only want to get the linoleum up and then get the glue up by other means. The reciprocating saw had a tendency to kick back on me when I had a bad angle or something. I had a nice bloody knuckle to show for it. You can see it in the videos.

Finally got the linoleum up off the floor. We were hoping to put the stain down on Christmas night before going over to the sister-in-law’s for dinner. Unfortunately, the stainer that I had was broken and we’d have to wait for the next morning when Lowe’s would be open. BONUS video: check out Briana at the end of the video showing off her Christmas gift from her boyfriend.

Below is the video of when we just applied the QuikRete Etching Stain. I’m nervous of how it’s going to turn out.

Applying the top coat…

Pretty cool to see the different stages of applying the top coat: before, during, & a little after.

The above video is the finished look filmed at night.

Day view of the finished look. We’re so glad to finally be moving back in. It wasn’t really that bad being without TV. Ursula and I went OLD school on Hulu watching 21 Jump Street. It was fun watching Johnny Depp in his early days and all of the hairstyles and clothes. :)

I will post another blog soon with some tips and tricks that I learned along the way.

Racing & Blogging in Cleveland Marathon

2011-12-27T09:23:00.000-06:00

I cannot wait for May! I’m going home to see family… I’m going home to see Cleveland… I’m going home to the Cleveland Marathon… I’m going home to my Marathon PR!

A bit excited is an understatement! I have so many fond memories of my Marathon race in Cleveland in 2010 that I cannot wait to get back there. There’s something great about running a large race where you’re familiar with the city and you have family to cheer you on. Hopefully I can talk my sisters, mom, dad & stepmom to come out. It was so awesome seeing them all during and at the end of the race.

This year I was actually asked to blog about my experiences in training for and running in the Cleveland Marathon. I’m very honored to be asked to blog about my Cleveland Experience! It’s so cool to do this as I’ll be one of the few bloggers probably to be training without much snow. :) I actually enjoy running in snow, however, we only get a couple of days of snow in the Dallas, TX area.

I’ve got my price alerts set for airfare from Dallas to Cleveland. I’ll be staying at my running sister’s house… that is if she’ll let me. :) I think I better ask before May gets here.

Again, it’s so crazy about all of the awesome memories in my head about this race. Out of the 6 marathons that I’ve completed this is the one that I felt that I ran very well. I want that feeling again. I’m confident that I can repeat and ultimately hit that Sub 4 hour goal!

Spring Race Schedule

2011-12-26T08:18:00.000-06:00

I’ve nailed down the bigger races that I’ll be racing in the Spring. With Cairo running, it’s a different challenge now, since the price of racing is doubled.

I’ve decided that I want to run 2 full marathons in the Spring like I did last year.

I’ll be running the usual DRC monthly races as we can. I love getting to see all of my friends at those races. Also, since Cairo is a member, the race experience is free!

February 18th – Stonebridge Ranch Half Marathon. I had to sign Cairo & I up for this race since it was 40% through a Schwaggle. I could pass a Half Marathon for $30 especially when paying for 2 races.
March 3rd – Road trip to The Woodlands Marathon. I’ll be running the full. I wanted to do another marathon that wasn’t too far off in the future so I can try to hit that Sub 4 hour mark sooner than later. I’ve heard too many horror stories about the Big D Marathon and wasn’t crazy about running a similar route as White Rock. This race looks very doable. It’s a 13.1 mile loop. The family and I are looking forward to a road trip marathon.
March 25th – Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon. This is such a fun Half Marathon. So far, it’s been my favorite. I love the bands, but most of all… I love the start. I like how they hold the corrals to truly start in waves. You get the same exciting anticipation as the front runners.
May 6th – Pacing for the Heels & Hills Half Marathon. This is such a rewarding opportunity. I love getting to see people achieving their goals.
May 20th – Going back home to the Cleveland Marathon. I’m super excited for this race. I’ve completed 6 marathons and this is the home of my PR race where I ran it in 2010. I’m looking forward to seeing my family there and enjoying the Cleveland Experience!

Nothing too crazy on the list. Looking forward to everyone of these races for so many different reasons.

I’m a Dad Who Runs!

2011-12-21T10:07:00.001-06:00

When people find out that I’m a marathon runner, they think that I probably don’t see my family much. When I got into running I always wanted to make sure that there was still a balance in all of my life. A balance between God, Family, Work, and other stuff, such as running. When my daughter was in soccer, my long runs were scheduled around her soccer games. As well, I usually run my weekday runs early in the morning before anyone gets up.

All that to say… that yes, I’m a Marathon Runner, but better yet, I’m a Dad who Runs! I follow a lot of inspiring runners and active people. One of them that I follow is Dan over at Cubicle Dad Runs. He has been profiling dads that run for quite awhile. I got to share my story of being a Dad Who Runs on his blog. Check it out! Also, if you’re on Twitter, follow him. He’ll be in the Lone Star state in February for the Austin Marathon.

DIY: Removing Linoleum Tile

2011-12-20T12:56:00.001-06:00

Ursula and I have been wanting Stained Concrete floors in the house for quite a long time. I’ve been researching the process for a good while. It looks pretty straight forward, but the prep of the concrete is the most time intensive.

The hardest part of the prep work is removing the linoleum tile. It’s a total pain, but I’m getting into a rhythm and figuring out easier ways to do it.

Here’s a link to the scraper that I mentioned in the video: http://www.spyderproducts.com/spyder-scraper/. Make sure to get the 2” and not the others. I made the mistake of getting the 3 pack which had the 2”, 4”, & 6” scrapers. The 6” scraper is useless on removing the tile. In this case, bigger is not better.

I’ll post pictures and videos as I make progress.

A video that I shared with my daughter’s boyfriend

2011-12-13T18:23:00.000-06:00

I not only shared this video with my daughter’s boyfriend, but had both of my teenagers watch it. There are so many messages in this short video that can change a young person’s life for the better if they just listen.

Here’s the email that I sent to my daughter’s boyfriend.

There are certain things that I wish that I heard at a younger age. As well, I might've heard it, but I wasn't listening. Today it's so much easier to check out these type of messages and negative messages. I'm not sending this to you because I don't think you've heard this type of message before, but am sending it to you because I wish someone would have sent it to me. Be open to the message and what it means. Watch and listen to it a couple of times.

My daughter probably won’t be happy that I’m blogging about this, but the message of this video is too powerful and impactful that I HAVE to share it!

This is one of my favorite comments on the video…

I wish I understood Christ's love when I was that young. I'm an old man now, but it's taken all these years to understand the message.

It was a dark & stormy marathon!

2011-12-05T20:28:00.001-06:00

Despite the rain, wind, & cold, I enjoyed this marathon. What made it so great was all of my family being there along with so many friends! Thanks to Ursula and Briana for supporting both Cairo and I. This race was special as well since Cairo was out there running his second half marathon.

Before the Race

Posing with work friends from work. Super proud of Brandon as he ran his first marathon. Chris PR’ed his 5th half marathon! Cairo knocked out his 2nd half.

We got to the race super early with Chris. We decided with the rain and 25,000 runners, we’d rather sit in the parking lot than on the highway. It was cool to not be rushed before the race. We were able to find the short bathroom line and then made our trash bag rain gear.

Thanks to Felix for starting the race with Cairo. Felix was running the half so he and Cairo started off together.

I was very excited for this race. I trained hard and earnestly stayed on track to be able to hit Sub 4 hours. Yes, the weather looked to be crappy, but I still had my sights on getting there in less than 4 hours.

During the Race

The truly best part of the race was seeing running friends along the course. It’s always so cool to hear your name yelled. Whenever, I see someone I know, I run over to them a give them a hug or a high five. It’s just too cool to see them. A huge thanks to my biggest cheerleader: Corina. She was my first running Twitter friend. I didn’t see her at first, but heard her yell for me after I past her. I ran back to her and hugged it out. I was feeling good at that point with it only be at mile 8.

To the left is a picture of me when I saw her. I’m pretty darn drenched, but in great spirits at this point.

It was great to see Ursula & Briana before the Marathon/Half Marathon split. We agreed to only meet there since Cairo would be finishing the Half and it would be a pain to get back out on the course.

The rain was hit & miss for awhile. It was pretty tolerable until I hit White Rock Lake. At that point the wind really kicked up. I really love the White Rock Marathon since I know the route so well. I know what’s coming and I know when it’s going to be rough.

It was great to see Corina again at mile 21 with the Dollies! One of my running friends is actually a Dollie. I had some fun with them and got back going.

I felt really good until I got to mile 22. I just kept telling myself to get past mile 22 and then it’s downhill from there. It just seemed that it was getting colder & colder and my legs were feeling incredibly shot. They felt jarring with every running step.

I tried repeating my mantra over and over of “Push Through”, but it just wasn’t happening. At that point, I was at the point of run/walking to the end.

As I got to about mile 25, I saw an angel running toward me. The angel was Susan from my running group of the Frisco Running Club. After running the Half Marathon she was out there encouraging others on their finish.

She was so encouraging and understanding. She encouraged me to run some and told me that we weren’t too few away from the finish. Once she got me close to the finish, she sent me off on my own. I cannot thank her enough! Below is a picture of her running me in.

The Finish

Above is my exhausted self after running the marathon. It was super cool to see my boss, Scott there at the finish. He has come to see me run the White Rock Marathon for the last 3 years.

The cold weather really got to me after I met up with my family and Frisco Running Club friends. I was shaking uncontrollably. I got out of my wet clothes and was aided by some Baylor medical peeps.

I’m learning that it’s not all about the numbers, but I still learn a lot from them. I finished in 4:19:57. I missed my big goal of Sub 4 hours and barely missed my PR by a minute. I did set a course PR by 20 minutes. I know that I’m capable of a Sub 4 hour marathon and cannot wait to go for it again.

Pre-Marathon Workout: Filling up positive vibes!

2011-11-29T12:22:00.000-06:00

In less than 5 days I’ll be running my 6th marathon… CRAZY GOOD! I’m excited for this one! I feel like I’ve trained pretty well and kept my eating under check. Now it’s time to fill my head with POSITIVE thoughts. There’s the physical part of running and then the mental part. The mental part will come in at about 20/22 miles where negative thoughts will try to creep in. You’ve got to have a game plan to squelch them!

So… this blog post is really for… filling up positive vibes!

Write it down

I’ll be writing positive things on my arms so that when I get stupid later in the race, I can look down and repeat what’s on my arm. These are short, simple things that will mean a lot when I need them. Here’s some of the things that may or may not be written on my arm…

Count it all joy!
Just keep running!
You got this!
Push through!

I’ve done this in previous marathons and it really helped. Here’s a link to all kinds of Running Mantras. Find one or two for yourself.

Push Through

When training, I pushed through! I did this because I wanted to get stronger, but also to use the positive mental recollection of pushing through when I didn’t want to. This training season was the first time that I did track workouts. There were several times that I didn’t feel like I could do that last lap, but I pushed through! It was such a victory when I did push through. I’m going to be leaning on those positive mental pictures.

3 Races… 3 PRs… shooting for a 4th

While training with the Frisco Running Club, I’ve gotten faster and stronger! If you live near Frisco, come join us! Below are my 3 most recent races… all 3 are PRs. Not, by a few seconds, but by minutes. :)

DRC Loop 15K – 1:17:45 at a pace of 8:20. My previous 15K PR was 1:20:39. I beat this one by 2:54.
Gary Burns 5K – 23:56 at a pace of 7:42. My previous PR was 24:57. I beat this one by 1:01.
DRC Half Marathon – 1:48:04 at a pace of 8:17. My previous PR was 1:49:52. I beat this one by 1:52.

My favorite way of keeping up with all my previous race results is AthLinks. This website collects all of the race results and gives you some cool stats. The great part… it’s free!

Yep, shooting for a 4th PR here. I have no doubt that I’m going to hit it unless something crazy happens. My current PR is 4:18. I’m going to beat that and then smash it as I want to get under 4 hours.

Visualize

I constantly visualize what it’s going to be like crossing that finish line completing my goal. It’s such an awesome vision that I want to keep running to it.

I’m also excited that my son, Cairo will be running his second Half Marathon. It’s wild to think that he’ll be out there on his own out of my sight. Usually, when we run together, he’s next to me or out in front of me where I can see him. He’ll be finishing way ahead of at my half way point. He’s going to have such a great time. He’s stronger than he realizes!

If this is your 1st or 21st marathon, I believe it’s important to arm yourself with positive thoughts to beat down the ugly ones. The ugly ones will be there… get ready to beat the crap out of them!

Cairo’s First Half Marathon!

2011-11-08T17:24:00.000-06:00

OK… as many know, I ‘m super proud of my son for knocking out his first Half Marathon. Yes, I’m proud of his time, but most of all, I’m proud of him for sticking to the training plan. It was rough for this teenager to get up for the early morning workouts which start at 5:30am. But he did it and can see that commitment pays off. This is a life lesson that some of us don’t learn until it’s too late.

He’s come such a long way! When we first started on his base mileage, he was barely holding a 10:30 minute/mile pace for 3 miles. While running those 3 miles he needed 2-3 breaks. From there to running a Half Marathon with no breaks at a 8:15 minute/mile pace. He finished the Half Marathon in 1:47:42! That’s crazy cool!

I’m bummed that he didn’t place for his age group. He came in 4th. Yes, I know, we should be happy with him finishing his first Half Marathon. It’s just that I knew that he had a chance. Below are the standings from his age group. As you can see, there just aren’t that many teenagers running Half Marathons.

A Little Race Recap

Before the race, I warned Cairo about the hills in the neighborhoods and the last big hill would be the spillway after mile 8. I told him that we’d start at a steady pace of 8:30 or so. I was running faster than that and he was definitely running faster. We were really caught up in the start of the race, but we were feeling good. After the second mile, he was about 20 yards ahead of me. I didn’t actually catch back up to him until we got the hills in the neighborhood. While running behind him, it was so cool to see him interacting with the crowds. He was pumping his fist and giving a YEAH when he heard someone yell out Frisco for his shirt.

I was doing pretty well holding onto the 8:15 pace, but the hills were really beating me down. After the spillway, I was just willing myself to finish this race to completion. I knew that I was ahead of a PR time and could not let up. It became a countdown to the finish… only a 5K to go… only 17 minutes to go… only 4 times around the track to go… only a 400m to go, and then sprint it out for the finish.

Cairo and I ran together until the end when we had about a quarter mile to go. Cairo started his big kick at that point. I was definitely not ready to kick that early. It was great to see him stretch it out at the end. He finished 20 seconds sooner than I did.

I was determined to PR this race. It was not a matter of IF, but HOW FAR below my Half Marathon PR of 1:49:52 that I would go. My mind has shifted from IF to HOW FAR after reading a fellow runner’s post on one of her recent races. You can follow her on Twitter. She’s definitely worth the follow… great inspirational & motivational posts!

During some races at the very end, I’ll do some math and figure out if I stay on a certain pace that I’ll get a certain time. I didn’t do this, I just wanted to give it all that I had and finish strong. When I saw the clock it was past 1:48. I sprinted to the finish so that I could be below 1:48:30. I was really surprised to see the actual time was 1:48:04. So close to being below 1:48. The last time that I PR’ed the Half, I didn’t think that I’d be able to beat that time. This time, I know that I can get faster and beat it.

I was pretty emotional at the end of the race. Seeing my son kill his first Half Marathon! Seeing him go from barely holding onto a 9:30 pace for a 4 mile race to scorching a 8:15 pace for a Half Marathon! Seeing the huge smile on my son’s face after he welcomed me to the finish line! Thinking of all of the mornings that I drug him out of bed! Setting a solid PR for myself at this challenging Half Marathon by almost 2 minutes!

Our embrace after the finish was so worth all of the training! These experiences are never really experienced by just sitting on the couch. You’ve got to push yourself to have them.

I love the knock out picture above that we had when we finished the race. It was definitely fun clowning around after we finished.

Thanks to my wife, Ursula for coming out and supporting Cairo and I. It was a huge boost to see her at the finish.

It was also great to see work running peeps… Chris, Brandon, and Brandon’s family. It was great to catch up with my other running friends… Felix, Michelle, Stacy, Mark O., and so many others.

Charity Challenge–First Timers

2011-10-24T06:30:00.000-05:00

Over the last few months several of our company employees trained to run for our designated charity: Girls on the Run. At our company meeting on Friday, I got to share this video from our race a few weeks ago.

It was so awesome to see everyone achieve their goals. The look on their faces as many finished their first 5K or Half Marathon was priceless!

