Rock N' Roll Virginia Beach - More To Life Than PR's

Pastor Rich running over to see his wife Katorah

This past weekend at the Rock N’ Roll Virginia Beach half marathon I broke no personal record, the weather was horrendous, and the race itself was a very difficult time for me personally, YET WE CELEBRATED!  I say we because I was not alone at this race…I was with three pastors who have all gotten serious about honoring God with their physical health.  So when I say we, I mean Pastor Rich Griffith who has lost 60lbs since January of this year! Pastor T.J. Wolfe who has lost 90lbs, 45 of those since January of this year! AND Pastor Josh Simpson who has lost 30lbs since March of this year!

The Team!

If this race was about me, if I was focused on a PR it would have been a very, very disappointing trip!  In fact it would have been difficult to forget the day…No, this day will not ever be forgotten…because the day was about something so much more important!

The day wasn’t about me.  It wasn’t about a PR.  Sure, any runner knows that PR’s are GREAT!  We love days that we run faster, or even further then we ever have…but this day was about 4 guys coming together to celebrate life and see people from another country, another continent (Africa) get blessed with the gift of life (Water wells) for their communities!

Pastor TJ Wolfe and Pastor Josh Simpson

I cannot put into words how special the weekend was.  What it meant to the WORLD!  What it meant to the Kingdom of God!  Four dudes who NO ONE would have ever guessed would run 13.1 miles together, and they did it in 81+ degrees, with the humidity making it feel mid 90’s, and a dew point of 77.  And we did it WELL…

As I watched Rich, T.J., & Josh cross the finish line I was the one being blessed.  These guys are a joy to coach, and whether they realize it or not they’ve impacted me as much as I have them, I am sure of that!

I love running fast…I love setting PR’s…I train to do so…but September 2^nd, 2012 will go down as one of the greatest running days of my life, not because of anything I accomplished but because of a team that I was (and hopefully continue) to be a part of!  Well done guys…Well done!

Anyday You Can Reboot! JUST DON'T REGRET!

Reaching a goal is typically only achieved after making the choice to do something difficult day after day because you know it's best.

When we commit to achieving something we must resist the temptation to return to our "normal" way of living and remain focused on over coming the battle we are facing.

No matter what your up against know this...EVERYDAY IS A BATTLE! 

You can over come!
You can win!

Commit everyday and you will succeed! Whatever you do...DO NOT GIVE UP!

Maybe you've failed in the past or maybe you've even failed today...now what do you do?
Reboot and RESTART...Re-commit...Re-do...Re-go...ANY OF THESE RE WORDS WORK, JUST DON'T REGRET

Whatever you do...DO NOT GIVE UP!  

No, in all things we are more than conquers through him who loved us. Roman 8:37

Habits that Build Our LIfe

 I believe our lives are built through our habits.

If your anything like me, most of what you do during the day is done with little thought Hahahaha…no seriously, most of what I do throughout my day is done out of habits.  Little thought is given to the routines we follow in life.  

Sometimes this is good...sometimes this is bad! It just depends on if it is a healthy habit or an unhealthy habit.

Everything from how we spend our time, to how we spend our money is largely decided by our habits.  Even our thoughts are created through habits...have you ever met someone who was positive about EVERYTHING? How about someone who was negative about EVERYTHING? These are habits...sometimes we fall into a habit of fear instead of faith.  When this happens we live a life full of anxiety and worry!

So if you say to me you want to change something in your life?  You want to succeed in an area your currently failing or doing really poorly in?  I would tell you the answer is simple, CHANGE YOUR HABITS!

Do you...

Want to grow spiritually? Are you reading the Word of God?

Want to shrink physically? Are you eating well?

Want a great family life? Are you investing the time into your family they deserve?

Simply put, I believe our habits are the building block of our lives…so WHAT ARE YOU BUILDING YOUR LIFE ON?

Off the Radar - 5 yr Plan?

5 years and 4 months ago my life was a mess…I was 321+ pounds but that wasn’t all that was wrong! I wanted…no I needed a redo in life.  I was tired, sick, obese, & burned out.  Every morning felt like a nightmare.  Don’t get me wrong I was blessed with an unconditionally loving wife, beautiful healthy kids, a job, a church, and WONDERFUL friends…but I was done!

When God spoke to me about my lack of self-control & discipline it was a very painful reality.  When He whispered into my soul that I needed to change it cut to my soul!

The moment He spoke to me, EVERYTHING changed.  If you would have asked me in that moment 5 years ago what my goals were because of this encounter I would have said to lose some weight and get healthier.  To be able to finish a day without feeling like I was going to die.  To be able to wake up and praise the Lord instead of feeling like the night had never come.

