Meatless March

I am three months into my month-by-month New Years Resolution challenge.  January was 10 minutes of ab exercises every day, and I managed to do it 28 of the 31 days.  The February challenge was to eat a multivitamin and drink more water every day.  I am still continuing the multivitamin without missing a day yet.

March was by far the hardest challenge.  I love meat.  Filet mignon and hot dogs both make my top five foods list. (I know; there's quite a big difference between the two.) So giving up meat was not easy.  I also had one major trip during this month, which meant I had to find places to eat out that offered vegetarian options.

I found some great recipes online that helped me through the month.  I made a casserole each week, and brought the leftovers in for my lunches at work.  For protein throughout the month, I had a protein breakfast bar most days, yogurt, eggs, skim milk and other dairy products.  I had beans every now and then in my meals as well.

Here are some of the recipes I used:

- broccoli potato bake - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Broccoli-Potato-Bake/Detail.aspx

- spinach pasta casserole - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cheryls-Spinach-Cheesy-Pasta-Casserole/Detail.aspx

- eggplant and tomato bake - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Eggplant-and-Tomato-Bake/Detail.aspx

- asparagus breakfast casserole - http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Overnight-Asparagus-Mushroom-Strata/Detail.aspx

I definitely had my share of veggie burgers too.  While it is probably my least favorite one, in a pinch Burger King has a veggie burger.  It is a little too spicy for my taste.  Hard Rock Cafe has one as well, but it had too many red peppers for my liking.  My favorite veggie burger is one I bought at the store and made at home.  It is Morningstar Farms Griller Originals (available at Kroger).

My biggest challenge was eating at the airport in Washington DC before coming home from the marathon.  They didn't have very many vegetarian-friendly places. I ended up at Max and Ermas,where everything on their menu has meat in it (except the desserts).  I had them modify a salad to take off the chicken and add more eggs instead.  It was good, and very big and filling.

Interestingly, I actually gained 7 pounds during this month.  I attribute that to a few different factors.  1) It's Easter candy season, and it's hard to resist Cadberry eggs.  2)  I didn't feel nearly as full after eating a meat-free meal as I do when I eat meat.  3) I think it's a mental thing that if I'm depriving myself of one kind of food, I feel like I have to eat more to get the needed nutrients.

My next challenge will probably be my hardest of the year.  April is gluten-free month.  Wish me luck...

Faith in action

My husband and I have been faithful tithes since we got married six years ago.  As a Christian, we believe that everything we have on earth is just loaned to us by God.  God owns everything, and we are just stewards of those worldly possessions.  Tithing is giving back to God 10% of what he has so generously allowed us to manage here on earth.  We're not rich by any means, but we've always had the money we needed, so I've never had a really good story about the benefits of tithing until now.

Over the past month we have had two snow/ice storms in Georgia.  Usually we might get one snow during a winter, but it doesn't really stick, and it's usually gone by the afternoon.  With the mild winter and the rainy and mild summer last year, I knew this winter would be rough.  We have already had two shut-the-state-down snow storms, and there may be more to come before it's all over.

When a snow storm shuts the state down, both of our offices close too.  For me, I'm salaried and I can work from home, so I don't miss anything.  But for Rob, who is hourly and can't bring work home, if he doesn't go to the office, he doesn't get paid.  For four days over the past month, Rob's office was closed, so we were losing money.  

With the increased cost of healthcare this year, as well as general inflation cost, we were already on a tight budget.  I've been trying to cut corners where I can by making more meals at home, because eating out was one of our big monthly expenses.  We knew we were going on a cruise for vacation this year, and had saved and planned for it already (along with the help of our cruise points from our credit card).

We open our mail once a month when I pay all the bills all at one time.  This morning I opened our mail so I could pay bills on the plane on the way to Miami for the cruise.  In the mail, was a check from our mortgage company for the exact amount we had estimated that we were losing from the four days our offices were closed.  To top it off, we usually have to pay extra for our escrow account, so I had already budgeted for that expense.  So now, we have the cash we needed, and we have one less expense.  All I could think was, "God is so good."

If we are faithful to God, he will be faithful to us.  He will provide for all our needs.

January resolution

Well, the month of January 2014 has come and gone.  In those 31 days, my resolution was to do ten minutes of abs every day.

How did it go?  For 28 of the 31 days, I did it.  So I didn't 100% meet the goal, but I did a pretty good job.  Seeing as at least one month of the yearhas only 28 days, I would call that a success.