Thank God for 21 Years

2011-10-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

Today marks 21 years that I’ve been married to Ursula. I totally thank God for what He has down for us over the last 21 years. Of course, it’s not always been easy. But, then again, I’m not the easiest guy to get a long with! :)

Above is a video of snippets from our wedding 21 years ago. Some observations about the video:

Great intro by Ed, my brother-in-law.
It was awesome to have the Air Force Honor Guard there. I was actually in the Honor Guard at the time. These guys were my friends that I would actually do ceremonies with. We primarily did military funerals. Weddings were a lot more fun since it was definitely a happier occasion.
I love my dad’s embrace after the wedding.
OK… name dropping… besides having Colonels and Generals at my wedding reception because of my father-in-law, I also had an NFL great at my wedding… Greg Pruitt. My father-in-law, Greg, and I played golf on the day before the wedding. Greg could crush that ball! It was so cool for my family to meet such a great Cleveland Browns legend. Can you spot Greg in the video?
I got a nice face full of rice from my sister-in-law, Yulanda when getting out of the limo.
My, how has technology advanced! I’m sure back then the quality of this video looked awesome! :)

It was great watching the old video and reliving such a huge day in my life. The wedding is such a blur!

I’m so glad that Ursula said yes 21 years ago. I cannot imagine life without her – she is my comfort!

Dads, be creative! Give Piggy Rides

2011-10-11T17:51:00.000-05:00

I really think it’s up to us, Dads, to create special memories for our kids. We have the choice to create these moments on purpose. If we don’t, then we leave it up to chance of what our kids remember of their childhood.

Lately, I’ve been converting all of the old video tape home movies to digital – DVD’s and all. It’s been fun reminiscing about year’s past.

I came along a video of me giving the kids Piggy Rides. No, not your traditional piggy rides, but a Mark Lindsley Piggy Ride! Let me give you a little history of the piggy rides. When my family and I went to Six Flags back in 1998, through my carnival skills, I won a big old stuffed animal pig. The kids would have it in their rooms and wouldn’t do much with it.

Being the crazy dad that I was, I came up with a new way to give Piggy Rides by using the stuffed animal pig. I would place the kiddos on the pig and fly them around the house. They had a blast and I got worn out. :)

Above is some footage from the infamous Mark Lindsley Piggy Rides back in May of 1999.

Dads – get creative and make special moments for your kids. My kids still talk about Piggy Rides in their teenage years.

Cairo Places Again!

2011-10-03T17:46:00.001-05:00

Super proud of Cairo again. He placed in 2nd in his 4th race! We ran in the Dallas Running Club 15K Loop Race on Saturday. This is the longest race that he has participated in. I wanted him to run a longer race before his half marathon so that he would so how it would be. I wanted him to know that he couldn’t run full speed the whole time as he might do in a 5K.

I planned on the same type of race plan as the previous 2 weekends when I ran Half Marathons. Start at a 9:00 min/mile pace and then gradually speed up from there. I figured that was something that both Cairo and I could handle.

The weather was great finally! Temps started in the high 50s and warmed up just a little bit from there. I definitely felt better than the previous weeks and was motoring at a quicker pace. I kept checking with Cairo to make sure that he was doing well. He was definitely keeping up & doing very well. I’m crazy happy with my splits below. I love October already and it’s beautiful cool morning temps! It was great running down at White Rock Lake… it’s been awhile! Great to see DRC friends and a familiar course.

Cairo finished the race in 1:18:27 which put him in 2nd place for 15-19 year olds. Check out the results here. I broke my personal record (PR) by almost 3 minutes with a time of 1:17:45. I landed in 13th out of 43 men in my age group (40-44). I did finish a slightly a head of Cairo as the spillway hill kind of wore him down a bit. We stayed together just about the entire race except for the last mile.

Cairo has progressed so well! He has come from barely able to run 3 miles at a 10:30 min/mile pace and needing to take 2-3 rest breaks… to where he’s at now… running a 15K (9.3 miles) at a 8:26 pace. That’s such a huge improvement from not running at all in February to now. So cool!

Thanks to Ursula and Cairo’s friend, Baylee for rooting us on. It was great to have a cheering section at the Start and Finish line.

I’m really looking forward to Sunday, November 6th when Cairo tackles his first Half Marathon at the DRC Half!

Leave no questions behind

2011-09-30T05:56:00.001-05:00

About 5 years ago, I had the opportunity to travel to Minneapolis for business. While there, I visited the veteran’s memorial and found my grandfather’s grave site. He was my father’s father. I don’t recall ever meeting him. As I understand from my dad, he wasn’t really into my dad’s life or into ours. My dad didn’t have too many stories to tell about my grandfather or what he was like. Maybe it’s by choice or maybe it was because he left early in my dad’s life. Anyhow, I’ve just found it sad that I cannot find a single picture, article, or anything about my grandfather. All I could find was his tombstone.

Yes, I know it’ll be different in the Facebook, blogging, & tweeting era that we’re living in now. However, I think we need to take it upon ourselves to leave no question in our families’ lives who we are and what our loved ones mean to us.

A book that has set me on a path to making sure that my family knows what I mean to them is Letters From Dad by Greg Vaughn. The subtitle to the book is How to Leave a Legacy of Faith, Hope, and Love for Your Family. Like I said, there should be no question left and this book really does lay that out. It discussed the simple notes to the last messages that you’d like to give.

There are some simple ways that this can be done. The book’s primary method is writing letters to your loved ones in the present and to given when you pass. This seems a bit on the sad side, but wouldn’t you want to know that you’ve said everything that you wanted and they know how you really felt?

There are additional ways that your family can know how you feel about your love for them. Of course, tell them often and verbalize it. But, as well, sing their praises in public. One way that I did this is through Twitter, Facebook, and my blog. I know these methods are not for everyone, but it works for me. Below are some additional methods.

Twitter – it’s so quick to pop out a 140 characters of how proud of your kids.
Facebook – posting a picture of your family and what they mean to you is super easy.
Blogging – it seems that blogs are becoming fewer and fewer, but with the ability of anyone being able to view it. It’s my hopes that my family will read it again to see who I was. They will see it interlaced with thoughts on God, family, running, work, friends. Here are some blog posts from the past about my kids:
- Connecting with my daughter via texting
- Sweet 16
- Friday Funny Video
- First Place in My Book
- Cairo Finding His Speediness!
- Another note about blogging… I’ve learned so much about others through their blogging. When people really get into blogging, you get to know them so much more than the casual conversation. You get to take a peek inside and maybe understand wake makes them tick.
Handmade cards – my dad was good at making these. Below is one that he made for me back in 1982 when I was in high school. Even more special is that he mailed it to the house. Kids never get mail and kids dig mail the most.

Little notes – when I visited home from the Air Force. My dad would leave little notes on the dash of my car for me to find when I would leave. Here are a couple below. Click on the pic to see the text.

I’ve also received letters from my dad. It’s been several years since I’ve got any from him, but whenever the need arises, I just grab an old letter and read it.

As you can see, I’ve saved these letters and notes. They mean so much to me to capture who my dad is and something that I’d passed down to my children. I’ve also saved notes and letters that my kids have given me.

So, after all of this to say… I urge you to proactively take steps to let your family know how much you love them through the appropriate methods listed above. I love my family, and my friends and I don’t want there to be any doubt.

Running Heels, Hills, & Him Half Marathon for HER

2011-09-28T18:27:00.000-05:00

This was a very fun and rewarding half marathon. The greatest part of it was being able to see so many first time runners tackle a half marathon. As mentioned previously, my company had a Charity Challenge in which we raise money for a worthy charity. We chose Girls on the Run for the great things that they do for empowering girls. It was fitting that we chose to run in the Heels and Hills and Him Half Marathon as it’s primary purpose is to provide a positive race experience for women. It’s not too late to give… please, please consider donating to this worthy cause as I’m behind in making my goal.

Seeing how I ran a half marathon the previous week, I pretty much knew where I was at conditioning wise. I pretty much went after the race with the same type of plan as last week’s race. Start at 9:00 miles and then gradually increase pace. I felt really good in this race except for the heat. The good thing about this race is that I knew the course very well and knew what to expect from it especially since it was an out and back.

It was great being able to cheer on the newbie runners from my work as I was coming back. I cheered for them and slapped some high fives.

You probably noticed that subject has a lot of H’s in it… well, I’ll add another one - Heat! It was a pretty darn hot half marathon. The temp started out in the mid 70s and just went up from there. The funny thing was the day before and day after were much better candidates for race days.

I finished at about the same time as the previous week, but about 30 seconds faster with a time of 1:53:27. I was very happy with that time. I could have pushed it more, but it felt so great not feeling so spent after the race.

After the race, I met up with a running friend, Michelle K, and we decided to go meet up with the newbie runners to be a part of their finish. That was such a rewarding experience! Pictured to the right is Brandon and Nick (newbie runner) hamming it up for the camera. It was so cool to see them finish! We were walking for awhile and I told Nick to hold some in the reserves for the finish line… you’ve got to run through the Finish Line no matter what! I worked the crowd up for them and they crossed with a lot of cheers.

It was also great to be a part of the other newbie runners finish as well. There are several stories of these fearless champions overcoming some crazy obstacles to conquer this half marathon challenge.

I still remember what it was like to go from “there’s no way that I’d ever run a Half Marathon” to “Oh my God, I just ran a Half Marathon!”

Above is a video of the start of the Half Marathon. You can see me at :41 seconds in the middle. FYI – I’m not crazy about the singlet that was provided by our company. My guns are really meant to be concealed weapons! As shown in the picture on the right. My farmer’s tan just doesn’t work too well.

In all, we had 20 coworkers running in the races which included the 1 mile fun run, 5K, 10K, and the Half Marathon. Monday morning was buzzing with race stories and soreness. :)

If you ever get a chance to pace someone on their first race, do it! As well, circling back and helping others is so crazy cool to be a part of their experience. It’s not just all about your race time!

12th Half Marathon Recap–Plano Balloon Festival

2011-09-27T12:15:00.000-05:00

I’m late with posting this recap about the Plano Balloon Festival Half Marathon, but felt the need to still post it.

I’m pretty darn happy with my race today. I planned to see how things went after running the first mile or two at a 9 minute pace. After that, I’d evaluate how things would go from there. I felt good, but there wasn’t going to be a PR today. The conditions were just too humid and there were a bit more hills than I needed.

Running tip: If you’re a lone ranger and only train on your own… don’t! Find a running club, group, or a couple of peeps that run at your pace. I’ve found my new running family in the Frisco Running Club. Besides the training that I’ve received, the encouragement is awesome! It was so cool to be high-fiving team members on the out & back portions of the course. It also just feels great being part of something bigger where everyone wants you to succeed.

I finished in 1:53:58 which is 4 minutes off my PR, but I’m tremendously happy with my time. The humidity was pretty stifling. Is it October, yet?

The course was definitely challenging, however doable! There were a bit more hills than your average half marathon. I liked the race being in Plano as it was closer to home, but definitely different than the usual Dallas race. I would definitely run this race again.

This was the first race in quite a long time that I felt like I was going to pass out at the end of the race. At the last mile, my fingers were all tingling… not cool! When I ended, I was a hobbling mess. Hamlin helped me sit down and get some fluids in me. I felt much better after awhile.

I did want to stop and walk for awhile at miles 10, 11, 12… You get the point… the hills were just wreaking havoc on me. However, I pushed through. I felt very triumphant after not giving up on the hill at mile 11. I can now use this victory in future races to push through the pain and accomplish what the negative voices in my head say that I cannot. I can!

Like I mentioned the humidity was crazy, unfortunately for whatever other weather reasons, the hot air balloons did not launch. I was looking forward to seeing them overheard while we raced around Plano. However, the cool thing was that at a few locations around the course they had the balloon baskets out there. When you ran buy, they lit up the flames and you could feel the heat from the street.

I’ll be posting the race recap for the Heels and Hills and Him Half Marathon much sooner. :)

Cairo Finding his Speediness!

2011-09-07T17:42:00.000-05:00

It’s been a full month since Cairo and I joined the Frisco Running Club’s training program. Prior to joining, Cairo and I worked on building up his base miles. I pretty much kept him at a comfortable pace and didn’t really work him on any speed or hills. We worked our way up to 6 miles.

Over the last month with the FRC, we’ve worked everything… speed, hills, distance, stretching, foam rolling, you name it.

The cool thing is that Cairo is finding his speed and being encouraged to be the runner that he can be. I took him to a certain point and now the coaches at the FRC are taking him further. It’s awesome to see him progressing so well. It’s a challenge in waking him up for those early morning runs… but, hey, he’s a teenager!

On July 2nd, we ran a 5K in The Colony and we finished at 29:56. It was his first actual 5K. We ran it at his pace. I ran it with him to encourage and get him there.

On Labor Day, we ran the Labor of Love 5K in McKinney.

During the training, I could tell that he was getting stronger and more sure of himself. I told him that he was to run his own race. Listen to his body and knock out whatever time he felt comfortable with.

At the start, we were together and rocked a 8:07 mile for the first mile. I was hoping to hold that pace so that I could get close to a PR, but the hills were going to do me in. Pretty much after the first mile is when Cairo left me. If I had any breath, I’d cheer him on. I pretty much could see him until about the last half mile and then he probably turned it up a notch.

He finished in a time of 24:59 for a pace of 8:03/mile. That’s crazy awesome! He beat his previous 5K PR by 5 minutes and 1:35 per mile.

It was so cool to see him get 2nd in his age group. Nothing like getting some hardware for his efforts. Yep, I’m a super proud papa! I’m a competitive kind of guy, but I’d rather see him pass me at every race. He can do it!

Please Help Me Out…

2011-09-01T17:55:00.000-05:00

As most know, I’ve been running for about 3 and 1/2 years. I’ve been loving the healthier lifestyle. Running for me really came about from one person… my sister, Denise. She encouraged me that I could get off the couch and run and… have fun! Well, it’s time to give back.

My company, Active Network, has a Charity Challenge program where we raise money for a worthy cause. We chose the charity of Girls on the Run to encourage girls of all ages that they can do whatever they desire. Nothing like supporting a program that got me into running.

The objective of Girls on the Run is to educate and empower girls at an early age in order to prevent the display of at-risk activities in the future. At risk activities include substance/alcohol use, eating disorders, early onset of sexual activity, sedentary lifestyle, depression, suicide attempts and confrontations with the juvenile justice system.

I’m not crazy about asking for money since I know people are strapped during these crazy times, but any little amount will help tremendously. $5, $10, $25… you get the point. :) You can donate to this cause in my name at http://bit.ly/RunMarkRun.

I really believe in this program and am looking forward to running in honor of it on Sunday, September 25th at a race that celebrates women racing – Heels & Hills & Him Half Marathon.

Thanks for your support!

Letting Experiences Happen with your Kids

2011-08-21T18:53:00.001-05:00

I always like to think up things that I can do with my kids to hopefully create memorable moments for them. It could be something as simple as an adventurous walk or hike, acting goofy at your expense, running a race with your son, or clothes shopping with your daughter. However, there are times that I have days scripted out just to get things done!

Cairo and I were out and about on Saturday doing manly things… getting tires for the car and other nonsense. On our way to a restaurant that I had a Groupon for, Cairo saw a sign for Dallas Lamborghini. He said that he wanted to go there after we ate. I just laughed it off and said no. I couldn’t really imagine going there thinking that we didn’t really have any business going in there. He kept on bringing it up so I decided to give in. What’s the worse that could happen?

We went there and they were super nice as I explained that we couldn’t afford the cigarette lighter and just wanted to look around. They even answered some of our stupid questions. We had a lot of fun just lookin’.

When we got back home, Cairo said how much he enjoyed hanging out. Would he have said that if we didn’t get to check out the cars? I don’t know, but knowing that he had fun made the decision to do his impromptu fun all the better.

All this to say… don’t knee jerk a “No” when they ask to do something that you wouldn’t normally do. It was fun and it meant something to him – which means something to me!

El Scorcho Experience

2011-07-18T20:11:00.001-05:00

A few months back, I talked my running friend, Felix into running the El Scorcho 25K with me. I kept hearing how much of a fun race and partying atmosphere that it was. I guess I forgot to look at the name of the race or the month that it falls in… July! Yes, it was a hot one, but what an experience!

El Scorcho is a 25K & 50K race that took place at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning at Trinity Park in Fort Worth. Being contained in the park, you actually run a 5K lap five times for the 25K and 10 times for the 50K. Being 3.1 miles, it’s actually not as monotonous as you’d think.

Felix and I stated together, but toward the end of the first loop he was going at a quicker pace than what I wanted to go with. Things were going well until after the second loop. My mind and body were starting to tell me that they didn’t want to be here. Bed or a late night move sounded so much better!

After finishing the second loop, my Garmin decided to be funny by asking me the question, “Are you indoors now?” Are you serious!?! I was like, fine, I don’t need you anyway! I got rid of the Garmin and the glow stick bracelets at the second break. I was mad at both of them! :)

After the 3rd lap, it was funny to hear that the 25K Winner just crossed the finish line. In the time that it took me to run 9.3 miles, he ran 15.5 miles. I know it’s about me running against me, but it was pretty darn funny!

Briana, my daughter, was a superstar! Her maternal instincts kicked in as she took care of me during the race. Re-fueling me, encouraging me, cheering on others! She was really into it. I loved it! Thanks Briana!