Even in that moment I would never have dreamed that I was on my weigh to losing 131lbs, running 5 marathons, 6 half marathons, 2 Ironman 70.3'S, a runstreak of 1,274 days and earning the title Dr. Ben Emmons (ABD).  In fact NO OF THAT was on my radar!

This is probably because God’s radar, His plans are much better than our own!

What I am trying to do here is to encourage you to listen for God…when you do He enables you to accomplish far beyond anything you could hope for or dream of.  If you told me 5 years ago I would become a conference speaker to equip, and coach other pastors on how to live healthy holistic lives, I would have laughed at you.  Now it is whom God has called, equipped, and formed me to be.

Take time today to listen for God.  It may be a painful experience…it may cause you to be put in a place where you need to take a step of faith.  In fact I am sure it will do both.  I can’t tell you what God will say to you, But I do know He will not let you down!

Now when people ask about my 5 year plan I laugh, but only BECAUSE I PERSONALLY KNOW GOD CAN ACCOMPLISH SOOOO MUCH IN 5 YEARS!

Your Nutrtion Matters to God!

I can’t believe how many years I heard these verses quoted Almost EXCLUSIVELY to defend peoples stance against tattoos.

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body. - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

I am not writing this to argue viewpoints on tattoos, rather to say nutrition matters to God!  What we choose to put in our bodies often determines how we feel, our energy levels, it enables or disenables our body’s immune systems…How can God not be concerned with such things?

God wants you to be healthy…are you doing your part?

God wants you to live long…are you doing your part?

God wants you to have energy…are you doing your part?

When we simply eat garbage out of convenience or because “it tastes good” are we taking care of the temple of the Holy Spirit?  Are we dying to our flesh?  This is one area of discipline the Bible speaks much about that is largely ignored...I know this doesn't make me popular, or cause you to have happy feelings towards me, but I cannot ignore it any longer, GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR NUTRITION!

Jesus thank you for the Cross where there is mercy and forgiveness for our sins.  Thank you for loving us so much you’d die so we could one day live forever in heaven with you!  Lord please forgive us for abusing the temple of the Holy Spirit.  God help us, encourage us, enable us through the Holy Spirit to live disciplined lives.  God give us a new measure of self-control…help us live fully devoted lives to you.  In Jesus name we pray Amen!

The Growth Equation

When I need to Grow I intuitively KNOW it will require sacrifice!

Ways to Develop:

-Reading

-Seminars or conferences

-Examine leaders or organizations that do what I NEED or desire to be able to do

-Podcasts, Digital resources, etc.

With technology & social media today, its my opinion that growth has never been easier, but it still requires sacrifice.

My high school guidance counselors once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Wait, that was Confucius who also said, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”

In other words we can grow by

1.     Examination and reflection on how we can grow (AKA Transformation)

2.     Copy what someone else is doing (Most common, also usually doesn’t work)

3.     Learning from our mistakes (The hard way)

You want to grow right?

So you can continue to learn from your mistakes, or try to copy someone else (not fun also not what you were designed to do), or by examining how you NEED to or desire to grow and INVESTING the time it takes to follow through with the plan!

What areas do you want to grow in?

How are you ensuring this growth takes place?

What have your found encourages growth the best for you personally?

Double Dogged Dared!

Has anyone ever said something to you that just kept echoing in your head? Something simple, and honest, but it just keeps replaying over and over in your head?

Last night Kaylee my nine year old daughter, who has been by my side as through a lifestyle transformation that started when she was turning four said something that I shrugged off with a laugh and quickly dismissed…or did I?

Her words were very simple, very straight forward, almost a dare from a kids point of view…but it spoke volumes to me her dad.  What was this double dog dare?

As she looked at two cakes my wife had baked for the kids at church she simply said, “I’d love to see you eat a WHOLE cupcake!”

She didn’t question me about not eating sweets, or junk food.  She knows I love cupcakes, and she’s seen me take my fair share of nibbles (usually hijacked from her plate).  She specifically said a WHOLE CUPCAKE…can you say portion control?

I love that I have what I’d now consider a healthy relationship with food…one that I hope and pray I can pass onto my children!

I hope they learn from me that when you practice self control and discipline at the dinner table, that the sweets you have as a treat are that much sweeter!  

So here is my dare to you...join me with NO JUNK FOOD JUNE!  Your July will thank you...ok, ok, I double dog dare ya!

teamWORK

There is POWER in TEAMWORK...

I have always believed in the acronym T.E.A.M

Together 

Everyone

Achieves

More

I don’t know that EVERYONE actually achieves more, but together you certainly achiever BETTER!  Perhaps you have an ability to produce GREAT quantities of work…imagine what you could accomplish if you worked together as a team?