Where did I fail?  Two of the days I missed was when I was traveling to do the back-to-back marathons.  I missed that Friday, because I got up early and drove to Mississippi, and then just forgot to do it at the end of the day when we finally got to our hotel.  The second time was after the two marathons when I was driving back from Mobile and didn't get in until 10pm.  The third time, I just forgot.  This was a day that Rob was out of town.  I hadn't gone to the gym that morning because it was a weekend, and I just totally forgot at the end of the day.

How did I do it?  There are several aspects to this question.  The first aspect is "when did I find time?" On days that I went to the gym, I did my ten minutes at the gym.  When I didn't go to the gym, I did my ten minutes in my room before bed.  The best thing about a goal of doing ten minutes of abs a day is that you can really do it anywhere.

The second aspect of the "how did I do it" question is what ab workouts I used.  I have found several workouts apps that work very well.

My favorite app is the Workouts app (pictured in the middle of the top row above).  If you search for "workouts" in the App Store, it will most definitely come up.  This app is great for ab workouts.  It provides two different workouts and three different time options (5 mins, 8 mins, or 10 mins).  The video shows you exactly how to do it and the voice will tell you when to switch exercises.  Bonus is that it me also has arm, butt, leg, and cardio workouts too.

My second favorite workout app is the Workout for Women app.  It is similar to the workouts app, but doesn't show you a video of the workout.  Instead it shows a picture (in dynamic mode) and describes the exercise for you.  The voice also talks you through when you're supposed to change exercises and lets you know when you only have 5 seconds left.

I also used the Ab Workout X, which is the men's alternative to the Workout for Women app.  It lets you download videos of the workouts, but for some reason, they never work for me.

The last one I used was the V Abs Free app.  I rarely used this one, though, because it was my least favorite.

Typically I would switch around which workout I would do.  So one day I would use one of the ab workouts in the Workouts app.  The next day I would do the Workouts for Women app.  The next day I would do the second ab workout in the Workouts app. And the fourth day I would do the Ab Workout X, etc.  switchi them up seemed to help keep it from becoming boring.

I will continue to do abs, but probably not every day.  I hope to continue it at least three to four times a week.

February is my multivitamin month.  Along with that, I am going to try to drink more water.  On to the next adventure.

The Runs: Marathon #19 - Alabama

As I said in my last blog, Alabama became my 19th state because a fellow 50-Stater convinced me to try marathons on back-to-back days, and Mississippi/Alabama actually had an official back-to-back event (complete with a shirt and plaque) that logistically allowed for the races to be run in the same weekend very easily.  Even though the race cities are 188 miles apart (about a 3-hour drive), the Alabama race expo stayed open until 9pm so back-to-backers had time to get between the cities and pick up their race packets.

This would have been a great race if it weren't for the free pasta buffet at the expo.  There was something in the buffet that made more than a dozen runners (that I talked to) end up with food poisoning.  I was up most of the night Saturday night, every hour (from about midnight on), in the bathroom.  My roommate and I were basically alternating.  I was in there, then she was in there.  I don't think either one of us got much sleep.

When we got to the start line area (after stopping at a gas station for some Imodium), we discussed with some other runners and found out that a lot of the other runners had the same problem.  Everyone who we talked to who had the stomach issues had eaten at the pasta buffet at the expo.

The Race:  Servis1st First Light Marathon, Mobile, AL, January 12, 2014.

My Training Plan:  Since this was the second of two races on consecutive days, I had no time to train in between races.  So my training plan was the same as the one for the Mississippi race, which was explained in my last blog.

Weather:  The weather started out cold - low 40s - but ended up quite nice - mid-50s.  It was sunny with a very light wind.

Running Attire:  It always frustrates me when the weather changes from long pants/long-sleeved shirt weather to shorts/t-shirt weather over the course of a marathon.  I never know what to wear.  I ended up wearing running tights and a long sleeved shirt with a t-shirt underneath.  I got warm by around mile 3, but stuck it out until my first porta potty stop at around mile 5 (I can't believe I made it to mile 5 before having to stop- more on that later).  While I was stopping anyway, I took off the long-sleeved shirt and tied it around my waist.  I also completely discarded my gloves that I was wearing, which I regretted a little later when we got into a cool, shady spot a little further down the course.

Who I Ran With:  This time around, I was mostly by myself, although I ran with a few people for short parts of the race.  Toward the beginning, I ran with a fellow Marathon Maniac who was carrying a tambourine on his back.  I also ran with a guy from Nashville off and on for a few miles toward the end.

