I intend to make this a short blog. I'm still recovering from my run this morning and think I might go to bed early for once.

For anyone just tuning in, I had set a goal to run 16 miles this morning. It was a way to get myself back on track from 16 I had run in July. Since then, my running has been inconsistent, to say the least, and the longest I had run was 11 miles a couple weekends ago. However, I did it. My buddy Todd has commented before that running was a slow form of Chinese water torture to him. And, I really thought about that today. It was painful mentally and physically. The mental part was the hardest, though. After I had completed 4 miles I was thinking of every reason in the world why I wasn't going to be able to finish 16 and that I should just give up and go back to sleep. I started at 6am. But, my method of running is always just to run one more mile and then see how I feel. It's a mind game I play with myself. Because as I progress I break it down into fractions with the goal of getting to half way because it's all the home stretch after that. So I'll tell myself, "I've already ran 2/3rds of being half way, so I can't stop now." It probably sounds crazy, but that's mild compared to the things you think about when you're running for 2-3 hours without listening to music or anything other than the occassional dog bark in the distance. However, today the primary reason I ran on was because I had written in my blog I was going to run 16 miles and I didn't want to fail on my very first day. It's amazing how accountability works. But, even though a ran on, at mile 8 I was near quitting. Because I had not been training properly in the prior weeks leading up to this mornings run, I was beginning to develop several blisters and chaffing was taking it's toll. And here's where the most amazing thing happened (besides the beautiful soft rouge and lavender sunrise and gentle cool winds). I began asking God to help me get through the run. I asked Him to take away the pain or do something to take over for me. And, not even a minute later (and I am not exagerating a bit) this little dog ran up to me and then began to lead my run by about 5 paces. He didn't bark at me or want me to pet him or interrupt me in any way. He just showed up to run with me and he even led the way for over 3 miles! It was amazing. I'm not one to easily say when God does something or not, but that dog humored me in such a way I forgot about all the pain for those 3 miles. Anyway, to wrap the story up I ran all 16 miles. And I pumped my fist when I had finished. Kind of like Kirk Gibson did in the world series. A small victory. I think that's why I run. It is torture, but I choose to endure it. And when I can overcome all those doubts and temptations to failure it's a solid, pure feeling of accomplishment.
So my next goal along these lines is to complete my 4mile/6mile cyle through the week and meet my upper body strength building goals I mentioned in a prior blog. Then I will aim for 17 miles next Sunday morning. At some point I'll try working on eating better, too. But I enjoyed eating 3 candy bars after I ran today. So, one thing at a time.

One last thing...
Mushrooms. I’ve had them many times; on pizza, in oil, on burgers, with pepper. But today my buddy Cody made them. He grilled them on his new Broil King. I think that was the name. One of those big stainless steel grills that make you think of big time barbeque. Now, I know there is an intense debate over charcoal or propane. It’s a debate that has started wars and ended J.C. Penney 3-day sales. So, I know not to take sides. But there is one thing that I will say on the topic. Cody’s propane grill (and Cody’s skill) produced the most delicious mushrooms I have ever savored. They were spectacular. And I mean spectacular. When you ate them it was like a giant display of fireworks going off in your mouth. That sounds wrong. What I mean to say is the taste buds in my mouth lit up like fireworks on a 4th of July celebration. The flavor was as close to perfect as I can imagine a mushroom tasting. So today, I want to say thank you to Cody for a great day of watching the KC Chiefs play and for the most amazing mushrooms I’ve ever had.