Marathoning

The title of this blog's post is dual-purpose.  Part one of the entry recaps the marathon of Christmas events that took place in the past month.  Part two is about my participation in the 2008 Chiang Mai Marathon.

PART ONE - THE CHRISTMAS MARATHON

You'd think that in a country where only one percent of the population is Christian, there wouldn't be much Christmas celebrating.  Maybe it's the fact that I'm working with a church mission, but I've found it to be quite the opposite.  Here's a list of this season's Christmas activities that come to mind (there may be more I've forgotten):

December 8-10 - Preparation for the Bible Institute's Christmas skit (this year I was a shepherd).  The costumes were priceless.

December 11 - Outreach at Baan Sabai (a residence home for people with HIV/AIDS).  Included: songs, sermonette, and round one of the Christmas skit

December 12 - Evening Caroling - We went to different congregational members' houses to share the joy of Christmas in song and Scripture.  It didn't go quite as late as last year; this time we got back around 2AM.

December 13 - Outreach party at Promise Church - Our Bible Institute students hosted an evening Christmas party for church members and friends.  Included: songs, games, sermonette, round two of the Christmas skit, round one of the By Grace Church children's Christmas dance, and gift exchange

December 14 - Morning Christmas worship at Promise Church; afternoon outreach at Baan Ruam Jai Children's Home.  Included: songs, games, sermonette, round three of the Christmas skit, and round two of the By Grace Church children's Christmas dance

December 15-19 - A week of evening English classes at By Grace Church specifically focusing on Christmas.  After an hour of class each night, we watched "The Nativity Story" movie.  The final evening was a Christmas party for our students.

December 20 - Christmas cookie decorating in the morning; an evening Christmas worship at By Grace Church.  Included: songs, sermonette, round three of the By Grace Church children's Christmas dance (I think I could have joined in this time around), and gift exchange

December 24 - Travel six hours to the Hmong villages in Tak Province.  Along the way was a special lunch at a roadside restaurant, where I dined on "jungle curry with boar" (very spicy I might add!); Christmas Eve service at Village 9 Hmong Lutheran Church, which was going as planned until the electricity went out in the whole village; seeing how beautiful the stars were that night after the electricity cut out

December 25 - Two infant baptisms; a New Year worship service; Christmas dinner - goat (see the picture below if you'd like to know what goat brains look like; scroll down quickly if you'd rather not); another meal at a village member's home where I enjoyed eating the fried pig intestines; day one of a Hmong funeral ceremony (the body stays in the house for three days before burial); other outreach in the village; singing Christmas hymns with our mission team back at the hotel that night

December 27 - Christmas worship with our mission team back in Chiang Mai; a spaghetti dinner (carbo-loading for the marathoners); gift exchange

PART TWO - THE CHIANG MAI MARATHON

To say that the Chiang Mai Marathon was run on December 28, 2008 misses the point a bit.  Better put, the marathon started four months ago when I began training specifically for it.  The training had more goals met than setbacks, and I was very pleased with how it went.

I was pleased, that is, until about two weeks before the marathon was to happen.  I was in the point of my training called the "taper" - the point where you cut your mileage dramatically to prepare your body for race day.  It was right in the middle of the "Christmas marathon" (see above), and the end of term at the Bible Institute.  My body did not cope well, and I battled sickness for two weeks.  I was no longer able to finish easy runs, there was  pain in my chest as I ran, and my body lost its wonderful digestive routine (imagine how important it is to have a good bowel routine when it comes to running a marathon - no one wants to be halted and embarrassed in the middle of their marathon due to a bowel surprise!)

I was relying that the adrenaline of race day carry me through, and that God would bless the many miles I had logged in over the past several months.  On race day, I woke up at 2:45AM, not having slept much anyways.  After using the bathroom three times at home, I walked over to the marathon start area and used the bathroom one more time (I certainly didn't consider it a good sign that I had used the bathroom four times in the span of an hour, but fortunately there were no bowel surprises on race day).  The marathon started at 4AM, and thus we began our run.  I ran conservatively for about the first eight kilometers, and then started to pick it up just a bit when I realized that my body was coping all right.

What does one think about while running for 42.195 kilometers (26.2 miles)? It's interesting the things that keeps one going along the run, either as a spoken mantra or a song that keeps popping up in one's head.  There were a number of songs that made an appearance during the race, but the three I remember coming up most often were "This Old Man, He Played One"; "Go Johnny, Go (Johnny Be Good)"; and "Surf City, Here We Come."  How it was these three songs that made the biggest dent into my mind during the race, I'll never know.

There were also a few mantras that kept me going throughout.  The first one, the one that I repeated to myself more than any other, and the one that helped me finished was "Run to Finish."  In the beginning of the race that reminded me to keep a conservative pace; in the middle it inspired me to run strong; and in the end it pleaded me to just keep going.  Another mantra favorite was "God bless Liz, God bless Katie, God bless Andrew, God bless Vinnie."  Although basically the whole race I was running on my own, it was a comfort to know I had some friends somewhere along the course as well.  The last mantra was "Run comfortably...just like that."  That one worked great for awhile, but near the end of the race I couldn't include the "just like that" part because the running wasn't at all comfortable!

