NUMBER 9

Today, Sunday October 15, 2017, I completed my 9th full marathon by running THE NEBRASKA MARATHON.

The day started out windy and chilly and ended windy and comfortable....at least in marathoner language.

The race started out in Mid-Town Omaha and ran to the down town area.  After a few turns and such, you made it out of down town around mile 5 only to return, briefly, around mile 7.

At mile 10, you cross over the Bob Kerry Pedestrian bridge into Iowa and at Mile 11, the half marathon turns back to the finish as the full marathon goes out another 7 miles and makes a turn at mile 18 to head back to the finish.

Once I passed that 11 mile mark, I was pretty much running alone.  

This gave me a lot of time...like almost 3 hours....to think.

I don't mind running alone...but I think I would like a group or someone to run with.

In the first half of the race, I saw someone with a shirt from this year's Chicago Marathon (which just ran last weekend).  I commented on her shirt and asked which distance she was going today?  She was running the half and I told her that I did that same combo last year.

We chatted a bit and off I went.  I needed to stop around mile 6 to stretch out my calf and she came up on me.  We ran and chatted for a couple of miles.

What caught my attention is that so many runners knew her. They were calling out her name and she was "Hi-5ing" them.  So I asked, "you seem to know many runners out here.  Are you in a running group or club?"  She said she was and told me the 2 clubs she was a part of and once again...away I went.

Here's my running problem (if you can call it that)....I don't like to talk when I run.  

I like to think.

I like to dream.

I like to pray.

Would I have to give that up to be in a group?

I don't know.

I do know this....when she and I were running and talking, the couple of miles flew by.  My hurting calf was not even a thought.

I like competition, and being in a running group might help that part out as well.

So, as I end the 2017 Running Season and BEST YEAR YET 3.0....maybe there is change on the horizon as we start to think about NUMBER 10 and beyond!

By the way....caught up with the CHEERLEADER a couple of times on the course.  ALWAYS right when I needed it!  Hearing that jumbo cowbell she rings is always soothing to my ears! 

Thanks honey for always being there.

The CHEERLEADER and me after it was over!

Not sure if Bella is excited that I finished..the cool medal..or the awesome beanie!

DRESS FOR SUCCESS

Tomorrow, I take on my 9th full marathon at THE NEBRASKA MARATHON, in Omaha.

If you can't tell by the pic, that is a full bubble wrap outfit...with bubble wrapped helmet!

I think this should be my wardrobe for the rest of today and warming up tomorrow!

I don't know what it is, but when I get close to race day...race time...I become even more aware of my surroundings.

I guess it is mostly due to the one time a couple of days before my 2nd marathon, in 2014, when I was walking off of a deck and I thought I had cleared all the steps...only to find there was one more and I crashed and hurt my knee. 

From then on, I tend to be a bit....cautious, you might say!

Really?

Should I really live my life looking for the missing steps or the uneven sidewalk or anything else that will keep my head down? 

Shouldn't I, instead, keep my eyes up and witness all of the beauty around me?

I think it's something in-between.

In the Bible, 2 Corinthians 5:7 says, "For we walk by faith, and not by sight." [NKJV]

Another translation of the same Bible verse says it this way, "For we live by believing and not by seeing." [NLT]

What do you believe?  

Are you fearful that "bad" is going to happen?  Or do you look to live your life by YOUR DESIGN and not by default?

So my encouragement to all of us today is to LIVE/WALK by our FAITH/BELIEVING....but in doing that, let's also DRESS FOR SUCCESS by doing as the Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians chapter 6, and put on THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD! (Ephesians 6:10-18)

By the way...that 2nd Marathon where I hurt my knee...that is where I ran my personal best
4:25:43.

MAKE it a great BEST YEAR YET day!

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA

In honor of today, Friday, October 13th, I thought I would do a little #FunFactFriday.

TRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA is the "fear of the number 13."

Yep, it is a true phobia or fear.

Let's take it a step further:  FRIGGATRISKAIDEKAPHOBIA is the "fear of Friday the 13th."

Why 13?

Some say it's because there were 13 people at the Last Supper.

Some say it's because there were 13 steps to the gallows.

Some schools of numerology, the number 12 is considered the number of perfection and completion.  It stands to reason then that trying to improve on perfection by adding a digit is a very bad idea indeed - your greed will be rewarded with bad luck.

Some sports greats wore number 13 and always came up short:  Dan Marino (football) and Steve Nash (basketball), to name a couple.

Some buildings are so superstitious that the don't have a 13th floor (the elevator skips from 12 to 14).  I worked in a building like this.

But I say it's just a number.

Here are some good things that are associated with the number 13:  

My oldest sister (and the first born of our family) was born on the 13th.