The Course:  Don't come to Mobile expecting a flat race.  The course wasn't nearly as hilly as Jackson the previous day, but it wasn't flat either.  The first 10 miles or so were rather flat, with very minor hills here and there.  But miles 10 through 20 had some decent rolling hills.  There are two hills throughout that span that are pretty significant.  I believe the first was around mile 11 where it goes straight up into a neighborhood.  There was another hill in mile 14 that was memorable.  Mile 18 is around the botanical gardens and has a huge hill which also includes a heavily banked curve.  Running straight up, around a curve, on a slanted road was probably my least favorite part.

The roads in Mobile are much better than Jackson, although there were some parts where the asphalt looked like they took gravel and glued it all together.  There was almost always a spot on the road that was flat enough to run on without fear of IT band issues in your future.  Sometimes, however, this was in the inner lane of a four lane road where the coned off lane they wanted you to run in was slightly more slanted, but the traffic was light enough that you could run right around the cones on the flatter part of the road and still feel safe (if that makes sense).

As far as scenery goes, there really isn't anything memorable.  There were some nice neighborhoods, a college campus, and the botanical gardens, but nothing that really stood out.

Organization:  The organization for this race was good.  I say good, because for the most part, the race was great, but there were some water stops that didn't seem to have enough volunteers, and because my mind is tainted by the contaminated pasta bar.  The thing that really got me was after the race, the race director was asking us how it went, and we told him about the stomach issues with the pasta bar.  He completely denied responsibility and basically told us that is wasn't the expo food that made us sick.  In fact, the initial email that I got back from him after the race when I reported it said that they weren't even going to look into it further because they determined that it was a virus and not connected to the food.

******* Soap Box *******
A virus??  Really?!?  That is a ridiculous assessment!  There is no way that that many people from so many different areas of the country could have contracted a virus in that short of a time frame if it wasn't connected to the food.  We had only gotten into town an hour before going to the expo.  Viruses take time before the symptoms show.  Every person that I talked to that got sick, ate at the expo.

(Note that after I reported it to the Alabama health department, they seemed to take it a little more seriously and sent out a survey to all runners to find out how many were affected.)
******** Stepping off Soap Box.  Back to your regular race review *********

The expo was very small, but that's to be expected from a race that only has about 1,200 runners.  The volunteers were great, and it was easy to navigate through the expo with the signage and volunteer instructions.

I mentioned earlier that the back-to-back was an official event.  They even had a sign at the expo that listed the names of all the runners that were doing both marathons.  I think there were about 150-200 that were doing it.  I was very impressed by the little extra touches they put into welcoming the back-to-back runners.

The water stops were spaced out well.   I think they had Powerade instead of Gatorade, which made me very happy.  I don't like lemon-lime (which seems to be the signature flavor at every race), but the Powerade lemon-lime is a lot better tasting than the Gatorade version.  There were even some stations that had different flavors.  I got red at one of them.

They also had two porta potties at every water station, which probably would have been more than enough if there wasn't the food poisoning issue going on.  My roommate said that she had to stand in several long lines to wait for porta potties along the course.  I didn't have as bad of a time.  I had to wait for the first one, but the second one I stopped at was open.

I mentioned that there were some aid stations that didn't seem to be fully staffed.  There was one that I had to grab the cup off the table myself.  The first one that had food (bananas and some other things), I didn't even know there was food until I was already passed it - there wasn't anyone actually handing the food out.  They were just sitting on a table.  At the second one that had bananas, I had to ask for a banana, and one of the volunteers went to the table to get it for me.  The third one with food (mile 18, I think) was very well staffed and had just about anything you could want (gummy bears, M&Ms, pretzels, bananas, oranges), although I don't remember if they had gels.

Another opportunity for improvement is the pre-race communications.  The emails that went out before the race were a little confusing, as it had registration information at the top of it.  It made me wonder if I had forgotten to register.  The website, however, did offer a little more information than the Mississippi website.

One thing I can't forget to mention is that this race is not chip timed.  This is the first marathon I've done that isn't chip timed.  The race is very small, so it doesn't take much time to get from the very back of the start line to the actual start, but if you're looking for every second, you may want to start toward the front.

The race course was well marked out.  There wasn't a single time that I didn't know where to go.  At the cross streets the police were good about ensuring the runners had priority over the cars.  Although it is not a closed course, I never felt unsafe or unsure of where I was going.

Swag:  One of my favorite things about smaller races is the swag.  For whatever reason, the smaller races always have better swag than the big, expensive races.  This race had your typical (long-sleeved unisex) technical shirt.  The medal was handmade by the organization who benefits from the proceeds of the race.  It's not fancy, but has such a nice personal touch.