The last couple of laps had me running to each water stop and walking threw them. Back to running after I enjoyed the water. The volunteers were awesome! It takes a lot of love for the sport to be out there volunteering during the middle of the night.

Felix did an awesome job on his first 25K with consistent splits. He is such a great friend. He walked back to the last water stop looking for me. After getting my water and walking a little bit, he ran me back in with encouragement. Thanks Felix!

The bad thing about running a race and then going straight to bed is being so darn hydrated. I knew that I had to be hydrated to run this crazy race and one trip to the restroom doesn’t take care of getting back to normal. I was pretty much woken up hourly to empty that bladder – uggghh! I really wanted some good sleep!

One of the best things about running is the friends that you make. It was awesome to see so many running friends. Here’s a picture of Felix and I with Corina. She’s been recuperating and will be back out running soon, but came out to cheer everyone on. It was so awesome to have her there. It was also great to see Mark O., Michelle & Erik. Libby, Julie, Marci, Jerry, Melvin, Kyle, Amanda, and so many others!

It was a tough race, but I’m glad that I experienced it! A think a 50K is in my future, but highly doubt that it’d be in July in Texas!

My Sister Can Run a 50K, Can Yours?

2011-07-17T20:13:00.001-05:00

So, I’m just getting the strength back in my legs from running the El Scorcho 25K race some 17 hours to find out that Denise, my sister ROCKED a 50K up in Ohio. She is truly an inspiration! Here’s her race report…

Whew!

Yes, the race is over

Totally mixed feelings about it. It was a very tough race. The first half felt pretty good but I felt the heat getting to me pretty early on. I tried to incorporate some walk breaks to say cool. I got dizzy and took a couple of falls. Nothing serious just a banged up knee. I clocked in at 3:39:29 with a 14:08 pace. Seriously thought I could not go on and wanted to quit. But off I go....I would get some good moments and would feel great and start to run. But the heat.Wow. It was hot! When I saw Libby the second time around at the aid station, she filled up my water bottles and gave me some pretzels, she had asked if I needed anything else. I remember my reply "I need a ride"... and off I go. Yikes, not gonna make it. Have to make it. Will I make it? Not sure but I was about 2 miles out when I saw Gary. Told him I was not good at which point I found a log and sat down on it thinking if I could just take a minute. Well, that is all it took. Blah, there I sat with my head between my legs with people passing me. I recognized some of those shoes. Those were the people I had passed early on. What to do? Wanna quit.No, I wont quit. I will not end it this way. But I can't get up. Gary is being so kind and supportive letting me know I am almost there. Only 2 miles. I can do this. Have to. I finished in 8:52:09 an avg pace of 17:08. It took me 5:12:40 to finish the second half. But I did it. I finished! It was an ugly run but I did it and finished:)

Meanwhile last week Gary did his first 5k. Yes, Gary. Finished in 43 minutes. I believe he is going to do the Muddy Paws 2 mile trail walk/run next weekend.

Yes life is full of surprises.

I was going to provide a race report for my 25K, but it pales in comparison to the heroics of Denise’s 50K. Super proud of her!

I’ll definitely post a race report for El Scorcho, but will till tomorrow to post it. It was definitely an EXPERIENCE!

We’re Finally Alone – Now What Do We Do?

2011-06-23T21:40:00.001-05:00

I’m in an awesome men’s Life Group (small group) that meets weekly on Thursdays. It’s one of the best things that I’ve done to become a better man of God. Part of the meeting is where we get to share something on our heart for 20 minutes. It’s affectionately called a Soap Box. In preparation, I though it would be best to write it out and then present it.

First of all, what are our priorities? In our Life Group, we have lined them up as 1) God, 2) Spouse, 3) Family, and then everything else will fall in line. I’m going to focus on the second priority of your spouse.

Part of what I ‘m going to present is something that I blogged about already... the study of your spouse – in my case, Ursulaology. I really cannot believe that I actually blogged on this topic nearly 4 years ago, but I feel that I need to get it back out there. Read that blog post… it’s a goodie!

For the last couple of weeks, we discussed the book by Gary Chapman called the Five Love Languages. This was a huge intro and lead in for my Soap Box. My Soap Box is all about

It goes without saying, my wife and I are definitely not perfect. We don’t have the perfect marriage. You can just ask my kids to find out. We have a lot of work to do continue toward having an awesome marriage.

Borrowing from the Five Love Language Soap Box, one of the Five Love Languages was Quality Time. Have you ever been to a restaurant and paid attention to the people around you? You will find four types of people around you.

Singles, who will keep to themselves and occupy themselves
Families, who have their children with them.
Dating couples who look at each other and talk, giving each other their full attention.
Married couples who sit there and gaze around the restaurant. You would think the married couples just went to the restaurant to eat!

When our family went out for lunch together on Father’s Day, I noticed this in action, but with a twist. I saw a young couple and they were both on the iPhones not even paying attention to the person in front of them. It used to be that couples would just sit there not saying anything, but now they busy themselves with social media or other real life relationship zappers.

When you date your wife and take her to dinner, use those 30 to 60 minutes of time to give each other your undivided attention and talk this love language. This one can be hard for guys to speak to their wives if they feel the need to provide everything for their family.

I urge anyone that just sits there and stares in space or finds themselves playing Words with Friends or on Facebook when out to dinner with their spouse, to invest in a book. The book is called We’re Finally Alone – Now What Do We Do? by Gary Johnson. No, you don’t have to be empty nesters to enjoy this book. “We’re Finally Alone” is referring to the time at the restaurant or the quiet time that you have reserved for your spouse.

The book is geared to spark conversations that are meaningful and will enrich your marriage and family. Is it a novel, a self help book, with real world examples to shape up your life? No and no. It’s a book with 575 questions that are meant for couples to think about themselves, their families, and their relationship with Christ. No, they’re not all deep & heavy, beat down questions. :) They are actually split up into 5 different levels.

Fun ice breaking questions
Time to get a little personal
Self revealing, but nothing too tough
Time to get a bit uncomfortable
Very intimate questions to the point of revealing things about your spouse that you didn’t know

Another way that you can use the book is by topic. The book has an index of topics that are split up by the following:

Communication
Dreams and Wishes
Family and Parenting
Getting Honest
Getting to Know You
Helping Each Other Grow
Personal Opinions
Remember and Reminisce
Sex and Romance
Spiritual Life
Troubles and Struggles
Working on Marriage

A key to this book is open and honest communications. Each person must be ready to listen and to be heard.

You might ask, why in the world would I want to buy a book with just a list of questions. I truly believe that this book can evoke thoughts and conversations that need to be discussed. There is so much growth that can be realized by the use of this book.

I feel so strong about this book that I gave it to each member of my life group.

Will this book and the conversations that come from it be totally natural? No, not at all. I believe wholeheartedly that you must totally rely on His power and not ours. It’s so much easier to talk about the weather than about real issues. When it comes down to it, when we act on our own, we will take the easy route, the non-confrontational, the now-growing conversations. This is especially true after a long day and we just want to slow life down. However, when we do this, I think we miss the priorities that we lined up in the second paragraph: 1) God, 2) Spouse, 3) Family. We’re giving too much to everything else and not to God and our spouse.

A great friend of mine is pushing me to get out of my comfort zone. To grow like I’ve never grown before. This book is one of those things that I need to do with my wife to encourage growth. I truly hope that you look into getting this book. You can find a used copy for about $4 or a new copy on Amazon.com for $12.

Great Time at X Factor

2011-06-22T21:25:00.001-05:00

Simon Cowell’s show X Factor was in town so we snagged some free tickets and checked it out. It was more fun than I thought it would be. I thought it would be a bunch of waiting, but the show did a great job of keeping the audience involved and entertained while we were waiting for the actual show to begin.

It was very cool to see how the show was produced and everything that went into it. Of course, a bunch of people yelled, “I love you, Paula!” A few people yelled for Simon as well.

There were about 10 contestants that auditioned and only a couple that were truly standouts.

Everyone had a great time! We cannot wait to see the show in the fall to see if we actually remember the performances. :)

Trust in Him!

2011-06-22T18:26:00.000-05:00

What seems to be the first thing that we do when trouble pops up into our lives? We stress, we worry, we think of all of the worst case scenarios… we don’t trust in Him!

On Saturday, my family and I were in Gladewater (East Texas) enjoying Ursula’s family reunion. We had a lot of fun, but I’ll be focusing on an incident that happened. After breakfast, we were on our way to set up games & activities at the Gladewater High School where the fun times were going to happen. On the way there, after accelerating above 30mph, the engine light went on in the PT Cruiser. The car did not want to stay above 30mph and it got all herky-jerky as if it was going to stall. Crazy!

My head was filled with thoughts of… “oh no, I’m going to have to shell out some big bucks for a dealer or mechanic to fix the car!”, “It’s Saturday, we’re going to be stuck here until Monday as we won’t be able to find a mechanic!”, “Why didn’t the car break down in Frisco!?!”, “Did I change the oil every 3,000 miles?” and on and on.

We limped along to the high school so that we could set up for the activities. As we’re setting things up, I’m praying and just plainly talking to God. I felt a calmness that the problem was going to work out. The biggest thing is that I stopped worrying about what could happen and focused now on resolving the problem.

With the help of a cousin of Ursula’s, we went to an auto parts store and had them pull up the engine code. It pointed to a specific bad part – a Camshaft Position Sensor. Yes, I learned about something that I didn’t really care about or at least until now. We found out that this $35 part could be easily replaced by 2 bolts. There wasn’t a guarantee that this would fix the problem as it could be a circuitry problem.

Lo and behold, we replaced the part, drove it around and it was fixed! It made the entire trip back to the Dallas area without incident. Praise God! Was all of the worrying that Ursula and I did productive? Ummm… no! I like how Jesus put it in Luke 12:25: “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” I want to give my problems and burdens to God sooner. It’s so much easier when He takes care of them then when I do.

Cairo Rocked his First Race!

2011-06-05T19:11:00.001-05:00

Ever since Cairo expressed an interest to run a Half Marathon in the fall we’ve been training. Pretty much, we’ve just been building base miles. He’s up to 3-4 miles comfortably. Saturday, we finally tested his wheels and got him into a race. We ran the Dallas Running Club June Bloomin’ 4 Mile Race down at White Rock Lake in Dallas. Why a 4 mile race instead of a 5K? We were signed up for a 5K earlier, but school commitments held us back from running it together.

The Wednesday before the race was the first time that he ran 4 miles without stopping. It took a bit of prodding and encouragement to get him through it, but he did it. He ran that in 40 minutes.

We had a lot of build up to the race and what to expect. Stay on the right, don’t worry about others passing us, run our own race, break the distance down into smaller units, hydrate days before the race, etc. It was great to pass on what others have taught me.

Before the race, I figured that he’d have a time between 39 & 40 minutes. He totally blew me away with his time of 38:13! I wanted him to start out slow, but I think he was caught up in the excitement of the start of the race. I was thinking that we should be closer to 10:00 minutes for the first mile to start out slower. I had to slow him down over the first 2 miles as I wanted to conserve his energy for the hill at the spillway. He powered pretty well through the hill and recovered a bit afterward. He seemed to loose some steam, but surprised me with his last mile. Below are his split times:

Mile 1: 9:26
Mile 2: 9:36
Mile 3: 9:44
Mile 4: 9:09

He was so happy after crossing the finish line. It was great to experience it with him. Check out the picture above… love the smile on his face. Usually he doesn’t have a smile that big. I love that smile!

Funny thing that he said after the race, “This 4 miles was a lot longer than the one in Frisco!” He admitted that he wanted to stop, but I’m so glad and I’m sure that he is, that he powered through.

We had fun seeing DRC friends! It was fun hearing Roger yell to Cairo at the end, “Cairo, beat your dad!” I love it!

I give God all the glory for providing Cairo the ability to run through his asthma and allergies. His allergies were trying to act up before the race, but subsided. :)

Have Fun With Them Even if it Hurts

2011-05-27T17:32:00.000-05:00

When you really don’t want to do something it’s so easy to come up with excuses not to do it. My daughter, Briana, has been wanting the whole family to go roller skating for a very long. It’s been so long that I actually got her a Groupon coupon back during Christmas. There were always excuses until we finally went a couple of days ago.

As some might know, my IT Band (hip) has been acting up from running. When Cairo and I went running on Monday night within seconds of running it flared up again. It was like my hip was being stabbed with a knife for each step I took.

Of course, when we got back home from running, Briana reminds us that tomorrow is our scheduled roller skating night. She is so excited as she has been wanting to go forever.

Internally I really didn’t want to go, but God gave me the strength and I believe relieved some of the pain to allow me to go. I wanted to make excuses to not go, but I was urged to go because I knew that it would make Briana happy.

You can tell by the picture that she had a great time. She had that same beautiful smile on her face throughout the whole time that we roller skated. I’m glad that I didn’t give into an excuse and went. The time blessed her and blessed the whole family.

I’m not saying this to lift me up for doing this, but want to urge parents to push through their pain, their angst, their discomfort to do things with their children that they just don’t want to do, don’t feel that they can do, or are just too tired or lazy to do. Seems a bit harsh to say, but as I’m losing the amount of time with my teenage children, I’m realizing that I need to spend as much time with them as possible.

Eliminate the excuses even if it hurts!

Marathon #5 - Ouch!

2011-05-03T09:45:00.009-05:00

I'm so happy that I completed the Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon. It was 3 years ago that I ran my first ever race there. I ran in the 5k there in 2008 with my sister Denise and my daughter, Briana. So cool to go back there and run the full marathon.

It was a tough race that I was hesitant to run in. About 4 weeks ago, I had a great deal of hip pain. I found out that it was my IT Band. I went through physical therapy twice a week over the last 4 weeks and it got better each week. However, it probably wasn't up to a marathon running condition.

I did consider going down to the Half Marathon, but stubbornly I really wanted to knock out marathon #5.

Thanks to my brother-in-law, Gary and his daughter, Bethany for chasing Denise and I around the course. It was so cool seeing you guys and hearing your encouraging words.

I'm so proud of my sister for knocking out her best marathon ever beating her previous best by 15 minutes... a PR of 4:54:11. Way to join the Sub-5 hour club!

I started ahead of Denise and was running a 9:50 pace for the beginning of the race until mile 11. Once I hit mile 11, the pain of my IT Band was starting to get to me. My paced slowed once the pain started and I began walking here and there. At about mile 14, I knew a respectable time was out of reach and that I just wanted to finish this thing. Meanwhile, Denise kept up her steady pace and caught me at about mile 17 when I was visiting with Gary and Bethany. She was so focused on keeping up her pace that she didn't want to take a photo op with a Great Dane. Here's a pic of her surprised that she caught up to me.

I was actually excited that I'd be running a race with Denise and might possibly be crossing the finish line with her. I even mentioned to Gary that maybe that I could help push her below 5 hours. We ran a couple of miles together until she left me. I kept having to take walk breaks with the hip pain. At first I was bummed, but I'm so glad that she went and killed her PR!

The last miles were a will of the mind and body as I continually thought about quitting because of the pain. My positive mind games had me envisioning the feeling of crossing the finish line, receiving the medal, and just experiencing something that seemed so far out of reach. It would have been so much easier to stop every time that I saw a Medical Dude on a bike.

I kept telling myself that if I could make it to mile 21, then I could make it mile 22, if I could make it to mile 22, then I could make it mile 23... you get the idea.

I resigned myself to running the downhills and walking the uphills. It seemed that there were more uphills than downhills. I also kept reading my arm... I wrote on my arm 2 things - "Count it all joy!" and "Just keep running!".

"Count it all joy" was huge as I could have wallowed in my own self-pity that I wasn't going to run in a sub-4 hour time, PR, stay within 4:30, heck... stay within 5 hours. But, "Count it all joy" meant enjoying the accomplishment of finishing the darn race. Enjoying the ability to run. Enjoying the experience of using this body that God gave me. Enjoying that I overcome an injury to complete the marathon.

I did visit the medical tent afterward where they stretched me out and provided some ice for my hip.

I'm glad that summer's here and that I'll be pulling back my mileage. I want to heal this IT Band so that I can run at the level that I think I'm capable of.

Crazy to think that this was marathon #5 in 17 months. I will definitely be doing one in the fall, but am not totally sure of which one yet. It will probably be White Rock as I'd still like to get that time down in that race.

Best Part of the Weekend

2011-03-07T12:22:00.000-06:00

Yes, I placed 2nd in my Age Group in the 5K that I ran this weekend. But, the best part of this weekend was running with my 15 year old son, Cairo! As mentioned, after the Cowtown Marathon, he said that he wanted to run in a Half Marathon.

I asked him why he wanted to run and he said that it was cool to see all of those people cheering for the runners. He wants to experience that! That’s what got me hooked as well. It’s very cool to have people cheering for you to finish.

So Sunday afternoon, we want on our first training run. Run 5 minutes, walk 2-3 minutes, run 5 minutes. etc. In total we ran 2.5 miles and walked .5 miles. He did well! We talked some throughout. I stressed that it’s not about speed now, but building a base of miles that you’re comfortable with.

