Run #35: 35 min. - LAST RUN

Christy Merry

has hereby completed 20 hours of running

in the summer of 2011.

Done. I am done! I thought today it would be fitting for me to do something special for the last run. I ended up settling for running through sprinklers. 3 in a park, and a bonus one on the way home. As I approached the third one, I saw a dragonfly, and another, and another. The sky was full of them, like they were celebrating the last day of my summer runs.

It was a fitting end. :) Thanks for your support!

* pic from The Compleat Wetlander

Run #34: 34 min.

Aberdeen. Aug. 27. I took today off too. A little research before this run revealed I only had 69 min. left on my goal. SO close! Nevertheless, it was hot. I wanted a short run, but had to add on some minutes to my shorter route so I wandered off and ended up at a rummage sale. There was nothing really great at this sale, except...a large framed copy of 'the SALESMAN SHIP' for free. I brought Tommy back later and we picked it up as a gift for our boss. I think he will love it. :) He's the 'motivational type'.

That's the excitement of that run! That, and that now I only have 35 min. left to go! Yay yay!! OhIamsogladthisisalmostdone. Strangely...the vegetarianism has not given me much of a withdrawal. I don't even think about it most of the time. Perhaps it might be worth continuing on for a little while when I get back? Or at least just lessening the meat intake? Thoughts to ponder.

Run # 33: 46 min.

Still Aberdeen. Aug. 26 (I took a day off on the 25th :) ). Hot, hot. 80s. I took my phone camera on this run. I spent a lot of time when I got out to my sunflower path, taking pics, and texting a friend I was praying for. The sun was high in the sky and I apparently kept heating up. I may not have had enough water before departing either. In any case, instead of an hour run (which I had planned due to my closeness to my goal!), I started feeling nauseous about halfway home and ended up stopping to rest in shadow behind a dugout in a park and calling Tommy to rescue me.

After one brush w/heat exhaustion this summer, I knew it wasn't wise to gamble on another. He came asap, armed with water for me and instructions: cool shower, fan, rest, etc. Heat exhaustion is nothing to mess with.

This little titch of it was worth it, tho'...for the beauty. :)

Run #32: 26 min.

Aberdeen. Hot. