Dexter: the Punisher: January 2009

As Christians we are called to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ. If you are anything like me, this is an extremely difficult thing to do. There just never seems to be a good time to broach the subject. To be honest, I am afraid of the awkwardness this discussion might cause.

Running has torn down the awkwardness and created a platform for me to talk freely about my faith. It is my hope that these stories will help draw you closer to our creator – through whom we all have the strength to move mountains.

God has given me a body built for endurance. Over the years, I have run a few races and met many wonderful and interesting people. These posts contain my stories. You do not need to be a runner to relate to these events. We are all running the race of life. We all have our peaks and valleys that we have to climb and descend.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

San Diego Running

I had a business trip out to California this week and was able to run a couple times in San Diego with my friend Keith Kirby. We had a nice 15 mile run near a lagoon Sunday night and then again this morning we ran about 12 miles on some trails . Was able to meet Keith's bride-to-be Jakie at dinner Sunday night.

There is nothing like some nice warm weather running to help break up the long Wisconsin winter training. As January is coming to an end, it looks like 300 miles will be the total running miles for January 2009. A good start and we will continue to rack up the miles for a target peak month of March for April's McNaughton Park 150 mile race.

I was also able to stop in and visit with Injini this morning in San Diego. I am honored to be a sponsored athlete with Injinji socks and it was great to meet everyone there.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

2008 Running Miles

I have been keeping a very detailed daily log to keep track of the miles I have run since the beginning of 2006. With the end of 2008, I decided to graph my monthly averages and see how each of the last three years compare (I guess my engineering side is coming through).

I have been gradually increasing my mileage over the last few years. I do not run everyday. In 2008, I "rested" 83 days. Basically, every time I laced my shoes up for a run I averaged over 10.5 miles but taken over the entire year, my daily average is only 8.2 miles/day. The goal for 2009 is to raise my daily average to over 10 miles/day. It's off to a good start. Looking forward to seeing what all these miles on my legs will equate to at the McNaughton Park 150 Mile race in a few months.

Together We Have Given Over 200 People the Gift of Mobility

In conjunction with my races, we were trying to draw awareness for a charity called the Free Wheelchair Mission and raise enough funds to donate as many wheelchairs as we can.

I am extremely happy to report that through the generosity of over a hundred different people, we have raised nearly $14,000 - enough to donate over 235 wheelchairs - as each wheelchair costs $59.20 to manufacture and deliver to some of the most remote corners of the globe. These chairs are provided at absolutely no cost to the recipient. The magnitude of being a small part of lifting, blessing, and transforming 200 lives touches me deeply and inspires me to want to continue to draw awareness for this cause.

Please prayful consider this need and you can donate securely online at: http://fwm.kintera.org/dexterthepunisher