T minus...

4 days. 4 days until I run my first marathon. 26.2 miles. I have been training since July, have paid the fees, and will be running on Sunday. Gulp.

I was thinking today that most any criticism in the world comes down to someone complaining that someone else is chasing something - fame, money, notoriety, advancement in a career. But has anyone ever complained about someone who chases good things? As for me, at least on Sunday, I will not be chasing other runners, per se, but will be chasing my pride, my limits, and my history. I believe that I will catch my pride, pass my limits, and rewrite my own history. And in all that, I will do my best to remember that it was not I who somehow conjured the strength and discipline to do these things, but the Holy Spirit, working in me to bring out those gifts that God bestowed upon me from the moment I Creation.

A week to top all others...and things I'm giving up for lent.

First of all - in case you didn't know, Adam had his appendix out a week ago Today. He is all good now, and recovering quickly! To make a long story short, God was definitely at work guiding the hands of the people who cared for Adam. It was a hard time for all of us, and last week was probably the craziest I have had in a while.

Things I'm giving up for lent....
1. Cable TV. Yep. I'm a media hog, but I'm giving up cable TV. With all of the options out there for viewing "TV" shows (Netflix, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon), we really don't need cable in our household. It'll save us mega bucks a month, and we are also hoping it will give us some more family time - cable tv is easily distracting. I hope we can use the extra time and money to do something good, not just for us, but for others.

2. Negative attitudes. This will probably be the hardest thing. I think many times when I look at a situation, any situation, I try to find something to fix or make better. Part of that comes from working in a field where so much emphasis is put on results, rather than process.

3. Winter. :-)

The art of procrastinating. And other things I'll tell you some other time...

It's funny to look back at things I wrote. Unfortunately it's also depressing, and convicting.

The last time I blogged it was my birthday. I'll be honest - Since then I've been lazy in more ways then just blogging.

Perhaps it was the beginning of School. Perhaps it was completing a major running event, and my mindset changed.

Maybe I just need to get off my lazy arse and do something.

This year, I want to run another half marathon (Buffalo), and a full marathon (Rochester). They are far enough apart I can train for the half, take a little time to recover, then start training for the full.

The major drawback to all this is also going to involve losing the weight I have put back on. At my lightest 2 years ago I was 157. Since then I have crept back up to 190. I'll round that to 30 pounds. That is still miles from the 300 pounds I started at, I know. But I'm not happy about it. And it's not like I don't know what to do. Here are my problems:

I stay up too late.

I haven't been running. I had a week 2 weeks ago where I was doing good, but alas....

I eat too much. Usually when I stay up to late.

Please understand - I'm not looking for sympathy. But confession is good for the soul (or so I'm told by my lovely wife). So here's more:

I have been eating the foods I tell others to stay away from. I am positive that my brain reacts to sugar like an illegal drug. And I've never done illegal drugs.

I "steal" stuff from my son's snacks. I know. I'm evil.

Did I mention I eat too much? Seriously - I will eat past full, and beyond. My left brain says stop, and my right brain says "more".

I hate me sometimes.

My pants don't fit as well anymore. Neither do my shirts. I still get them on, but A little more effort is needed.

I hate the treadmill. Unfortunately, I think I need to suck it up and deal.

And that's a good thing to end on. Suck it up and deal.