We haven’t scheduled a 5K race yet, but I’m sure that it’ll probably be next 4-6 weeks. I cannot wait. He was surprised that I said that I’d run with him throughout the race. He thought I’d be shooting for another PR. With him in the race, it’s all about him!

I pray that his allergies and asthma hold up and allow him to run. I cannot wait to be a part of this journey with him.

Redemption

2011-03-05T23:25:00.001-06:00

As you could tell, I was a little frustrated with how things worked out at the Cowtown Marathon. So, I set my sights on the DRC Trinity River Levee 5K race to redeem myself. I was just hoping to PR, but got the bonus round by placing second in my age group! Way cool!

The DRC had a 10K and a 5K. I chose to run the 5K since I ran the marathon 6 days ago. Well, it seems that most everyone at the race ran the 10K event. When I was running toward the turnaround point for the 5K I wasn’t seeing to many runners. It was at that point that I thought I might have a chance to place.

Starting out was awesome as I kept my pace at 8:00 or quicker. However, once I turned around toward the finish, I was running straight into the 20+ mph of wind. Ughh! Definitely lowered my speed as my breathing sucked! I love how this race ends with a downhill… gravity just zooms you right into the finish line. So much fun!

I beat my previous 5K PR of 25:34 by 12 seconds finishing in 25:22. I know I can get that sucker under 25 minutes. :)

It was great to see Brandon and his wife, Autumn at the race. They ran the 10K together.

I stuck around with my DRC friends to see if I might’ve placed. I remembered just repeating to Felix, “I hope they call my name! I hope they call my name!”. They called the first place dude and he was just 9 seconds before me. I was certain they were going to call my name and I screamed when they did! Yep, I was excited! This is only the second time that I’ve placed and this is the highest place. Race results

Marathon #4 - Cowtown

2011-03-02T06:45:00.000-06:00

What if? What if? What if? What if I trained harder? What if I slowed my pace at the beginning? What if I would’ve had more speed training, hill training, etc? These and so many other thoughts run through your head after running a marathon that you had higher hopes for. I know it’s a great feat to complete a marathon, but sometimes it’s a bit of a letdown when you wanted more from it.

I was reading other blog posts and came across Suann’s. I’m stealing/borrowing her first 2 paragraphs as I could totally relate:

We have different points in a marathon where we breakdown. It's that time in the race where you don't really know if it's mental or physical. Your body hurts. You wrestle with your head because you know it's supposed to hurt now. You fight off every urge to slow down, to keep from walking.

Then the Lord Voldemort of marathons visits your head. You look at your watch and realize, I don't have this goal today. You let him convince yourself it's ok to not give it your all. He tells you it's ok, there's another race. And at the time, he comforts you. But when you get to the finish line, you're pissed. All that training, all that work, I could have pushed harder. What if I didn't start walking at mile 17? What if I just took it slower in the beginning? What if? What if? What if?

Make sure that we read Suann’s entire blog post as she paced a good friend of mine, Corina, during her 11th marathon.

I felt like I prepared well enough for the race. Yes, it was very humid. Yes, it was pretty darn windy. Yes, it seemed like the hills were never going to end. But, darn it, I put all of that training into it. I wanted to run the race at a time that I thought possible. How is it that I can run a Half Marathon at a 8:33 pace, but cannot hold onto a 9:30 pace for more 17 or 20 miles? I know… I know… the wall, glycogen stores, and all that. I just HAD to vent for once. OK, I’m done. I feel better! :)

Race Recap

Thanks to Ursula and Cairo for following me around on the course. I know it’s a challenge navigating foreign roads and closed streets... you guys are ROCK STARS!

We got to Fort Worth nice and early. I saw some DRC friends and hit the potty before the race. Ursula & Cairo stayed with me at the Starting line until it started. I was psyched and ready to go! First song that Pandora served up for me was Sweet Dreams by the Eurythmics. Not sure if I HAD sweet dreams. It was a weird selection based off of the station. So glad that my phone battery and Internet connection lasted the entire race.

Even though it was humid from the start, I felt pretty good through the first 14 miles or so. I even powered up the dreaded mile 9 hill on Main street. That was a doozy!

It was great seeing Ursula & Cairo at mile 6 at the Stockyards. That was one of the coolest places to run through. I gave them both a hug & a kiss. They couldn’t believe how sweaty I was from the first 6 miles.

We were suppose to meet up at mile 13 or so, but unfortunately they tried to surprise me at mile 9 or 10. In doing so, they landed up on the Half Marathon route after the split. They tried to catch back up to me at 14, but it didn’t work out so they decided to go to the 3rd spot at mile 20.

It was great to see them at mile 20. I really needed to see them! I felt instant relief as I put on my CEP compression socks. They felt so good that I thought I’d be able to run a lot more. It didn’t work out that way.

I had goals of running from water stop, but that didn’t work out as well. It’s so deflating to see the pace leaders and groups pass you by as you ultimately see your goal times pass you by. You’re like, “Wait! Wait!”, but to no avail.

After all this whining & complaining on this blog post, I still wouldn’t give up this experience! It’s a challenge, it’s hard, it’s a flippin’ marathon!

I love the words of wisdom, my non-running wife, Ursula, gave me at mile 20… “Your finishing the marathon is your PR!” I thought and chewed on that for the last 6.2 miles. It was hard to swallow! But, it’s something that I have to come to get comfortable with.

A bonus was that after the race, Cairo said that he wants to run a Half Marathon with me… how cool is that!?!

Was it perfect, no, but marathon #4 is in the books. I’m looking forward to the next one on May 1st… just 60 days away! :) Yes, I’m addicted!

Thirteen – Marathon Memories - @UltraMamaC

2011-02-24T23:27:00.001-06:00

This is a blog response to Corina’s blog of her weekly Thursday Thirteen – Marathon Memory edition.

Many times, people will say, “You’re insane, why would you ever want to run 26.2 miles!?!” It’s like this… If and when I did sit on the couch, I would have never got to meet such inspiring people as Corina. Make sure that you check out her blog. WARNING: You will be inspired!

My top thirteen marathon memories in no particular order…

1. As most know, my sister Denise inspired me to run a marathon. She as well flew from Ohio to Texas and cheered me on for it. How selfless is THAT!?! She gave up participating in a marathon to cheer me on… that’s just crazy cool!

2. Seeing my family throughout the course. They bring a huge smile to me face. I appreciate all that they do in chasing me around the race course.

3. My PR in Cleveland! I’ll always remember that awesome feeling of breaking my PR by 20 minutes.

4. Running my first marathon with my favorite running friend, Felix. Whenever I got quiet, he would say, “Check, check!?!” to see how I was doing. That was huge!

5. Finishing my first marathon… I wanted to quit. Everything below my waist was in pain and I thought it’d be easier to give up. I’m so glad that I finished.

6. Finishing my third marathon… I wanted to quit. Everything below my waist was in pain and I thought it’d be easier to give up. I’m so glad that I finished.

7. Seeing my friend Chris at the finish line of my first marathon. He had to point and push me to the finish. I didn’t expect to see him there. I shared a flood of emotions with him.

8. Meeting new friends at Marathon Meetups via Facebook or Twitter. This is one of the greatest things about running… the awesome running community.

9. Rooting on my sister, Denise at the 2007 Dallas White Rock Marathon! This is where I got the inspiration and passion for running.

10. The anticipation of a race: training, eating right, and then waiting for the starter’s gun to go off on race morning.

11. Giving my mom a hug as I took a break at the Cleveland Marathon! It was so awesome to have that caring, loving embrace during the race.

12. Not stopping to give my mom a hug at mile 25. It was so great to see my Cleveland family at mile 25, but I had to finish this race and there wasn’t any stopping at that point.

13. To steal/borrow from Corina’s blog… The next marathon memory is yet to be written. Tune in next week to find out what it is....

Pre-Marathon Thoughts

2011-02-24T06:50:00.000-06:00

My mind is racing! Visualizing everything that could go right or wrong. I know that I should just trust my training, but this is what the whole marathon experience is about. It’s like preparing for a big event such as a wedding. You want to make sure that everything is perfect, but inevitably something is going to happen to make it unique. I’m learning to embrace the uniqueness of the event.

This will be my 4th marathon. Crazy to think that I never thought I’d say that I’d run a single marathon. Yes, I’m hooked on this marathon experience!

So, what’s my goal!?! Yikes, my ultimate goal would be to break 4 hours, but I don’t feel that I’ve trained well enough to achieve that one. I do feel confident that I can beat my PR of 4:18. I’d like to shoot for 4:10, but I’ll be extremely happy with anything below 4:18. I’d also like to redeem myself from my White Rock Marathon times where I’ve been in the 4:30s.

The Marathon has set up Text Messaging Tracking so that you can track my progress. You’ll usually get about 4 texts throughout the race depending on how many timing mats that have been placed on the course.

I’m liking my bib number… 531! Some good karma in that number.

Come here you knucklehead!

2011-02-09T18:53:00.000-06:00

I have been a part of a great small group for about 6 months. It’s led by an awesome man of God that we affectionately call Coach.

As I was going through my phone today I came across this picture of my son Cairo and Coach.

It brought a tear to my eye. A good tear!

When I looked at the picture, I could hear Coach saying to my son, "Come here you knucklehead, I love you!"

At the same time, I heard God say to me, "Come here you knucklehead, I love you!"

God always has his arms wide open for us. It’s up to us to scamper over to Him. I daily yearn for that embrace from God!

Count it all joy!

2011-01-31T18:13:00.000-06:00

A challenging verse for me to deal with is James 1:2-3

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

Whenever I’m facing trials, obstacles, or challenges… joy is usually the furthest emotion from my mind and heart. I’ve tried repeating the verse and even breaking it down to just “Count it all joy!” However, it seems that I only get it long after the moment in hindsight.

I was just browsing through YouTube and came across this incredible story of Counting it all joy!

This couple truly cherished their gift from God and counted every single day a blessing. I think most would’ve been frustrated with God, but they counted it all joy!

Frisco Trail Running

2011-01-22T16:41:00.001-06:00

My running sister, Denise, has been running trails and loving it. I enjoy it as well, but there really aren’t that many trails within driving distance of where I live.

Once in awhile, I tell her that I ran on the Katy Trail in Dallas or the Chisholm Trail in Plano. She gets all excited for me until I have to tell her that, yes it’s a running trail, but it’s concrete. She definitely thinks they should change the name to something else.

Anyway… I was out running my long run today and was able to get a train run in as well. I thought I’d share it with her & you…

I Want a New Family - @HopeFrisco

2011-01-10T18:19:00.000-06:00

There was a new series kicked off at my church, Hope Fellowship, on Sunday called “I Want a New Family!” This really turned out to be a very thought provoking, introspective type of series for our family. Before I get started, it’s not about getting a new family, but committing to making your family new.

Normally our family will discuss the message on the way home from church and a little bit during the week. This week was a little different since it had to do with our family and making it healthier. As well, we all filled out a family survey that we could easily discuss from.

I highly recommend that you use this sermon message with your family. It will be very impactful as it was with my family.

First, watch the message delivered by Pastor John McKinzie. He does an awesome job of discussing all of the different type of challenges faced by families. The message culminates into what you can do as a family member to strengthen your family.

"I Want A New Family" Week 1 from Hope Fellowship on Vimeo.

Second or maybe first (if you chose not to watch the video) is to have each family member fill out the ratings for each of the 10 Traits of Healthy Families (listed below). This is a MUST DO! Make sure that each family member knows that there is no wrong answer and that they should fill it out without any reservations or repercussions.

Next, one by one, discuss the answers that each person had for their answers to the list of traits. As a family, we did this at dinner last night. What was normally a 30 minute family dinner turned into a very healthy discussion for 90 minutes. There were a lot of eye openers at some of the ratings, but we had very open & honest discussions about what was behind each answer. Some feelings were hurt, but it was all in the name of becoming a stronger healthier family. Of course, I got over my hurt feelings… sometimes I heel quickly.

At first, some did not want to share their answers if it was far from the others’ votes. But, after we broke through conversations of the initial traits, discussions happened much easier.

One thing that came out of this exercise was if there was a low number, we wanted to understand the rating so that we could collectively become a stronger family.

Below is the list of the 10 Traits of Healthy Families so that you can share it with your family. Rate each item on a scale of 1-10.

10 Traits of Healthy Families

Trait #1: Irrational Love - Love for just showing up!

Trait #2: Communicating with truth and Grace - we can talk in this family!

Trait #3: Facing Challenges - how we respond and live when life gets tough.

Trait #4: Vowing to never shame, abuse, control or intimidate anyone.

Trait #5: Sharing Faith - a common spiritual belief system.

Trait #6:Respecting others- gender, race, rules, laws, neighbors

Trait #7:Sense of responsibility - Grow up...

Trait #8: Playing - Unifying recreation that everyone enjoys, making memories!

Trait #9: Seeking Help - Highest functioning families realize how fragile families are and when they need help, they get it!

Trait #10: Giving - Living a compelling story as a family!

Lastly, as stated by Pastor John, no matter your season of family life do three things:

1. Consider (honestly, the state of your family – in every way).

2. Choose (today that you (the only person you have control over) will serve the Lord).

3. Commit (to making our family new).

At the end of our discussion, we all took ownership of things that we could work on to become a healthier family. I’m sure that we’ll hold each other accountable as we WANT to be a healthier family.

I have no doubt that this exercise will make a huge impact on our family and yours as well!

If you live in or near Frisco, bring your family & come visit Hope Fellowship next week as the message series continues.

Dad, I like doing this with you…

2011-01-03T17:33:00.000-06:00

Cairo and I serve on the Parking Team at Hope Fellowship in Frisco. I just thought it’d be a cool way to give back to the church that I’ve been digging. We serve about twice a month. It’s probably one of the easiest things we can do to serve – smile, wave and welcome people to church.

On the way home the other night after serving, Cairo said, “Dad, I like doing this with you”. I heard it, but didn’t digest it until today.

It’s not always the big things that we do that our kids enjoy the most. Sure they enjoy going to movies, amusement parks, and other big events, but it’s the true together times that they enjoy and cherish.

Together times could be as simple as a walk, a board game, serving at church together, or anything that brings you both together experiencing the same thing.

Put some Together Time on your planner today! I’m so glad that I did!

Good Times in San Antonio

2010-12-31T10:43:00.001-06:00

I’m a bit late in posting this, but we had a great time in San Antonio at the beginning of the week.

My sister, Debbie and her kids, Michael and Kayla went to San Antonio for a little vacation fun. They sure are growing up quickly!

Ursula, the kids and I went down Monday and came back Tuesday. Great weather on Monday for driving and the River Walk. We definitely put in several miles walking around San Antonio. We won’t count that part where I was trying to get us back to the hotel. So glad that my Android phone has a GPS & Google Maps. You’ve gotta love technology!

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the River Walk. The food was alright, but the company was awesome! I think Cairo drank 8 lemonades while we were there.

I used Priceline.com to name my own price on a hotel room and scored a great price. We stayed at the Hotel Indigo. It was on the River Walk and was wonderful. I will definitely be using Priceline more often. Check out this blog post on how to best use Priceline.com.

We introduced Debbie and her family to the wonderful game of Pass the Pigs. It’s an addictive game that everyone can play. Good clean fun, darn it!

So glad that we took the drive down I-35 to see them. It was a lot of fun!

The Debbie!

A Social Network Christmas

2010-12-20T08:30:00.001-06:00

The virgin birth of Christ is one of the hardest stories for us to comprehend. If Facebook was around way back then, here’s a glimpse of what it might’ve looked like.

I think the language and comments would have been a lot harsher today. Praise God for the gift of His one and only son!

Incredible Storyteller - Story of Jonah

2010-12-12T13:21:00.000-06:00

First of all… A shout out to my niece, Kayla up in Elyria, Ohio! Thanks for checking out my blog, I hope you enjoy this video as much as I do.

I tweeted this video a few days ago, but had to throw it up on my blog. I wish that I had as much of a storytelling ability as this youngster! She must really love this story, because it would be too difficult to read it and then express it as well as she does.

I Wanna Be Like My Other Sisters too!

2010-12-11T09:53:00.000-06:00

I brag on my running sister, Denise a lot, but I’ve got 2 other sisters that I love a bunch too! GOSH!

Above is a picture from when I visited back in May. There’s Deanna, myself, Debbie, and Denise.

Deanna is a free spirited chickie that loves her family and is proud of her boys. She has an infectious laugh that will stick with you for days. I wanna be like her because she just experiences life and loves what she has.

Debbie… hmmm… who wouldn’t want to be Debbie!?! When I think of Debbie, I think of strength, a fierce competitor, & a loving mom. If I’m going into battle, I need to be on Debbie’s side not against her. This girl will take you down in any competition - - WII Bowling, Shuffleboard, Racquetball, and of course, Roshambo.