Nearly EVERYONE believes teamwork is the way to achieve greatness…

Why then, is it that most organizations, churches, schools, business, marriages, etc. etc. etc. don’t work as ONE cohesive unit or team?

Could it possibly be because we romanticize, and even desire the word TEAM, but we want to forget the work part?  After all it is called, TEAMWORK…right???

Teamwork requires a few things:

Time

Commitment

Communication

Sacrifice

An open mind and heart

Humility

A perhaps above all A HEART FOR THE MISSION the team is on!

Teamwork is not always easy, but if your willing, open, humble, and committed God will do GREAT things through you and the rest of your team…

Vision - Who, What, Where, Why! Planning for Success

Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he Proverbs 29:18

Christians:  We are very good at saying we believe God's Word, but sometimes poor with the execution part!!!  Trusting God and placing your faith in Him for your future is key to our Christian faith, however, God wants you to plan, wants you to have vision, and wants you to understand where He is leading you!   
Vision is essential to our personal and professional lives.

When I was a young pastor I didn’t always have clear vision.  I had a good idea of what God was asking our church to become, but I had no action plan!  Without a plan vision is just dreams and many times in reality nightmares…dreams do not equal vision.  (PASTORS: Planning and being PURPOSEFUL with staffing, resources, and ministry time to your churches mission & core values are CRITICAL to become the church God has entrusted you with.  DO NOT wander away from these areas unless you wish to become something God has not called you to be, or do something that is opposite of what God has called you to do)

Once you have figured out the who, what, where, why (Notice, I left off the when, that is a lesson saved for a later time) you must DESIGN and IMPLEMENT the HOW! 

If I know where I want to go, but don’t have a plan on how to get there I am stuck! 

Remember when you were 16 with a drivers license and no car?

Time to get a job…Come up with the plan that gets you where you want/NEED to go.

I believe with all my heart that God is inviting EACH and everyone of us to become the person or church He designed us to be!  There are times I have to dial in my vision and in order to do this I have learned to ask myself three questions.  These questions also help clearly define our vision & goals when working with a team. These three questions can also help you determine the trajectory of your own personal path, your goals, & vision for life:

Where do we want/NEED to go? Or… Where do I want/NEED to go?

How do we get there? Or… How do I get there?

Why do we want/NEED to go there? Or… Why do I want/NEED to go there?

Examine your own life with these questions, what you may find is you need to refocus on your path and dial in your vision to accomplish all your created to do!

Running - Unlearning to Relearn

The biggest obstacle I have in running is unlearning.  I thought I knew how to run when I was three...I was wrong!

This confusion isn't all my fault, although I personally must take responsibility for my lack of knowledge...All other sports growing up, I just learned by playing...running is different!  I've had to research, learn, relearn, and apply training strategies.

Granted, you don't have to do these things to run, but if you want to get faster, dramatically faster, research, trial and error, and relearning what you thought you already knew is a must, especially in the marathon world!

When I started running, just over five years ago, I couldn't run a full lap around the track without stopping.  The truth is anytime pacing is an issue it is because of a false reality of where we thinkwe are our physical fitness.  I thought, just run the same pace that you use to run the mile in high school and you'll be fine!  Haaaaaa...there are some problems with my strategy.  First, I wasn't 18 anymore, I was nearly 30.  2nd, I wasn't just slightly overweight, and I certainly wasn't in shape from playing other sports.  I was 321lbs of sedentary flesh...ENOUGH SAID!

So the day I went to run, I struggled...I struggled mightly, but eventually I made it around the track, and the next day a bit further...and this cycle continued!

Eventually, simply by repeating this process I got to where I could run a mile just like I did in high school.  Soon I was actually faster then my 18 year old counterpart!

And so I continued this process, never overly focusing on pace, or workouts, but simply running, and relearning how to run steady longer distance.  I also began researching how to become a better runner.

Some of the things I learned included breathing techniques, heart rate, nutrition, pacing, race strategies, workouts, strength training, etc.  There were and still are many things, and I mean many many things from other sports I had to unlearn.  To me endurance was running around the bases trying to stretch a double into a triple...In fact I am still trying to unlearn them...mentally, I know these new running & endurance strategies are true, but physcially implementing them is a struggle.  For instance:

One of the most basic elementary truths of endurance sports is that the marathon is not won in the first 20 miles!  Yet, I have failed in my last two attempts of running negative splits (2nd half faster then the 1st), and why?  I failed because I didn't think like a runner, I thought like a football player...And in case your wondering, MARATHONS are not like FOOTBALL GAMES.

