This year was a busy year of competitions for me! A few reflections on the experiences might be worth sharing:
Five Points of Life Half Marathon in Gainesville with Mike in February
-while I ran with Mike, it was a great time to visit both Mike and Jessica (and the doggies) and get away from snowy Michigan for a while. Thanks for your hospitality! Great memories of running through "The Swamp" aka the Florida Gator's home football stadium!
-training all through one of the coldest and snowiest winters in Michigan history for the Boston Marathon....brrr It really is true that over half the battle is getting to the starting line! While I didn't run my personal best time in Boston, I finished and have great memories of seeing Dave and Andy at the 21 mile mark. (I think they felt worse than I did at that point!) I hope to go back someday.
-running the 10k in Ann Arbor a month later as a "Recovery Race" and having a great time. I reconnected with a whole bunch of fellow runners who are strong Christians and are attempting to "glorify God in their bodies" through physical discipline and the joy of running.
-finishing third in my age group in the Waterloo Sprint Triathlon. A great course and beautiful finish through the woods. The best part was running faster than the year before!
-just finishing the Steelhead Half-Ironman. It was really hard! The weather conditions were brutal (hot, humid, windy) and the competition fierce; I loved the wild swim in Lake Michigan the best.
-back to Waterloo for the wild and crazy 10 leg "adventure triathlon" named aptly "The Battle of Waterloo"! Again hot and humid by race end.....I just can't seem to drink enough water/gatorade in these long races....maybe I need to try racing with a Camelbak! But a finish is a finish! "Never give up" is a great motto to live by.
- off to Chicago to join Tim as he competed in his first real triathlon. He and I both had good races, finishing high in our age groups. My highlight was again the run, completing it in a far faster time than ever before. I really like this distance (Olympic Distance - half of the Half Ironman), maybe I will run this one more often and leave the really long races to the kids :)
-up to Tawas to successfully defend my Half Ironman age group "title"! I seem to be bringing the warm weather with me wherever I go this year! Much warmer this year, especially on the run. The highlight was biking 56 miles faster than I ever have before and still having enough left "in the tank" to finish a Half-Marathon, all with a terrible cold!
- whew, last but not least, the Detroit Half Marathon with Tim. It was great to know that Tim was training hard, and hearing his 10K time, I knew he had enough speed to leave me behind. Sure enough, at about mile 4, going up the long hill on the Ambassador Bridge, Tim disappeared, and not over the side or behind yours truly.... I didn't see him again until after crossing the finish line! I found out later that he was slowing down while I was finishing pretty strong...if only the race was five miles longer, I could have caught him! I am really proud of Tim and his training success. Maybe we can run a Marathon together sometime! My highlight was the strong finish and the statistical machinations which made me realize I am actually a "better' runner than I was 2 years ago...even though I ran 39 seconds slower.
After the race, we found out that 3 men had died of heart attacks during the race. It was truly sad and sobering. All of the men had trained well and none knew of any heart problems before the race. Best guesses were a combination of the cold and dehydration, but we may never know for sure.
Made me think about what's REALLY important in my life, like loving God, growing closer to my wife and kids, and loving all those wonderful grandkids! Like serving the poor and needy and growing in living a virtuous life. Like really thanking God for the gifts He has poured out on me, especially the gift of life itself and the gift of knowing my Creator as Father, Saviour, and Holy Spirit. Like learning to have discipline and never giving up!
So, while I have lot's of fancy medals and plaques to remember this year's accomplishments, I will really treasure most the relationships that have grown while doing these races. And I am rededicating myself to those relationships in the coming years, since ALL OF YOU are what's really important.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Running for your health - good or bad?
I read a great article which showed that vigorous exercise 30-45 minutes a day lowered cancer risk by half! Apparently this stimulates the immune system to get trid of new cancer cells before they can establish themselves.
Later the same day I read that runners have less arthritis in their knees than couch potatoes! Has to do with strengthening the cartilage along "repetitive lines of force".
But there is another side to all this running, too....
I was out on a humid warm evening on a 6 mile run. After 3 miles I was sweating freely and reached up to wipe the sweat off my forehead, because it was getting in my eyes. I just happened to be on the overpass of Wagner Road as it goes over M-14.....uh oh! there go my glasses - right off my face and onto the ground! Then in agonizingly slow motion, they rolled and slid over to the edge of the bridge railing and, after poising on the edge for a second, fell over, right onto the freeway :( OOOPS!
SO I ran home without any glasses, trying not to get run over (you all know how nearsighted I am), ran in the house, found some old glasses, and zoomed over in my car to the scene....NOTHING! I think the first truck going by blasted them to smithereens! "Oh, Magoo, you've done it again!"
Well, the old glasses are sort of working, and I ordered some new ones at Sear's Optical (they had a special).
For one of the few times in my adult life, I can't think of a single "moral lesson" to pass on....any ideas?
Love,
Papa Fleming
Later the same day I read that runners have less arthritis in their knees than couch potatoes! Has to do with strengthening the cartilage along "repetitive lines of force".
But there is another side to all this running, too....
I was out on a humid warm evening on a 6 mile run. After 3 miles I was sweating freely and reached up to wipe the sweat off my forehead, because it was getting in my eyes. I just happened to be on the overpass of Wagner Road as it goes over M-14.....uh oh! there go my glasses - right off my face and onto the ground! Then in agonizingly slow motion, they rolled and slid over to the edge of the bridge railing and, after poising on the edge for a second, fell over, right onto the freeway :( OOOPS!
SO I ran home without any glasses, trying not to get run over (you all know how nearsighted I am), ran in the house, found some old glasses, and zoomed over in my car to the scene....NOTHING! I think the first truck going by blasted them to smithereens! "Oh, Magoo, you've done it again!"
Well, the old glasses are sort of working, and I ordered some new ones at Sear's Optical (they had a special).
For one of the few times in my adult life, I can't think of a single "moral lesson" to pass on....any ideas?
Love,
Papa Fleming
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Boston Cream Pie at Last!
I wanted to celebrate finishing the Boston Marathon with one of the following:
a large bowl of Boston Baked Beans
a dip in Boston Harbor (my own personal Tea Party)
or a BIG piece of Boston Cream Pie!
My office was very kind and had a celebration party on Friday with, you guessed it, Boston Cream Pie! Yummm!
OK, about the race itself...
First some random thoughts:
I have never seen lines of over one hundred people for each of well over a thousand porta-potties!
The race course was deceivingly tough...easy in the first half, VERY hard in the second half. I suggest they reverse the order of the halfs, or even better, run the course backwards :)
Almost everyone, including the pros, slowed down significantly in the second half of the race.
I beat my number! Since they assign numbers according to your qualifying time, and I was number 17084, finishing 13283 is a significant accomplishment....I think. I can't honestly remember passing almost four thousand runners.
I hate cramps! They providentially did not hit until after I finished, but they were ....interesting and painful....nearly got myself carted off to the medical tent in a wheelchair. But I was able to get rid of them quickly with stretching and fluids.
The race itself:
Dave and Andy dropped me off at Hopkinton State Park where the runners were shuttled into town. A short walk to the Athlete's Village later and I saw the first of the longest porta-potty lines I have ever seen! I located my "bag bus" and dropped off the dry sweats I would wear after the race. These buses then were near the finish line and allowed me to get warm clothes on over my sweaty running stuff at the end.
The first mile was relatively slow because the large numbers of runners and the narrow two-lane road with crowds lining the edge. So I picked it up the next few miles and got back on "schedule", running at a pace of about 8:12. I had run this pace for 16 miles in practice runs, but never tried to keep it going for 26... And for good reason! It got very hard right at 15 miles, forcing me to slow a bit, then got very interesting a few miles later when the first of the Newton Hills began. The fourth and last is Heartbreak Hill, the steepest of the bunch. I did manage to make it all the way up without stopping, but at the top I did not have much left to finish with.
So what kept me going? I had dedicated the run to some important people in my life and I wanted to finish for them. I of course wanted to run my best and set a new "personal best", but that was long gone after those hills. So I prayed for help and God really came through, preserving me from cramps and giving me just enough strength to get to the finish line in one piece. The song, "The Joy of the Lord is My Strength!" came into my head and really set the tone for the rest of the race. T
Then I met with Dave and Andy at mile 22 and got a few photos, took a 10 second break, then took off for the last 4.2 miles. I DID manage to "finish strong" over the last mile.
So, thank you, Lord, for all the help and protection you gave as I trained and ran. I REALLY appreciate it! And thanks to all of you who were praying for me!
a large bowl of Boston Baked Beans
a dip in Boston Harbor (my own personal Tea Party)
or a BIG piece of Boston Cream Pie!
My office was very kind and had a celebration party on Friday with, you guessed it, Boston Cream Pie! Yummm!
OK, about the race itself...
First some random thoughts:
I have never seen lines of over one hundred people for each of well over a thousand porta-potties!
The race course was deceivingly tough...easy in the first half, VERY hard in the second half. I suggest they reverse the order of the halfs, or even better, run the course backwards :)
Almost everyone, including the pros, slowed down significantly in the second half of the race.
I beat my number! Since they assign numbers according to your qualifying time, and I was number 17084, finishing 13283 is a significant accomplishment....I think. I can't honestly remember passing almost four thousand runners.
I hate cramps! They providentially did not hit until after I finished, but they were ....interesting and painful....nearly got myself carted off to the medical tent in a wheelchair. But I was able to get rid of them quickly with stretching and fluids.
The race itself:
Dave and Andy dropped me off at Hopkinton State Park where the runners were shuttled into town. A short walk to the Athlete's Village later and I saw the first of the longest porta-potty lines I have ever seen! I located my "bag bus" and dropped off the dry sweats I would wear after the race. These buses then were near the finish line and allowed me to get warm clothes on over my sweaty running stuff at the end.
The first mile was relatively slow because the large numbers of runners and the narrow two-lane road with crowds lining the edge. So I picked it up the next few miles and got back on "schedule", running at a pace of about 8:12. I had run this pace for 16 miles in practice runs, but never tried to keep it going for 26... And for good reason! It got very hard right at 15 miles, forcing me to slow a bit, then got very interesting a few miles later when the first of the Newton Hills began. The fourth and last is Heartbreak Hill, the steepest of the bunch. I did manage to make it all the way up without stopping, but at the top I did not have much left to finish with.
So what kept me going? I had dedicated the run to some important people in my life and I wanted to finish for them. I of course wanted to run my best and set a new "personal best", but that was long gone after those hills. So I prayed for help and God really came through, preserving me from cramps and giving me just enough strength to get to the finish line in one piece. The song, "The Joy of the Lord is My Strength!" came into my head and really set the tone for the rest of the race. T
Then I met with Dave and Andy at mile 22 and got a few photos, took a 10 second break, then took off for the last 4.2 miles. I DID manage to "finish strong" over the last mile.
So, thank you, Lord, for all the help and protection you gave as I trained and ran. I REALLY appreciate it! And thanks to all of you who were praying for me!
Monday, April 13, 2009
One Week Until Boston!
After 16 long weeks of some of the most rigorous and challenging training I have ever done, it's almost time to race in to Boston. I will join some of the world's best runners in this endeavor. Interestingly, they felt that they had to give them a head start! The fastest men and women start out over a half hour ahead... I guess they didn't want me showing them up or something.....Right!
Actually, I will probably never even see them, so I'd appreciate it if someone could record it for me :)
I feel nervous but ready. I have felt peaceful about the outcome for a while. I've studied course maps, gotten my refueling and rehydration plan together, and even have a backup plan for getting to the start if there is too much traffic - my old bike!
So I once again dedicate this race to the glory of God. I am running in honor of several friends:
Terry Johnson, who has valiantly battled cancer this past year
David Bryant, MD, a colleague and fellow runner, who has been afflicted with a heart condition which may permanently prevent him from running again
My sister Paula, who loved to set high challenges and then do them. I miss you, sis!
Jenny's Cross Country and Track coach, Richard Chenault. I will have his "prayer before a race" written on the back of my race bib in his honor.
And finally, anyone who needs a little inspiration to set a challenging goal and then go for it... Come on, if I can do it, so can you!
Actually, I will probably never even see them, so I'd appreciate it if someone could record it for me :)
I feel nervous but ready. I have felt peaceful about the outcome for a while. I've studied course maps, gotten my refueling and rehydration plan together, and even have a backup plan for getting to the start if there is too much traffic - my old bike!
So I once again dedicate this race to the glory of God. I am running in honor of several friends:
Terry Johnson, who has valiantly battled cancer this past year
David Bryant, MD, a colleague and fellow runner, who has been afflicted with a heart condition which may permanently prevent him from running again
My sister Paula, who loved to set high challenges and then do them. I miss you, sis!
Jenny's Cross Country and Track coach, Richard Chenault. I will have his "prayer before a race" written on the back of my race bib in his honor.
"Lord, grant us the strength to finish the race. To know when it's right to pick up the pace. Stride for stride, let us feel your grace. Stop the doubts when they come in, and give us strength as we begin. And when we come to the finish line, let us know we gave everything from within."
And finally, anyone who needs a little inspiration to set a challenging goal and then go for it... Come on, if I can do it, so can you!
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Run Not Run is sometimes the Best Run of All!
This Sunday I had a plan for my last long 20 mile run before Boston. I had rested a few days for it and was actually looking forward to seeing how fast I could run it! Then the weather changed and the temp dropped to 40 and it started to rain....But I'm no WIMP, I said to myself and decided to go out anyway...then I got a call from a patient who might be in labor....well maybe I should wait a while and see what happens....wouldn't want to be out on a really long run and have an emergency at the hospital. So a couple hours later I hadn't heard anything, so I dressed up and was heading out the door when I got paged. She had made significant progress and I needed to head in within the hour. As i drove to the hospital, the rain got harder and harder, then the temp dropped some more. Now it was 36 degrees.....BRRRRR! Could this get any worse? Yes ! It started snowing!!!!! I was REALLY glad I was in my nice warm car :)
So, no long run. Instead I got to run a few errands, head to the (NICE WARM) hospital, check in with my patient, and then watched MSU dominate an excellent Louisville team, while Tim was there in the stands! How cool! Then, I got to watch Tiger come from 5 back to tie and then take the lead in a tournament just a few miles from where Mike and Jessica live in Orlando! Two holes to go......"Dr Fleming, we need you in Labor Room 1 - your patient is getting ready to birth!" Drat! But God had a plan for that, too. My patient was a former golf team member in college and was VERY interested in seeing who won, too!
SO, it was "PUUUSSHHH" then "Did you see that shot?" then "PUUUSSHHH!" then "He sank that putt! Can you believe it?" "Take a look at all that hair! PUUSSHH!" "Here he comes!"
And so, a new baby boy was born just a few minutes after Tiger roared back into the headlines. And they named him Jackson! Simply awesome!
So, sometimes the best run is the one NOT run at all! Thanks be to God!
PS - The weather changed dramatically again today - after all, this is Michigan we are talking about - so I got to run late this afternoon in the nice warm sunshine :)
PPS - Boston is only 21 days away!
So, no long run. Instead I got to run a few errands, head to the (NICE WARM) hospital, check in with my patient, and then watched MSU dominate an excellent Louisville team, while Tim was there in the stands! How cool! Then, I got to watch Tiger come from 5 back to tie and then take the lead in a tournament just a few miles from where Mike and Jessica live in Orlando! Two holes to go......"Dr Fleming, we need you in Labor Room 1 - your patient is getting ready to birth!" Drat! But God had a plan for that, too. My patient was a former golf team member in college and was VERY interested in seeing who won, too!
SO, it was "PUUUSSHHH" then "Did you see that shot?" then "PUUUSSHHH!" then "He sank that putt! Can you believe it?" "Take a look at all that hair! PUUSSHH!" "Here he comes!"
And so, a new baby boy was born just a few minutes after Tiger roared back into the headlines. And they named him Jackson! Simply awesome!
So, sometimes the best run is the one NOT run at all! Thanks be to God!
PS - The weather changed dramatically again today - after all, this is Michigan we are talking about - so I got to run late this afternoon in the nice warm sunshine :)
PPS - Boston is only 21 days away!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Transfiguring Moments
Recently I was in Utah on a family ski trip and enjoying myself immensely. We had the best snow of the year and God blessed us with so many things.
But perhaps the best was a wonderful Mass we attended in a beautiful Catholic Church in the mountains called St Mary of the Assumption. The music was very good, the gospel was the Transfiguration, and the homily made it come alive. Basically the message was that God's love was the power that transfigured Jesus. The Father's living love was received and returned so perfectly by the Son that he was revealed for who He really was, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Then God spoke, "This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!"
And God desires to pour out His love into our hearts, too! Our problem is that we are not always open to the experience of total joy and love that He wants to give! So sometime He uses amazing life experiences to help us be more receptive, like a beautiful ski run, a magnificent sunset, or just the snow covered mountains themselves! In these moments, God lets us know that he really loves us; that we, too are His beloved sons and daughters!
And so I thank our God for the transfiguring moments he has given me. Think about your own moments and see if you can experience God's love in them as well.
But perhaps the best was a wonderful Mass we attended in a beautiful Catholic Church in the mountains called St Mary of the Assumption. The music was very good, the gospel was the Transfiguration, and the homily made it come alive. Basically the message was that God's love was the power that transfigured Jesus. The Father's living love was received and returned so perfectly by the Son that he was revealed for who He really was, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. Then God spoke, "This is my Beloved Son. Listen to Him!"
And God desires to pour out His love into our hearts, too! Our problem is that we are not always open to the experience of total joy and love that He wants to give! So sometime He uses amazing life experiences to help us be more receptive, like a beautiful ski run, a magnificent sunset, or just the snow covered mountains themselves! In these moments, God lets us know that he really loves us; that we, too are His beloved sons and daughters!
And so I thank our God for the transfiguring moments he has given me. Think about your own moments and see if you can experience God's love in them as well.
Friday, February 27, 2009
What Race Are You Running?
Mike and I ran personal best times in the Five Points of Life Gainesville Half Marathon recently, truly a significant accomplishment for both of us. But I had to ask myself as Lent begins, how am I doing in the REAL race, the one whose finish line is Heaven's gate?
At Mass in Gainesville with Mike and Jessica, one of the hymns went "I want to walk as a child of the light" and one of the later verses began "When we have run with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus".
So, I am dedicating my training and run in Boston to growing in my relationship with my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus. Lord, help me to run the race You give me to run with patience and dedication, giving all the glory to Your name! Amen!
At Mass in Gainesville with Mike and Jessica, one of the hymns went "I want to walk as a child of the light" and one of the later verses began "When we have run with patience the race, we shall know the joy of Jesus".
So, I am dedicating my training and run in Boston to growing in my relationship with my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus. Lord, help me to run the race You give me to run with patience and dedication, giving all the glory to Your name! Amen!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
