 What do Sgt. Joe Friday and singer Darlene Zschech have in common? Inspiration for a marathon story.  Fox Valley Marathon: Before dawn. As we completed the previous installment, Vikki and Jules were about to begin their early-morning long distance Chicago Marathon training, timing their start in pre-dawn darkness in order to be finished with minimal overlap -- read, "running into" -- people competing in the Fox Valley Marathon on the same trail.
The first wave of runners was scheduled to take off at 7 AM, about the same time Vikki would have completed her first six miles, turned around, and headed toward her scheduled 16-mile finish from the opposite direction. In order to do so, Vikki, Michael and Jules had scheduled a 5:30 AM rendezvous to allow for pre-run schedule-check, rest room visit, and prayer before starting to run at 6 AM.
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By Vikki J. Myers, Co-Founder, Worship Leader Sunday was a day of rest. Sort of. An imposed Sabbath. Weekends are when I schedule long training runs in double-digit miles. Saturday was a middle-distance, eight miles, because I needed to prepare for Sunday's long run of 18. The most I'll do before the marathon is 20, and I need to get in four days a week from here out.
It's difficult to say what's harder about running the distances at this point: the distance themselves, or scheduling the day. Both Saturday and Sunday present unique personal problems. Saturday is the catch-up domestic day -- cleaning, planning the next week's shopping, working with Michael to outline the family budget -- plus fine-tuning business affairs (read: rehearsal) with Kingdom Impact Theater and social media consultations. For good measure, I'll toss in the laundry (you can only run in the same clothes so many days before they start to run you), and my kick-back girlfriend Facetime with our stressed-out college junior.  Vikki's early-morning training run along banks of the Fox River in Batavia, IL. (2014) by Vikki J. Myers, Co-Founder, Worship Leader I am not a morning person. My husband is. Even when I arise before he does, he manages to be awake before I am.
I do not function until coffee. To my husband, coffee merely expedites his pre-dawn functions. Michael is the kind of morning person who not only arises early, he speaks early, carries on dissertations, verbalizes op-ed opinion pieces or sermonettes before sunrise, often finishing with, "What do you think?" (Another chapter from the “Things They Don’t Tell You Before Marriage” Dept.) There is, however, one thing I do (to my knowledge) that throws off his morning routine. When my phone alarm goes off. Usually it’s a ringtone from my playlist; often at the crescendo of a song blaring like reveille (a remnant from my Army brat upbringing). A song I’ve sometimes used is Mary, Mary’s “Get Up!” Get Up: The Lyrics |
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