However, physiologically I am wired to think jump out to an early lead = win!  After all this is the cornerstone of team sports.  Nearly every sport you can deal your opponent a massive blow by scoring runs or points and jumping out to an early lead, you simply have to "put the nails in the coffin", or in the words of the Sensa on Karate Kid, "FINISH HIM"...With the marathon, this is not the case!

Patience is one of the biggest elements to endurance athletics...something I have had to learn the hardway!  Let's just hope suffering through the last 10k of my last marathon was enough to drive home this point.

Yoda probably had the best explination for anyone starting out in running, triathlons, or any other endurance sport when he said, "No! No different. Only different in your mind. You must unlearn what you have learned."

What are the hard lessons you've learned in endurance sports?

Sometimes We Are Afraid to Admit It!

Sometimes We Are Afraid to Admit It!

As a father I want my kids to succeed.  I am sure this desire is similar to the way God feels about each of us…He wants us to thrive, to do well, and enjoy life, because after all our lives are a gift from Him!

Also as a father I have seen the effects of fear on a very basic, raw, easy to understand level.  For instance, when children are afraid to go to their own room because of "monsters", they usually just want a parent / friend that will go make sure their worst fears are not reality.  They don't rational what will happen to this co-monster hunter,  if there happens to really be a monster, they intuitively know there isn't a monster, they just want someone they can place their trust in...Sometimes as parents it's our job to go with our children and disarm their fears!

Fear exist because evil exist!  Our imaginations create scenarios of what could be or "what if's" based on the evil that has impacted our lives...It's my opinon that fear is greatest when:

A.) An individual has experienced great trauma or

B.) An individual has seen something (real life, television, pictures, etc.) and the fear increases as their own imagination increases.

The problem with fear is:

Fear is crippling…

Fear distracts us from accomplishing our mission, our objectives, or reaching our goals.

Fear handicaps our gifts, talents, and even ability, and produces temporary paralyses.

Fear keeps us from accomplishing what God has created us to do!

Perhaps this is why God’s word the Bible says “Do not fear” over 350 times…I’ve even heard it suggested that the Bible says “Fear not” 365 times, once for everyday! 

What fears are keeping us from accomplishing our mission today?

I remember when I was a child.  Whenever fear would creep it’s ugly head in all I needed to defeat it was a companion.  The strength, or wisdom of my company had nothing to do with me overcoming my fears, it was simply their presence!  We serve a God that never leaves us, nor forsakes us…He is omnipresent (ALWAYS PRESENT)…He walks with us and goes before us!

Today He would say to you, “FEAR NOT”!

The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8

Tomorrow Never Comes!

Tomorrow Never Comes! - Breaking Unhealthy Habits

Don’t fall into the trap of oh well, I will do better tomorrow!

When it comes to diet and exercise we all fail from time to time.  You maybe surprised by the number of times I hear the excuse (OR EVEN USE THE EXCUSE), well I ate this, so I decided that I will start tomorrow.  Maybe we are facing a craving on day 1 of our “new diet” or were just trying to be healthier.  Then we find ourselves giving into a craving & figure well I guess I will just eat everything I crave today and tomorrow I will really get “hardcore”!  Tomorrow I will start!

My own thought is that this excuse / PATTERN is probably the number 1 healthy lifestyle trap…it sabotages a high % of people with good intentions for regaining their personal health!

When we make a mistake or give into a bad habit or craving it’s like falling off a bicycle.  When we fall, we MUST GET RIGHT BACK ON…if we wait until tomorrow we will find another excuse, or perhaps the fear of failure will sabotage our efforts again.

Don’t allow pain to set in and sabotage your goal!  Admit you messed up, confess it to God and MOVE ON!  NOT tomorrow, TODAY!

Get back on and KNOW THAT YOU CAN DO THIS THING!

Pray and ask God for the strength to endure your temptations…

Then sacrifice the desire to Him and allow His love to satisfy your cravings!

The Hardest Part of Leadership (For Me Anyways)!

God birthed within me a passion, a burning desire to see others succeed.  There is nothing I want more then to see others live out their dreams, reach their potential, and live abundantly!

Whether I am coaching, teaching, or pastoring I have a deep desire to see others succeed!

Typically success means changing something…whether it is big or small, tweaking something just enough can bring on success.

The problem is, change is difficult.  For many, change may even seem impossible.  Identifying the problems or obstacles needing change is easy…behavior modification is hard! 

The most difficult thing for me in leadership is when people say they want to succeed, identify the problem, start to make the change and then relapse!  The truth is success will not happen until the desire to succeed outweighs the desire for whatever change needs to take place.

