How childish am I?

Found these on Youtube… yep, I went looking for fart videos.

Half Marathon Session 14

8 miler again yesterday – needed extra motivation after a GREAT curry at friends the night before and the clocks going forward.

Nonetheless all went OK.

Shins are still a bit ropey – they are particularly sore upto about 45mins in, and then they stop hurting as much. Perhaps because they have gone numb and I’m just knackering them completely.

Hope not.

However, recovery is VERY quick – felt fine all day yesterday and this morning which is a good sign.

10 miler next Sunday morning though… hmmm.

Life Defining Moments 3

First fight.

Aged 7 on Good Friday afternoon. Kicked off with another kid from the village where we lived…

Result – he kicked one of my teeth out.

You try finding a dentist on Good Friday.

Still hate dentists.

Training session 13 – success and pain

Another 5.5miles tonight. Great run…

1. I’ve given up smiling at other joggers and am now focusing on smiling at pedestrians and dog walkers. I am getting grimaces and half smiles which is more than the joggers offer.

2. I started my run in a bad mood, which meant that I “ran aggressive”. This involves me running too fast most of the way round and hurting my shins.

It was worth it.

Best line in a song on the Ipod:

“Difficult takes a day and impossible takes a week”

Jay Z in “Diamonds are Forever”

Would Jesus zap Polar Bears?

Half Marathon Training Sessions 10, 11 and 12

Not doing very well in keeping up with these…

Can’t remember much about session 10 but I know that I did it!

Session 11

We were back in Tewkesbury over the weekend spending time with Nell’s mum and seeing friends so I had to put in my long run on Sunday morning in old surroundings. I played football the day before and so started the run with aches and pains. After a couple of miles, my shins started to hurt a lot. Being the below-average-intelligence kind of guy I thought that the best way to deal with it was to keep running. It worked!

I ended up doing about 75mins running (not sure of the distance, but prob 7-8 miles) in the most beautiful countryside under blue sky etc. Fabulous.

Legs hurt lots afterwards though… starting to get a bit concerned about my shins especially.

Session 12

Did my usual route in Bristol last night which is between 5.5 and 6 miles. It felt GREAT!!!! Shins hurt for a bit, but that seemed to get easier quite quickly. My “engine” is fine and could easily take a faster pace, but my legs are struggling to keep up. I have to be disciplined to let me legs dictate the pace at the moment…

Listened to the whole of “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay – a truly brilliant album and one of the best to jog to.

Still no smiles from other joggers.

I’m going to start tripping them up.

The Shack

The Shack has been around for more than a year now and I read it last summer. It describes a guy called Mack whose daughter had been kidnapped and murdered. Mack is invited to “The Shack” by God and there begins their interaction.

It is a great story. It paints some fascinating pictures of the Trinity – for example, God the Father as an African American woman – and deals openly and honestly with the gut wrenching issue of suffering and pain in the world.

Some don’t like it… and argue that it is unChristian, unBiblical and unSomethingelsethatIcan’tbebotheredtolist. It is a NOVEL and does cross some interesting theological boundaries… BUT it captivated my heart and drew me closer to God.

The reason that I’m posting about it now is that I’ve just read a really interesting review in Leadership Journal by Gordon MacDonald – LINK HERE for the whole article. I’m just cutting and pasting this one bit that really struck me…

So what does one do with The Shack? Throw it aside because of its theological liberties? Or let it speak into those places in our lives where we long for a closer walk with him.

I wonder if those who are critical of Young’s fictional description of divinity have ever contemplated that one of the Psalm-writers used a similar literary method when he wrote, “The Lord is my shepherd …”

The picture of a simple shepherd in motion—grimy though he might be—was sheer genius when it came to forming impressions of who God is and how he connects with those who are the sheep of his pasture. Once the Psalm was read, anyone in the ancient world could possess a beginning-theology of an incredible God who provides “everything that I need.”

Then there’s The Shack. I think Young had the same idea the Psalmist had. Find a way, any way, that will open the heart of a broken person and point him toward Heaven and all of its redeeming love. Tell the old, old story in new and astonishing ways.

Leading for the long haul

Last Saturday I went to a church conference at Woodlands Christian Centre in Bristol with Mark Stibbe (once vicar of St Andrews, Chorleywood and now leader of The Father’s House Trust).

Had a fantastic day – not only with the main sessions which were excellent, but Mark gave those of us who are training for Anglican ministry an hour or so for a Q and A. I just wanted to share some of the main insights that he gave in response to  my question “How do we thrive and survive in full time Christian leadership”.

He split his answer into 4 bits – looking after ourselves physically, relationally, spiritually and intellectually

Physically

He placed an emphasis on the importance of regular hard exercise as it gives our body the chance to reset itself and let out tensions and frustrations.

Intellectually

For many, when our minds are not stimulated, our whole body begins to atrophy. Our ministry stagnates and we live off our past experiences and knowledge. It doesn’t just have to be learning about theology, but just simply stretching our minds into new areas of interest. I’m guessing that Suduko doesn’t count though…

Spiritually

Mark pointed to Moses as our example for this… he went outside the camp and stayed in the Tent of Meeting where he met with God. When he came out his face shone and the people watched in awe. We need to have our place of encounter with God EVERY DAY. It should be the most important thing that we do.

