[With apologies to Bob Dylan]

I have been thinking that it is close to 7:30 p.m. That’s at least what the clock on the microwave says. That’s what the clock in my body says. I forgot to reset those two clocks last night. I really don’t like this time change thing. It’s annoying.

I griped about this last year, so I won’t repeat myself this year.

And now few inspiring quotes about time. I don’t know who all these people are, but I like the one by Marx (that would be Groucho not Carl… you must remember that you are, after all, reading my blog.) I like the first one as well.

Now is the only time there is. Make your now wow, your minutes miracles, and your days pay. Your life will have been magnificently lived and invested, and when you die you will have made a difference.
–Mark Victor Hansen

What we love to do we find time to do.
–John L. Spalding

There are some things which cannot be learned quickly, and time, which is all we have, must be paid heavily for their acquiring. They are the very simplest things, and because it takes a man’s life to know them the little new that each man gets from life is very costly and the only heritage he has to leave.
–Ernest Hemingway

Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas.
–Groucho Marx

No woman in my time will be Prime Minister…
–Margaret Thatcher The Sunday Telegraph, 1969

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…
– Charles Dickens “A Tale of Two Cities”

The times they are a-changing.
–Bob Dylan

I e-mailed this to a number of people, but I thought that I would post it here as well in case I missed anyone.

I have some vacation time to use up before the end of the year and I feel the need to roam and clear my mind. A road trip sounds like a great idea — I believe I am settling into taking a solo trip to the Grand Canyon during the first week of December. I’ll have about 12 days total, including the weekends.

I might be starting out in southern Colorado (Durango area) and then heading down towards Arizona. The return trip will bring me back through New Mexico.

I’m looking for any suggestions for places to see along the way, things to do, great places to eat, unique sights to see, etc. Pretty much anything from southern Colorado through central/northern Arizona and New Mexico. I’d especially be interested in anything with photographic value — interesting people, places, things. I’m open to just about anything at the moment.

A couple of questions if you’ve been to the Grand Canyon before:

I’m planning on staying on the South Rim? Is there a specific lodge that I should stay at in Grand Canyon National Park?

Is Phantom Ranch worth the hike? I am thinking about spending two nights on the canyon floor at the ranch.

What have been your favorite sights to see? What are the best places to go?

And a couple of questions if you’ve been to the Grand Canyon in November and December:

Will this Texas boy freeze to death? :-) Kidding. I have a coat. But really, is the weather bearable?

If it snowed, how were the trails with snow and ice on them? Passable?

Is tent camping an option with a good zero-degree bag?

Thanks! I hope you are doing well! I’m sure I’ll have many photos to share in mid-December. :-)

This past Tuesday, as avid readers of this journal might recall, I wrote these words: “It is not a good idea to increase effort more than 10% per week. More than that can lead to injury and sickness. I’m ramping the effort up significantly, but I think I can manage to be in tune with my body enough to tailor the workouts.”

I’m certainly in tune with my body tonight. My ankles hurt! It isn’t horribly painful. Just sore. Good thing that Sunday and Monday are rest days in my newly adopted and flexible workout routine.

I’ve spent too much time walking and running on hard surfaces this week already. I think Tuesdays mileage will have to be reduced considerably. My goal is to be at 8-10 miles for two weeks and then take the third week off. It looks like I’ll be doing every other week for the near term. I’ll have to find a good grassy area to run through.

And in case you are keeping track, I moved took Thursday off and Friday off from exercise. It took a bit to stretch all of the soreness out of my muscles. I moved Thursdays workout (interval running; 3-5 miles at Town Lake) to today. It felt good other than the soreness.

When a statement made by one of the major party presidential candidates could have easily come out of the mouth of the other candidate, then we have a problem. In my opinion, we’ve had ongoing problems for quite awhile now.

“A political candidate who jumps to conclusions without knowing the facts is not a person you want as your commander in chief.”

This statement was made by either George Bush or John Kerry in the last day. Do you know which one made the statement and what it was referring to?

The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD , for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD , but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”– 1 Kings 19:11-13

It is in the quiet moments that I hear the whisper. Elijah recognized the voice as that of God. The whisper I hear is filled with the words of my own heart. I hear it speak to me as I lay down at night and as I rise in the morning. I drown it out with the busy-ness of the day only to have it return as I quiet down in the evening. I am seeking to hear the voice of God. I know He has spoken to my heart. I know that He understands my hopes and desires. I seek to hear and to trust.

I went for a walk and jog through the streets of Austin last night. Here is a small selection of the many things I saw.

A plane, carrying its passengers to the local airport, crosses against the great white moon. A woman holds her small dog tightly in her arms as they walk through the neighborhood. An eight-point buck keeps an eye on me as I pass within 20 feet of him and the deer he has the responsibility of protecting. The deer eat methodically across the freshly-cut lawn. The water in a small creek trickles slowly through the dark woods. A couple takes a stroll in the moonlight as they murmur sweetly to one another. A light rain falls for less than five minutes. The wind blows steadily from the east. Lightning dances across the clouds in the western sky and threatens to cut short my extended walk. The clouds drift farther to the west with the lightning in tow. Car upon car drive down the highway ferrying their passengers to places unknown. A man takes his dog for a walk. He is impatient. His dog is amused by the feel of the grass under its toes.

Some advice: If you want to completely empty your mind of just about every thought, go for a long walk.

As I walked along this evening, I realized that I hadn’t been thinking about anything in particular for quite awhile. Just putting one foot in front of the other, listening to the crickets and the traffic, and sneaking glances at the clouds drifting across the full moon. My thoughts disappeared and my mind rested for a moment.

I believe that this is how the orange-robed monks in Tibet (or is it Mongolia?) reach the greatest state of enlightment. Of course, they sit for extremely long hours instead of walking, but I know it involves the emptying of the mind.

I also know that I will never attain such a lofty state. There is a small part of my mind that exists slightly separate from the rest of my brain. This is the part that upon seeing the approach of enlightenment decides to interrupt my quiet mind with “HELLO… Hello… hello… ECHO… Echo… echo…”

I covered about 10 miles or so tonight with walking and jogging and getting slightly lost. I feel pretty good. I’m hungry and tired and generally stink, but other than that, I’m feeling pretty good. I need to stretch for awhile and eat. I’ll write a little more tomorrow about the sights I saw tonight. This concludes tonight’s Runner’s Blog.

UPDATE: The purple blob at the top of this map is the Arboretum in Austin, Texas. I live near that blob. The red star towards the bottom is the corner of Northland and Balcones Drive. The distance between the two is where I travelled. My southern route was along Mesa Drive. The return trip was straight up Loop 1 (Mopac).

So here’s my ambitious plan for running. I’m in semi-decent shape, but I need to work on consistency. I’m setting the following as my basic weekly schedule.

I’m breaking a few rules about running and getting into shape. Typically, it is not a good idea to increase effort more than 10% per week. More than that can lead to injury and sickness. I’m ramping the effort up significantly, but I think I can manage to be in tune with my body enough to tailor the workouts.

Monday - off
Tuesday - 8-10 mile walk/jog
Wednesday - low impact (stretching/weights)
Thursday - interval running; 3-5 miles (Town Lake)
Friday - off
Saturday - run or hike; 3-5 miles (various locations)
Sunday - off

By the way, RunTex in Austin has a great series of articles on 5K race training.

I am Racing for the Cure and accepting contributions large and small! Thank you to Amy and to my parents for generous donations today! I was so thrilled that I moved my goal up a little more! hmm… now I guess I should get myself into shape so that I can actually make it to the race.

Contribute to fight cancer now!

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart; for whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God.
– Philippians 1:3-9