Rest, recover, rebuild...

It has been almost three weeks since the end of the DIsneyland Half Marathon. I have run once. I knew I was going to take at least a full two weeks off after the race to recover and after 15 days I went out for an easy 5 miler. I have had some pain in the Tibial Tuberosity on both my legs since late last year. The pain is similar to Osgodd Schlatter's disease, but as a 21 year old who isn't growing anymore, it is very unlikely that that is the case. The pain seemingly dumbfounded the doctor's that I saw. And while not understanding what was happening, a PT suggested getting patella tendon straps. They work for Osgood Schlatter's pain, so why not here? I bought them and besides being annoying, they worked very well. Kept the pain WAY down and I was able to do all the training neccessary for the half marathon.

Well, after two weeks of not running, I totally spaced putting on my straps. I thought, "whatever, I ran the race without them and had no issue, I should be fine." Well, I wasn't fine. I had some really sharp pain in my high shin, right below the tibial tubercle which made me stop. I decided to run home (cause how else was I going to get there). I ran on tuesday and have had pain in my knees since. Albeit, it is getting better. The pain was as worse as it ever was before I got the straps.

My training for the PF Changs Rock N' Roll Marathon (yes, a full marathon!!) is supposed to begin on Monday. I am contemplating putting it off another week so that I can test my knees with the straps on again and make sure it isn't something new and more serious.

Otherwise, despite not swimming at all this summer, my fitness levels in the pool are similar to where they were last spring, praise God! But, I feel like I am struggling more and don't feel as fluid in the water either. It will take time before I can get back to the same fluidity I enjoyed in the pool last semester.

Anyway, stay tuned for updates in the coming weeks and months of my training for the marathon. Myself and two other friends are making a run at a Boston qualifying time which is set at 3:10. 7:15 mile pace for 26.2 miles. Oh boy.

Disneyland Half Marathon recap...

For the most part Disney did a great job with their half marathon weekend. There were definitely a few things that could be improved, but that all gets looked over when you have such a stellar time in the parks following a, personal, sub par race situation.

My travelling mates and I left Friday afternoon for the California desert. No issues driving and a quick over nighter in Barstow before heading into the LA area gave us a much relaxed start to the weekend. Nothing against Barstow, but I am not sure I would stay another night there anytime soon. If you've been there, you know.

We left mid morning on Saturday to head over the pass and hoped that we would be able to get an early check in at the hotel. Luckily, they had one room left. We dropped our bags and hoofed it the few blocks to the expo to grab our numbers and goody bags. Kudos to Disney and their organization with the race number pick-up. Maybe there were busier times but we went right about noon and it was super smooth and painless. No lines whatsoever. We mosied around the expo for an hour or so and picked up some free hand outs before grabbing a shuttle back to the hotel. Maybe we missed the sign, but it was definitely confusing figuring out which bus was the one we should take to our specific hotel. A quick lunch, grocery store shopping and back to the hotel until dinner. We were definitely wiped and ready for a nap mid afternoon. We found good grub at Buca di beppo and were satisfyingly filled with our share of carbs.

Sunday became an early morning. 3:30am early. I relish early mornings. They become tough as long days wear on, but nothing makes you feel more refreshed than waking up early, seeing the sunrise and knowing that your day is already productive. We joined the diaspora of athletes winding their ways through Downtown Disney to the staging area. Here is another one of those little things that could be fixed. I wear my warm-ups and trainers for a reason before races. When Disney makes you check your clothes bag at 5am for a 6am start, what is the purpose of wearing them at all? I am cold and wearing my racing flats, jersey and shorts for an hour before the race start. Not good Disney, not good. They led us like cattle to the start corrals. I made my way into the A corral, figuring the "elite" members would be in the front of the A corral. In fact, we had our own little section blocked off right behind the wheel chair athletes. Speaking of wheel chair athletes, wow! If my situation ever necessitates needing a wheel chair, I hope to be as burly as some of those athletes. Anyway, I warmed up, hit the port-o-johns one last time and made my way back through the crowd to the elite section. Believe me, I say elite, but the awesomeness isn't lost on me. Never have I run a race that is this big. Never have I run a race that had my name on the bib. And never have I EVER been called an elite. So, that is something to be thankful for. It was a check of humility all weekend when people would see my number (9) and comment on seeing someone with such a low number. Disney placed people by their anticipated finish times and lower numbers were faster. Believe me, it was definitely an experience.