Now, if I could only get Deanna & Debbie to start running! :)

Marathon Finish Video

2010-12-08T08:09:00.001-06:00

Thanks to DallasNews.com for capturing video of the Marathon Finish from Sunday’s White Rock Marathon. Too cool to see me finishing and hear my name.

Fast forward the video to 15:45. I’ll be on the far right of the screen in a grey shirt and black shorts.

I really felt like I was going faster than it looks. They must have slowed the video down. :)

You can check out more Marathon Videos here.

I Wanna Be Like My Sister!

2010-12-06T20:45:00.001-06:00

My sister has such a positive attitude that I’d like to be like her! Here I’m striking a pose like her at the beginning of the Dallas White Rock Marathon.

Marathon #3 – White Rock Recap

2010-12-06T18:23:00.001-06:00

I didn’t do as well as I wanted to, but I’m SMILING! I could beat myself up over my time, and how I walked more than I wanted to, but it doesn’t matter! I saw so many runners out there overcoming physical challenges that my time really doesn’t matter. Sure I’ll try again and gain to get faster and stronger, but the time is not going to be the only way to determine the success of a race.

It’s all about the entire race experience! Here’s my race experience recap…

A week leading up to the marathon, I have nothing but anticipation and excitement. I cannot think of anything much but the race and what’s going to happen. With 24 weeks of training leading up to the big event, I think of it as planning for a wedding, except there’s no frilly dress.

Again, I like to consider the whole experience, because if I wasn’t running… I’d still be sitting on the couch watching Saturday morning cartoons and not much of anything else.

On Saturday afternoon, I had an awesome lunch with friends that I met through running. A few friends I made through the Dallas Running Club and others through Twitter. We had lunch at All Good Cafe in Deep Ellum. I brought Briana along so that she could check out something other than the normal chain restaurants that are up in Frisco.

Briana and I had a fun time at the Expo. Although it was crazy packed! I wish there was a little more room to walk around or just stop to check something out. It always seemed like you were in someone’s way.

Now for the race recap…

It was definitely colder than I like, but I dressed appropriately. I was more worried about my cheering section. Thanks to Ursula, Briana & Cairo for following me all over Dallas! You guys really provided the motivation for me as I was getting near the end. Also, it was great to ditch the belt toward the end.

We got down to Fair Park extra early at about 6:20am. Stayed in the car for a little bit and then waited in the Automotive building. We were able to grab a table and chill until it was time to walk over. It was great to see Brandon (FT Developer) and his wife, Autumn before the race. They were both running the Half Marathon.

Before the race, I had 2 goals… beat my previous Marathon time of 4:18:48… I certainly thought that’d I’d be able to achieve that time. My bigger goal was to finish between 4:00 and 4:10. I thought these goals were attainable as my training was good and my Half Marathon time showed that I was capable of running that fast per the

I started out right behind the 4:00 pace group. I wanted to run an even pace throughout the race and thought I could hang with them. After running a few miles with them it seemed like they were ahead of a 4:00 pace. I slowed to a comfortable 9:30min/mile pace. I figured that I surely could hold that pace.

I was suppose to see Ursula and the kids at mile 7.5, but they called after I passed and said they missed me. However, I did get to see one of the soccer moms from Briana’s team. It was great to see Margaret out there!

Urs and the kids surprised me at mile 11. Originally they were going to go onto the 2nd viewing location at mile 14. I was feeling great at that time. Hugs for and from the family – great feeling to have their support.

I next got to see my family at about mile 15. I was still feeling good at this point. :)

At mile 18, I got to see my boss, Scott. It’s so cool that he came out last year and this year to see me run. I told him that I was starting to feel the toll of the race on my legs. He gave some encouraging words and I was back out there.

I saw my family one last time on the course at mile 20. My legs were so darn heavy & achy at this point. I ditched my water belt and got rid of the long sleeve shirt. I felt so much lighter. However, my legs didn’t.

At mile 23, I got to see some running friends that were cheering everyone on. So cool to see them! Thanks to Corina, Running Couple (Lee & Isis), Mel, & Kris.

The last 4 miles were very tough for me. I long ago gave up my first 2 goals of time and just wanted to finish the marathon. As mentioned before, I gave into walking more than I wanted to, but I didn’t give into quitting.

As I finished the race, I gave it all I had as I sped across the finish line. It was cool to hear my name called as I finished. I finished with a time of 4:36:10. A consolation prize was that I beat last year’s White Rock Marathon race by a couple of minutes. Afterward, I joked that I liked the Cleveland Marathon much better since I ran it in 4:18. Hmmm… maybe I’ll be going back to Cleveland.

All in all, I enjoyed the race experience! I didn’t get the time that I wanted, but everything else was awesome with family and friends!

Enjoy Life!

2010-10-22T12:30:00.000-05:00

I really like enjoying life. Seems easy enough, huh? I really like when people go out of their way to get others to enjoy life. Running has enabled me to enjoy life. No, this isn’t another running blog post… just driving a point home.

I really like what Volkswagen did with their Driven by Fun campaign. Giving everyday people a chance to have fun in the middle of their hectic day. Very cool!

Experience life and enjoy it! Have fun!

Would you take the slide? I would!

20 YEARS!

2010-10-21T06:30:00.000-05:00

Today marks the twentieth year that Ursula and I have been married! 20 years is such an awesome milestone, but I consider each year as a milestone of its own.

A healthy marriage takes a lot of work, patience, and most importantly, God! Without God, we would not have made it this far if I just depended on my own wisdom. God has always nudged me to do the right thing when it comes to understanding how to love Ursula. Have I always listened? …no. However, the times that I have really listened, I know for a fact that our marriage has been strengthened by listening to Him and not myself.

I thank God for bringing Ursula and I together. I have been so blessed!

I just love this song from Tony Toni Tone – it’s back from our hay day! It’s a perfect blend of both of us.

What is God Trying to Tell You?

2010-10-16T07:35:00.000-05:00

Whenever God is talking to me, I hear what he’s trying to tell me multiple times in multiple ways. Huh? The same message is repeated several times, by different sources. I could hear it from a sermon at church, a news story on the radio, from a friend, or first hand experience.

Sunday at church, Pastor John was talking about road rage and how we need to check ourselves.

Monday morning, I was right… he was wrong. Did I really need to be right and prove it? Probably not, but I made my point and I didn’t need to.

I was on my way to work on Monday morning at O’dark thirty motoring at a good pace. I’m coming up to I-35 on 121 where 2 lanes merge down to 1 lane. You know the story… The guy behind me decides that it would be better to be in front of me, so he gets into the right lane; the lane that’s going to end. He speeds up, but doesn’t get in front of me. He could of easily got back behind me, but he really wanted that coveted “in front of Mark Lindsley” spot.

He accelerates even faster and finally shows his true intention. Once I finally let him in, he let me know who was number ONE. I, flashed my high beam lights to dispute the claim. He reemphasized his point. It was at this point, that I’m snapped back to reality wondering why am I’m doing this… pride, ego, etc. Well, things were escalating and he’s inviting me to pass him so that he can truly express himself.

Seeing how there were 2 people in his car and his “friendly” gestures were getting out of hand, I decided to duck off the highway sooner than I needed to. I was hoping to avoid becoming a statistic.

Wednesday, on the way to White Rock Lake, I needed to get over a lane and none of my friendly drivers were letting me over. Finally, I thought there was a gap large enough to get over, but that car sped up to not let me in. I was able to get in after them and what did I see on the back of their car… yep, a fish!?! Brother, dude, couldn’t you let me in? Go figure, huh? This was God really talking to me… I was that same person a couple of days ago.

Thursday on the radio, I heard that DFW was second behind New York City as one of the top of the Road Rage List. That’s not a list that we should be too proud of. No wonder, I’m not crazy on having my 16 year old out there driving.

All of this is a message to me… it starts with me. I need to slow down, drive comfortably, and just don’t care about people getting in front of me. Ego or no ego, it’s just not worth it.

What is God trying to tell you?

An Inspirational Movie to wait for…

2010-08-26T12:36:00.000-05:00

I just saw the trailer the movie 127 Hours and it looks incredible.

It’s going to be an intense movie that I’m sure that will take us through so many heavy emotions. I cannot wait for it.

Here’s the back story of Aron Ralston…

The movie will be coming out on November 5th.

Facebook in Real Life

2010-08-10T18:30:00.000-05:00

I’ve been getting Ursula more and more into Facebook, but it’s been a battle. I don’t think she’s ready for Facebook in real life…

Dad’s Life

2010-07-12T21:45:00.001-05:00

Been quite from me on the blogging front, so I thought I’d throw a bone out there… here’s a cool dad video from a church in Tulsa.

Here’s the Mommy version… priceless!

Stop It!

2010-06-18T07:57:00.001-05:00

I cannot count how many times that I’ve heard or read the story of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11.

1 Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives,2 but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them.3 As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd.
4 "Teacher," they said to Jesus, "this woman was caught in the act of adultery.5 The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?"
6 They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger.7 They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, "All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!"8 Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust.
9 When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman.10 Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, "Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?"
11 "No, Lord," she said.
And Jesus said, "Neither do I. Go and sin no more."

The story’s main focus is usually about all of us being sinners. There’s not one of us that doesn’t have a blemish or fault. There are so many different aspects of this story as well, such as the observation of Jesus. He’s so calculated, patient, and loving.

Last night in my weekly men’s group, a different focus was given and kicked me in the stomach! The last sentence: Go and sin no more. Jesus recognizes our sins. He forgives our sins. Most importantly, he wants us to STOP!

Go and sin no more! I think, actually, I’m pretty certain most of us receive forgiveness from Jesus and just GO! However, we miss the last part of that commandment – and sin no more!

Yes, it’s a challenge! It’s going to be hard! But so is everything else that’s worth it. Getting a college degree is hard; but you study, take tests and do it. Running a marathon is hard; but you train, eat right and do it. The hard part is… stopping. I know! However, God always gives ways out of situations when we’re temped. (see below – 1 Corinthians 10:13) Grab for His hand each and every time and He’ll help you stop.

13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

If you’re struggling with any type of repetitive sins, addictions, or anything that God would not be smiling about… STOP IT! Go and sin no more!

Ursula Graduates!

2010-06-14T05:12:00.000-05:00

I’m so proud of Ursula! She has put in 1500 hours in her pursuit of working in the cosmetology career field. She graduated from Paul Mitchell schools in Carrollton. Actually… she’s done with school on July 3rd, but they have the graduation ceremony before you’re done.

The graduation ceremony was Saturday night and was a blast! They had a fashion runway show with a bunch of cool hairdos! Ursula actually got up and said a few words recognizing her teachers and the family. Her dad would be proud of her speech.

Here’s a picture of the proud family. Uh oh, Cairo is getting close to my height.

Sooooooo… if you need your hair did, I mean done, give Ursula a call, e-mail, or a text. She doesn’t do Twitter, but I’m trying to coerce her onto Facebook. She does a fantastic job! She’s been cutting my hair for close to 20 years.

You Were Called to Serve People, Not Software #FellowshipOne #chms

2010-06-11T16:53:00.001-05:00

So many times people ask me, what kind of company is Fellowship Technologies? What kind of software is Fellowship One? This video does an awesome job of illustrating what our Church Management Software does.

I am so proud and honored to be a part of this company!

How Do We Live Daily?

2010-06-10T12:15:00.000-05:00

As some know, I’ve been transitioning to a different church near our home. There are a lot of different reasons why I chose to move to a new church home, however that’s not the reason of this post.

The main reason of this post is a message that was given at Hope Fellowship. I really appreciate how Pastor John relates so well to where I am when he’s teaching. Actually, I think he relates to everyone very well.

John stresses that we are not to go out and sin throughout the week and then expect to come back to church on Sunday and be redeemed by him.

After he said this, I leaned over to Briana and told her that he nailed it! He really did! This is how so many Christians go through their lives including myself. I’m TRYING to live my life with Christ driving my actions & motives throughout the week. However, it’s definitely a challenge, but I know that it’s achievable. It’s achievable by getting it into His word daily and getting on your knees daily. I cannot do it without Him!

Click here, to download the entire message.

Trail Running with Denise

2010-05-18T15:04:00.001-05:00

Went on my first trail run with Denise in Nowhere, Ohio. It was somewhere, but off of the GPS grid. Ok, it was actually Peninsula, Ohio. The rain let up for us, but it was pretty damp on the trail which made it pretty slippery and muddy.

Denise had fun laughing at me as I tried to keep my footing with my no grip street running shoes. I’m glad that I didn’t fall. :)

It was the first run after running the marathon a couple of days ago. Logged about 4.5 miles on the trails.

Here’s where we were checking out a scenic waterfall. One of Denise’s favorite location.

About to cross stream, however, I chose to turnaround since we already ran a couple of miles. That was enough after running in a marathon a couple of days ago.

Nice set of stairs in the middle of the trail run.

All in all, I had a great time running on the trails with Denise. I guess I should have been worried though when I found out that the trails were located next to some ski slopes.

I cannot believe that this is the set of trails that Denise runs in a 50K race. Yikes!

Family Visit – Gave my mom a spin

2010-05-18T08:52:00.001-05:00

When I visited my family, my mom got up on a bench so that she’d be taller than me. I came over and gave her a spin. Make sure to check out her dismount. Priceless.

I had a great time visiting family. More pictures to be posted later.

Second Marathon was a Good One!

2010-05-16T23:04:00.001-05:00

I thoroughly enjoyed running in my second marathon in Cleveland. The weather was great with the temps staying in the 50s throughout the race.

I finished the race in 4:18:48. I’m really happy with this time. I feel like I redeemed myself after running in my first marathon in December at the Dallas White Rock Marathon. I know it was my first marathon, but I wanted to do better than my 4:37 finish. I gave into the fatigue at the end of that race. This time I pushed through and gritted through the last 4 grueling miles.

Not bad results above… 1,276th out of 11,541 marathoners. 934th out of 5,108 men and 155 out of 728 in the Men 40-44 age division. First half at 2:08:09 and the last half at 2:10:39. The last half was pretty good since I had 2 long breaks.

As mentioned in my previous post I was planning on running negative splits. I did OK with this, but it was harder than I thought to stick with running the first 8 miles at a 10:00 minute pace. I was quicker than originally planned, but I didn’t think 10-20 seconds would hurt me too badly. I did come up short in the last miles in trying to hit my target of 9:00 minute miles, but all in all, I’m OK with that. I ran this marathon so much better than the first one.

I listened to my Android phone for most of the race except for when there were bands or other musical happenings. It was cool to see a group that were like Stomp. I wanted to listen to the Black Eyed Peas station on Pandora, but it lost connection after a few miles. So I switched to Briana’s Playlist for most of the race. After that, I listened to another playlist that brought me through. For the last couple of months, I’ve been listening to music while running. It gives me a different type of focus and minimizes the noise of the pain in my legs. :)

I only stopped when I saw my family at miles 6, 13 & 21. I also had to stop a couple of other times. I had a long stop when I had to take care of some potty business on mile 18 and a longer water stop.

It was great having family support at the race. Gary, my brother-in-law would call me to find out where I was and give me updates to where they were going to be. He would tell me where they were going to be and so I would tell myself to hold on and I’d be able to take a short break when I see them.

I saw my family again at mile 25, but I didn’t stop. I just ran by and gave them 2 thumbs up as I ran by. I willed myself so hard to keep running I was going to stop at this point.

Once I finished, I gave Ursula a call and cried like a little girl. I told her that I wished that she was there so that I could fall into her arms. I missed her so much. Yes, I get emotional at the end of running a marathon. It’s a part of the experience.

Now for the details. My mile splits were as follows:

Mile 1: 9:59
Mile 2: 9:43
Mile 3: 9:49
Mile 4: 9:31
Mile 5: 9:34
Mile 6: 9:39
Mile 7: 9:39
Mile 8: 9:40
Mile 9: 9:40
Mile 10: 9:34
Mile 11: 9:41
Mile 12: 9:24
Mile 13: 9:56
Mile 14: 9:27
Mile 15: 9:26
Mile 16: 9:21
Mile 17: 9:23
Mile 18: 12:38 (long potty break)
Mile 19: 9:33
Mile 20: 9:27
Mile 21: 9:30
Mile 22: 11:29 (visit with the family)
Mile 23: 9:28
Mile 24: 9:44
Mile 25: 9:48
Mile 26: 9:22
Mile 26.52: 8:58

I’m glad that I got an opportunity to run this race. I would definitely run it again if I get the chance.

Cleveland Marathon!

2010-05-14T22:46:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe that I’m less than 36 hours away from running in my second marathon. Butterflies have been hanging out in my stomach the whole week… or maybe it’s been all the pasta that I’ve been eating!

I cannot wait to run in this marathon! The Cleveland Marathon will be a special one to run since I’ll be running it in my birthplace. It’ll be great to have family there cheering me and Denise on as we run.

