Ten More Minutes

Okay, I wrote about my hero last week and mentioned at the end that I wish I had paid homage to my mom before she died. I have very few regrets from the first 39 years of life but this is truly one of them. So, today I’m pondering what I tell my mom if I had just ten more minutes with her.

· I would ask the most important question any person can answer. Do you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and have you accepted Him as your savior? I came to Christ after she passed so this is a conversation that never happened. This side of glory I will not know the answer.

· I would tell her how thankful I am that she and my father chose to adopt me as their son, giving me a great childhood and teaching me so much. Heaven only knows how different my life would be today had they not, and I will forever be grateful.

· I’d tell her how sorry I am that I was such a self-centered teenager. The cases are too many to mention.

· I would tell her how sorry I am that I was not there to hold her hand as she passed away. I mentioned I have few regrets in my life but this is at the top of the list. I wish I had that summer to do over.

I guess my bottom line in writing these out is to emphasize that life is short, you won’t always have tomorrow to tell those you love all there is to say. I know my mom was proud of me and loved me, but it’s painful to think that she may not have known that I felt the same way about her.

Tell them today, call them now, write them, get in the car and drive over to them…right now. Turn the computer off, the radio off, the TV off and go do it.

Mommy is smarter than Daddy!

Recently my seven year daughter old made a bold statement about her intelligence which, in the end, left me feeling all the "dumber" and motivated to run at the same time. Her simple claim was that she was smarter than her four year old brother because she “can read and he can’t”.

Here’s how the conversation went, and how it went down hill for me:

Mom speaking to Daughter: “Honey you can read because you’re older, not because you’re smarter.”
Dad speaking to Daughter: “If you follow that logic honey you’d have to conclude that your mom is smarter than I am”. I said with a grin of disagreement.
Daughter: “She is smarter than you dad because she works out, and that’s smart, and you don’t, and that’s not smart.”
Son: “Yeah dad.”
Dad: “Ouch.”

From there I spent 10 minutes trying to come up with some way these two smartallecs would have to agree that their dad was smarter than their mom. Years in school? No, I lose by 2. Degrees earned? No, I lose by one, plus she's a lawyer. Languages spoken? No, but in my own defense Pig Latin shouldn't really count.

With the respect of my dear children fading I gave up and said "Well I can still run faster, and lift more" to which she said "Yeah but she can run further". I still lost.

All joking aside the kids should be very proud of their mother. She is the smartest person I know, and we're all smarter because she's part of the family. I hope they both end up with her brains and her work ethic...but I'm here to tell you that I'm closing the "intelligence gap" every time I go for a run or a walk or get on the bike.

If you're struggling with a lack of motivation when it comes to getting out and moving your body just remember that "exercising is smart, and not exercising isn't."

My Recent Journey

It was about two years ago that I was complaining to my wife about how I had no energy and how this and that was aching, and in a way that only she can, she looked at me and said "Don't you think you should be in the best shape of your life when you turn 40 years old?

She was right, and that night laying in bed a hatched a plan. An 890 day plan that would end with me running my first marathon on my 40th birthday....SuperBowl Sunday 2008. Being fairly sedentary at that point I started slow. I walked and cut out a few foods without really dieting. Then one day I decided to just run a block to see how I'd feel and to my surprise I felt great.

Long story short I set a few goals and tracked everything I ate, every mile I walked, ran or biked, every sit up and push up I did. It worked great, sort of. I ran a couple of organized races and lost 22 lbs overall, and got my body pretty close to high school shape.

Looking back I didn't set the right goals though because once I hit my weight goal and ran a few races I started losing interest. It's been a number of months that I've been off my 890 day plan and shamefully I have to admit that I've put all the weight back on and my pants are tighter than ever.

I've learned that for me to sustain long term success the goal can't be a number (goal weight or miles run, or goal pace - those are great milestones and reasons to celebrate but not much more), it has to be a direction. I've been back on my 890 plan for a week now, and I'm starting over again slowly. The test of my success this time isn't going to be if I finish a marathon (http://www.runsurfcity.com/site3.aspx) on February 3, 2008, it will be the next week when I'm sore and feeling proud and not so motivated to run in Iowa winter weather.

I know I'm not alone on this journey (I do have friends supporting me http://blog.runnerslounge.com/ ) and I'm hoping that by stepping out into the bloggesphere I'll meet others I can encourage. If you're training for your first marathon please write and let me know how you're doing, I'd love to visit your blog and share in your journey as well.

My Hero

For more than thirty-nine years my father has been my hero so I thought it fitting to use my inaugural blog entry to obey the fifth commandment and honor my father.

He and my mother adopted me as a new born, and there hasn't been a day in my life that I haven't felt worthy of his choosing.

In many ways he's an average mid-western American father, but the likes of him are becoming more and more rare.

I recently presented this note I called "Semper Fi" to him, I hope he wouldn't mind me sharing it with the world.

“Semper Fi”

A Marine is above all else…”always faithful”.
My Dad is a Marine, he’s always been a Marine.

As a boy, his faithfulness was born on the farm,
as a teen, his faithfulness defended our nation,
as a man, his faithfulness clocked in year after year,
as a son and nephew, his faithfulness was to the end,
as a brother, his faithfulness always encourages,
as a husband, his faithfulness found a solemate,
as a father, his faithfulness always instructs,
as a grandfather, his faithfulness carries on,
as a great-grandfather, his faithfulness yet abounds.

Five generations have been changed because of
my Dad.

I’ve never been a Marine, but I’m glad he is.
My Dad is the perfect example of what it means
to be faithful, and there is no greater gift a
man can give his family or his nation.

I’m proud to call you my Dad,
May God always bless you.

Semper Fi

If you have stories you'd like to share about how you have honored your mother or father I'd love to hear them.

If you haven't made the effort to honor your mother or father, I encourage you to do so. Don't wait, do it today. I wish I had been wise enough to do so for my mom before she passed.