Simply put

- If my goal is to achieve physical health, I can no longer ignore eating right and exercising.

- If my goal is family health, I can no longer ignore my family.

- If my goal is financial health, I can no longer buy things I cannot afford.

My opinion is that our time is the most valuable thing we spend!

Are you unsuccessful in an area you NEED to succeed in?   

Be honest with yourself…ask two simple questions…

What don’t you have time to do?

What do you have time to do?

For me these two simple questions moves my core values from self-perception to reality.  When I answer these questions honestly, I can no longer SAY what I believe my core values are, because what I am investing my time in shows what’s important, these ARE my core values!

For me I always have to evaluate this by comparing how I am investing my time:

Time for God vs. Time for self?

Time for family vs. Time for self?

Time to workout vs. Time for self

Success cost time…lots and lots of time!

For me success is healthy relationship with God, family, and taking care of my physical health.  Your success probably looks much different then mine, and that is ok…

To wrap this up…the hardest part of leadership for me anyways, is when my own desire (as a coach, teacher, pastor, father, or friend) to see people succeed outweighs their own desire.

The Comfort Trap

The Comfort Trap

Today I realized something…in the past several months, perhaps even the last year I became comfortable in my physical training.  I would run further, but not faster…running further is really not much of a challenge for me, it’s the running faster part that becomes very uncomfortable. 

Following the Rock N’ Roll DC Marathon I came to the realization that I needed to run faster to improve my race times!  Today I ran just over 7 miles, at 8:27 pace.  This was a “recovery” run!  This is the pace most of my runs were run at last year.  The problem with that is last year I had to many “recovery” runs…

Recovery runs are comfortable, slower paced, they are intended to get your body moving and blood circulating…They are healthy, active, and very important for recovery.  The truth is many people never push their bodies beyond this, and for many people that is just fine!

It took me at least four years to get to the point that running at just over 7 mph for hours at a time (Yes, literally hours 2, 3, and sometimes 4 hours) was comfortable.  In fact it is relaxing, healing, and soothing…there are days that it feels difficult but for the past year it was relatively easy day after day.  I’d typically throw one or two harder workouts in, but for the most part 4 or 5 days a week was easy paced, relaxing running.

This is why my times did not improve as drastically as I wanted them to! I did improve…just not like I wanted to!  Thinking about this today made me wonder something…

How many times in life do we just settle into the comfortable pace?  How many times have we fallen into the “Comfort Trap”?

Whether it’s at work, home, or in our spiritual life, we settle into our routine and stop growing!

It’s time to get uncomfortable.

Remember:

Times of great pain bring even greater growth!

Times of sacrifice bring great reward!

Battle the desire to be comfortable and accomplish the great things God created you to do.

What areas have you become comfortable in?

Are these areas that are important to you?

How can you grow in these areas?

We can fall into the “comfort trap” in many different areas of our life. Maybe we’ve been caught in the comfort trap when it comes to being a parent, spouse, employee, boss, or anything else, we must remember when we allow ourselves to become comfortable typically it means we aren’t accomplishing much.

Rock N' Roll USA aka DC Marathon Race Report

Rock N’ Roll USA Marathon- Mile by mile break down…

My Coach Sarah

I’ve been waiting, and training very hard for this race.  We arrived early and experience nearly non-existent traffic, especially for a race that had over 24,000 runners!

Pastor Todd Marple

I had my choice of corrals, and was strategizing on whether I should run in the back of corral 1 or go in the front of #2.  I choose the later and found a good friend in the front of corral2 Cathy Ross who'd run an AWESOME 3:21 on the day.  Congrats Cathy!!!

The first 13.1 miles you run around all the momunents…excellent, exciting, almost surreal…I really didn’t embrace the beauty of this like I should have.  I didn’t even notice the capital until my return trip.  Crazy…I was focused, maybe a bit too focused!

There they go!!! The start of a long day...

1  -   7:19  - I got caught up in the excitement…mistake #1! My watch wasn’t set on the right option so it wasn’t showing me my average mile time, I fiddled with it a little but wasn’t worried because I felt great! Mistake #2.

2  -   7:01 – Felt great caught corral 1…keep pushing forward Mistake #3.

3  -   6:48  - Slight downhill – Ran way to fast should have reserved the energy. Mistake #4

4  -   7:05 – Miles 3.75 – 7.35 was all uphill.  200ft elevation gain and I continued to run faster then my goal pace MISTAKE #5!

5  -   7:36  - At mile five I knew I was running too fast, I kept looking at my watch and I was somewhere in the neighborhood of  7:05 pace…I KNEW already.  I also believe this is when some of the negative self-defeating thoughts starting sneaking in (Mistake #6…”You can’t keep up this pace for 26.2 miles”! So I told myself real in the pace a bit…slow it down, you have a long way to go…

Thinking about Dad!

