Marathon of Miracles ROUND 2!

I recently realized that this Blogger link is still active on the Living Among Them website and so I decided that I better "get with it" and post some new blogs about something! I know this is supposed to be about my thoughts as I run / train for the 2nd Annual Marathon of Miracles, but I don't really have much time for such thoughts this time around...and that's because I am in SUCH A WONDERFULLY DIFFERENT place from one year ago and that is thanks to our awesome God and our amazing little Hudson Lee Morrow! So this time I'm probably going to post a lot of thoughts and pics about my life as a new dad so whoever visits this site can see just how perfectly distracting this little guy is! And to at least touch on the subject of marathon training routine - check out my running schedule this time around! HA! (Huddy and I did walk over 5 miles this week together!!!)

26.2 in 4:40

IT'S DONE...AND I'M STILL ALIVE! :)
For final update and pics from marathon day visit:
http://livingamongthem.com/marathon2.html

Marathon of Miracles 2009 Running Team!!!

The Marathon of Miracles
2009 Running Team!!!!!
(not pictured: Alan, Erik,
Iveth and Adrian)

Countdown...

Distance covered: 315 miles.
Well, faithful friends...this is most likely going to be my last blog before race day on December 13th. Sorry I wasn't much of a consistent blogger, there are just other - in my opinion - worthier endeavors I'm trying to be more consistent at! But it has been fun to post some of my training experiences and thoughts and to hear back from you at times...so thanks for the encouragement!

Let me catch you up on my latest and greatest running feats:

On Saturday November 14, I headed out to White Rock Lake for an afternoon run by myself (and my ipod loaded with Matt Chandler sermons). I was going for 18 miles. 16 miles and 2 hours and 40 minutes later my ankles gave out and that was it...I found myself limping in the dark with only the sound of crickets to accompany me...and I was still 2 miles from my truck! That was a long and slow 2 mile walk and a hard dose of reality to swallow. 16 miles. 10.2 miles short of my goal.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Daniela and I headed out to warmer, sunnier southern California to celebrate the holiday with my brother and his family. They live close to a large and natural creek bed that runs for miles through their city with a running/walking track on both sides so I showed up out there ready to run. All in all by the end of that week I had completed 3 more half marathons (increasing my total to 6) and on the final weekend my brother headed out with me for one final long distance run. My brother who is 5 years older than me and in great shape himself busted out 9 miles that morning with me before heading home and that inspired me to go another 9 for a total of 18 miles in 3 hours exactly...I finished that day with my ankles still in-tact. Not long after finishing I regretted not going for 20 miles, but I felt much better about my chances on race day when not only will 1000s of other runners be joining me, but most importantly Alan, my brother in Christ and fellow competitor will be pushing me to keep up (he's done the White Rock once before). So I'm counting on the fellowship - excitement - and adrenaline to get me another few miles and then eventually it's going to take nothing less than an angel of the Lord to carry me across that finish line!

Taking it easy this week in preparation. I spoke at Arlington Chinese Baptist Church this past Sunday morning and at the end of my message I decided to go ahead and announce the marathon and pledge opportunity. I actually hesitated doing so just because it was so last minute and I knew the church was committed to and involved in some other charity events, but I made my announcement and afterwards my wife placed the sign-up sheet on a table as we sat down for lunch and fellowship. About 30 minutes later a brother in the church came over and asked me where the sign-up sheet was and we walked over to the table together to find it missing. Then someone raised it up in the air at another table and once the sheet had been handed back to me it had been completely filled...with pledges totaling over $500. Way to go ACBC!!!

Thank you Father for all you've done - all you're doing - and all you're going to do!!!

Tomorrow night our whole running team is meeting at church for worship - fellowship - prayer and pizza. We'll be sporting our team running bibs and going over all the rules and logistics involved...at this point I just hope and pray all of our relay runners can get to where they need to be and find their way back home when its all over! :)

I'll post our new team photo tomorrow night. USE THESE FINAL DAYS TO POINT PEOPLE TO OUR WEBSITE (www.LivingAmongThem.com) AND ROUND UP SOME FINAL PLEDGES!
Blessings in Christ!
Marc

Expect the Unexpected

Distance covered: 155 miles
As men often do, I started this whole marathon adventure with a plan. I downloaded a proven training routine, did research on exercise and diet and looked at the calendar to see how it would all come together. I had everything pretty well mapped out...and then life took over!