I think that I’m pretty well prepared, but ugly self doubt creeps in my head every once in awhile. I feel like I’ve got a great plan for the race. I’m planning on doing the following:

Miles 1-8: 10:00 minute pace
Miles 9-13 9:40 minute pace
Miles 14-20 9:20 minute pace
Miles 21-26 9:00 minute pace

This should put me on track for a time of 4:11:40 give or take. This doesn’t really include any stops that I’ll have to make. So, my true goal is 4:15.

I’m flying out Saturday morning, hitting the expo with Denise, and then a pasta dinner with the family. Fun, fun, fun!

I’m bummed that the runner tracking text service is not available for this race. At the last minute, I received an email from the race that the system crashed. Being just a tad IT savvy, I thought the excuse was pretty lame. This seems like a must have for any race!

Anyway, I’ll be updating Twitter and eventually my blog with how the race went after I complete it.

Dynamic Church 2010 #DC10

2010-05-11T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hey church friends! If you’re coming to Dynamic Church 2010 or affectionately known as DC10 come look for me and say hey! This is going to be a fun year as we’ll be at Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano. If you haven’t been to Prestonwood, you’re in for a treat.

Here’s my schedule of where I’ll be hanging out:

Wednesday

1:00pm – Keynote Presentation
5:00pm – Meet & Greet

Thursday

8:30am – Keynote Presentation
10:00am – Groups 2.0 – Part 1 (presenting)
11:00am - Groups 2.0 – Part 2 (presenting)
3:00pm – Groups 2.0 Panel (moderating)
4:00pm – Roadmap

Friday

9:00am – Groups 2.0 – Part 1 (presenting)
10:00am - Groups 2.0 – Part 2 (presenting)
11:00am – Keynote Presentation

At other times, I’ll be serving in a greeter role in the education area. Feel free to tweet, text, or call me to hook up. I’d love to meet with you and catch up with you.

Being a Part of “I did it!” - C25K

2010-05-10T12:15:00.000-05:00

On Saturday morning, we had a small group of runners show up for Week 5, Day 3 of the Couch to 5K program to run together. Week 5, Day 3 is a milestone as it’s the first time in the program that you run non-stop. 20 minutes of running non-stop is huge for someone that 5 weeks ago didn’t run at all.

There were five us that got up early on that Saturday morning. Based on ability, we split up into two groups. I was paired with Kara and Ricardo. This was Kara’s first time to run 20 minutes. I consider it an honor to be a part of Kara’s first 20 minute run.

Here’s a run down of the 20 minute run…

The run was to start at 9am, but we waited to make sure that everyone was there. While waiting, Kara, said, "Now that I’m waiting, I don’t want to do this.” I told her that we were already at that the point of no return as we were already here to run.

We started with our 5 minute walk and then got into the 20 minute run.

I told Kara that we were going to run at her pace. I made sure that she knew that running should be at a comfortable pace where you can carry on a conversation. However, I think I did most of the talking.

I kept checking with her on how well she was doing with her running. She was doing very well up to 10 minutes. A bit after 10 minutes, she was feeling it.

14 minutes into the run, she told me that she didn’t want to run anymore. I can tell that she was laboring a bit as we were getting more into the run. I kept encouraging her with the following:

We’ve only got 5 minutes left. You gave me 5 minutes earlier.

4 minutes left. You got this! Ease up a little bit off the pace.

3 minutes – 30 seconds. Here comes a downhill. You’ve got to love downhills.

3 minutes left. Just think, you’ll get to tell everyone that you did this!

2 minutes left. We’re 90% there, you cannot leave 10% out there.

1 minute left. Only 1 tiny minute left. You surely have 1 minute left in ya.

30 seconds left! Just to that tree. You can run to that tree.

FINISHED! You did it! You turned a “I don’t want to do this” into a “I did it!”

We did our 5 minute cool down walk and basked in the glory of her accomplishment.

It was so rewarding to be a part of Kara’s triumph over the 20 minute running milestone. This is what it’s all about… turning “I don’t want to” into “I did it!”

Pace Leading in a Skirt

2010-05-06T05:26:00.001-05:00

I had a great time on Sunday, pace leading in a running skirt. It was a crazy good time! It was my first time pace leading for a race. It was also definitely my first time running in a skirt! :)

I paced for the 2:20 Half Marathon group. We had a great group of ladies hanging out with us. It was so cool to see the first time Half Marathoners out there. I still remember my first half marathon… I ran it with my sister. It was great to have her there for me. I wanted to be able to pass on the same inspiration and encouragement that she provided me.

We got a lot of great photos out there. Seems like everywhere we walked people wanted to take pictures of the men in skirts. Go figure! Check out pictures that I took on Facebook. You don’t need a Facebook account to see them.

It was cool to see some of the ladies from work: Erin, Coly, & Suzie. I think they wanted to get some blackmail pictures. They said that I looked too comfortable in that skirt.

Looking forward to the Cleveland Marathon in about 10 days. CANNOT WAIT!

A Fast 5 Miles

2010-05-05T20:26:00.001-05:00

What a fun race weekend! A 5 mile race on Saturday and then I got to pace lead for the first time on Sunday. I’ll talk about the pace leading in a separate blog post.

DRC White Rock & Roll 5 Mile Race

The DRC had two distances for the race on Saturday morning. 5 & 10 miles. I usually go with the longer distances, but chose to go with the shorter distance since I would be doing 13 miles the next day.

It was probably my fastest race ever! I averaged 8:10 for the race with my last 2 miles coming in around 7:45. My time was 40:50.

I would have never thought that I could go that fast. CRAZY! I was definitely pushing it! My cardio was doing everything it could to hold on. I beat my previous 5 mile PR by close to 4 minutes. Since I gave it all I had, I was kind of hoping to place. OK, I was really hoping I would get some blingage. There were some speedies in front of me as I finished 5th out of 19 in my age group. Maybe next time.

The race was a lot of fun with pizza and other good eats. They also had some great raffle prizes. Unfortunately, they didn’t call my number.

Only 11 more days until I run in my second marathon in the Cleveland Marathon.

Biggest Loser in Dallas #BL9

2010-04-27T22:22:00.001-05:00

It was so much fine to hang out with the Biggest Loser contestants back in February. It was also very cool to see the 5 hours of production turned into 15 minutes of footage. Here’s some pictures that Felix took with his camera.

I got a lot of tweets and texts during the show when people spotted me. Very cool! I’ll probably try to grab some of the video of where myself and others I know were spotted on the show.

Watch me on the Biggest Loser!

2010-04-26T17:30:00.000-05:00

Tune into the Biggest Loser tomorrow night to see me hanging out with the Biggest Loser contestants. I won’t say anything to give anything away, but here’s a pic of Felix and myself in our BL t-shirts.We make pink look good, don’t we!?!

You’ll also get to see some other DRCers and Twitter favorite: TxSkateMom. DRC peeps that were there: EW, Mark Olateju, and Kevin & Katie Luper.

Oklahoma City Half Marathon Recap

2010-04-26T06:05:00.000-05:00

What a fun weekend! It was such a blast to take the Dallas Running Club bus to OKC. They’re such a great group of dedicated runners.

I met up with Felix & Jeff bright and early on Saturday to catch the DRC bus. We got some great seats on the bus. After a group photo or two, we were off for OKC. Heather & Stacy created a fun environment… Peace, Love, & DRC.

After a nice bus ride we checked into the hotel. Thanks to Felix & Jeff for letting me share a room with them. I brought the areobed so that I could catch my ZZZ’s in comfort.

We checked out the expo after trying to check into the hotel. Our room wasn’t quite ready. The expo was an average size, but VERY crowded. I probably would’ve had spent more money, but was kind of pushed out of shopping areas. The Cox Convention Center is big enough… they should have grabbed some more space.

I did snag a couple of shirts and a pair of sunglasses. One of the bargain shirts I found was too small, so I gave it to my son. He likes my hand me downs. I definitely give better hand me downs than my dad gave me. (Sorry, Dad!)

I was able to hook up with a Twitter friend – Glenn McDaniel in the expo. Pretty cool how Twitter makes this world so much smaller. Also great to catch up with TXSkateMom. She rocked her 8th marathon!

For dinner, our group went to an Italian restaurant which was really nice. The food was great. Afterward, Jeff, Felix, & I checked out the OKC Memorial. I’ve seen the memorial a handful of times, but each time it still grabs me in an emotional way. It’s just pretty ugly what people are capable of doing.

We got to bed and before we knew it, we were getting up to run our tails off. We arrived at the start with a few minutes to spare. The weather was pretty much perfect for a half marathon. It started off in the 50’ and probably warmed to the 60’s.

Overall, I felt pretty good about the race. I missed my PR by 9 seconds with a time of 1:53:11. I’m very happy with this time as it was a very hilly race. I don’t think I’ll ever run a full marathon at this race. Those last miles are not cool! As well, it’s always windy in OK.

Usually, I’m against cheeseburgers at 8:30 in the morning, but I couldn’t resist. It hit the spot and wasn’t too greasy at all.

My 1:53:11 time equaled a pace of 8:38 per minute. Some cool numbers:

I came in 760th place out of 6,465 Half Marathon runners. Top 11%
537th place out of 2,126 male Half Marathon runners. Top 21% of men runners.
61st place out of 268 runners in my age division – Male 40-44.

I wish the OKC Race Director would provide tech shirts instead of t-shirts. I would pay extra for the tech shirt. I don’t really wear t-shirts that often. As well, it’s a huge bummer not to get a finisher’s shirt for the Half Marathon. What’s up with that!?! I ran all of your hills, give me my tech shirt!

For a bit of history… it’s cool to see my blog concerning the OKC Half Marathon from last year. What a difference a year makes.

Track me at the OKC Half Marathon

2010-04-22T17:05:00.000-05:00

If you’ve got an iPhone, iTouch, or iPad… track me while I’m running the half marathon in Oklahoma City. I’ll be running the race bright and early Sunday morning. The start time is at 6:30am. So, while you’re getting ready for church, you can cheer me on!

They’ve created an app that will have bib tracking. My bib number is H935. There will be other cool features in the app, but the bib tracking will allow you to see where I’m at in the race.

I’d like to beat my previous best of 1:53:02 which is a 8:37 minute per mile pace. This will be pretty challenging. However, I’ll want to make sure not to over do it as I’ll be running in a full marathon 3 weeks later in Cleveland. I’ve got to play it smart so that I’m ready for the race that I’ve really been training for in Cleveland.

Hopefully next year they’ll have an Android application. :)

Why I’ll be Running in a Skirt!?!

2010-04-21T22:07:00.001-05:00

Yes, you read it right… I’ll be running in a skirt. On Sunday, May 2nd, myself and 15 other guys will don running skirts and pace for the Heels and Hills Half Marathon race.

The Heels and Hills race series is a great series that caters to women. 85-90% of the participants are women. There are no awards for men. Men can definitely run in the races, but it’s all about focusing on women. I’m a huge fan of the Heels and Hills Race Director, Libby Jones. She is such an inspiration to myself and so many other runners. This will be such a fun event!

I got started in this running thing because of my sister, Denise. If it wasn’t for her, I’d still be on the couch watching reruns of Ren and Stimpy. She is a huge inspiration to me! Whenever I run, I think of that smile on her face that you see in the picture on the right. It just beams of “I love what I’m doing!” Throughout the last 2 years of my short running career, she has encouraged me tirelessly. Answering all of my silly newbie running questions with such joy! She could definitely empathize with me as she went through each stage of doubt, anticipation, and excitement.

Denise and I definitely weren’t the athletic types of the family. We were trying to get away with our charm and good looks. It’s so cool, that running has enabled us to achieve something that definitely felt out of reach.

We have grown so much closer over the last couple of years. Being separated by 1,100+ miles has been shortened by discussions of long runs, tempo runs, and the occasional fartlek. My family and I live in the Dallas area and Denise’s family lives in the Cleveland area. I’m looking forward to running in the Cleveland Marathon with her on Sunday, May 16th.

I’ll be running in a skirt to honor my sister that got me into this crazy thing called running.

Follow Denise on Twitter as she’s started to dabble in the Twitterverse.

A Marathon is Big, but a 5K is Huge!

2010-04-07T11:05:00.001-05:00

Last night was our first training run for the Fellowship Technologies Couch to 5k Training Program. We had a great turnout of 20 employees. All were eager to give this running thing a try. It was great to see how the encouragement was so contagious amongst everyone.

We followed Week 1, Day 1 of the Couch to 5K program which consisted of the following:

5 minute brisk walk
8 repeats of the following:
- 60 seconds of jogging
- 90 seconds of walking
5 minute cool down walk

Everyone did very well! I made sure to stress that running is really an individual sport that is done at your individual pace. After the run, I reminded everyone that a 5K is 3.1 miles. I surprised everyone and let them know that they travelled 2.25 miles by doing the above and it was only the first day. They can do this!

Last month I mentioned that FT would be having this training program. It’s awesome to see the excitement surrounding it. 48 employees have signed up for the program.

So what’s up with the title of this blog? Yes, a Marathon is a big deal, a big event, however, moving from nothing (the couch) to a 5K is HUGE! Individuals training for their first marathon are already used to some level of training. The difference is that they just have to bump it up and get past some perceived physical & mental hurdles. Whereas couchers are making a huge conscious decision to make a positive change in their life. They’re showing up (getting off the couch) to training runs which is a huge first step. I'm proud of each and everyone of the Couch to 5K participants!

Personally and selfishly, it’s an incredible feeling to be a part of this program. I just love seeing everyone get into the program and cannot wait to see the sense of accomplishment that they’ll experience.

It is my hope and prayer that everyone stays healthy & mentally strong to stick with the 9 weeks of the program. Everyone can do this!

I get paid to watch FC Dallas Games

2010-03-20T16:06:00.001-05:00

OK, I won’t be watching the games, but working as an Usher/Ticket Taker. I’ve been trying to sign up for this gig for the last couple of years. I finally made it to a Job Fair and made the cut.

I’m looking forward to be a part of the FC Dallas Experience! Tonight’s my first game to work a game and the forecast looks pretty nasty. Chance of snow on the first day of Spring? I thought I was living in Dallas!?!

While working, I cannot Tweet, FaceBook, or blog… bummer! I’m sure that I’ll go through withdrawals. I’m sure that I’ll survive. :)

This cool part time job will feed my enjoyment of running in races.

Make sure you come check out a game! We play our rivals in our home opener on March 27th – Houston Dynamo!

Race Photos

2010-03-18T06:30:00.000-05:00

I try not to vent too much through tweeting and blogging, but I’ve just got to get this off of my chest.

Ever since I’ve started running a couple of years, I thought it was super cool that that there were photographers out there snapping pictures of us ordinary Joes running in a race. However, I’ve always had sticker shock every time that I’ve gone to the photographer’s website to view the pictures. For example, check out my pictures from the last race at the Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon. $34.95 for one digital image or $64.95 for all digital images. Gee whiz! Yes, I understand that it costs a lot to have the photographers all over the course and for labor to tag all of the photos. But, I really believe that there would be more photos sold if they were reasonably priced.

I would consider purchasing photos at $10 each or $30 for all available photos. If I did this and several other thousand people did than I’m sure that you’d make more money currently from the few hundred photos that you sell. OK, I’m making up my own numbers here, but you get my point.

By the way, the Dallas Rock n Roll Half Marathon had the most photographers that I’ve seen at a race. Yes, I look for them! My running sister, Denise taught me to look for them and to SMILE! As well, they went above and beyond and had a video of the Finish Line. That was way cool to see me hightailing across that line!

I was as well impressed with how quickly the Dallas Rock n Roll got the pictures. I got an email on the next day that they were available for viewing. That’s crazy fast! Most other races they’re usually posted by Wednesday or Thursday.

Here’s some other blog posts that think race photos are too expensive:

Jill Will Run: Race Photos are Too Expensive
Dailymile: Why are the race photos so expensive. Do you buy it?
Team Giles: Race Photos

Come on photographer dudes and dudettes, I’d really like to purchase race photos, but it shouldn’t cost as much as the race for a photo or two!

What are you thoughts on race photos? Why aren’t the photos cheaper? I feel like the photographers are just leaving money on the table.

OK… back to positive tweeting and blogging. :)

Rock n Roll Half Marathon Rocked my Birthday

2010-03-16T22:30:00.001-05:00

This last weekend was an awesome birthday weekend!

Rock n Roll Half Marathon Expo

My son, Cairo went to the expo with me on Saturday. I love having him come along as we always make an adventure out of whatever we do. For example, when we drove down there, we didn’t want to pay $8 or $10 for parking so we walked a few blocks when we parked on the street. Bummer thing is that we needed $3 worth of quarters for the parking meter. We walked over to McDonald’s to purchase an order of fries. It was a great excuse to share some fries and get change for the meter.

There were a lot of people at the Expo on Saturday, but it wasn’t too bad. There were just about right the number of vendors. Two highlights of the Expo…

1 – I got to meet John “the Penguin” Bingham as he was moderating and guest speaking. He’s the author of one my favorite running books: No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running. I was given this book when I started running and have also given it to others starting out. If you’re remotely interested in running, RUN and get this book!

