Evendays

An influx of visitors from other cities, along with a handful of local members, gave us a wonderful moment of worship and fellowship on Sunday morning. Pancakes were then shared by all, then we drove an hour in the evening for worship in English, a rather rare experience for us, with the church in Geneva. The singing was great, and we even got invited for dinner afterwards!

I am tired of this rain though. It’s falling every day. Fortunately it stopped long enough for a 10k race on Saturday afternoon. Wife clocked near 47 minutes, finishing in the top 25% of her category. I barely broke the 50 percentile with a blazing, and happy, 45:13. Only the "real" runners were there for this one: No ambiance; small crowds; no bands; no tee-shirts. Just a bottle of water and an apple at the finish line. And a spaghetti dinner for those who wanted to wait another thirty minutes. But I literally stunk and we decided to head home.

April 26: I woke up on Saturday morning at 6:45 AM. Our company had already left. Actually, this was the first time we’d had folks stay with us without us seeing them. The Marseilles church football team (soccer to USAers) arrived after midnight and left around 6:00 AM, I think. They were welcomed by Sons 1 and 2. Us old folks were in bed. I don’t know how many players came (perhaps 13?). They were as quiet as church mice.

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April 27:

Yep, she beat me.

Again.

Son 2 is back from Marseilles (the spiritual internship program). He leaves on Saturday. I have been unable to post as there were studies to prepare (still are) for a retreat and lessons to get ready for the weekend. Wife and I are both doing a race on Saturday. I will attempt the 20K of Lausanne, a huge event here in town, very hilly, quite tough. Wife will run 55 minutes earlier, tackling the 10K. She’s either run the 10 or 20K race every year we’ve been here, not counting “birthing” years.

Last night, Sons 1 and 2, Daughter and Wife and I all went to a restaurant in a nearby village and had a 5 or 6 course meal (I don’t know if you count the sorbet which “cleans your palette” as a course… Help me out here please) which was great fun. We were 3 hours around the table. It was a fun way for us to celebrate together 25 years of marriage.

Wife and I ran a 15K on Saturday near Bern (Kerzers). Fantastic race weather with temps in the low 60’s. I was shooting for just-under-five-minute kilometers, hoping to finish in 1:13. It’s a tough race with 150 feet of climbing in the first kilometer, followed by level then some downhill, then very steep uphill on kilometers 9 and 11, a gradual drop to the start-finish line. 6000 people ran, and our group, F, lined up for the 12:39 PM start, since starts were staggered every 2 minutes.

We finished the first uphill bit in 5:25 (about right), then hit the 2K mark at 9:33, which was a little fast, so I slowed. Wife was about 30 seconds behind.

The kilometers passed by at an easy pace. At 8K I was at 37:30. I crossed 9K at 60ish (not a typo, sniff sniff). My tachycardia attacked while beside the lake at the 8.5 mark. I exited to the side of the narrow passage, pulse at 240, squatted down and concentrated, but no luck. No privacy, too much frustration at hearing the runners pass, and many concerned runners calling out in German and French if I was okay.

After 20 minutes, I shuffled to where the hill was, tachycardia still strong, and found a quiet place behind a barn. The tachycardia disappeared (pulse back down to 120) and I was able to run some very tired 6 minute K’s, until another tachycardia hit at kilometer 13. I crossed the finish line at 1 hour, 42 minutes and 24 seconds (I think), tachycardia persisting, Wife and Daughter both worried. They had checked with the medical people and knew no one had been wheeled out on a stretcher, but were still relieved to see me.

Me? I was just plain frustrated and extremely tired. It’s rare that my tachycardia last 30 minutes, and I’ve had but one during a race, and for only 2 minutes.

I finished 590th. Third to last. 592 were in my category. Room for improvement. Or maybe, no more 15K races.

Wife strung together 21 straight five minute kilometers and finished strong in a cold (45 degree) head-wind that whipped along at about 30 kilometers an hour (which, according to my math, means she was running at 42 kilometers per hour, or 26 mph… Pretty fast, huh?).

To see her cross the finish line, go here, then click on the "forward" red triangle to view her in the following 3 pictures.

