ToughER Mudder, *or* A Pirate's Life For Me! PLUS how YOU can do something great!

Two weekends ago, me and my friend Doug Staggs once again ran the Tough Mudder in Maysville, Kentucky. For anyone unaware of the event, the Tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile trail run and obstacle course; called "The toughest event on the planet" by some.

This year, the weather was FAR better than last year. Sunshine, at least 10 degrees warmer, and no rain! That, coupled with starting toward the head of the pack so we didn't get bottlenecked at the events, helped Doug and I finished two and half HOURS faster this year!

Needless to say, we were pretty happy with the success.

Just look at the exuberance on my face. 

The following Monday evening, I came down with what my principal, Joe Matthews (a four-time Mudder himself) calls "The Curse of the Mudder". Flu-like symptoms kept me home from school the next day. No pain, no gain!

Halloween is coming up, and although this blog is normally full of my athletic exploits, I'd be remiss not to mention my favorite holiday of the year. Last weekend, me and Hillary went to visit my brother Aaron and his wife Rebecca in Louisville. Of course, there was a Halloween party, and of course we wore costumes.

I actually wanted to be a pirate when I was a kid. Ask my parents. The couch made a suitable pirate ship. 

This afternoon I was over her house, carving pumpkins with her little girls Faith and Zoe, and was once again blown away by what God has done in my life in the last year and a half. His ability to create rivers in the dry wasteland continues to amaze me. It simply proves that, no matter how terrible things seem to have become, God always has a plan to bring peace and prosperity that stretches beyond temporary circumstances. 

The aforementioned jack-o-lanterns. They turned out better than I expected! 

Every now and then, I have the chance to let my faith and my hobbies overlap. Many of you may remember that, over the summer, I raised money to help buy school supplies for needy kids in my area with a project called Miles for Missions. I'm happy to announce that, for the month of November, I'm reviving the Miles for Missions project for another very worthy cause. 

In June 2014, I am going to Guatemala for ten days with a mission team from Trinity Hill United Methodist Church. While in the country, we will be working on cleaning and construction projects, as well as relational ministry with the impoverished children of Chichicastenango, Guatemala. 

Here's how Miles for Missions works: during the month of November, I'm going to be running my butt off. I would like YOU to sponsor me for the number of miles I run! Any amount will help!  $0.25 per mile, $0.10 per mile, or even $0.05 per mile will make a real difference. Any one-time donations are also very much needed and appreciated. 

One-hundred percent of the money I raise with Miles for Missions will go toward the cost of sending me to Guatamala. If you feel that God has laid it upon your heart to give, please email me at grahampatricksmith@gmail.com. 

I would very much appreciate any PRAYERS you're willing to offer, too. The trip is very much outside my comfort zone, but I know that God is going to do amazing things in my life and in the lives of the people I'm going to encounter while I'm there!

Until next time: May the road rise to meet you! 

Monday, 10-15-13: Cracked Ribs

These are the stats from my latest long run. Yesterday I managed to clock 11 miles at a pretty conservative pace, which isn't bad for going more than a week since my last long run. 

For some reason, that run left me ACHING more than past long runs. Maybe it was because I did it in the evening. Maybe it's because the weather is getting cooler. Or maybe I'm just getting a little out of shape. Either way, I decided to take it easy today. 

This coming Sunday, October 20th, I'm running the Tough Mudder again, again with my friend Doug. He's the only guy I know crazy enough to want to do such a thing with me not once, but twice.  Last October, one of the event photographers managed to snap this amazing picture of me after I emerged from a dumpster full of ice water. 

Clearly, I was thrilled to be there. 

Today also marks a pretty important milestone. Four months ago to the day, HIllary and I went on what we called our first official "date" to see Here Come the Mummies in concert at Buster's here in Lexington (wow, that's a lot of links in one sentence). That's four months of happiness after a year and a half of battles, heartache, anger, frustration, and plain ole' weariness. 

Looking at where I am now, I can see God's plans through it all. And so can she. 

The Tough Mudder is famous for its notorious final obstacle: electroshock therapy, where contestants dash through hanging live electrical wires. But last year there was one more obstacle that I sometimes forget, when remembering the insanity of that day. It was a crawl up a muddy hill that had been embedded with tractor tires. And it was on this final obstacle that I found a large crowd.  