I made it my goal to go out with the leaders and try my best to hold on. I knew that to do well, I needed to set myself up for success from the go and this was my strategy. Well, I didn't expect to have a 1:07 runner in the race. He went out so fast, everyone was pulled along by him and the leaders all got split up from the outset. Not much of a race. In return, I went out a little fast and knew by the first mile that it wasn't going to be my day. In retrospect, more tempo running and more mentally tough runs are needed during training next time. I realized how much of the race course was a blur for me when I spoke to my running mates about the course and they kept saying, "did you see this?" "Did you see that?" And I had not seen, or at least not remembered, any of it. I was flying through, focused on the race and my opponents most of the time. It is the one time I have felt bad about being in the front of the pack. I love being competitive and racing, but I miss out on a lot of the experience of the whole course by going so fast. Next time, I will have to take it more leisurly.

I have read from a lot of people that they didn't enjoy the course outside of Disneyland. I personally loved it. How many times do you get to run down roads 4 or 5or 7 lanes across with no traffic? You get to run the middle of the road and not worry about cars. I think that is great. Lots of people hated the scenery, but from what I said, I didn't remember much and in all likelihood didn't notice most of it anyway. I loved the cheerleaders and the bands and especially the boy scouts! (Eagle Scout!!) They definitely helped me keep my pace honest. I would get a great adrenaline rush when running through all the screaming individuals. And to top it all off the weather could not have been better. We had a deep marine layer fog over the course the whole time and it absolutely kept the temps down to a more enjoyable race. I only once dropped my shades down off my head onto my eyes. And that only lasted a few minutes as the fog rolled in thick once again. Incredible.

All in all, I wasn't pleased with my performance. I didn't care as much about place as I did about my time and I was far from where I wanted to be. To be honest, I have never trained for a race harder than here, but it obviously didn't pay off and I will have to go back and see what needs to be changed for next time. It was a really tough year at the Disneyland Half Marathon. Course records were set in both the men's and women's races and it was overall the fastest race on record for the top runners.

Thanks to all the volunteers. I have done that job many times and it never gets easier. They were awesome.

One more change that Disney should consider is allowing more mobility around the finish line. In other words, making it easier to cross from one side of the finish line to the other (for example, from the fantasia hat to downtown disney)and moving the awards ceremony sooner. It is a long wait for the first finishers to sit around for the awards 3 1/2 hours later.

The rest of the weekend was fabulous. How can you not have a good time in Disneyland? Except for a couple trips to the East coast Disney, I haven't been to this park in quite a number of years and I absolutely love it still!

Who Dat...

I'll admit it. I didn't think about New Orleans unless it was Fat Tuesday. I am 1500 miles away, in a high altitude city, in the desert southwest, where water is so scarce it's like gold. I had no interest or inkling of thought about New Orleans. My background has nothing in common with that city. I had no friends there, no family, I had never traveled there, nor had any intention to travel there anytime soon. Nothing.
Five years later, my life and the lives of every American has been changed. Whether you have been there or not, you have seen the photos, heard the stories, listened to the news, saw the headlines, maybe even met someone who had to escape from that city. You know about New Orleans now. There is no escaping it. Just like the feeling you get from hearing "September 11th" spoken aloud, you know something is important about August 29th. There is no need to explain "Katrina" to anyone. I am sure if you did a study of names given to children, Katrina has dropped far from its previous spot. Katrina has become synonymous with not only the hurricane of all hurricanes, but a general lack of infrastructure and communication in our government. It has become a loaded word for slow response in government. "They don't want to make this Obama's Katrina." It has that kind of power.

But I still see Katrina from an outsiders perspective. I haven't rebuilt homes, no one has moved in next door who had to leave everything behind, I didn't see the devastation first hand. My dad served in San Antonio, in a shelter for displaced individuals after Katrina and the lesser remembered, Rita. He was there for weeks and he has the cliche shirt to show for it.