The back-to-back runners got some additional swag.  We got another long-sleeved unisex technical shirt with the back-to-back logo and the two states.  We also got a plaque that was handmade by someone from the same organization that benefits from the race.  On the back, it has more information and a picture of the person that made the plaque.

Starting Line:  The starting line was right in front of the Holiday Inn.  I highly recommend the Holiday Inn as your hotel if you decide to do this race.  It is so convenient to both the expo and the race start.  It is also easy to find your way back to the hotel from the finish line, since the building is easy to spot from a distance.  The runners were able to hang around in the lobby to stay warm before the start.

The start was very low-key.  They didn't have an arch that you run under or anything like most races.  There were some banners on the side of the road (the same banners that directed you to the expo the day before), and a chalk line on the road that indicated where the actual start was.

Fans:  Fans are lacking at this race.  While there were fans here and there along the course, there really weren't a lot of them.  But if you come to a race of a thousand runners expecting to see huge crowds of people, you have the wrong idea anyway.  The fans that were out did seem to cheer for all the runners instead of just looking for their runner.

Finish Line:  For a low-key, small race, I was impressed by the finish line.  They had an announcer cheering for the runners as they came in and calling out the times.  The photographers were at the finish to get that shot of the runner crossing the finish line.  They did the old-school tracking of runners by tearing off the bottom of the bib as you went through the finish shoot.

As far as hydration and food goes, they had cups of water and Powerade at the end.  They also had a buffet line with barbecue sandwiches, red beans and rice, and coleslaw (although I was very hesitant to eat any of it after the food poisoning issue from the food the prior day).  They also had oranges, bagels, and toast.

There was a little concert going on when I was going through the food line, but I couldn't tell if it was an official concert or if it was just some guy who set up shop and was playing his guitar and singing.

The thing I was most happy about was that the medical truck had Pepto-Bismol.  Isn't that sad?  The thing I remember being the happiest about (other than my time) was the anti-diarrhea medicine!

Results:  3:55:05 - Yeah, that's right:  I did a sub-4 hour marathon with food poisoning the day after running a marathon.  I never thought that would be possible!  Maybe I should do 26-mile easy training runs the day before every marathon.

How I felt:  Well, you've already heard about the food poisoning stomach issues.  I won't go into the gory details, but I did have to visit the porta potty at around mile 5 and again at mile 18.  I was actually surprised that I didn't have to go more often after the night I had, but I guess the Imodium worked well for me.

Other than stomach cramping along the course, I felt pretty good.  I did have my tendinitis issue start to bother me around mile 8, but it didn't flare up as bad as it had the day before.  At that point, I decided that I was going to run every even mile all-out and use ever odd mile as a recovery mile.  The strategy paid off, as I was really able to focus on one mile at a time instead of thinking about how much further I had to still run.  By the end of the race, my "all-out" was probably much slower than at first, but I felt good enough to do the last two miles at a pretty good pace.

Travel/Tourism:  I wasn't in Mobile long enough to really tell you much about the tourism of the city.  This was my second visit to Mobile and my third visit to the area.  I visited Mobile back in 1999 when ECU played TCU in a bowl game there.  From what I remember, Mobile is supposedly the city to hold the first Mardi Gras, and there was a lot of Mardi Gras stuff around this time (Christmas tree decorated in Mardi Gras colors, a Mardi Gras mask on a sign at one of the water stops, etc.).

Like I mentioned before, if you are coming for the race, I would recommend the Holiday Inn from a location standpoint, as it seemed to be the best location for both the start and expo.  I can't say for sure how nice the rooms are, since we didn't stay there.  But the lobby area was nice.

We stayed at the Wingate by Wyndham, which was nice and pretty accommodating.  They are about 15 minutes (5 miles or so) from the expo/start area and are right off the interstate.  They allowed us to have a 2pm checkout, and didn't push us too hard to get out by 2 when we were still finishing getting ready.  They have an airport shuttle, so my roommate was able to take that back to the airport.

Mobile is an easy drive from Atlanta.  The normal drive time (if you aren't stopping due to food poisoning or to stretch your legs after running two marathons) is about 5 and a half hours, and it's all interstate.  I was driving on a Sunday afternoon/evening, so I can't say what traffic would be like during normal time, but I didn't have any traffic problems.

I didn't use the airport, but my roommate did, so I know there is one that at least has some sort of flight toward San Diego.  I have no idea how big the airport is or how easy it is to get in and out though.

Overall, I really enjoyed my back-to-back experience, although I wish I had more time to explore the cities and states where I was running.  At least exploring a city for 26 miles on foot is a pretty good way to see the immediate area.   And between the two - Jackson or Mobile - I would choose Mobile in a heartbeat.