One of the greatest (to me) football stories is of Kurt Warner who went from stocking shelves at a Hy-Vee grocery store to now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Kurt wore #13 throughout his NFL career.

I'll end our little #FunFactFriday with this: NASA Mission Apollo 13.  

Some will say that it was not a success, but I beg to differ.  

Yes, there was the famous quote, "Houston, we've had a problem here" (Astronaut Jack Swigert, Apollo 13), but what took place to get those three astronauts back to earth safely was, to me, a fantastic show of TEAMWORK, intelligence, and a bit of luck!

When it was announced that there was going to be an Apollo 13 mission, Commander Jim Lovell's wife Marilyn expressed her concern about the mission's number to her husband by asking, "Why 13?"  Her husband's answer, "It comes after 12, hon."

GO

In yesterday's blog, we discussed two words that carry a BIG impact:  LET GO!

If we are going to LET GO of those things that are holding us back from our BEST YEAR YET (comparing; judgements; anger; regret; worrying; fear; etc.), then we are going to have to replace those things with positive actions.

So, after we LET GO, we need to GO!

GO where?

go

ɡō/

verb

1. 1.

   move from one place or point to another; travel.
2. 2.

   leave; depart.

GO is an action word.  

It does something.

It doesn't just sit and do nothing.

Do you know that some times, we don't know ALL the answers until we GO?

In the Bible, a guy named Saul (later on his name is changed to Paul) was told to, "Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

Has that ever happened to you?  Maybe not the way it happened with Saul, but has it happened that the answer you were looking for didn't come to you until you started doing something?

GO.

What can you do today that can separate you from what is holding you back?

Like Saul, where is your "CITY" that you need to GO to?

Your "CITY" could be:

• A different job
• A different house
• Consistently getting quiet so that you can hear better
• A new location...truly a new city
• It would be a variety of things.....

Whatever it is, GO there!

I think I'll GO.  Who wants to come with me?

LET GO

LET GO.

Two words that carry a BIG impact.

Let GO of comparing.

Let GO of competing.

Let GO of judgements.

Let GO of anger.

Let GO of regrets.

Let GO of worrying.

Let GO of blame.

Let GO of guilt.

Let GO of fear.

Let GO of the past.

What are you holding on to that is keeping you from your BEST YEAR YET?

LET GO.

TOMORROW

YESTERDAY.

YESTERDAY you said you would start reading more.  

YESTERDAY you said that you would go to bed earlier.

YESTERDAY you said that you would start eating clean...again.

YESTERDAY you said you would start working out...again.  

YESTERDAY.

YESTERDAY YOU SAID you would do all of these things TOMORROW.

You know what? It's TOMORROW.

So what is holding us back?  Absolutely nothing.  

Excuses don't reside in your BEST YEAR YET.

TOMORROW becomes TODAY and YESTERDAY is gone forever.

What will you decide to do TODAY that your TOMORROW self will thank you for?

START that new workout.

START that new eating plan.

START writing that book.

START reading more.

START giving more.

START loving more.

MAKE a decision TODAY that every TOMORROW moving forward is a NEW DAY.  

It is THE TODAY you have been waiting for!

SIMPLE

"It's always the SIMPLE that produces the marvelous." Amelia Barr

A sunrise?

A sunset?

The smell of freshly cut grass?

A rainbow?

A full moon?

Playing catch with your dad?

Do you see the marvelous in the SIMPLE?

Why is it that we overlook the SIMPLE?

"It can't be that SIMPLE....can it?"

One of the CHEERLEADER'S favorite movie is "THE FAMILY MAN" with Nicolas Cage and Tea Leoni.  In it, Cage's character, Jack Campbell, a fast lane investment broker, wakes up in what can only be described as a "what if" life.  He's married to his college girlfriend and they have a couple of kids, a house, bills, but one thing that is missing in Jack's life.

In one scene, his wife, Kate (played by Tea Leoni) asks him to tell her that one thing that he knows "gets her."  He breaks into some sleazy pick up line which kills the mood like throwing a bucket of water on a campfire.  He's confused (remember, he is still, in his mind, Jack the investment broker, not the Family Man) UNTIL he looks at some home movies where it shows Jack singing a SIMPLE song to Kate where he says, "I LOVE YOU."

THAT was it.  It wasn't the money or things....it was the SIMPLE words, "I LOVE YOU."

As you continue on your BEST YEAR YET journey, don't make it complex.

Keep it SIMPLE.

FINAL THOUGHT:

Did you take the "30 Day INTENTIONAL Challenge" we talked about yesterday?  If you don't know what I'm talking about, read yesterday's post, "INTENTIONAL"  and join in the fun.