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9

One look at my training schedule above and you can see things haven't been going exactly according to plan! The circled boxes represent all the running days I've been missing lately. What I hadn't PLANNED on was my back going out after my first true LONG distance run of 9 miles and needing to take a week off to let things heal up nor had I planned on missing a week of work and another week of training due to the flu (H1N1 according to the doctor even though my test was negative!). I hadn't planned on the surprise visit from friends from Taiwan and 4 days of tour guide service around Dallas. I hadn't planned on RAINY mornings, alarm clocks not going off and bad heartburn after eating at Calle Doce (best Mexican Food in Dallas!)...I think you get the point. And what do you think happened to me as I began to see MY PLAN unravel? I'm sure you guessed it...frustration, disappointment, anxiety! Why was all this happening? How was I going to pull this marathon off now!? And who do you think these questions (accusations) were often aimed at? You probably guessed it again...the ONE who has always been in control and never let me down yet. The One who promises to work ALL things together for the good of those who love Him. Yeah, God and I have had some interesting conversations lately. Then just when I started to throw around the idea that maybe it would be better for me to just go for the half marathon instead of the whole enchilada, my good friend and brother in Christ, Alan (who's also running the whole marathon for Living Among Them), put an end to that quick. Thank the Lord for brothers and sisters who are willing to give us a gentle, but firm kick in the rear right when we need it most! This past Saturday Alan and I successfully ran 11 miles (1 hour + 50 min.) out at White Rock Lake and then celebrated afterwards by feasting at IHOP (come on, we earned it!).

I hesitate to say that I'm back on course with a scheduled 14 mile run for this weekend...I think a better choice of words is that I'm back on board with the reality that every day is a gift from God and every step I take with Him is a step in the right direction (even when...no ESPECIALLY when it's a step in the opposite direction I planned to go).

Can I explain what all lessons I'm learning through this whole marathon experience? At this point not really. I only know that the more things go the way I plan them to go, the easier it is for me to think that I made it happen, when in reality:

"It is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose." Philippians 2:13

So I'll make my plans, but thank God for directing my steps to get me where I truly need to be!

(Important and wonderful side note: my wife and I had PLANNED on having our first child after 3 or so years of marriage...HA! God willing, in June 2010 we'll be welcoming our little unplanned BLESSING into the world!)

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20:21

Distance covered 85 miles.
Good to be back on the blogosphere! This blog is supposed to be about running and the thoughts and feelings running through my head and heart while training, but the reality is that I'm running so early these days while the moon is still bright in the sky and my brain is still asleep (and my body is basically on auto pilot) that there aren't many thoughts to speak of! Basically my brain goes through the following checklist each and every morning as my feet are pounding the pavement:
Okay feeling good today... Nice and loose...Crap! I hate this hill...okay that wasn't so bad...Let's get into a good rythm now. Okay...let's see the orphans are A - Alejandro and Aracelli, B - Beto, C - Cristiano, D - nope, E - Ernesto...no ESTEBAN!, F - nope, G - nope, H - nope, I - nope, J - Jorge? Jesus? JOSE!, K - nope, L - Lucio, N - Nichita, O - Orlando, P - Pati, Q - nope, R - Ricardo and Rosa Linda, S - Sarita and Samuel! And all the while I'm counting on my fingers and hopefully end up with 14. If not, I repeat this process over and over again until I either get 14 or until I get back home and can check the poster on the fridge! If I successfully make it through the list of names then it's on to James. Before getting married, while my wife and I did the long-distance dating thing with her here in Texas and me over in China - we committed to memorizing the whole book of James. We both had the first 4 chapters down COMPLETELY when we got married and then forgot (neglected) nailing down that final chapter... a whole year passed and on our first anniversary we recommited our vows and our determination to finish James. So...currently I am quoting James chapters 1 and 2 as I run. And that my friends - orphan names and the book of James - is about ALL that's going through my head mile after glorious mile!

Alan (my friend who's also running the full marathon with me) came over on Saturday and did the 6 mile run with me. Talk about a quick 6 miles. We chatted the whole time and before we knew it 59 minutes (and 6 miles) had passed. Then on Monday night my wife and I hit the street covering 1.5 miles together and once again she distracted me from any awareness of exercise (she's especially cute in her running outfit!) and the time flew! I did another 1.5 on my own in 11 minutes and 20 seconds..I was moving! And I kept up the same pace the whole 1.5 mile lap around the neighborhood...I was missing my wife!

So I learned that in running - just as in life - fellowship is sweet and empowering! Next Saturday Alan and I are meeting at White Rock Lake for our 10 mile run. By the way, Alan has a sponsor who's pledging $2 a mile and throwing in another $100 if he makes it the whole way ($152!). Anyone want to throw out the same challenge to me!?

We're heading to Louisiana for the Labor Day Weekend to visit my parents in Lafayette and I have to run 8 miles down there on Saturday in the muggy swampland! I was driving home from school today wondering how I could figure out an 8 mile course when I walked through the front door and discovered the following message and surprise on the entry way table: ( is my wife amazing or what!!! Yes, I go by "baby" sometimes! :)

Turn that frown upside down!

It didn't take me long to realize that while our ministry and website name is on target in regards to cross-cultural mission work - running through my suburb of Dallas, Texas wearing a shirt that says "LIVING AMONG THEM" was bordering on tacky if not controversial! Sure people were looking, but what were they thinking? And why were so many of them frowning?

So, I quickly added a new domain name to our website...see my new training T-shirt above.

(Just trying to be more sensitive like my wife tells me I should be! :)