*******************Update since posting**************************
Since this post was first published, a few things have happened.

The race director sent out a mass email to all participants with a survey from the health department to find out how many runners were affected by the pasta dinner issue.

The race director called me personally to reassure me that they were taking the complaints from the runners seriously.  He mentioned that my email to him was one of the first he had gotten about the incident, and he wasn't prepared to answer questions at that time, as they didn't have any definitive information and were just starting to investigate.  Apparently, there was a virus going around Mobile the same time as the race that had similar symptoms, and some people from the Mobile area who had not eaten at the pasta bar were getting those symptoms as well.  They were trying to figure out if they were two different incidents or the same incident.

The health department is actively investigating to find out of it was the fault of the expo vendor or perhaps a manufacturer that they used to purchase ingredients for the pasta dinner.

With the race director's attention to this and his reassurance that they were taking it seriously, I feel a lot better about the organization of the race, and believe this will likely not happen in the future.

Marathon #18 - Mississippi

Because running a marathon in all 50 states can become expensive (probably an average of about $1,000 a pop), I decided to do at least one marathon that was close enough to drive so I could try to keep the cost down this year.  Mississippi fit well into my schedule, so I chose the Mississippi Blues Marathon for my 18th marathon.  I signed up for the race as soon as I was finished with the back-to-back weekends and knew I wasn't injured.

I felt like I was taking advantage of all the volunteers along all the races I was running, and had only volunteered myself at two races in the past, so I decided to volunteer at the race expo for the Mississippi marathon the day before the race.  I figured I would just drive over early, volunteer, pick up my packet, go to dinner, and be ready to run the race the next morning.

Shortly after I had signed up for the Mississippi race, one of the 50-Staters sent out an email to the group asking if anyone was doing the back-to-back Mississippi/Alabama marathons (back to back on two consecutive days - Mississippi on Saturday and Alabama on Sunday).  I responded that I had planned on running Mississippi, but hadn't planned on doing the back-to-back....but that I could be convinced if I had someone to room with and split the costs.  She agreed, and the crazy goal of marathons on two consecutive days began.

The Race:  Mississippi Blues Marathon, Jackson, MS, January 11, 2014.  This race is a smaller race, with about 1,100 marathoners and 2,400 half-marathoners/relay runners.

My Training Plan:  Because I was doing back-to-back marathons, my training plan consisted of several back-to-back long runs.  When I had trained for the back-to-back weekends, I also did back-to-back long runs, but not quite as long as I did for the back-to-back days.  My longest weekend was a 22-miler (in 45 degree rainy weather - not the most ideal) right before an 18-miler.  I also did a 20-miler before a 15-miler.  I did these runs 3 and 4 weeks before the races.  My entire training plan, from the weekend after Las Vegas (eight weeks before) consisted of back-to-back long runs on weekends.  Even while tapering, I still did back-to-back long runs, although they were shorter.  For example, the last weekend before the race, I did an 8-miler on Friday, a 10-miler on Saturday, and another 8-miler on Sunday.

As far as my weekday runs, I shifted the mileage so that I wasn't increasing by more than about 10% week to week and every third week went down in mileage so that I wouldn't get injured.  So my weekday runs could be anywhere from 5 miles to 8 miles, depending on how far I was going during the weekend.  I only ran four days in any given week, with cross-training on other days.

Weather:  The weather for the race was nearly perfect.  The start was about 55 degrees and the finish was around 60.  It was sunny.  The wind was a little strong, especially toward the end.  But you almost couldn't ask for much better weather.

Running Attire:  When I saw it was going to be so nice, I decided on shorts and a t-shirt.  I did bring a throw-away shirt to wear at the beginning of the race, but ended up throwing it away by mile two.  I had my purple and pink shorts, Liz shirt, Delaware Marathon hat, iFitness belt, and Brooks Revenna shoes.  I chose the Brooks shoes because I don't like them as much as my Asics, and I wanted to wear the good shoes for the harder race the following day.

Who I Ran With:  As I mentioned before, a 50-Stater emailed me to ask if I wanted to run the back-to-backs.  Her name is Shirley Grimm, and she's from San Diego.  The race had pacers, so we decided to run with the 5 hour pace group - an hour slower than I normally run.  The hope was that if we ran an easy race the first day, we would have fresh legs (as fresh as you can have after already running a marathon) the following day.