I was in New Orleans a month ago. The LCMS National Youth Gathering descended on the city for a week of uplifting worship. About 12,000 youth went to help in the ninth ward to make the endless work still left a little easier for someone else. But I wasn't there as I was assigned a different task. What I can say is that I am interested in the people of that city more than ever. While our youth were living the dream at the Convention Center and the Superdome, there are thousands who may never look at those places the same way. Those are the people who had to endure hot, humid temperatures with little water and not a clue as to when the nightmare will end. They left a flooded home behind, narrowly escaping with the shirts on their backs to be dropped off by boat or helicopter or bus and had to wait for what? Because as far as they knew, no one was coming to save them. I walked in the paths that they walked in. I sat in the seats of the Superdome that they slept in. We were excited to go into the home of the Superbowl winning Saints (Who Dat!?), but those individuals, their families, their children and grandmothers and grandfathers, brothers, sisters and friends will never see the Superdome as just the home of the Saints. I can understand that now.

A month ago, I left New Orleans and it was a city with a dark past. I see New Orleans now, after seeing all the photos and hearing the stories this week, as a city with a bright future. I was annoyed with the obnoxious and vain pride that the city had in the football team. It was annoying to see "Who Dat" emblazoned everywhere. It seemed like they were rubbing it in everyone's face. But I understand now that that is the bright spot in so much gloom. After four and a half years, they found something to rally around. When these people enter heaven, God is going to judge them for the heart and character they had through so much adversity. When humans let them down, God never gave up and you can find that in the alleys and walkways of the emerging New Orleans.

40 miles...

Well, where to start? My training is going well. I have bumped my weekly mileage to around 40 miles. My legs are definitely feeling it. I am adding an extra day off at the end of this week. And then going to follow it up with the longest week planned for this training block, 45 miles before a taper into the Disneyland Half Marathon!

Speaking of the Disneyland Half Marathon, I printed off my waiver for the race and they let you know what bib number you were assigned. Mine is #9! I know that I wasn't the 9th person registered, so it must mean I have the 9th fastest registered time. I hope I can live up to it!

Other than that, I am job searching for the fall semester. Pray that something pops its head out. I am picky when it comes to jobs which makes it even more difficult to pinpoint a potential job.

I pray that all of you are doign well! Peace.

Last Post NYG 2010...

