Johnny Carino's!!

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Last tempo run before DC

Mar 15, 2011 8:41 pm by Paul Jenkins in Fitness, Running

It’s been a long haul the last 3 months or so trying to get this slow body to feel somewhat natural running faster, and so far, so good. Today’s run had 5 miles of tempo running sandwiched by some warm up and cool down miles, and I was very pleased with the result. Average pace for the tempo section of the run was 8:07, which is good 15 seconds a mile faster than what I need to run in DC later this month to break my goal time of 1:50 in the half marathon. Not blistering, by any stretch, but it will be a nice, big PR if I can pull it off.

Here’s the profile of the run. Had a pretty decent amount of hillage in it (and yes, that is a word because I just deemed it so).


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My First Marathon

Apr 9, 2010 12:07 pm by Paul Jenkins in Family, Fitness, Running, Sports

I’ve waited way too long to write this and I’m not sure why. It wasn’t a bad race, although there were definitely parts I’d like to forget. I think it took much more out of me than I expected, and I never felt fully recovered for a good 2 months and by then I figured, “What’s the point?” But, I would like to record the experience I had at my first marathon, even if it was 5 months ago. Perhaps it will encourage someone else as they prepare for their first.

I had decided to run Richmond SunTrust Marathon as my first almost a year ahead of time. It wasn’t because Richmond is that special, but rather because the date was. The race would be run on November 14, which was my brother’s birthday and would have been his 40th if he hadn’t passed in 2003. I went all out and made my family custom tees that matched my custom race shirt.

Race shirt front:

Back:

We had a bit of a celebration the night before in Williamsburg (where we were staying) and I gave them all their shirts and then we shared stories and memories about Stephen and talked about how excited he’d have been if he were with us. It was emotional for sure, but encouraging. I thought a lot about those stories during the race the next day.


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Winning Big

Nov 18, 2009 8:50 am by Paul Jenkins in Culture, Evotions, Fitness, Running, Sports

Romans 8:37
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Nike logoThis morning was like any other. Wake up, make coffee, rouse the kids for school, get a cup of coffee, rouse the kids again, refill mug, read some in the Word, more coffee, yell from my desk for the kids to hurry, check ESPN.com for the latest news (that isn’t nearly as important as actual news but is far more interesting), start writing. Some of the headlines at ESPN’s site caught my attention, though, and got me thinking about this powerful verse. On the sidebar of the home page were the links for 2 stories about last night’s college hoops action…

“No. 1 KU avoids Memphis’ upset bid” and “No. 2 Spartans escape Gonzaga’s upset bid” were screaming at me about the faith. I quickly turned to this verse in Romans to see why these headlines had such a dramatic effect on me, and there it was. Right there in the study notes at the bottom of the page was the Greek word for that phrase “we are more than conquerors.” Hupernikomen is only used this once time in all of the New Testament, and it literally means that we are “over and above victors” or “super victors.” Our faith is not designed to be like the Kansas Jayhawks or the Michigan State Spartans. We are not supposed to barely escape this world with victory, or hang on to win because the devil misses a last second shot at the buzzer to beat us! Nope, we are to pass through this life much more like the 11th ranked Tennessee Volunteers who pummeled UNC-Asheville last night 124-49. We are not those who get in to the kingdom by the hair of our chinney-chin-chins!!

In fairness, of course, we have to admit that our lives don’t always fit this description. You may find yourself looking in the mirror and saying, “Me? A super victor? I can’t even be a supper victor!” It’s so easy to lessen the weight of Scripture’s truth by making it match our experience, but the beauty of faith is that we stand on the truth of Scripture first, and believe it while life catches up. You and I are more than conquerors because our Savior didn’t barely defeat our enemy. He annihilated him at the cross and now lives in us! Through Him we overwhelmingly conquer!

Believe it or not, the world understands this. In fact, a small shoe company called Nike takes it’s name from this Greek word. When they launched the “Just Do It” campaign, they didn’t preface it with “if you feel like it” or “if you’re already a runner.” They just said to make your body do it. Lace ‘em up and head out and watch the results. They knew that more times than not we don’t feel like doing a lot of good things, and in those times, the super victors “just do it.”

So go get your last cup of coffee and head out, you overwhelming conqueror! You’ve got super victories waiting for you today!

And possibly, a pair of Nikes.


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Sitting at the right time

Nov 16, 2009 7:41 pm by Paul Jenkins in Evotions, Fitness, Running

Hebrews 10:12
But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.

Dog sits on a catPeople that really know me won’t be shocked to hear this, but I’m not a lot like Jesus. I mean, I want to be, and I try to be, and I trust Him daily to help me be, but there’s still a lot of difference between us. This past Saturday, though, I did something that He did, and it felt good. I sat down.