Our pacer was Tom Perri from Minnesota.  He is extremely experienced, as most pacers are.  He has run 267 marathons and is in both the 50 States Marathon Club and the Marathon Maniacs.  He did a wonderful job of keeping us on pace and also provided us with advice about some other marathons in other states along with advice for how to successfully complete the back-to-backs, which he had done in the past several times.  It was great to run with him and with the group.

I met several other people along the way that were sticking around our pace.  Sherri Beermann from South Dakota is also a Marathon Maniac.  She ran with our group for a little while and finished shortly before us.  We met some girls from Dallas who stuck with us for awhile.  It was fun to be able to share race stories.

The Course:  HILLY.  That is the best word to describe it.  The hills pretty much never ended.  I honestly didn't like the course much.  The streets were everything they were advertised as - plenty of potholes and uneven surfaces.  There were a lot of slants in the road as well.  I was looking at my feet more than anything else to make sure I didn't fall, so I didn't notice too much of the scenery we were going through.

We did go through some nice, southern neighborhoods, and passed one lake along the course.  One of my favorite parts of the course was near mile 2 or 3 when we went through the college.  The college's marching band was playing and the dance line was dancing to encourage the runners along.

Organization:  The organization on this race was very good for a race its size.  The expo, while small, was nice.  I volunteered at the "trouble booth" for those who were either picking up for someone else, those who couldn't find their registration, or who had other issues.  Rob Simmons was in charge of registration, and knew almost every answer to every question.  He's been doing this for seven years, and was able to help almost everyone who had any problems.

The water stops were well stocked. I never had any problems getting water or Gatorade at any of the stops.  There were enough volunteers, and they were all very friendly.  I never questioned where we were going on the course.  It was well marshaled and marked.  The had two Cliff Shot stops along the way, although by the time we got there (the 5-hr paced runners), they had run out of most of the flavors.

There were a few negative things I would say about the organization.  The first is their policy to require a notarized signature if you are going to be picking up a race packet for someone else.  I have never seen this before.  Some races are very strict in that the runner is the only one who can pick up their race packet, but I have never seen where someone else can pick up for you, but only with a notarized signature.  And they were very strict with this rule.  No exceptions.

To counter that negative, they did offer race-day packet pickup to all participants who couldn't make it to the expo the day before.  The race-day packet pickup was convenient to the start and was an hour before the start of the race.  You have to get their early enough to get parking anyway, so if you couldn't be there in person to pick up your number, or if you didn't have a notarized signature, you could still get your packet the day before.

The other negative thing I would say is that the pre-race communication could use some improvement.  The website is beautiful, but it has no information on it!  There is more information about blues music in general than about the race itself.  We didn't get an email with any information ahead of the race either.  The Facebook page and Twitter did have some limited information, but overall, pre-race communication was lacking.  This is an area they can definitely improve upon.

Swag:  The swag was very good, as is typical for a smaller race.  The "shirt" was actually a fleece pullover.  There were some problems with the zipper with some of the pullovers, but I just put my zipper to where I can get it on and off and don't move it.  (This is another area of improvement for next year - the quality of the zippers on the pullovers.)  The race swag bag was a very nice tote with pockets and a separator in it.  There were several people who asked if they were being sold, as they weren't running the race, but wanted the tote bag.  We also got a blues music CD with music from some Mississippi local blues bands.  One of my favorite things was a harmonica with the race logo.  I gave it to my son as a gift from my trip when I got home, and he loves it.

One of my favorite things about this race is the medal.  This is not just any medal.  It was ENORMOUS, sparkly, shaped like a guitar, and comes complete with a pick.  Definitely my favorite medal of any that I have gotten thus far.

Starting Line:  The starting line was well marked and right in front of the place where the expo was held.  As such, people were able to get a good idea of where to park and how to get there.  Parking was free all around the start area on the day of the race.  We got there around 6, and there was plenty of parking at that time.  People getting there closer to start time may have had some problems, so I recommend getting there a little early.

With the race-day packet pickup, there were some places to go inside to keep warm before the start too.  We went into the museum where they were doing the packet pickup and sat around until it was about 15 minutes before the start.  The start line was easy to get into.  There were no corrals, but the pacers helped people to find the best place to start.  The race has chip timing, so it didn't matter how far back you started.

While I was inside staying warm, I got to meet Patrick House, the winner of the Biggest Loser's season 10.  I am such a huge fan!!

Fans:  The fans here are lacking.  If you are looking for a race where you have great fan support, don't come to Mississippi.  There were pockets of good fans, especially around the relay points, but most of the fans were looking for their specific racer and not cheering for the "random strangers."

