Early morning run before heading to Portland - 5 mile Merman loop

Signed a purchase and sales agreement on the house the yesterday. Leaving for Portland to look for houses today. Up early to get the run in.

5 miles, Merman loop, ~48 minutes?, Pegasus shoes

Back on the treadmill - 4 miles in 35 minutes

Weather took a turn for the worse. Time to go back inside and run on the treadmill at Snap Fitness.

4 miles, 35 minutes, Pegasus shoes

Another 6 miles past the Rec center

Nothing creative here. Same run as the last time out on Thursday.

6 miles, Vomero shoes, unknown time

6 miles out past the Rec Center

Fallen way behind on posting. Important: don't wait a month to enter your runs. Foursquare check-ins at the gym have helped me keep track a little bit, but my outdoor runs don't get logged until they go on this blog. Might need to change that.

6 miles, unknown time, Rec center loop

On the tread by 5:45 am...

And yes, that was a first. Got up at 5:30 today. Also a first for when I'm not going to the airport.

Now that I now longer need to be in campus ministry mode (several late nights a week), there is no reason not to be on a schedule of getting up early. With our family in it's current state (kids get up between 7 and 730 without fail), this permits me to get my exercise in without cutting in to family or work time. If I could get home and showered quickly enough afterward, I might even be able to get my bible study time in before the kids get up. This could be huge, but requires getting up at 5 as well as sacrificing TV after 9 pm...10 for sure. I think it's worth it.

6 miles on the Woodway, 53:30, Pegasus shoes

Sometimes the body decides how far it will run...

And today was one of those days. Planned on doing 7 miles on the tread, but my body clearly had another agenda (which I won't describe, but you can easily guess). Had to knock off at 3.3 miles and defer most of the miles until next time. Perhaps a blessing, as I don't want to ramp up my miles too fast (as I'm prone to do).

One positive: 3.3 felt like I was just getting warmed up. With great fondness, I remember the days when I felt that way after 6. Perhaps I can be back to that point in a a month or two.

Build those miles...

A repeat of Monday's run, though this time without the hip pain. Hoping for this to continue to be the case...indefinitely. Did the Merman loop again, probably about the same time as on Monday (48 minutes). Starting to get in a consistent rhythm of running every other day with weights on the in betweens.

At this point, Bloomsday is still looking to be a go.

New running music - Passion: Awakening

Downloaded the new Passion worship album, Passion: Awakening, before heading down to SNAP to put in 5 miles on the Woodway. Haven't had enough chance to listen to give a good review, but on the whole I really liked it. "Our God" by Chris Tomlin was the first one that stood out to me. I know some think he is too mainstream, but I think he just understands how to write good corporate worship songs.

As for the running: 5 miles, 44 minutes, Vomero shoes. Now that I'm back in a routine, 9 minute miles are starting to feel a bit too easy. However, I seem to remember that for distance running you're supposed to train 2/min/mile slower than your race pace. I should look that up and see if it's true.

Didn't find the answer, but found this good quote on wikipedia:

Running can also have psychological benefits, as many participants in the sport report feeling an elated, euphoric state, often referred to as a "runner's high".^[20] Running is frequently recommended as therapy for people with clinical depression and people coping with addiction


But what if my addiction is running?

It's nice to run outside

Did the Merman loop today (5 miles, ~48 minutes, Vomero shoes). Felt pretty good. Hip bothered me a little after the run, but not too serious...yet.

Listened to the latest TWIG podcast. They recorded while at SXSW down in Austin, TX. I guess it's the first time they had all been in the same place when doing the show, and the energy level reflected their excitement of being together and being at this big conference.

I had some amazing brainstorms when I was running and listening to this podcast, but now I forget them. Okay, one that is not so amazing was related to the hosts (Leo, Jeff, and Gina) talking about how skeptical they were of blogs (narcissistic!) and twitter (irrelevant!) when they first came out. It made me think how a blog is a little analogous to giving talks (sermons, etc.): it's only narcissistic if you use it in a narcissistic way. Do some use public speaking opportunities to puff themselves up? Of course. But many use them to serve the audience they are speaking to.

Which leads me to think through this blog: it's primarily a way for me to track my running and be at least a little accountable to stay after it knowing someone out there might be paying attention. But perhaps the purpose should shift to thinking about using this to share whatever modicum of insight I have in to physical training with those that might benefit. Serve my audience (even if it just might be a handful that benefit) rather than just talking to myself. Hmm... ;)

6 miles on the tread

Love the Woodway treadmill at Snap.

6 miles, 53 minutes, Vomero shoes

Listened to the Catalyst Podcast where they interviewed Mark Driscoll. A few things I remember:

1. The number of single people in the church now exceeds the number of families. This is a pretty radical shift. Wonder what the stats were 20 years ago? 30 years ago? Mars Hill is adjusting for this reality. How many others? Matches with what I've read and observed.

2. The most impact at Mars Hill is being made on 20-something, college-educated men. That is an impressive demographic to be seeing results. Not only are they a tough group to reach, but they are also hugely influential (for the future, with gifting to bring to the church, etc.) when they are reached.

3. Driscoll was a comm major at WSU, and has always seen the value in using the technology to expand influence. He was also raised Irish Catholic. I think this explains part of #2 above.

4. States vs. Nations. Denominations/churches as different states. Those that fall outside orthodox Christian beliefs are different nations. I like this analogy.

5. I've never gotten in to Driscoll's books, but I really like listening to him. I need to check out that appearance he made on Loveline (Feb 9th) with Dr. Drew. I heard it was a masterful performance...

5 miles in 45 minutes on the tread

Just a repeat of two days ago.

5 miles, treadmill, 45 minutes, Pegasus shoes

Starting to think about running Bloomsday. Being our last year on the Palouse, there is no better time.

5 miles on the tread at Snap

Cold front moved through. Had to go inside for this one...

5 miles, 45 minutes, treadmill, Pegasus shoes

Merman Loop - 5 miles

First time doing this route in a while. Felt so good in the early spring sun. Went nice and easy (9/min mile?) and was able to run the whole way except the hill coming back up Larry.

5 miles, ~48 minutes, Pegasus shoes

Treadmill - 3 miles in 26:00

Back in Pullman. Time to get back in a routine...

3 miles, treadmill, Vomero shoes

5 miles - Bull Mountain loop

I wasn't ready for this one after not running for almost two weeks. Traveling requires an extra level of discipline to maintain exercise routines. If I sign up for a marathon at some point, I'll have to get more serious about this.

About me: I like running hills. In training, at least.

5 miles, Bull Mountain loop, Pegasus shoes.