Five things friday

Well, it looks like we made it this far...

1. This is marathon weekend for me. The week leading up to it always feels strange. My mileage dropped drastically last week, and this week it's almost non-existent. I ran 3 miles Tuesday (in Buda), 2 miles Wednesday, and will do a light 2-mile jog tomorrow. That's it... until 26.2 on Sunday! You'd think it would feel good, and it's not that it necessarily feels bad, but it's like my body doesn't know what it's supposed to do. Often my back will start to hurt, or I will get the sniffles, or something else totally unrelated to running. I guess this year my allergies have kicked into high gear this week. Every morning my head feels like a pumpkin and I'm slightly congested. Still, I feel pretty good. A little left knee pain now and then (likely a touch of tendonitis/runners knee), but that's it. And, after a tedious week of sluggishness last week, I've been sleeping great this week and the afib-related stuff seems better than before I ever noticed it. I don't know if it's a sign the ablation worked or what, but I haven't noticed my heart skipping beats for over a week now, and I rarely am aware of my heart beating at all (in a good way). Also, for the record, my weight is maybe as good as it's ever been for a marathon (without looking back to make sure). I'm running between 150-152 pounds, and with the continued regular weightlifting two days a week, I feel about as fit as I ever have. Here's to hoping it's not a total crap marathon day then... ;)
2. I've been struggling to come up with a sermon for my next time speaking at church. The problem is, I was given a topic, and as part of a team it kinda/sorta should fit within the framework of what everyone else is speaking about. I've always had a harder time writing about a topic, rather than taking a Scripture text and seeing what comes out of that. So, it has somewhat been a good practice in humility in that it may just have to be whatever it is.
3. This preparation has also helped me recognize just how out of touch I am becoming with present-day culture... and I'm good with that. I don't do tiktok, instagram, x, or whatever other social media flavors are presently popular, and I've drastically reduced Facebook interaction. In fact, I'm at a place where I seem to have become less culturally relevant, and am becoming more Jesus relevant. I don't know that I am, but the time I've been spending alone in silence and solitude has made me much more comfortable with this life-direction. I am perhaps also becoming more comfortable with myself.
4. And... I am losing interest in college basketball almost to the point of not caring at all. This transfer portal free-for-all coupled with NIL has resulted in schools outrightly being able to buy their team from year to year. I mean, sure, money has always played a part in college sports; but there were still some kids who signed with a team and stuck with it and developed as part of that environment. Greed has now become status; loyalty for losers. I don't like it. Oh, sure, I will likely still watch 'from a distance' now and then, but college basketball has now gone the way of baseball (following the strike of 1982?), the NBA (after free agency), NFL (after free agency, coupled with TV monies), and college football (TV mega-deals). Either everything has changed, or I've just officially become an old man, or both. Sport is dying. Harumph. 
5. I will end with this quote from the Grand Rapids Marathon race director (Don Kern), which is why I still love getting out there myself: "'Winning' is something that happens to a lot more people than just the first one across the finish line." Yep.

 Have a great weekend, friends. Hopefully I will be back Monday. :)