6  -   7:14  - again this is a completely uphill, VERY STEEP mile, I RAN IT WAY TO FAST…in reality this mile should have been run closer to 8 minutes…I had just told myself slow it down, but this incredibly steep hill I ran in 30 seconds faster then what I should have! Mistake #7!!!

7  -    7:36 – The next three miles are all downhill, I coasted, but was already pretty invested after pushing too fast up those hills.  I did sit back and enjoy these miles, I felt amazing, but I am still running too fast! Mistake #8! 

8  -    7:21 – Just coasting

9  -    7:13  - Too fast, but very surreal mile for me here…as I turn the corner around 9.35 the capital is right there.  Beautiful.  I can’t help but think about how much my Dad would love seeing this…Very enjoyable mile!

10-   7:11 – UPHILL mile???  What? Why am I pushing so hard up the hills? Mistake #9 but at this point I am thinking this is going to be the race of all races!  I am starting to get excited because I know I am going to see my wife soon at or around mile 12.

Feeling Great!

11-   7:28 – Ran into a friend almost literally here Jon Chevalley…it was great seeing Jon, I can’t really remember the last time I saw him!  I couldn’t help but chuckle as I remembered funny times together on our trip to Cali!

12-   7:38 – all up hill, actually one of my better miles of the race!  Maybe the smartest mile of the entire race!?!?!  Plus a huge pick me up because at 12.5 I got to see my coach, biggest supporter, and wife Sarah!  That ALWAYS is a major boost!!!  I want to publically say here, I couldn’t accomplish any of these miles without her love and support.

Cathy Ran a SUPERB race!

13-   7:31 - I was wondering how awesome this race could have been if I had just run the half…would it have been  my first sub 1:30? Lots of questions on this mile…

Half Split 1:36 SHOULD HAVE BEEN 1:40  Biggest mistake of the day!  Don’t underestimate those 4 minutes!

14-   7:27 - The déjà vu mile…exact same mile as mile #1! 8 seconds slower this time…but it felt great!

15-   7:00 – Heading down to the water front, I remembered last year at this point, and said this is the best I have EVER felt at this point…looks to me like instead of doing what I know to do, “if you feel good, don’t pick it up” I did the opposite?  2^nd fastest mile of the race…Mistake #?  I also started thinking of how much pain I was in the last year, & so the demons in the head start.  They say you can’t race another marathon until you’ve forgotten your last…I think I now know what they mean!

16-   7:42 – I enjoyed this mile…some of my favorite songs came on the ipod. Our God is Alive by Andy Cherry & Changed Forever by Toby Mac, last week I bought this song for my girls and it made me think so much about them and how much our lives have changed for the better over the past five years!  I think this was my favorite mile of the entire race…including mile 26!

17-   7:45  - Beautiful mile, my body is starting to question my head…at this point I began to know I was going to be in for a fight.

18-   7:53 – I see the bridge…I remember the bridge

19-   8:00  - 18-19  Running the bridge is tricky, the metal grates are not easy to navigate but I remember thinking, wow lots better then last year, I am still thinking I can push through at this point!

20-   8:17 – long boring mile, gotta make a decision you only have 10k left after this…climb it…climb it!

21-   8:43  - Man I am stupid!

22-   9:24  - ALL UPHILL FROM 22 – 26 and don’t be fooled these hills are beasts!

23-   9:48 – You can still PR…voices in the head, it’s ok to walk…ALL my energy is gone, the only other time I felt this way was during my first half-ironman!

24- 10:35  - I am done!  I walk run the next two miles and am incredibly disappointed in myself, my performance, and the outcome.

25- 10:48 -  Who cares if you run a Sub 3:30 at this point…

26-   9:43 – decent mile, I ran it, or maybe it SHOULD be called JOGGED it!

Between 26 – 26.2 I started to cramp for the first time…Felt like everything was going to seize up, but it made me run that much harder, the crowd went nuts which was the first time this ever happened to me at the finish.

Finish 3:31:48, 281st overall…

One of the coolest things happened as we were leaving Switchfoot is playing…my wife is by my side.  I am disappointed and discouraged, but I am reflecting on the journey, not just the performance. I remember my past, I remember the physical struggles it was to just run a mile 5 years ago…I think of my kids…I think of my life and they sing the words, “This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be”  I thanked God at that moment because my answer to both was YES!!!  In the face of discouragement, and disappointment, it was one of the most satisfying moments of my life…

A day of mistakes was redeemed by the God that transformed my life!