So, again, I apologize for not getting this done earlier and because of my tardiness my days have run together and I am not sure I can give you the same detail that I wish I could because it isn't fresh. But, I am going to give you some think that I was thinking about during Tuesday bible study. The turning of pages in the bible by thousands of kids sitting in a silent auditorium sounds like a soft rain falling on the grass. It was incredible. You could honestly close your eyes and imagine the rain falling. It was similar to an activity we did during our training. As all YAVs were sitting together in training room, the young adult ministry coordinator for the LCMS came in to talk to us about ongoing ministries. She had us clap as she panned her hand over the group and as she moved her hand over your section you would begin clapping, snapping or rubbing your hands together. It made a very realistic noise to that of raining.
Secondly during bible study, the reverend mentioned that the old testament and all its history, genealogies and boring descriptions of places was meant to prove that these places, people and events were real, not made up. That Jesus truly did exist and that it is not just a story but to testify for Jesus' name. Which brings me to our Gathering theme verse, John 20:31 "but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." But what is written? It says in the previous verse, John 20:30 "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples..." He did miraculous signs!!! If the rest of the bible is full of truths, why do we take the miracles as falsities? Because they're not!! Good stuff!!
As odd as this may sound, this is the first time that this idea has donned on me. I never thought to question why the boring genealogies or histories were in the bible. They weren't there because they weren't important, because they are!
Lastly, he also mentioned a quote that was originally stated the night before by our mass event speaker. She said that you "don't need to have all the answers to have all of God's grace." God still loves you as he loves his own son and he doesn't mind if you have questions because through questions come deeper study in the word and an overall better understanding of how and why Christ works.
Tuesday night was our worship event. The most striking thing about the whole night was that the service can be seen every Sunday in our very own church. (except for the 25000 others and the huge stage and band, but other than that it was the same. Haha) What I meant to say was the order of worship was similar. We sang te deum, the agnus dei, there was a sermon, benediction, bible lessons and even communion! It was exactly like here at home. That was powerful to me. I don’t have to explain myself and my beliefs or rituals to anyone else because they all do the exact same thing. They all know these things by heart, the hymns, Lord’s prayer, and Nicene creed were all said by, I assume, a majority of participants by heart. Like me, they all grew up with it. I can’t get enough. If you are a youth who feels alone, this is the place you are meant to be. There was such a kinship emanating from that dome. It was also the first night that I saw and heard the dome staff (non-affiliated with the gathering) singing and dancing to the songs and really feeling the love flowing throughout the building.
We decided to stay up all night. After the worship service we didn’t leave the dome til 1130 and we had to be back there for our final mass event at 630am. It was our last night in New Orleans. When were we going to be coming back? We didn’t know. We did know that we won’t get this experience for another 3 years. We decided to make the most of it. We got hyped up and walked over to Café du Monde, the famous beignet place. It was pretty empty at 1am and we decided staying up all night wasn’t worth it. Haha we headed back to the hotel, got two hours of sleep and went to the dome about 5am. But first, we had some unfinished business with the International House of Pancakes. I will never talk down IHOP’s coffee ever again. I was drained going into the mass event and right as the kids started lining up, my energy was revitalized. I blamed the coffee and am right in doing so. But, God knew we needed energy to be the people he wanted us to be, the energetic faces of the gathering staff. He opened the opportunity for this attitude through the coffee served to us at breakfast. Praise God for his love for us, because every time I thought “there is no way I can give the same energy today,” God seemed to find it in me and pull it to the surface so I could be the person these kids needed.
Morning Mass event was great. Once again, the planners did a bang up job. The highlight was the boom whackers. Boom whackers are plastic tubes, different colors and different lengths depending on the color. As ushers, we had to pass out the 25000 boom whackers to all the participants in a timely manner (4 minutes) and make sure no one begins hitting each other. We instilled the help of some of the participants and knocked it out in about 2.5 minutes. A drum troupe led everyone in different beats and patterns with the boom whackers. Feel free to check out the boom whackers, soon to be posted in the youth room at church. It was a great souvenir for everyone and made for an incredible end to the gathering.
I met up with the Peace youth, saw my buddy who lives there for dinner and flew home today. It is a bittersweet ending. I love my town and know that if these gatherings continued every day, month or year, they wouldn’t have the same appeal or energy. I am already counting the days til San Antonio in 2013 and have memories of new friends, new experiences to hold me over until then. I can’t wait to hear other stories, see photos and videos from gathering participants and keep in touch with all the new friends that I met. (oh, and get some good sleep!)

(cont.) NYG Days 3&4...and 5...

I am going to try to get through this all, so I can be caught up, but I am not sure that is possible. My time is limited again this morning, but here goes...
Day 4 (Sunday) mass event was once again, great. For us ushers it became a night of injuries, but for the crowd it left many tear filled. We had a youth (or DCE, my facts aren't totally straight yet) hop a railing on the first floor in order to beat the crowds. The seats in certain sections on the first level are only accessible over catwalks from the hall to the seating. There is open space around the rest of it that drops down 20 to 30 feet to the ground floor. He jumped the railing and was surprised that there was nothing to stand on. He fell that 30 feet. Luckily, he was conscious and coherent. Taken to the hospital and after an update from last night, he only suffered a mild concussion and was released yesterday. Praise God. But, we also had, throw-up, an epileptic boy have a seizure (same boy for the second night in a row)and our very own team captain getting his ear piece of his radio stuck too deep in his ear and having to go to the ER to get it removed. Despite all of that, which, in retrospect, turned out to be hardly serious, the event was great. The Skit Guys came out and had us laughing so hard tears were falling. We had an illusionist recreate the story gails of fishing boats in biblical times. He was totally decked out with a sail, wind and he reappeared, seemingly out of thin air behind the sail that was flailing in the wind. And our speaker for the night brought the emotion. She told the story of her daughter, a promising ballet dancer who was tragically killed in a car accident when on the way home from a photo shoot. Many individuals left the stadium with tears in their eyes. These events bring every emotion to the surface with one common theme, praising God!!
Monday morning started just as the first morning started, with bible study. We are in the same auditorium every morning ushering. The groups that enter our auditorium are different as well as the speakers. But, the theme is the same. The Gathering is broken up into 'Tracks." The track themes are LOOK, LISTEN, and LIVE. Every gathering participant has one day with each theme and the activities, speakers, concerts and events for each relate to the different themes. Since we are in the LIVE auditorium for bible study, we heard the same verses about life from the book of John once again yesterday.
But, once again, I have to get off to our third and final full day of Gathering excellence. Catch up with ya'll later. to be continued...