That’s not a grimace… It’s a smile for having completed the race.

Wife, Son 2 and I are running a series of 5 races that take place in small towns around our Canton (Vaud). Last night’s race took place in Le Mont, an 8.3 kilometer run up the hills over Lausanne (plus down the hills, up the hills… You get the picture!). It was a “cross” run with 610 participants on the evening of the hottest summer day we’d had so far.

I only finished 11 minutes behind the winner with a 39.17,6. Wife blazed her way to a 12th place finish in her category at 40.55,8.

Son 2 was awesome, running the course 34.41,4. Oh, to be young, and fast!

It’s amazing how many of the people know each other at these small races. The atmosphere is great, quite encouraging! You get help not only from the spectators, but also from the other runners.

As we raced down one of the last hills, Lake Léman (Lake Geneva) reflecting a setting sun was our backdrop, Alps clinging to the water’s edge… It felt good to be alive.

It felt even better to be finishing the race.

They ran like the wind on Saturday afternoon. It was unseasonably warm, so the times were about 90 seconds slower than expected, but they managed the hills and the 10K (6 miles) while some of us just watched, cheered and clapped, snapping off the quick picture or two.

Wife finished in 49:27, 11th out of 169 in her category. It was her first “out-of-the-top-10” finish in a while, but she was competing with younger ladies.

Son 2 cleaned up with a 41:50, finishing 28th out of 226 in his category. I can just run 8K in that same time period. Which means he is that little speck off in the distance…

Congratulations to both of you! May God give you many more kilometers on the road of life.

I hope it’s all downhill from here… Wait, what I meant was…

 

We woke up this morning to clear skies and temperatures in the high 30’s. Just 10 days ago, Wife was running the half marathon of Lausanne in 80-degree weather. Too hot to do her best time, but she crossed the line in 1 hour, 46 minutes, 30 seconds (click here… she’s in the grey shirt). Not bad for over 13 miles! (She was actually credited with an aggregate time about 5 seconds faster because they start individual times as you cross the starting line).

After church, she caught a train to a village exactly 13 miles away. From there, the participants run back to Lausanne, finishing the race in front of the Olympic Museum on the shores of Lake Leman. It’s not an easy run (I know this for a fact. I’ve ridden it on my bike), for the road is seldom flat as it follows the shoreline through the wine country of “Lavaux”.

Several thousand runners participated in her race this year. We love arriving at the finish line just early enough to cheer her on, which we do with so much vigor that, frankly, we’re exhausted by the time we get home.

Those half marathons are tough.

Sherri from TN knows Wife loves to run. Two running magazines were included in a recent care package, one on ultra-extremist-crazed marathoners and the other for avid runners.

Little known running fact: Some runners have to be told to stay in bed till at least 5 am. It’s not healthy for you to start a run at 4 am after just a few hours’ sleep.

There is normally nothing for me in these magazines. But then I turned to the “Finishing Kick”, the last column in Running Times (November 2006), where Rachel Toor penned a sweet article: Your pace or mine? Leading others to their goals can be better than reaching your own.

Toor’s a member of the Clif Bar Pace Team. She purposely runs marathons slower than she’s able, carrying a wooden dowel with a balloon indicating her projected finishing time. Marathoners can then set their pace to one of the pace runners (3:10 to 5:30) and have a more enjoyable marathon experience (if it’s possible to use “enjoy” and “marathon” in the same sentence).

She writes of the fun she’s had helping runners meet their goals. She tells of the kisses, hugs, even communion between those who cross the line together. And she always waits at the finish line for those who fall behind, congratulating them when they finally finish the race.

Have you noticed that people who live significant lives often imitate Rachel Toor? They will set a pace, not a torrid one, but just right so that they can accompany others and help them achieve their goals. They’ve found the balance between personal drive and real, honest, humble service.

Running 26 miles in less than 4 hours is not my idea of fun. But staying with others and enduring with them until the finish brings more joy and is, according to Toor, more compelling than a Personal Record or a Shiny Metal Object.

If in our own service we do not make the podium, but we accompany others to the finish line… I think God sees that as significant.