I felt really good for almost three hours.  In the entire race, not a single person passed me (until the very end, when one guy passed me on the homestretch), and I passed about twenty people throughout the race.  It was at three hours when my body ran out of the adrenaline that had been carrying it through, and having been sick for two hours, my body lacked the stamina I think it would have had otherwise to finish strong.  The last eight or so kilometers were brutal, and the final three just plain torturous.  My pace slowed down to a near halt, there was tightness in my chest, and I so badly wanted to stop, or at the very least walk.  I pulled through and am happy to say that I didn't walk a step of the marathon.  I finished my first marathon in 3 hours and 35 minutes, quite slower than I would have imagined, but it was good enough to place fifth in the 18-39 male age group, and I'm not sure yet but I think fifteenth or sixteenth overall.

Today, the day after the marathon, feels much better than yesterday following the marathon.  My left heel hurts, and there's some pain in the knees, quads, and hamstrings, but otherwise I think I'm well on the road to recovery.  No more marathons for me for awhile though -- whether that's the running or the Christmas variety!

Blessings and wishes for a safe and fun New Year,

Eric

The Christmas Letter, 2008

I think one of the benchmarks of growing up is when you come to the point of writing your own annual Christmas letter.  Though in many ways I don't feel I've reached grown-up status, this year I'll at least have my own Christmas letter.  So for those of you who haven't yet seen my Christmas letter, have a look below.  A blessed Christmas to you all!

December 1, 2008

Dear family and friends,

Why is it that as the Christmas season approaches, we so often feel the urge to write to our families and friends about the highlights of the year gone by?  I don't know that I have an answer for that, but I do know that I have the desire to send my Christmas greetings to you and fill you in on what comes to mind when I think of the year 2008.   Here's a list of ten things that made this year a special one.

1. I'm blessed with a job that I love.  Our mission team is like a family, and the Bible students I teach and live with in the dorm are like my brothers.  The job keeps me busy, and I have learned and developed many new skills here.

2. Celebrating holidays has been fun.  Songkran is the Thai water festival in the middle of April that is basically a three-day, city-wide water fight.  As beautiful as November's Loy Kratong holiday is, I decided I'd seen enough of it last year and didn't want to bother dodging the stray firecrackers and rockets this time around.  Even some American holdiays were thrown in the mix: I celebrated 4th of July with about a thousand people at the U.S. Consulate in Chiang Mai, and most recently enjoyed THREE Thanksgiving dinners!

3. My girlfriend Bethany was able to come visit over her winter break this past year.  We spent some time in Bangkok, then off to an island beach before returning to Chiang Mai.  This time around we're hoping to spend some time in Cambodia.  Despite the long distance away, she has been a great blessing and encouragement to me here.

4. My passport is starting to fill up a bit more.  This year I made three trips into Burma (Myanmar) for what we call "visa runs" (my Thai visa requires me to re-enter the country every 90 days), as well as a trip to Hong Kong and Macau.

5. I was able to return home for a month this past May through June, and it was great timing to celebrate my niece's baptism, grandparents' 60th anniversary, and brother's wedding all in one month!

6. You'd be hard-pressed to find a marathon at the end of December back at home, but here in Thailand it's possible.  The Chiang Mai Marathon is on December 28, and after several months of training, I'm looking forward to running my first 26.2 miles (42 kilometers is the more common measurement you'll hear in Thailand).

7. I don't have to miss out on playing one of my favorite sports, ultimate frisbee, while living here in Thailand.  Chiang Mai has a club team that gets together a few times a week, and although marathon training has taken me out of the game a little bit lately, in general it's been a great way to meet new friends in the city.

8. Thai language learning continues to come along.  I've stopped taking private lessons for about three months now, but the daily living and work where I'm surrounded by the Thai language helps tremendously.  I'm starting to read the Thai characters a bit now, which especially helps when it comes to singing the songs during worship.  This term at the Bible Institute I decided to join in one of the classes with the students -- speech class.  The class is conducted in Thai, the written material is all in Thai, and the speeches I've had to give...you guessed it, in Thai.  It's been a fun challenge.

9. While I was home this summer I purchased a Mac laptop, which has been a huge blessing to have.  It has made communication with family and friends back at home much easier.  There are some great music and video editing features on the Mac, which I hope to put to good use in the future.

10. God has protected and provided for me every step along the way this year.  The Lord has nurtured my faith in Him as I see the evidence of His goodness all around me here.  I thank God for the opportunity to serve the Church in Thailand, for Christian brethren here, and for the ways the Lord continues to mold and fashion me to walk more closely with Him.

It's been about fifteen months since I first packed my bags to come to Thailand.  If you do the numbers, you'd find that I've spent approximately five percent of my life now in this country.  When I consider the gravity of the life lessons I've learned here, though, this five percent has been incredibly significant and formative.  2008 has been an incredibly great year. Thanks, praise, and glory be to God!  May He bless you abundantly as you celebrate His plan of salvation this Christmas season, namely through the birth of God made flesh in Jesus Christ our Savior.

Eric

Guess What: I'll Be Home For Christmas!

It's been a few weeks since I've posted my last blog.  Some of the things I could take this opportunity to write about are as follows: my trip through the Golden Triangle area en route to another visa run up to Burma; a great three-day church camp on the outskirts of Chiang Mai; the ever-changing Thai political scene that has caused many people to avoid wearing either the color yellow or red; the end of another term at the Bible Institute; the two mini-terms of evening English outreach; eating pig's brain and other fine delicacies; and the many Christmas activities we've been engaged in at the mission so far.

However, I think I'm going to pass all that by in order to fill you in on some important news.  I'll be home for Christmas!  Watch the video to find out more.

With love this Christmas,

Eric