I pray your life isn't dependent on your success as a runner, or any thing else you can do.  We find fulfillment only through Jesus Christ!  God loves us all very much...Don't get me wrong, I am already re-focused, re-evaluated, re-goaled & ready to rock my next marathon, but that isn't my source of happiness and joy, only God is!

T-Minus Five Days – Rock N’ Roll DC Marathon

It is FINALLY here, Marathon week!  It is hard to believe there is only five days until I will be running my fifth marathon.  After all, I remember when a 5k seemed unreachable, now the thought of running 26.2 miles actually makes me smile…ok, grimace is probably a better describing word.  I will be the first to admit it’s kind of a little crazy, and perhaps even on the insane side.  I have learned to embrace, learned to love, learned to endure the sport that for years was my punishment!  This realization feels really, really good to admit.

Training is in & of itself a great reward, but finishing the marathon is a feeling I could never get sick of & continuously fail to describe well with words…

Typically finishing a marathon is not a one-day accomplishment. It literally takes months and in some cases even years of sweat, pain, aches, and dedication that go into getting your body & mind in the condition to race 26.2 miles!  It takes a lot of COMMITMENT to run a marathon well for any individual, regardless of age, gender, experience, or speed.  We are all different, but the marathon continues to be something that requires a massive amount of sacrifice & faithfulness!

This was an intense training cycle.  If you’ve never run a marathon it may be hard to understand, but your mind plays major tricks on you!  The physical training is just one part of the whole marathon training process.  Mental sabotage is often the biggest stumbling block for the runner!  Your mind begins planning “Worst Case Scenarios” on you continuously.

Here are some of the random thoughts running through my head:

Why does the extended weather forecast continue to change each day?

Are my goals realistic?

Do I have the right outfit or layers picked out for the race?

Is my body, completely healed from all the freak injuries? (None of which I sustained through or because of running)

Did I do enough in preparation?

One way or another I will get these answers on Saturday, but either way I am simply amazed that I am actually looking forward to racing 26.2 miles one step at a time!

Until Saturday I am believing and focusing, renewing my mind with this verse from God’s Word:

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Leadership - Humans Are Still Better Then Google

Humans Really Are Still Better Then Google...

Don't underestimate the power of a few seconds... 

I was reminded this morning never to underestimate the power of a friend & a few seconds.  We all have gifts, abilities, and knowledge that makes us experts at certain things.  Jobs, or tasks, skills that set us apart.

We are also all VERY busy people…when approached we are often tempted to say no, without really even making an attempt to help, for example:

I consider myself pretty proficient at computers, people actually ask me for help often, but today I found myself in a position.

I was rushed & in a hurry, I didn’t have time to familiarize myself with a new program so I called a friend, Daniel, on his day off…he listened to my problem, and then told me exactly what to do.  Sure if I wasn’t in such a rush, I could have taught myself, or Googled it, but then I would have missed this ah-ha moment.  This whole situation made me think of something quite funny, humans still are better then Google!!! 

I am sure we’ve all been tempted to click ignore when we saw our cell phones ringing, and in some cases we have to, but whenever we have the opportunity I hope we remember that a few seconds of our time can save others hours, and possibly even days of frustration.

I understand, and agree that we at times MUST say NO, but I am also suggesting we should NEVER miss a coachable or teachable moment, a moment when perhaps a few seconds of our time can help save hours of frustration for another!

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. -Galatians 6:9-10

Finally I'm a Runner!

Truth be told I've always wanted to be a runner!

 I'd watch those "crazy" people run by and wonder why, after all it looked really REALLY hard???  The only voice louder in my head then why, was HOW?

Yes, I'll admit it, perhaps for the first time publicly...I have always dreamed of being a "runner"!

It is very funny though that even after I started running people would say, "your a runner!", to which I would immediately correct them..."I am not a runner!" After all, I saw who & what runners were, and I would think, "I am not one of those people!"

Truth be told even after I had started running I was afraid to embrace the title "runner" because I thought ultimately I may fail.  Running is difficult, running is what I did while growing up playing sports as a punishment...Many questions, fears, & doubts ran through my head about becoming a "runner".  I learned to use these feelings as fuel for my training.

I finally got to a point where my desire to succeed in becoming a runner was greater then my doubts that I could actually accomplish this seemingly impossible task.  Day after day I labored on until suddenly something strange happened.  I actually began looking forward to the time I would journey out for my daily run.

In the last five years I have grown a lot.  Physically I may have shrunk, but mentally & spiritually running has helped me grow tremendously.  Now I wonder, what if I would have allowed my fears to keep me from taking my first run? What if my thoughts of failure would have discouraged me from taking my first step?