People sit lots of different ways. Some flop, some fall, some rest lightly in a majestic motion. Young people often sit in every way except the way the chair was made to sit in, and their parents typically sit correctly more as an example than the fact that they actually want to, because everyone knows they want to sit like their children but the risk of throwing their backs out keeps them all from trying. So they sit miserably in positions of perfect posture. Okay, back on track now. Sorry for the ADD detour. All I’m saying is that sitting is a great thing, and especially when it means we’re done. For me, sitting meant that I’d crossed the finish line at the end of my first marathon. For Jesus it meant that there was absolutely no reason He’d need to be making anymore sacrifices for our sins. Translation? He was done.

According to the verse before this one, the priests were to stand daily as they performed the sacrifices required to cover the sins of the people, but that was only because they weren’t able to finish the job. There was only so far that they could go. I passed a handful of people during the marathon who sat down for the same reason. Whether medical or mental, they simply had gone as far as they could. But their sitting was different than my sitting, and Jesus’, too. One looked like defeat, but the other represented victory. It is, as any parent of a teenager knows, all about when you sit. Before the lawn is mowed means you’re lazy, but after the yard is mowed means you’re a hard worker and you deserve a Dew.

Our great high priest offered one powerful sacrifice for all sins. He finished a race far more difficult than the marathon I ran last week-end, and he ran it completely. No regrets, no shivers by the side of the road, and because He did, we can, too.

So run all the way. Don’t stop or quit or think it’s impossible, because the same Spirit that raised our Lord from the dead is giving life to us. Are we human? Will we get tired? Did I almost cry at mile 22, and 23, and 24? Okay, let’s not answer that last one. The main point here is that God knows we’re going to get tired. He knows we’re mere mortals, and yet He said that the Spirit would give life to our mortal bodies (Romans 8:11). See, He made sure to include the word mortal, just so we’d know that He knows us.

Keep running. It won’t be long before you sit down, and when you do, it will be a sign of victory.

The race will be over. The work will be done. The lawn will be mowed, and we’ll all be sipping sweet tea.

Ahhhhhhh.


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Stumble-free running

Nov 5, 2009 1:19 pm by Paul Jenkins in Evotions, Fitness, Running

Proverbs 4:11-12
I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.

Runners fallingWhen I woke up this morning, I realized that in one week I’ll be loading up my family and driving north to Richmond, Virginia, in order to run in my first marathon on November 14. I’m excited, nervous, and at times, scared out of my mind. Verses like the ones today are the kind that runners should always claim before a big race, because the last thing I want to do is find myself sprawled out on a road somewhere in downtown Richmond with hundreds of onlookers taking pictures that’ll get posted all over the internet. It makes me feel the pain of the people in the picture I added to this Evotion, because they experienced what I hope I don’t. It’s sad to go viral with a picture that captured such an epic fail. I hope it doesn’t happen to me in Richmond, but this passage gives me plenty of confidence that it won’t happen in my faith. Let’s break it down…

If we’re willing to walk in the way of wisdom, we get a couple of really good promises. The first is that we’ll be lead along straight paths. Now, this does not mean there won’t be curves or odd, unexpected turns. I’ve always wondered about that, because even though our experience shouldn’t dictate how we interpret scripture, any believer with a pulse can attest that there are plenty of life-altering turns along the way. So, we can’t read “straight” as meaning “easy” because it doesn’t. What it does mean is “right” or “what ought to be done.” When I think of my marathon, I’m kidding myself to think it will be easy, but because I’ve trained correctly and with wisdom, I should be able to run the right kind of race for me (which is slow in case you’re wondering!). Wisdom guides us along the correct paths and that’s a great benefit.

Second, we’re told that our steps won’t be hampered, which basically means that they won’t be bound up or hindered. Yes, wisdom allows us to walk free. It puts us in a place where we don’t feel the ball and chain of past failures or future fears. And when you walk like that, it’s just a matter of time before you can’t help but pick it up a little. Notice that progression? You walk along the right path – the road which you were made for – and you walk in total freedom. Like a child on the first day of summer break, your walk turns into a run, and you find yourself laughing at how much fun you’re having. There is no thought of not finishing, or of falling, because you were made for this! You were made to run without stumbling!

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Sounds like we should never get tired, never want to quit, and never have bad days. Yeah, right. All of us experience those feelings from time to time, but when you’re walking where you should, and the freedom that you feel leads you to a run, you suddenly find yourself running with confidence – even when you’re experiencing a bad run.

Whether you’re walking, running, or just getting started, you can take confidence in this: when you let the wisdom of the Lord guide you, your race – no matter how long or hard – will never end with you sprawled out along the road of life with onlookers gawking and pointing. There is no epic fail waiting for the believer who is led by wisdom.

Run today in the strength of that promise.


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