Major Blog for 2007

It's been a long time since my last last blog way back in July. Since then, i have completed two half marathons within 4 weeks of each other, taken part in a beach series event at Takapuna beach and started a new job. So yes it has been a busy few months.
More half marathons are planned for the new year, one in march and one in april. As well as the Run Auckland Series which starts in March.
The new job is going well, just starting to come out of training and into the live work. It'll be an interesting job for the 3 months that it runs for next year. Dealing with all the student applications for loans, allowances etc.
Unition Youth has gone from strength to strength this year since we got a full-time Youth Pastor. It has taken a load of my shoulders to do with the running of Unition Youth so now i can just focus on the technical side, such as Sound for the River Services and the Website plus just been there on the study/social nights.

The Running Saga continues

Well i now have three 10 km runs under my belt and it looks like if i keep up the current running program, i will be well on the way for doing the half marathon in October. My times so far have been centered around the hour mark so with the last race in this series i am doing at the moment, i will be looking to go under an hour again. So that means more training during the week and on the weekends.

So i'm really getting into this whole running thing when about 3 or 4 months ago it wasn't on my radar. I guess the whole challenge of completing a half marathon is my motivation to get out there and pound the streets.

Half marathon prep Race 2

Race 2 is now over. It wasn't really a good day for running with the cold, rain and wind. But i still got out of bed at some weird time for a sunday morning ie 6 am. The run started at 8 am and went from Milford Reserve to Mairangi bay and back, so that was 10 km of hills with a few flat bits thrown in. I made it thru the whole run witch was a relief as i hadn't done as much hill training as i would have liked. Still it was a good feeling to know that i did the race so i now have a time to beat for the next time i do that run.

A really dodgy movie

Last night i went to the movies with a friend and since we could not make a decision over which two movies to see, we tossed a coin LOL. The choices were Reno 911 : Miami and The Man of the year. Well the coin toss decided on the first option.

What a bad movie - had all things in that as Christian i shouldn't be watching. I should have walked out but why i didn't who knows. The language, nudity and sex scenes was over the top. As one of my friends said, it's like a soft porn portrayed as a comedy.

Anyway this got me thinking as Christian, should we (i) be more selective about what we watch, listen to, read etc. Thinking back to the whole ideal of What Would Jesus Do, i would have thought that he would have got up and walked out or even not gone to see that movie in the first place.

Then again, there are very few movies etc that fit into what we as Christians would find as acceptable and the only judge we have for this is the Bible - our reference guide to life according to God. I guess there is also our conscience as well which if we do claim to follow God's way, that this should also help us to make the right choices from a Christian standpoint.

New Words for the day

I found these on the NZ Herald Website, they suit me right now LOL

Floordrobe: a form of storage for clothing which requires no hangers, drawers, doors or effort. Drop the garment on the floor and you have a floordrobe.

and

Multislacking: performing multiple slacker-esque tasks concurrently. Among activities that qualify: checking your MySpace page, surfing Wikipedia, chatting, and half-watching random videos on YouTube.

Running

Well i had my 1st 10 k run this weekend ( Sunday 13th May ). Wasn't too sure what to expect before i got there but it was all good. A fine day and a flat run to start off my running attempts and training towards the 1/2 Marathon in October.

The run was better than i expected and i just took it one step at a time and didn't push myself to hard beyond what i could manage. The water station at the end of each 2.5 k was always a welcome break and a chance to get some fluids in me and to walk for a short time.

It made me feel great when i crossed the finish line after a final sprint to the finish line. Those last 500 metres was the most exhilarating part of the run, just knowing that i had broken through the pain barrier ( which hit about the 7.5 km mark as my muscles were getting sore then ). Also there was the support from Warwick and Tania during the run and as i crossed the finish line. Much appreciated guys and also the post race stretches - would not have know what to do otherwise.

Another great thing was seeing the time that i achieved on the run - 54 mins 56 seconds. Most definitively my best time for the 1o km. My next challenge is 4 weeks time is a 10 km from Milford to Mairangi Bay and back again. A hilly course so i will have to work on my hill training once i start again after 1 or 2 recovery days.

Mr Bean's Holiday

Well i just seen the Mr Bean's Holiday Movie. Was expecting a fairly funny movie but i am sad to say that it failed to entertain me. Glad i had free tickets. There was the odd funny part but overall, i'm giving it a 4 /10. There wasn't the same Rowen magic that i was expecting from his previous movies etc including the Black Adder series.

Huge Changes at GBC

Over the past couple of weeks there have been some major changes in the way Unition Youth is run, mainly to do with the departure of Skip. Before i go on, just want to say how much i have enjoyed working with and learning from Skip over the past seven or eight years. It has been a privilage to work with you Skip.

One thing that i have been shown from this latest development is that i need to rely on God more. Lately i say that i have been relying on my own strength in the youth work that i am involved in. Since i have now taken on the Easter Camp organisation etc, i felt very weak and unable to do it in my current form. So i came before God in prayer and said that i can't do this in my own strength, i need You help me and the other leaders thru this transition period. To tell the truth, if i had not done this my stress levels would risen higher.

Since doing this simple act of coming before God in prayer, acknowledging my weakness and asking for His help - i have felt a lot better about Easter Camp and actually getting the prep done for camp. Esp as i'm not doing it for me but for the Youth at GBC

Why i like been a Kiwi

After reading these 100 things that make us Kiwi, i was thinking about what i like been here in NZ, my adopted home. I orginally came from England when i was about 2 yrs old. So you could say i grew up as a kiwi even though i was not born here. Yes i still like going back to visit England and my family there but i have taken on the NZ lifestyle etc.

One of the points that i liked was the one that says ' That if you feel that you belong to New Zealand, then you do belong '.

As an example, when i was overseas in England doing my OE, i always had thoughts of home and the aspects that i missed such as walking around in bare feet, going to the beach or walking in the forest etc.

I do miss seeing the rest of my family in England occasionly since it's very rarely i see them. In this case, it was 1998 since i last was overseas in England. One thing that i really appreciated my parents doing for my sister and i was giving us surrogate uncle's and aunt's when we came over here to help us settling in.

More to come in this post ....