2 – I finally got to meet Lee & Isis affectionately referred to on Twitter as the @runningcouple. I have gotten to know them over the past few months on Twitter and love their positive attitude about running and building relationships. They are a must follow for Twitter. Check out their blog at http://therunningcouple.com/.

My First TweetUp!

I finally got out and "lived a little" as I went to my first TweetUp. What is a TweetUp? A TweetUp is where you actually meet with people that you've been communicating with in Twitter in real life. Yikes - scary! It was fun! Everyone was very cool. I got to meet @runningcouple @seekrisrun @asingulargirl @JenZenator @jenn_if_er @bemadthen @TriBoomer @Kimberlyrunner @acmedragon337 We met at Campisi's in Dallas.

The RACE

Before the race, I met with Twitter and Dallas Running Club (DRC) friends. I found Steve Griffin and we lined up in the back of Corral 3. Before I started the race, Felix found me and wished me a Happy Birthday which was super nice. After we started the race he took off and knocked out a killer time - 1:42. I'm so proud of what he's done from losing 70 pounds to getting faster & faster!

I LOVED the start of the race. Normally when the gun goes off in a race, everyone goes, or at least they try. However, in this race, they held off so many people at a time, for exampled Corral 3 was broken into two groups. They would let the first group go and then held the next to wait. Why did I love this start? For a couple of reasons: 1) We got to start like we were the elites... they brought us right up to the starting line and we had our own count down. This was way cool as it really built the excitement level up! 2) This made it so that we weren't right on top of people in front of us. We were pretty well evenly spaced out and didn't have to weave in out of other runners.

It was a joy to run with Steve. Our race plan was pretty much the same - start at about a 8:50 pace, maintain, and then do negative splits toward the end of the race.

I felt great during a majority of the race. Felt my legs getting a bit sluggish during the end of the race, but pushed through it. I was so happy to hit my Birthday PR with a time of 1:53:02. My previous Half Marathon best was 1:55:21 back in November. It's a pretty awesome feeling to knock off 10 seconds per mile with an average pace of 8:38 per mile.

My Results

Age: 43 Gender: M

Distance	HALF MAR
Clock Time	1:58:06
Chip Time	1:53:02
Overall Place	1475 / 9244
Gender Place	1048 / 3454
Division Place	163 / 539
Age Grade	55.9%
Pace	8:38
Ttlrace	9244
Ttldiv	539
Ttlsex	3454
5 Km	27:39
10 Km	54:58
7 Mi	1:01:56
10 Mi	1:27:23

Post-Race

After the race, I met up with my DRC friends and shared our tales of the last 13.1 miles. A highlight was the Lettuce Wraps provided by P.F. Chang's. Thanks to my friend Stacy for honoring my birthday by wearing a special shirt for Jeff and myself.

A Valet Key - ARRRRGGGHHH!

A couple of weeks ago, we purchased a used 2007 PT Cruiser. Pretty darn happy with it so far. Seeing how we only got one key, I set out to get some additional keys. On Saturday, I bought some valet keys since I didn't want to pay big bucks for the remote keyfob. It was my understanding that the valet key would unlock the driver's door and ignition, but not the trunk, glove box, or other secure storage areas within the car.

Well, we found out the hard way, that wasn't the case for the PT Cruiser. It actually only allowed the car to work for a short period of time.

I went down early to the race riding on the DART from Plano. Ursula and the kids were going to meet me at mile 6 and then the Finish Line. Well, mile 6 and then the backup plan of mile 8 came along and I didn't see Urs and the kids. I was then hoping to see them at the Finish Line. But didn't see them there either. After I finished, I saw 3 texts from Ursula explaining the problem with starting of the car. Ugggghhhh!! She and the kids were bummed about not being able to make it to the race. They welcomed me home with decorations and yummy cupcakes.

Dinner and a Movie

After chilling at home, had a wonderful dinner with the family at Razzoo's Cajun Restaurant in Plano. After dinner enjoyed checking in Alice in Wonderland in 3D. The movie was what I expected in the zaniness department. The 3D affects were way cool. I haven't seen a 3D movie for a long time and I was very impressed. Briana giggled the whole way through the previews and she loved the 3D affects during the movie.

Track me this Sunday at the Rock n Roll Half Marathon

2010-03-12T07:30:00.001-06:00

I’m super excited about this Sunday’s Rock n Roll Half Marathon. What better way is there to spend your birthday? A band at each mile, thousands of my running friends, and a 13.1 mile scenic race. I’m sure I’ll fit some cake and ice cream in there somewhere.

For all of my family & friends, you can sign up for text alerts to see how I’m doing as I run this race. Click here to sign up.

My Half Marathon Personal Record (PR) is 1:55:21. I’m hoping to beat that time. It’ll be challenging as that was a 8:48 pace. I fell confident that I can do it after running well this last weekend at the DRC Trinity River Levee 10K race. That was one challenging race! I PR’ed the race, but unfortunately, my time didn’t show up with the official results.

If you’re going to be at the race, please let me know so I can look out for you!

Fellowship Technologies is Set to RUN!

2010-03-08T07:49:00.000-06:00

I got the opportunity to share my joy of running with the company that I work with on Friday. At the quarterly Fellowship Technologies All Hands Meeting, I shared who and what got me into running and why we should all run.

Fellowship Technologies is an awesome Christian based company in which we try to not only grow as a company, but as individuals. The company has a Get Fit program in which promotes a healthy lifestyle. There have been several of these programs since I’ve been a part of the company. I won the Biggest Loser challenge two years ago. At the same time, I was training for my first 5K. Nick Floyd who ran the Biggest Loser challenge was a great motivation to me. I hope I can be as inspiring as he was/is.

As a company team, we will be running the Susan G. Komen 5K race in Plano on June 12th. We will be running in honor of Jennifer Cunningham as she battles through breast cancer. She has touched us all as she has braved through this period of her life. Check out her blog to learn more about this inspiring young lady.

At the meeting I shared that I went from hating and dreading running to actually loving it. It’s my hope that others will catch my passion and enjoy running.

We will be using the CoolRunning.com Couch to 5K program for anyone that has not been running. This is the same program that I used 2 years ago. It gradually moves you from sitting on the couch to being able to run a 5K in 9 weeks. Simply put – it works!

I cannot wait to be a part of this program and to share my passion for getting fit and running. I want to be used by God to share the same joy that my sister Denise shared with me.

Minutes before I presented at the All Hands Meeting, I was given this note:

Mark, thank you for continuously modeling a servant’s heart!! Thank you for your example of your commitment to running and health! It’s inspired me to start walking. I’ve gone from none to over 10 miles in the last two weeks. Thank you for the ways that you inspire me and others. God bless you! Joe Watts

I was very much touched by this note and had to share it at the meeting. It’s an incredible feeling to positively impact someone else’s life.

I did it – Perfect Attendance!

2010-02-27T20:35:00.001-06:00

I had perfect attendance for my marathon training schedule for February! Yeah!

I didn’t do very well in January with sticking to the schedule. I ran 55 miles in January. Mileage picked up in February and I did each of the runs. I ran 101 miles for the month of February. Yeah! I love 100+ mile running months. There’s a great sense of accomplishment with running that number of miles in a month.

There were so many reasons not to run… too cold, too tired, too busy, too something, etc. etc. There are always reasons not to run, but you’ve got to stay focused on your biggest reasons to run… Marathon Goal, PR Goal, joy of being out there.

I’ll be shooting for the same goal in March. I believe that if anyone sticks with a proven training schedule, they can succeed and complete a marathon!

Fathers – Speak Love Into the Lives of Your Children

2010-02-12T06:33:00.000-06:00

I received this from an email from the makers of the upcoming film Courageous. This movie is being produced by the same people that brought us Fireproof.

Showing Love to Your Kids
As we get ready to celebrate Valentine's Day on Sunday, chances are you've put some time and energy into how you can best show your love to your spouse. While that is a priority both in February and throughout the year, Dads need to remember to let their kids know they are loved as well.

We recently talked about fatherhood with Courageous executive producer Michael Catt. Listen to what Pastor Catt says about the importance of speaking love into your kids' lives, no matter how old or young they are.

This video message spoke volumes into my heart as I’m reminded of myself yelling at Briana last week in her High School soccer game. Yes, at times, I get caught up in what she could of done better instead of speaking love into her life. I do think that we need to encourage our children to do better however, yelling at them from the sideline is not the correct way to do it. I’m so proud of my children, it is my prayer and hope that I take this role seriously and take every opportunity to genuinely speak love into their lives.

On another note… if you need to do something on the cheap for Valentine’s Day, I highly recommend renting the movie Fireproof. It will definitely tug on your heart and bless your marriage.

15K Blingage

2010-02-11T07:00:00.000-06:00

Picked up my 15K 3rd place medal from a friend last night. Here’s the picture of the blingage. I still cannot believe that after 2 years that I’d be able to place in anything. There is hope for us older guys, huh?

Biggest Loser 5K

2010-02-08T18:07:00.001-06:00

Heard through the Twitter grapevine that the Biggest Loser was going to be in town and was hosting a 5K on Sunday. I figured it would be fun to run in a 5K even though I knocked out a PR 15K on Saturday. The key here was that the race was free and a slight possibility of getting on TV. Not too many chances for my mug to get on TV! I talked my DRC running friend, Felix, into coming out with me.

I follow a bunch of inspirational runners on Twitter. Before heading downtown, I noticed that one of them was going to be there, so I sent a message to her that we should meet up. Luckily, she didn’t think I was some psycho and I had my very first Tweetup. It was so great meeting Corina and her son. Her son was bummed because they were only letting 18 years and older run. Hollywood 5K rules stink!

We had to sign a bunch of paperwork to participate. Too bad I couldn’t read anything without my reading glasses. It took awhile for everything to get organized, but I finally got called to to get on a team to run with one of the contestants. Too cool! However, it looked like Felix was in a big group that was not going to be able to run. Then at the last minute, they gave him a shirt and he was able to run. He picked the same color as my team to run with me. Again, too cool!

In the filming the event, there was a lot of starts and stops, but it was just so cool to see the whole TV process happening.

We got to meet the contestant that we’d be running with and ask them questions. They told the runners that we could run ahead at our pace, but they’d like us to run back to the group. At first, Felix and I tried to stay with our contestant’s group, but after a half mile, our race feet took over and we took off for the rest of the race.

We got to the end of the race and could see Corina up ahead. We just had to catch up to her and cross the finish line with her. It was so cool to experience her 5K PR with her. Check out her story on her blog. Of course, her story is so much better than mine! :)

It was so cool meeting the contestants and the other fans. There were a lot of inspirational stories. I was very inspired to continue with my training and healthier lifestyle.

Felix brought his camera. I’ll post some pictures when possible. However, I cannot post any pictures with current contestants or they’ll come hunt me down.

I hear that the episode should air in April. It’ll be the episode with 7 contestants left. Setting my DVR as I type.

3rd Place in the DRC Tal Morrison 15K

2010-02-07T16:45:00.001-06:00

I never ever would have thought that I’d be writing about this… I scored 3rd place in the Dallas Running Club Tal Morrison 15K yesterday with a time of 1:20:39. You can check out all of the Tal Morrison 5K/15K race results.

Before the race, I had a goal of 1 hour and 20 minutes. My previous best was 1:22:34, so definitely achievable. There were a couple of things that were against me… for the last few days I was battling a sore throat and then when I turned on my Garmin I got the “Low Battery” message. Arrrggggghhh!! I really rely on the Garmin to tell me how far and how fast/slow I’m going. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to be able to use it.

I pretty much had to listen to my body and then to listen to other runners. I could hear them talking to each other about how fast they were going. I did ask a girl at mile 6 of what her time was. I was pretty much on pace at the time, but I felt like crap from my sore throat. The breathing thing wasn’t happening too well. There were so many times between mile 6 and the finish that I wanted to stop, but just hung in there and gave it my all.

After the race I joined up with my friends and recovered. I had to get some food back in me as I just felt awful. I left after they announced the 5K winners. I’ve never stuck around for the awards for the race that I’ve participated in because there are always so many people faster than me.

When I got home and was relaxing, I got a text from Heather and she told me that I placed. I couldn’t believe it! I couldn’t have the conversation via text so I called her. She received 3rd place in her age group as well. A friend of mine picked up the medal for me and will be bringing it to the Wednesday night group run. I guess that’s a great incentive to be there on Wednesday night. I cannot wait to get the medal. I’ll definitely post the picture of it when I get it.

Second race of the year, second PR of the year!

This is How All Weather Forecasts Should Be!

2010-02-06T18:45:00.001-06:00

The snow blizzard up in the Northeast is just crazy! I couldn’t imagine that much snow. This weather forecaster is really into letting us know how it is! I love the emotions and the not so usual forecast.

I wonder if he can move to Dallas for the summer and use some of his emotions for when it gets in the triple digits for several days in a row.

A Gift from Cleveland

2010-02-05T06:01:00.001-06:00

Came home the other day to find a gift from Cleveland. Specifically, it was a gift from the Cleveland Marathon for being an early bird registration.

It’s early in my marathon training so it was great getting these gloves to remind of what I’m training for. Now, I’m just scared that I’m going to need this gloves in May in Ohio. OK, I need it won’t be that cold. :)

I’m REALLY looking forward to this marathon. It’s a bonus marthon… I get to run a marathon and see family!

Shooting for Perfect Attendance

2010-02-04T07:07:00.001-06:00

Seems like I’m always tweeting about running, pushups, or Pilates. I started January off – OK. I say, OK, because I missed a bunch of days. I really want to pick it up and shoot for Perfect Attendance. Perfect Attendance for me would be the following:

Running – Run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, & Saturday when I’m scheduled to run based on the training schedule provided by the Dallas Running Club.
Work on the core – Attend Pilates twice a week. Three times a week would be a bonus.
Pushups – Do pushups three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, & Friday using the 100 Hundred Pushups program.

I’ve got a few running friends that are on running streaks - @libbyruns @txskatemom. That’s a bit much for me as I enjoy my resting days to recuperate.

So far, so good. On track with all three. Tonight on schedule… Running 3 miles and Pilates. Looking forward to it!

Just for Laughs

2010-01-30T22:44:00.001-06:00

I thought this was a very cute video.

Just when you’re trying to do something nice… it backfires on ya!

Fabulous 14

2010-01-27T05:40:00.001-06:00

My awesome son, Cairo is 14 years old today! He’s growing up to be a find young man! I’m so impressed with how much compassion that he has for people.

One thing that he does is he follow me on Twitter. OK, there’s a bunch of people that follow me on Twitter, but he’ll actually talk to me about what’s going on. For example, I tweeted that I had an awful day. When I got home, he came straight to me and gave me a big hug. How awesome is that!?! He doesn’t really tweet anything, but he uses it to be involved with what’s going on with me.

We celebrated both Briana and Cairo’s birthdays at Rainforest Cafe at Grapevine Mills Mall. They had to get the Volcano dessert.

If you’ve got his phone number, please text or call him, he’d love to hear from you!

Best Wedding Invite Ever

2010-01-25T21:30:00.001-06:00

This has got to be the best wedding invite ever! Wow!

Sure does beat my invite 20 years ago! It went something like… please come to our wedding and bring stuff, cause we need stuff.

Sweet 16

2010-01-25T06:10:00.001-06:00

My beautiful Briana is 16 years old today! How do I slow time down!?! It seems like last year when we were going to Daddy-Daughter Dances. Now, I’m trying to keep my cool when boys are giving attention to her.

She’s such an awesome blessing! I’m so glad that she’s in our lives. She brings such a huge smile to my face!

Here’s a picture of her from this weekend’s High School JV Soccer Tournament. She scored during the tournament playing in the left midfielder position. Great to see her using that strong left foot.

Her team came in 2nd place in the tournament. She won the honor of tournament MVP! Way cool!

If you’ve got her cell phone number, give her a call or text… she’d love it!

Connecting with my daughter via texting

2010-01-22T08:13:00.001-06:00

Texting is good for short little communications. One of my favorite uses is when Ursula asks me to get some groceries on the way home from work. Inevitably I used to always forget one key item. With a text I’ve got the whole list on my phone.

Texting has opened up a communication line with my teenage kids. It seems that sometimes it’s easier for them to communicate through a text than in person. Go figure!

Last night was pretty awesome getting to see Briana score a goal in her high school soccer game. At first, I wasn’t going to be at the game because of what time it was at, but surprised Briana by making it. After the game, I told her how proud I was of her for taking the shot and making the goal. She received the praise and didn’t say much.

This morning I texted her to tell her that she’d have soccer practice on Sunday. Also, told her that I wouldn’t be able to make her game today since it was an early game and I’d still be at work. What came out of that simple communication was the following…

Me: Have a great day! Cannot make your game today. You made me proud with that goal. It was very sweet!