Today I proudly proclaim that I AM A RUNNER, and KNOW that anyone else who wants to make the attempt, will remain faithful, and be dedicated to persevering through seemingly difficult situations can be one to!!!

Remember this...
Philippians 4:13  I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Never Give Up!
Is fear of failure holding you back from accomplishing something you've always dreamed of?
Is self doubt keeping you from doing something you've always dreamed of?

The Slow Fat Kid

"I've kinda always been the SLOW FAT kid" - Ben Emmons

In my weakness He makes me strong, in my stupidity He gives me wisdom!

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

I was always slow…even though I have been a jock my entire life I was the BIG aka Fat Slow kid!  I was always pretty strong, but I was never fast, but I also NEVER gave up.  I wasn’t ever bad at running longer distance, I just never really attempted to run them, and certainly wasn’t all too concerned with getting faster.  As long as my mile time was fast enough for my PE teacher to tell me good job, I wasn’t concerned with speed.  I am pretty sure I was one of those just under 10 minute guys during the mile runs...

This February marked 5 years since I started losing weight, and living healthy.  During this time I have gone from not being able to run ¼ mile without stopping to being able to run mile after mile after mile.  I now dream of accomplishing running goals, and I am not afraid of dreaming big!  I must give credit where credit is do and say that I can only run because God inspired and instructed me to get healthy, to regain control over my life (If you are interested in knowing more about this you can read about it in my previous posts!)

Perseverance is key to any endeavor in life.   I had an amazing Father and have a wonderful Mother who gave me a gift growing up, a gift that I thought was anything but a gift as a kid…They told me, we don’t care if you never do something again as LONG AS YOU FINISH WHATEVER YOU START! For sports this meant if you start, you finish the season.

I believe this is probably the number one reason I have had some success in endurance sports.

Running a marathon to me seems like an entire sports season at times.  First you invest months of training to run 26.2 miles in one day!  Second, the 26.2 miles in one day can seem like a season in and of itself…if you’ve never run a marathon I will sum it up by saying this, you experience emotions, thoughts, feelings, pains, victories, challenges, barriers, & other random experiences/things that you’d never imagine, and some you’d never want to imagine…as one of my friends often says and is 100% accurate, “There is magic in the Marathon”!

During the training cycle between the Disney Marathon January 8^th and Today February 28^th I have run a total of 432 miles.

Averaging just under 8.5 miles a day running…

That is a far cry from the fat kid that didn’t really look forward to mile day in PE, and a VERY FRY cry from the fat guy that couldn’t even run a ¼ mile without stopping 5 years ago!

During this training cycle God has helped me FINALLY let go of one of the labels I placed on myself…the other day as I was running and praying I realized and actually said to myself, “Ben, you are NO LONGER THE FAT SLOW KID!”

I believe God would say, BEN YOU NEVER WERE THE FAT SLOW KID, YOU'VE always been my kid!

Thank you God, It's GREAT that I no longer need to think of myself as or believe that I am the slow fat kid...

I know I labeled myself this, and it handicapped me for a long time, far too long!!!  I always thought, looked, and exercised like I believed I was the fat kid.  It did take a lot of work, dedication, and perseverance...but oh how GREAT IT FEELS TO DROP THE LABEL That held me back far to long!


What kind of labels have you put on yourself?  How have they limited you?  What do you need to do to get rid of these labels?

Goodbye 2011, HELLO 2012

2011 bye-bye...Welcoming 2012 FINALLY!

For a number of reasons 2011 seemed like a year of sustainability.  Many storms (family death, injuries, accidents) blew through 2011…through it all God protected us, healed us, and grew us in spite of these storms!

Now here we are two weeks into the year 2012 and I seem to be doing as much looking back on 2011 as I have been looking forward to 2012!  Today I am changing that...

New dreams, news of family additions, & career opportunities filled 2011.  I can only imagine what God has in store for 2012.

For 2012 I am expecting, believing, & asking God to make it the year of GROWTH!

I am not accepting merely getting by…

I am not accepting barely enough…

I am not accepting less then expected…

2011 is gone, and 2012 is upon us.  I am living each day expecting great things:

In 2012 I will complete things I couldn’t do in 2011!

In 2012 I will focus on grasping what / who God has called me to be!

In 2012 I will GROW!

Theme verse for 2012 

Philippians 3:12-14

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

What about you, is it time to release 2011 and move into 2012?  Is there something holding you back from welcoming in what God has in store for you in 2012?  Have you set your goals for the coming year?

Growth is not easy, but only happens when there is resistance.  Growth occurs when you fight the resistance, recover, and become stronger for doing so!