Relationally

We need to recognise that we cannot do this alone – we need a “prayer shield” of people who are committed to praying for us and praying with us regularly. We need to spend time with people who will inspire us, hold us accountable for our behaviour etc, who will both encourage and offer constructive criticism. We need to laugh a lot with those we spend time with…

Challenging but helpful stuff to think through… feel free to add other suggestions to it as well

Life’s Defining Moments 2

First trip to hospital due to injury. Aged 11.

I jumped out of a tree and landed on some crossed railings. Point of impact was smack between my legs.

Nice. Got me a couple of days of school though.

Half Marathon Training Session 9 – a longer one

Did an 8 miler today… only took 73 mins which was good considering the hills in Bristol.

Took every ounce of self motivation to get myself out of bed and ready to go… although watching the Liverpool v Manure game on MOTD helped!!!!

I have to fight the desire in me to push too hard on every run – I’m too competitive for my own good – otherwise I’ll get injured again.

Another observation about Bristol joggers – NO-ONE SMILES at anyone else. So as I grin stupidly at people trying to say hello, everyone else avoids eye contact. CHEER UP YOU MISERABLE FITNESS FREAKS!

Rant over.

Comic Relief

Bit of stupidity at college for Comic Relief – a friend brought in their “Concept 2 Rowing Machine” and set a challenge of the fastest 500m for both guys and girls.

I got on and managed a VERY respectable 1min 34.7 secs. I had the lead for a good 2 hours.

When I left, I was third, with the fastest time currently at 1.25ish… Marcus – that is impressive!!

We also came dressed as Superheroes… some very revealing costumes from one unnamed male tutor. Girls had to avert their eyes. My lame attempt was Clark Kent… but as I couldn’t find my NHS black specs it didn’t really work.

Anyway…

Regardless of the fun…

Give as much money as you can.

Half Marathon Training Sessions 7 & 8

Few observations from the last week…

1. Bristol has more joggers than any other place I have ever seen. All of them wear ridiculous jogging attire (really skin tight trousers and a t-shirt/vest with red stripes on the arm).

2. Children on BMXs are a menace to joggers like me who have little sense of balance.

3. My legs hurt.

Run 7 – same route as last Sunday – just about 6miles. Getting quicker and no walking on the big hill. Listened to a podcast rather than music. This run is going to become my main midweek run now. Body felt fine after this run.

Run 8 – just got back from it and it hurt. Having played a very demanding game of football last Weds (which we won!) my legs hadn’t quite recovered and so I ran a shorter route (just over 3 miles). I’ve warmed down and stretched, but have some seriously aching legs. Again, only listened to the Kermode Film Review podcast so no good songs to report. Sunday’s run should be 8 miles. Hmm. Not looking forward to that one.

Half Marathon Sessions 5 & 6

Haven’t done all the running that I would have liked this week and didn’t play football either so was a bit worried that I might struggle on the long run today. However…

RUN 5 – about 3.5miles (about 30mins). Took it easy and lengthened by usual route a bit. Still no injury issues at the moment which is great.

Ipod song – Discotheque remix: U2

RUN 6 - just back from my long Sunday run. Ran about 6 miles in 55mins which was an easy pace. Based on the same route that I did last Sunday and I only walked about 20yards on the steep hill! Listened to Mark Kermode’s film review all the way round. Few aches and pains after this run – right knee is sore.

Aims for the next week or 2 – up my pace on some runs and run longer distances (8miles on Sundays). Need some good routes though.

And hopefully not get shin splints… all OK on this front so far.

Life’s defining moments 1

First memory… being stung by a wasp on my sisters birthday. I was nearly 2 (or 3 – not sure which) years old. I can still picture it in my head.

Result – I have an utter hatred of wasps and cannot remain calm when any are nearby. Toddlers sit more peacefully than I do.

The last six months

We moved down to Bristol exactly six months ago (can’t believe it’s been that long already) to start training for vicardom. I thought it would be good for me to do a bit of a health check – just to see how institutionalised I’ve become.

I think I’m doing pretty well…

The most important thing I’ve learnt so far is this: If I don’t cultivate healthy habits here at college then I definitely won’t when I’m let loose on the church again.

- If I simply spend all my time with Christians (or trainee vicars) then I’ll become more and more distant from the real world. When I leave college, I’ll continue the same.

- If I don’t commit to a local church here then perhaps I might be detached from the next one I work at.

- If I fail to deal with the issues and struggles that I have here (where I have more space and time) then they will still be on my back when I move on

Other crucial skills that I have learnt:

- I am a useful at table football

- I am rubbish at table tennis

- Brunch is the best meal of the day

- In a seminar you should always contribute the one thing you read early on and that will get you off the hook

- The West Wing is genius

- As is Lost

Who said going to Vicar Factory was a waste of time

Half Marathon Training – sessions 3 & 4

Session 3 was yet another 30min run on the same route as before. My achilles was still sore at the start but improved as the run went on (after a good stretch which must look bizarre to drivers as I balance on the edge of a kerb!).

Best Ipod song – “Amie” by Damien Rice

Today – Session 4 was a longer run – I misread my training programme and thought it was a 45 min run (about 5 miles or so) so got a friend to sort me a route out. Turned out that the session should have been 40mins and gentle. Well just hope that I haven’t done myself an injury (feel fine at the minute).

This involved running up Stoke Hill (by college – very steep) and across the Downs etc.

Hard work. Took me about 55mins including warm up and warm down plus some walking up Stoke Hill!

Feeling good now though.

Top Ipod Song – “Indie Rock and Roll” The Killers