NYG Days 3&4...

My apologies for not updating yesterday. We had our first bible study yesterday morning, which meant a 7am call time. I, of course, had to get my run in and breakfast and that didn't leave much time for anything else. But I will do my best to remember all the good things that have happened over the past 2 days.
Saturday (Day 3) started getting crazy. The majority of groups finally arrived this day and the New Orleans area started looking a little more lutheran. I met up with my home youth group and made sure they were having fun before all the huge festivities kicked off that night at the Superdome. Otherwise, most of the day was spent hanging around, meeting other groups from around the nation and preparing for our first mass event.
We arrived at the superdome at 3pm because we, as usher captains, had to train the other usher teams before the event started. I say, in retrospect, that nothing could have prepared us for what was going to happen when 26,000 kids begin entering the stadium en masse! It was incredible!
If you missed watching the mass events the last couple of nights online at lcmsgathering.com, do it tonight, because it is truly an incredible experience. The house band played, they had a creation story skit with pyrotechnics (YEAH!! Fireworks IN the Superdome!!!), and a great speaker who is 96% blind because of a degenerative, genetic disease. He related his testimony to that of the blind man in the book of John being healed by Jesus. Powerful stuff!!
Despite the sore feet from all the walking and the standing on concrete floors for ushering, I have zero complaints about the job I do. I could not have been more blessed with my roommates, schedule, job, youth group, etc. Nothing has been able to take the smile from my face since we started our training. And until last night, the lack of sleep had little impact on me. But, even I am human (scary, I know) and I started to feel the effects of less than advisable sleep patterns. Regardless, the kick-off to the NYG was incredible!!
Sunday was the first full day of the Gathering for participants. It started off with an incredible bible study led by Rev. Dien Taylor, who turned out to be a highly charasmatic and intriguing speaker. He spoke on us being alive, but not truly living. He said that Jesus is the LIFE and RESURRECTION and without life and belief in him, we aren't truly alive! Nothing could me more true. I am learning that the stories of John (and the other gospels, but since John is our focus book for the gathering, I am highlighting this one) and the miracles of Jesus weren't just placed in the bible for entertaining reading, but are there so that we may "believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). Jesus knew that without him we were lifeless. He wasn't arrogant and he invites all of us into his name. He is the Gate, Resurrection, Life, Truth, Way, Living Bread, Good Shepherd, and Light. He is everything we need to sustain this life and the next and without him we would never truly be living, just existing. Its awe inspiring to think someone cares so much for us that he isn't just there for our benefit but for the benefit of all regardless of who you are. He wants us to give ourselves to him as he did for us, because without him we would be lost souls floating until our demise. it's unbelievable!
After bible study we had a number of hours before having to report for usher duty at the dome again for Sunday's mass event. I stopped by some of the Concordia booths, I found a scouting organization that is totally connected to the Lutheran church, and I went by some of the district booths to find some free giveaways! It was a relaxing time and (I say the word again) impressive to see all teh smiling, milling about faces of these Lutheran youth. As one of the speakers said last night, this religion isn't just your parents anymore. It is not your, brothers, sisters, grandparents, or teachers, uncles, or aunts, it is OURS!! We are the future here and it looks bright.
I will fill in Sunday's mass event happenings later, I am off again to report for usher duty for bible study. To be continued....