One guy, in the middle of the group, had cracked some ribs somewhere on the dangerous, rough-and-tumble, 13-mile course. His face was set in a painful grimace with every movement, but still he pressed onward. All around him people offered to help, to carry him over the tires. Sometimes he accepted their help, but sometimes he'd refuse: the wrong movements could jostle his cracked ribs, putting him in even more pain. 

My separation and subsequent divorce were like a bellyfull of cracked ribs. I carried them around with me for a long time, their dull ache making every movement like knives. Just when I thought the pain had finally ebbed away, I'd make one wrong move, and suddenly feel the pain as fresh as ever.  

Even though I don't feel the sting of those old injuries anymore, I still remember how much they hurt. But I guess that's a good thing. If I don't remember the pain, remember why it was there and learn what I can do to prevent it in the future, then the whole experience would have been a waste. But I've grown through it all; as a man, as a partner in a relationship, and in my faith in God.

I can now clearly see God's plan that got me through those times. If I had been able to see God's end result through the pain, it would have made the pain a little more bearable... but I would not have learned as much, and I wouldn't be the man that God has forged me into because of it. 

So as I prep for this upcoming Tough Mudder, I remember the place I am in now, and where I was a year ago. Whether I'm in as good shape as I was last year is yet to be seen... but I am certainly more whole now than I was then. With the emotional cracked ribs finally healed, I simply need to avoid cracking any literal ribs. 

And I'm taking a waterproof disposable fun camera with me, to chronaloge the whole thing. 

First Post in a While. Much Has Happened...

I think this is what happened last fall, when I stepped away from this blog for nearly a year. I let the busyness of life take over, pushing pursuits such as this, these things I'd actually LIKE to do, to the wayside. Before I slip back into that pattern for another year, I'm jumping back into Runner Confidential.

The weather is getting cooler, which means that running season is getting into full swing.  I don't have to punish myself with 5AM morning runs before work anymore. Afternoons are cooler, the sun is setting earlier. Not to mention that Lexington is finally listening to my ravings by adding...

... sidewalks to Tates Creek Road!  

I've been running Tates Creek Road for a while now in an attempt to extend my milage.  Put simply, Lexington has never been a city extremely friendly to its runners. Sidewalks in residential neighborhood simply end, or switch to the opposite side of the road (often over very busy, multi-lane roads). This has forced me to run in the narrow strip of concrete between the painted white line and the curb, which is sometimes too narrow to keep my feet inside. But now I have the luxury of a sidewalk, that runs nearly the distance from my house to the Chevy Chase area!   

Since my last post, I've logged quite a few miles, including my first long runs since summer. Trying to keep my milage up is a struggle, though. There are only so many hours in a day, and I'm working literally twice as hard in my teaching job this year as I was last year. Not to mention that I'm still trying to learn to play guitar, still the assistant youth pastor, and spending more time with Hillary than ever. 

But I don't mind giving of my time to her and the girls. I wish I had more to give, in fact. My relationship with her has really shown that God will make all things work together for our good; even (no, especially) the hurtful, out-of-control events of our lives.

2013 has been a much better year than 2012 was. Regular readers of this blog will remember the long break I took while I started divorce proceedings, and the lengthy explanation I gave as to my absence. Finally, after trying to go it on my own more than a year ago, and waiting for an attorney to do his magic for almost six months, my divorce was finalized on September 30th, 2013; eight years TO THE DAY that my now ex-wife and I started dating.  

My brother, Aaron, told me that it was an appropriate bookend to that old portion of my life. I have to agree that there's a finality to it now, one I've wanted for a long time now. I wasn't sad; I'd spent months and months being sad, and that wasn't a road I was going down again. I had been divorced on all ground except legal for a long time. 

While we were both waiting on the confirmation of our divorces, Hillary and I joked that we'd frame the paperwork and hang them side-by-side on a wall together someday. And although I'm glad it's over, I find myself not wanting to celebrate the divorce. Divorce is nothing anyone should have to go through, although statistics show that half of all Americans will have to. So I'm just going to put the paperwork into a folder, file it away somewhere for safe keeping, and move on with my new life. 

Also... did you know that pawn shops won't buy a tungsten ring?  Turns out that they only buy jewelry for the meltdown value, and tungsten has a melting point of over 3400 degrees F.  So I guess it's a perfect metaphor for a functional marriage!  But now it appears I'm stuck with an indestructible wedding band, size 8, that cannot be unmade by anything less than the fires of Mount Doom. 

So, it's on Craigslist, if anyone is looking. :)   

Until next post, which will not take me so long to create: may the road rise to meet you, and may the wind always be at your back. It makes running that much easier.