"Take Five" Friday

Beginning tomorrow, I'll be starting a one week vacation with my wife, two daughters, one son-in-law, and two granddaughters.  We're renting a lakefront home on Honeoye Lake (one of New York State's Finger Lakes).  So this week my "Take Five" Friday selection is...

 

TOP VACATION ACTIVITIES

(in no particular order... it's vacation!)

 

#1 - Morning coffee by the lake

#2 - Reading a book by John Grisham

#3 - Being with my family

#4 - Browsing local shops

#5 - Evening coffee by the lake

Hydrate, Hydrate, Hydrate!

Today marks the official beginning of summer and 90 degree temperatures are called for today and tomorrow.  Heat & air qualities advisories have been issued.  Meteorologists and reporters are all sounding the warning to keep cool and stay hydrated.

Runners, like all athletes, know the importance of proper hydration.  They've typically learned it the hard way... from personal experience.  I've had a few occasions where found myself in trouble due to dehydration.

The first time was when I was out on a long run on a summer day.  My running partner had gone out the evening before to strategically place water bottles along our new route.  Unfortunately, a road we were supposed to take didn't exist (don't always trust Mapquest!).  After running a few extra miles, we realized something was wrong and turned back.  By the time we reached our water, I was no longer sweating and becoming light headed.  I ended up walking for a couple of miles to make it back home.  On another occasion I went for a 20 mile run after donating blood the day before.  Bad idea!!

Proper hydration is important to one's body functioning properly.  This is especially true during hot weather and periods on intense or prolonged physical exertion.  Among other things, dehydration can  slow thinking, reduce endurance, decrease strength, cause cramping and slow muscular response.

The solution?  Be sure to properly hydrate before, during & after your workout.  By the time you realize you're thirsty, it's too late.  You must be prepared!

Just as proper hydration is essential to peak performance for athletes, proper spiritual hydration is needed for those who desire to live godly lives.  In Psalm 1, the writer pictures the person blessed by God as one who is like a tree planted by streams of water... a tree that is fruitful and prosperous.  And where does one find this water?  By delighting in and meditating upon God's Word -- the Bible.  

Just as it's physically important to give attention to proper hydration, it's equally important to give careful thought to your spiritual hydration.  If you wait until a crisis hits, it's too late.

Take some time to read and meditate on God's Word.  Your soul will be refreshed and your life will be blessed by God.  Here's a great place to begin.  Start today & drink up!

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+1&version=NIV

"Take Five" Friday

With the official start of summer just around the corner, I thought I'd share with you my 5 favorite travel destinations.  Please comment with your favorite locations.  Nancy & I are always up for something new!

Downtown St. Louis

#5 - St. Louis, MO
Besides being my hometown, there are lots of great things (many of them free!) to do in St. Louis. Be sure to visit the St. Louis Zoo and the Science Center.

The Beach!

#4 - Clearwater Beach, FL 
Great white sand beaches and crystal clear water.  Be sure to visit Pier 60 at night.  My favorite restaurant?  Frenchy's (there are several from which to choose).  Be sure to have the grouper sandwich!





  

Tybee Lighthouse

 #3 - Tybee Island, GA
Great beach and restaurants without all the commercialism of many larger coastal destinations, plus its proximity to Savannah with all its history & charm.  Best thing to do?  Chill.

Balaklava, Crimea

#2 - Ukraine
I've visited this country 8 times (Kiev, L'viv, Sevastopol, Balaklava, Odessa, Sumy) to work with my brother Pastor Vladimir Vshyvkin at Revival Baptist Church in Brovary in their summer camp ministry.  Love the people & the food... borscht, vereniki, chocolates, and salo (with chocolate, of course).






   
#1 - Chicago, IL
Our son lives there.  Great city for walking and sightseeing.  Chicago Dogs & Deep Dish Pizza!  Way too many wonderful restaurants!

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Though it was a hard sell at first, I've come to love running.  I usually am able to run 5 - 7 miles twice a week.  But what I really love are my Saturday long runs.  I'm planning to do 10 miles this Saturday with a group of runners that I'm helping to coach in Rochester.

Lately on my off days I've been trying to get to the gym to do some weight training.  Though I had neglected this as my marathon training miles got longer & longer, I've been more successful in recent weeks.  That's pretty much been my exercise routine.  Running and weights.

I've known for a long time that I needed to introduce some new routines into the mix.  Now that I'm between races, I decided it was time to go for it.

What I imagined I looked like

I mentioned in one of my recent posts about trying yoga for the first time.  As I said, it wasn't pretty but it also wasn't too bad.  I'm glad I was alone in the privacy of my home... with the shades drawn!

What I really looked like

I plan to keep at it, even if only one day a week for now.

I'm hoping that this 56 year body will become a bit more flexible as time goes on.





Today I tried something new... spinning!  My wife loves to spin and has been "encouraging" me for a long time to give it try.  After many failed attempts on her part, she even enlisted a few allies at the gym to encourage me to give it try.  I really enjoyed it!!  Our instructor was great.  The music he selected was some of my favorites.  And I discovered some muscles in my legs that had long been neglected!

Bottom line is this... Old dogs CAN learn new tricks.  It may just take a little longer.  But if I can, so can you.  So go on and try something new this week.  You'll be glad you did!

Pastor Pat

"Take Five" Friday

MY TOP 5 FAVORITE FLAVORS OF PERRY'S ICE CREAM:

#5 - French Roast Coffee

#4 - Death by Chocolate

#3 - Mint Chip

#2 - Bittersweet Sinphony

and my #1 Favorite Flavor of Perry's Ice Cream is...

CARIBBEAN COCONUT!!! 

The Importance of Rest

One of the lessons I'm learning in my running is the importance of rest.  Rest gives your body time to repair, replenish and rebuild from both the physical and mental demands of running.  Like cross-training, failing to rest properly will negatively impact your performance.  Keep pushing yourself too hard and you will wear out or burn out!

I'm also learning there are different types of rest, which is great because we'll all different!  For example, a day or two of completely no training may be in order.  Go for a walk or a swim, take a bike ride.  Just don't do anything too strenuous.  On other days, a short, easy run is needed to help speed one's recovery.

I've found that my body responds much better to running 3-4 times per week.  I try to add it a couple of days for cross-training.  I even tried yoga this past week.  Let's just say it was neither easy nor graceful, but that's for another post!


All of the reading I've done on the subject of rest points to the same thing... rest is essential to becoming a better runner.  

Rest is also necessary to one's spiritual health.  God, in his infinite wisdom, created us with the need to rest.  In fact, God modeled our need for rest after he created the heavens and the earth.  We read in Genesis 2:2-3, "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done."  Later, in Exodus 31:15, we read, "For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord."


Why did God prescribe the need to set aside one day to rest?  So we could spiritually repair, replenish and rebuild from the physical and mental demands of life!  

Just as I'm discovering with running, there are different ways to find our spiritual rest.  These include our times of corporate worship, as well as times of personal solitude; time reading the Bible and other great authors; prayer; a walk (or run) through a park; singing or listening to music; serving others.  I'm sure there are many other ways to find one's rest.  Please share your favorites with us.

The main idea is this... spiritual rest is essential to becoming a better person.  


-- Pastor Pat