Kickin' Asphalt

According to my Half Marathon training, today was a scheduled 5K race day. So, I signed up for the Camper Scamper 5K in Dallas, TX benefitting physically handicapped kids. I showed up and found some of my friends that had also signed up for the race. We sat around chatting and resisted the urge to join in on the Jazzercise warmup.

We stretched and kept talking. Then came the call to the start and I promptly headed to the back of the field. You know, its a mental thing. You get up front and masses of people pass and get angry because you are slowing them down. When you are in the back, not that many more can pass you and you start passing people. It was all psychological for me. Of course, I need any advantage I can get.

On to the race.It was through a very nice area of Dallas along Turtle Creek. I knew I had started out faster than normal but I stayed with my pace. I had stated to my friends before the race I was going to try to finish in less than 37:58 which is my current PR. I also said I didn't want to injure myself either.We took off and I immediately started looking for my path of least resistance from walkers/dogs/ stollers. I finally focused on one of my friends who was running at a little faster pace than I was and my goal was to keep him in sight. I get to the first mile and my Garmin beeps and shows me the time split...11:40. About a minute faster than I had originally planned. I could only think, uh oh...now I have done it. Gone out too fast. I couldn't think about it for too long because as I made the first turn, there was a massive hill to climb. So I focuse on the hill and up I went.

I hit mile two and felt surprisingly strong and thought, this could be a good race. At the 2.85 mile point, there was a girl that I had been running with pretty much the whole race...I did not know her...but evidently she was a part of a running club and her coach came back and met us at that point and began to encourage her. What they didn't realize is that I was listening too.

We come to the point where the finish line is in sight and the coach says to her..."Okay, when you hit those balloons, I want you to kick it into gear and leave this big ole dude behind."

She just kind of chuckled. Now, normally I would let stuff like that roll off my back. I have nothing to prove. But ever since I have joined Team Kickin' Asphalt, it was like a switch that went off inside of me. We hit the balloons in stride and before she could kick, I did and I think I heard her scream because of the dust I was kicking up...okay, maybe not, but I left her behind. I was sooooooo happy...I beat a girl! Okay, I was really just happy that I had enough in the tank left for a kick. I set a new PR of 36:13 which is 1:45 minutes faster than my last one.

Here were my splits.
Mile 1.....11:40
Mile 2.....11:49
Mile 3.....11:38
.13 ..... 1:06

I was soooo happy with my race today.

The Sonic Turtle

Think back to last Saturday...did you hear it? The sonic boom? That was me. I was out on the road churning out a 6.23 mile run. It was my first time to do that distance and boy was it worth it. I had never experienced the "runner's high" until about 5.5 miles. The for the next .75 miles, it was like my head was in the clouds. I couldn't believe it. I have heard of this phenomena, but had yet to experience it. It was awesome!

Easter Sunday as a great day. I got to spend it with my family. After church and the Easter Egg hunt for the kids, we headed over to my parents for some lunch with my brother and his family. My dad and brother went out back to hide eggs for the kids and we did another hunt at the house. The cool thing was, we had some confetti eggs. They were basically hollowed out egg shells with confetti inside and the hole in the egg covered with some sort of light weight paper.

With that in mind, I guess you can imagine what happened. The egg hunt quickly turned into a confetti egg war with all McMahan's involved. Of course, this was started by my darling wife, Shannon. I couldn't believe it. She launched the first egg right at the center of my back. It nailed me, yet it didn't break. The it was on! It was a free for all. Had I not dodged my head to the left quickly enough, my brother would have nailed me in my cheek with one. Fortunately, it hit my earlobe and I was able to pelt him on the back with the return volley.

The kids were kind of taken aback by the whole thing, then they joined in and started pelting each other. We new it had gone too far when someone grabbed a hard boiled egg and let it fly. Then I think I heard someone say..."The yolk is on you....hehehehehehe!" It was terribly punny. Oops, funny!

We went inside and had a smorgasbord of my mom's desserts care of "Paula Deen's Cooking for Dummies". Chocolate pie, lemon pie, coconut cake, apple pie, and of course candy. We topped off the day by watching the Masters and then each went our separate ways.

Looking back on the day, I was glad I ran my 16.3 miles for the week. It was definately an Easter to remember.

Bitten By a Big Ole' Bug

Sometimes I wonder about myself, I am the pastor of a church just outside of Dallas, TX. Here I am, 38 years old with 3 kids and I think, am I doing all that God and my family wants me to do. Somehow, those are the types of thoughts I have always had. You know, putting others first, in front of myself. I have been a person that always tries to listen to others problems and help other people out while neglecting myself. Now, don't get me wrong, my family will always come before me. I mean, what other excuse do I have for walking around for countless hours at a Science nauseum...er...museum?

Back in July/August I read a book that really changed how I felt about me. Since September of 2006, I have really dedicated myself to a workout program. Today, I am 41lbs. lighter and have run 5 miles without stopping. I regularly do 3 to 4 miles. I have to say, this running thing is addictive. I have been bitten by the runbug. Some days it hurts and other days it feels great.
I am currently running about 13-14 miles per week and about to up that mileage as I have set some goals. I am planning to run a half marathon...yes, that's right...13.1 miles in December 2007. Just 4 days before my anniversary. I am currently learning what it really means to "eat and drink on the run" and it is kind of difficult. One day, Lord willing in 2008, I will actually sign up for my first marathon. That is my big goal.

Now, you may ask. Does doing all this take away from your church and pastoring? Not at all. I usually am out running at 5am and sometimes earlier. It is much cooler then too. The thing that is so rewarding to me is that we have had a few people in our church family make a committment to their physical well being since I have made the commitment. The other great thing is... I now have a new running partner named Shannon. Yes, my wife competed in her first ever 5K on St. Patrick's Day. I didn't let her win...so, don't worry.

Anyway, I saw something interesting in Matthew 22:37 that I have never really seen before. The passage reads...

37 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' Matt 22:37 (NIV)

The thing that I have always focused on was the sould and mind. You know, memorizing Scripture, studying the Bible, prayer for my soul and mind. However, the interesting part is that I neglected my heart. When you actually look up the word for "heart" in the original Greek language, it is actually referring to the physical life. In other words, Love God with all that you physically can give. I had not been doing that. I had neglected the physical love for God.

So, how can one physically love God. I mean, its not like we can give Him a hug, but it is something we can do to show our love for Him. That is taking care of our physical bodies. They are the Temple for the Holy Spirit. I am still working on this. I put a lot of years of neglect into this body. So, I am by no means a pro at this. I am just learning.

If you read that verse with the intent being Love God with all your body, soul and spirit, then we must pay attention to all three aspects of how a human is comprised.

So, get up, put one foot in front of the other and repeat! it is good for you and it will be a physical way to show affection to God. Just an idea...