Briana: Aw thanks daddy you have a great day too you surprised me when you yelled my name it really made me happy

Me: Glad that I could put a smile on your face. You always put one on my face!

Communicating in a format that she’s comfortable with allowed her to open up a bit more and tell me how she really felt. That text truly touched my heart!

2010 Goals

2010-01-05T06:31:00.000-06:00

It’s that time of the year again! Time to make resolutions, uhhh… I mean goals. I’ve been following a lot of inspiring people on Twitter lately. Sarah Stanley has stated that resolutions set you up for failure and goals set you up for success! Check out her inspiring blog and follow her on Twitter - http://twitter.com/sarahstanley/.

Read the bible in a year. Yes, I’ve tried this one before, but haven’t done well with it. To succeed at this goal, I’m planning on using a reading plan on YouVersion. Check out YouVersion for Bible reading plans and several versions of the Bible. Also, the site can be as used as an online collaboration for bible scriptures.
Proactive Prayer. Pray more to God proactively. Talking to Him in advance of challenges will reduce the number of emergency prayers. I believe that He likes these prayers a lot more as they honor Him more.
Inject Myself Into My Kids’ Lives. Now that both of my children are teenagers, they have cooler things to do than to hang out with Dad. Not that don’t want to be with or Love me, but their teenage friends seem to be a bit cooler. To make sure that we have a strong relationship, I need to inject myself into their lives. Create opportunities for loving memories!
Love my wife the way that she needs to be loved. 2010 will be the 20th year that Ursula and I have been married. Seems like a weird goal for someone that has been married this long, however, I cannot take this for granted. I must keep improving and understand her needs. I need to know what she needs and how to help her and sometimes how to just listen when she needs an ear. I might not get into all of the hair care needs of Paul Mitchell, but I listen pretty well. That’s how she needs to be loved. It might be different tomorrow.
Run 2 Marathons. I’m planning on running 2 marathons in 2010. Cleveland Marathon in May and Dallas White Rock Marathon in December. I’ll be training again with the Dallas Running Club. They have a great Marathon Training Program.
I’d like to PR each race distance. This will be possible with following the DRC training. This means that I have to do all of the Yassos and HILL runs. Hills are a 4 letter word for me. I’ve already improved my 10K race distance by 2 minutes at the DRC Frigid 10K Race with a time of 55:11.
Improve the Core. One of my goals 2 years ago was to lose my belly. I’ve pretty much have done that, but now to be able to achieve goals 2 & 3, I need to take it up a notch and improve the core. Dare I say… 6 pack abs? I’ll just say… improve, improve, improve. To get this goal done, I’ll be doing core specific exercises and Yoga. I’ll do Yoga even if FaceBook peeps LMAO at me. :)
Strength Train. All last year I focused on cardio and being able to run 26.2. I’m going to focus on that again, but work on strength conditioning so that I’m stronger.
Complete the 100 Push Up Challenge. I’ve started this a couple of times. Made it to week 5 last time and wimped out. I WILL finish it this year. I’ll be starting it again next Monday.
Eat Healthier. I already eat healthier than I did 2 years ago, but I still have bad habits. I like to grab a Chick-Fil-A Ice Dream Cone when I’ve had a bad day or even as a celebration of a good day. I’ve also been known to indulge in a large Chocolate Frostie from Wendy’s. I need to cut back on those indulgences. It’s OK every once in awhile, but I’ve been doing it a bit too much. Fewer empty calories!

These goals will all be successful with perseverance. Another inspirational person that I follow is Incredible Jane. She discusses her life as she’s training for a triathlon. Below is a great video of her as she talks about perseverance with her busy hectic life. I think we can relate to this, however, we might not be on that bike again.

Never ever give up!

Improve Improve Improve!

Move more, but have fun doing it!

2009-12-30T11:21:00.001-06:00

2 years ago I started my journey of healthy living. It’s really been down to 2 things – 1) Eat Less and 2) Move More. With eating less, I’ve chosen to eat healthier foods that taste good. They have to taste good, darn it!

With moving more, I’ve got to enjoy it. Yes, contrary to the belief of some of my co-workers, running is fun! It’s an awesome activity that has given me a freedom and pride that I’ve never felt before. Yes, it’s hard work, but it gets easier as you build up miles and strength. This is a sport that just about anyone can do.

When I run, I like to have fun! I joke, when I can. I high five spectators at races. I yell back to them and interact with them. Am I using extra energy? Yes, but I’m having fun.

With whatever you choose to Move More, make sure to have fun! You’ll want to do it and want to do it more often! Check out this video which had people using the stairs instead of the escalator because it was fun!

Move More and have fun!

Merry Christmas from the Lindsleys

2009-12-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas from Mark, Ursula, Briana & Cairo. Here’s a picture of us from last night’s Christmas Eve service. It’s pretty awesome having a white Christmas. Very unexpected for us here in Texas!

I hope you have a wonderfully blessed day. Be blessed by knowing that God gave us the best gift ever, his son Jesus Christ!

Committed to My Next Marathon!

2009-12-19T08:59:00.001-06:00

I’m locked and loaded for my next marathon – Cleveland Marathon! It’s scheduled for Sunday, May 16th, 2010. I’ve registered with an early bird price and a discount code from following the marathon on FaceBook. Cannot beat a marathon for $55.

I’ve also booked my flight this morning. Using up the last of my frequent flyer miles from my travelling days.

As for training, I’ll be training with the Dallas Running Club through their Spring Training program which is sold out. Awesome program!

It’ll be great to be running a marathon in the city that I was born in. Cannot wait to see family and run a like a fool!

Christmas Gift – New Blog Header

2009-12-19T07:45:00.001-06:00

A huge thanks to Nathan Smith for my Christmas gift of a new blog header. I love it! It’s a wonder what some people can do in such a short amount of time. Nathan is one of the UX Developers at Fellowship Technologies that I get the pleasure to work with. Check out more of his work at http://sonspring.com/.

I remember working on that blog header about 18 months ago. Some hard work put into that simple graphic. That old header was long overdue for a facelift.

What Did I Learn From Running a Marathon?

2009-12-17T07:39:00.001-06:00

Chris Risen always has the best questions! On our carpool ride into the office this morning, he wanted to know what was the biggest thing that I learned from this whole Marathon experience.

Simply put – never say never!

2 years ago, ask me…

if I’d run a marathon, I’d say never.
if I’d run a 5K, I’d say never.
if I’d run a mile, I’d say never.

If you ask me these questions today, of course, I can answer, Yes! But, not only that, but other things that I thought that were totally out of reach are now possibilities. I keep hearing about triathlons. My knee jerk reaction is NEVER! However, I can do it, I just have to choose to do so. This doesn’t mean that I’m going to start training for triathlons. What it does mean is that it is a possibility.

Nothing is out of reach anymore. It wasn’t before either, I just chose not to realize it. Get out of your comfort zone and go for it! You’ll be so thankful that you did!

Dallas White Rock Marathon race photos are up at www.sportphoto.com. Check out my race photos online.

My First Marathon

2009-12-16T12:14:00.000-06:00

Where do I even start!?! The Dallas White Rock Marathon was the most physically challenging and emotionally stretching event of my life. I loved every minute of it. I couldn’t dream of a more rewarding experience possible.

Thank Yous

First of all, I want to give all the glory to God. Without the courage and strength that God provided I would have never been able to accomplish this huge goal. I count myself blessed being able to participate in this sport when others many not be able to.

There are so many to thank in support of me being able to do this. I definitely couldn’t have it done it without the Dallas Running Club. They have the best pace leaders and it’s probably the most affordable training program around.

Thank you to Ursula for listening to all of my training run stories and then following me around on race day. I know it’s not your thing and I cherish your attentiveness.

Thank you to Denise for inspiring me to run. Your infectious smile and love for running was what got me into this sport. I cannot believe that it was 2 years ago that you came and ran White Rock. I didn’t know anything about running and actually didn’t want to. You turned that around and created a running addict. Thanks!

Thank you to my DRC friends – Felix, Roger, Hari, Heather, Kristin, Karen, Luis, Chris, and so many others. Your encouragement was incredible and needed.

Thank you to Chris Risen for being the icing on the cake! It was incredible to see him at the Finish Line. Read below for more details.

Race Report

We, (my wife, sister, and 2 teenage kids) got to the American Airlines Center at about 6:10am. In plenty of time to beat the crowds. We met up with friends from the Dallas Running Club inside of American Airlines Center. It was so great to be able to be inside of the AAC instead of sitting outside.

Felix, Steve, and I lined up behind the 4:15 pace group. Positive thinking there. :) The bummer is that it was hard to spot the 4:15 pace group after 2-3 miles because they pitched their sign and balloons.

Check out this video of the start. I'm such a goof… I had to ham it up for the cameras. No high stepping at miles 20-26.2!

I did pretty well with keeping an even pace in the first 7 miles because of the crowd, but picked it up on miles 8-14. I really think this is where I went wrong. I should have backed off the pace and kept it closer to 9:45 or so. Fortunately or unfortunately, I was feeling no pain and ran faster than I should have. Lesson learned: Just because I can doesn’t mean that I should.

To help my family keep up with me throughout the race, I texted them at each mile marker. It actually gave me something to look forward to. I got to see my family at mile 7 which was great to see them early in the race. A visit from them at mile 15/16 was definitely a welcome sight. I was starting to feel some pain at this point. Below is a video of when Felix and I caught up with the family at mile 15/16.

<Skip this paragraph if you don’t want some dirty details.> From about mile 12-15, I really had to go to the bathroom, ya know #2. I had to stop as you really cannot pinch for too many miles. In the video above, my sister asks me if I need anything, I gestured to the houses on the left and said that I needed to use the restroom there. I was able to go in a port-a-potty which isn’t my favorite, but it was highly needed.

I was surprised to see my boss and his boss, Scott & Kingsley at mile 18! It was such a great surprise. Scott did mention that he’d try to come out, but there were so many people. I stopped and chatted with them for a little bit. I secretly enjoyed the break. :)

Once I got to miles 20 & 21, it felt like my legs were on fire. I text my sister asking when was I going to see them next. She said mile 22, so I had a goal of pushing through the pain to get to them at mile 22. I got pretty emotional at this point and gave Ursula a big long hug. I could have stayed in that comforting hug forever, but as she normally does she pushed me on! :) Just kidding, she doesn’t always push me away.

Miles 23 through the Finish, I walked a bunch of times. At the time, I was pretty disappointed. However, any disappointment that I experienced from my self-imposed targeted time was squelched, by the entire marathon experience!

A great decision I made was putting my name on my shirt. It was very uplifting to have people cheering you on and calling out your name. This really kept me going especially toward the end.

At about mile 25, Felix texted me urging to press on and encouraged me. Check, check! Thanks, Felix!

Like I mentioned earlier, Chris Risen was the icing on the cake for the whole marathon experience. I was heading down the finish and was being urged on by all of the onlookers. There was a huge sea of faces on the left and right of me. When I got about 100 feet from the Finish Line, I thought I was hallucinating, I saw Chris Risen! I really couldn’t believe that he was there! I ran or hobbled over to him. I gave him the biggest hug I could and was bawling like a baby. Again, I couldn’t believe he was there. I told him so, and he told me to get going and finish. I hugged him again while tearing up and he told me to finish the race. Again, Chris was the icing on the cake. I cannot believe that he did this for me. His picture is at the top of the screen. Love that guy!

I finished in 4 hours and 37 minutes. I was hoping for 4 hours and 20 minutes or less, but again, this time goal is at the bottom of my needs.

After I crossed the finish line, Felix and I met and embraced. I was an emotional wreck! I got my mylar blanket, finisher’s medal, & finisher’s tech shirt. I then met up with Ursula, Denise, Briana, Cairo, & Adam. I grabbed some free food and headed into the AAC to meet up with Chris. We chatted for a good while and headed home.

I couldn’t walk without moaning & groaning on Sunday and then some on Monday.

Above are some pictures that we took on the weekend.

I cannot wait to run another marathon! I know that I can do better. I have learned a lot and am looking forward to running in the Cleveland Marathon in May.

Please remember that 2 years ago, I said that I would never be able to do a marathon. You, might be saying the same thing right now, however, I’m hear to tell you, that YOU CAN!

Running a Marathon – Anticipation!

2009-12-10T23:11:00.001-06:00

In a few more days, I’ll be running my first marathon! I cannot wait, I cannot wait, I cannot wait! OK, I can wait, but I’m just so excited. There are very few things that I’ve anticipated as much as running this marathon. Here are a few of them…

Enlisting in the Air Force
Marrying Ursula
The birth of both of my children
Heart surgery back in January
and now running my first marathon!

This reminds me of the old Heinz Ketchup commercial in the early 80’s with the Carly Simon song – Anticipation. I cannot seem to get that song out of my head.

I also cannot wait until I see my sister and nephew tomorrow morning. Her excitement is contagious!

If You’re Coming to See Me Sunday…

2009-12-10T06:03:00.000-06:00

THANK YOU! If not, thank you anyway as I’m sure you’ll be rooting for me from a far! :) Just in case, you didn’t know, I’m running my very first marathon on Sunday in the Dallas White Rock Marathon.

Either way, in person or not, you can receive text messages on how well I’m doing. You can sign up for them by clicking on the Runner Tracking Sign-Up image. You’ll get a text when I pass certain locations on the course.

If you’re coming to see me, here’s the course map. You might want to plan on hanging out at a location that has a band, there’ll be plenty to choose from. I recommend the School of Rock. Great to see teenagers rocking it out!

So… how do you figure out where I’m going to be at? I’m planning on running about a 9:45 pace for the race. The race starts at 8:00am, but I won’t be starting immediately at 8:00am. There are 19,999 others crossing that starting line. Add about 10 minutes for me to cross the starting line. You can call Ursula to find out where I’m at, because I’ll probably be texting her as I pass each mile marker. Shhh… don’t tell anyone, we’re not suppose to use cell phones.

I’m so ready for Sunday!

Dads – Create the Christmas Experience

2009-12-08T05:50:00.001-06:00

As fathers we have the responsibility to lead our fathers. We have the role of spiritual leaders. With Christmas Season upon us, we have the opportunity to create a Christmas Experience. If we take a passive role, a Christmas Experience will happen, it just may not be the one that we would have ultimately liked to have for ourselves or for our children.

I’m sure all of us can think back to good and not so pleasant experiences of Christmas Pasts. We have an opportunity to make a great Christmas Experience for our families. One of my favorite pastors, Pastor Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle blogged 16 Ways that you can create the Christmas Experience. Below is the blog post…

’Tis the season for Dad to drop the holiday ball, stress out as the money is being spent for presents, and miss yet another providential opportunity to lovingly lead his family. So, this blog is intended to help dads not fall into the same old rut of holiday humdrum, sitting on the couch watching football and eating carbs, but rather intentionally plan out the upcoming holiday season. Our children grow quickly and if we miss the sacred moments God opens up for us to connect with and bless our families, everyone suffers and we set in motion generations of missed opportunity.

#1 – Dad needs a plan for the holidays to ensure his family is loved and memories are made. Dad, what’s your plan?

#2 – Dad needs to check the local guides for what’s going on to make fun holiday plans for the family. In Seattle it’s here.

#3 – Dad needs to carve out time for sacred events and experiences to build family traditions that are fun and point to Jesus. Dad, is your calendar ready for December?

#4 – Dad needs to not let the stress of the holidays, including money, cause him to be grumpy with Mom or the kids. Dad, how’s your joy?

#5 – Dad needs to give experiences and not just gifts. Dad, what special memories can you make this holiday season?

#6 – Dad needs to manage the extended family and friends during the holidays. Dad, who or what do you need to say “no” to?

#7 – Dad needs to ensure his family is giving generously during the holidays. Dad, who in need is your family going to adopt and bless?

#8 – Dad needs to schedule a big Christmas daddy date with his daughter. Dad, what’s your big plan for the fancy daddy date?

#9 – Dad needs to schedule guy time with his son. Dad, what are you and your son going to do that is active, outdoors, and fun?

#10 – Dad needs to help Mom get the house decorated. Dad, are you really a big help to Mom with getting things ready?

#11 – Dad needs to ensure some holiday smells and sounds. Dad, is Christmas music on the iPod, is the tree up, and can you smell cookies and cider in your house?

#12 – Dad needs to snuggle up and watch some fun shows with the kids, especially the little ones. Dad, is the DVR set?

#13 – Dad needs to take the family on a drive to see Christmas lights while listening to music and sipping cider. Dad, is it mapped out?

#14 – Dad needs to help Mom get the kids’ rooms decorated. Dad, do the little kids get lights or a small tree in their room?

#15 – Dad needs to read about Jesus and pray over his kids. Dad, how’s your pastoral work going with each of your kids?

#16 – Dad needs to repent of being lazy, selfish, grumpy, or just dumping the holidays on Mom. Dad, are you a servant like Jesus to your family?

Dads – this is our opportunity to make Christmas something special. I know that our heavenly Father would be beaming a big old smile at our efforts.