Finish Line:  The finish line was fairly good for a small race.  They had a stage set up, but by the time us slow 5-hour marathoners came in, there wasn't anyone playing.  As far as food goes, they had red beans and rice, bananas and oranges, really salty (like give you a heart attack salty) tomato soup, and cookies.  They also had pizza, if you got there faster than 5 hours.  When we got to the food tent, there were about 10 pieces left, and they were taken pretty fast.  I feel sorry for those who were coming after us, as they didn't really have a good variety of food.

As far as hydration goes, they had plenty of water, but ran out of Gatorade.  They had enough chocolate milk, at least while we were there.  I don't know if they ran out of it later.  They also had some limited cans of Pepsi products as well as beer.

Results:  4:55:35  It's weird coming in at 5-hours or later, because it seems like the finish line atmosphere is completely different.  Most everything (food-wise) is almost gone and there are a lot fewer people who have stuck around to see the late comers.

How I felt:  I had energy the entire way, although toward the end I definitely could feel the toll that the pounding of the long time on the road was taking on my body.  My tendinitis even flared up a little bit in the last few miles, which it has never done before while going so slow.  But after the race, I felt fine.  I wasn't really sore much.  My left ankle was bothering me a little, but for the most part I felt good the whole race.  It's nice to slow down sometimes, enjoy the company, and just enjoy running.

Travel/Tourism:   I honestly wasn't in Mississippi long enough to do much of any touristy things.   The drive from Atlanta is about 6 hours, so not too bad.  I left early, so I missed Atlanta rush-hour traffic, and the road went south of Birmingham, so I didn't hit any traffic there either.  Shirley said the airport itself was easy to get into.

We stayed at the Fairfield near the airport, which had a free airport shuttle.  The hotel was nice, but didn't want to let runners have a late checkout.  The hotel was about 15 minutes from the start line, but it was easy enough to get there.

The drive between Jackson, MS and Mobile, AL had almost nothing.  It was either farmland or open space almost the entire way.  It was even hard to find anywhere to stop for bathroom breaks.

Not much to see in this state during our trip.  I'm sure there are things to see if you have time to stay in the city longer, but with the back-to-backs, there wasn't time to stop and smell the roses.

New Years resolution

How many people actually make a resolution and stick to it for the entire year?  Have you ever actually done that?  Apparently only about 8% of people keep their New Year's resolutions.  I'm sure it's true.  I see it every year.  The gym is packed in January, still full in February, but by March it's as dead as October.  Only the true gym rats (like me) make it last the second or third month.

So this year, I have decided to do a new resolution every month.  I figure, it's hard to keep something up for 365 days, but how hard could it be to keep it up for 31 days?  If I decide I like it, I can keep going, but I'll have something new to focus on in the next month.  This is what I'm thinking:

January will be the month of abs.  For the entire month, I will do at least 10 minutes of ab work right before bed.  Maybe I'll increase the time each week, and I'll probably switch up the exercises, but every day I will do at least 10 minutes of ab work.

February will be multivitamin month.  I will have a multivitamin every day for the full month.

March is meatless March.  I'm going to attempt to be a vegetarian for the entire month of March.  I figure this will expand my menu.  I can experiment more with vegetables, pastas, beans, etc.

In April, I'm going to attempt to go gluten-free.  My sister says she has a lot of recipes she's used for my brother-in-law when he tried to go gluten-free for health reasons.

In May, I am going to do at least 30 minutes of conscious cardio every day.  When I say conscious cardio, I mean that I can't get to the end of the day and say, "well, I probably did 30 minutes if you count all of the times I was moving.  It took me five minutes to walk from my car into the office..."  No.  I actually have to be purposefully doing 30 minutes of cardio for it to count.

June will be strength training month.  I will do strength training every day.  Maybe I'll get a one-month CrossFit membership.

During July, I'm going to attempt to not eat any fast food.  I define fast food as a place that has a drive thru and/or where they don't take your order at the table.  So Cheeseburger Bobby's would be fast food.  They don't have a drive thru, but they don't take your order at the table or expect you to tip.  Steak n Shake would be fast food (although they are NEVER fast) because they have a drive thru option.

August I'll do P90X or Insanity every day.

September will be no sweets month.  No cakes, candy, brownies, cookies.  I'm going to attempt to eat as little sugar as possible, live like a diabetic (since it runs in my family and one day I may have to do this anyway).  The only sweet thing I will be able to eat is ice cream.  I can't give up that.

October will be push up month.  I'll do 25 push ups in the morning and 25 push ups at night every day.

November will be food diary.  This is perfect since November is the month where the holiday endulgences begin.  If I have to write down everything I eat, maybe if won't eat as much as I would normally.

December will be a low carb month.  I'll attempt to eat as low carb as possible, close to a South Beach diet.  Again, this will be helpful during the holidays so I don't over eat.

Sounds simple enough, right?  Who wants to join me?  You can do anything for 30 days at a time.  Let's make 2014 the year of health and successful New Year's resolutions.

Shoplifter Pride (Part Two)

The last post was inspired by a conversation that my Sunday School teacher had with another person, who is a homosexual.  The man's comment to my teacher was that Christians single out homosexuality of all the sins listed in the Bible.  He quoted 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 which says, "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God."

"Why," he asked, "is so much emphasis put on homosexuality in the list?"

Everyone is a sinner:  Christians and non-Christians alike.  Ever since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, we have been born with a sinful nature.  That means we were born with sinful tendencies.  I have things on the 1 Corinthians list that I struggle with (shoplifting is not one of them, by the way.  That was just used to make a point).  But I'm not proud of my sin, and I'm not asking for people to change their views or accept my sin as okay and allow me to keep on sinning.  Instead I ask God for strength to overcome those sinful tendencies.

Does God like that we are born with a sinful nature?  Absolutely not!  That is why he made a way out for us through the death and resurrection of His son, Jesus Christ.  Becoming a Christian doesn't eliminate the sinful nature, but it gives you strength to stand up to those temptations.  We will still fail from time to time, but we aren't proud of those failures.

Pro-gay people tend to lean on the thought that homosexuality isn't a sin.  They quote various "contradictions" in the Bible as proof that either the Bible can't be trusted or that times have changed, and we have to change with those times.  Christians view the Bible as the moral authority and believe it is the word of God, given to various people to write down so we could have a glimpse into His very being.  So called "contradictions" in the Bible must be taken into context.  The Old Testament (or old covenent) was made with a specific group of people, the Israelites (or Jews as we call them today), in order that they might stand out among the people of the time as a people set apart to God.   This was a very rule-based covenent, where the Israelites had to follow God's many rules in order to stay in favor with God.  The New Testament (or new covenent) was made to all people, Jews and Gentiles (that's anyone who isn't a Jew), so that God can have a relationship with all of mankind (if they choose to accept that relationship).  This is a very relationship-based covenent.  Even the early church had trouble determining what rules from the Old Testament needed to be followed (read the book of Acts to see the struggles the early church had to determine what part of the law still had to be followed by the Gentiles who accepted Christ).

In both the Old Testament and New Testament, though, homosexuality is listed as a sin.  It was called an abomination in the Old Testament, and whole cities (Sodom and Gomorrah) were destroyed because of that sin.  There are no contradictions when it comes to homosexuality in the Bible.  Just because the Pope says "it's okay to be gay" doesn't mean God has the same view.  And it is God, not the Pope, who will make the ultimate judgment as to who is accepted into heaven.  In Hebrews 10, it says, "For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries."

The reality of the situation is that people who commit the other sins on the 1 Corinthians list usually aren't proud of their sin.  In fact, they often are ashamed of it and try to stop the behavior.  Take "drunkards" for example.  We have Alcoholics Anonymous and detox programs that help alcoholics rid themselves of their sin.  They aren't organizing pride parades and saying they're proud to have this affliction.

What did Jesus have to say about homosexuality?  Jesus was mostly silent on the issue, maybe because it wasn't as prominent in his time.  Although the "sinners" Jesus ate with could very well have included homosexuals.  But he never condoned any of the behavior of the sinners he associated with.  On the contrary, his message was always "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  Think of the story of Zacchaeus.

"And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down and received him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham."  (Luke 19:2-9 ESV)

Jesus accepted Zacchaeus as a person, even though he was a sinner who had defrauded much of the population in order to get rich.  But he didn't accept the sinful behavior that Zacchaeus had participated in.  Instead, he praised Zacchaeus for repenting of his sin and turning from his sinful ways.

So it should be with homosexuals.  Okay, so you were born with sinful tendencies toward people of the same sex.  But that doesn't mean you should be proud of that and continue in that sin.  Instead, you should repent and ask God to give you strength to overcome those tendencies.  

So to answer the man's question from the beginning:  we aren't singling out homosexuality on the 1 Corinthians list.  The homosexual community is singling it out by refusing to repent, continuing in their sin, and being proud of it.

1 John 3:6 says, "Those who live in Christ don’t go on sinning. Those who go on sinning haven’t seen or known Christ."  When people repented of their sin to Jesus, he said "Go and sin no more."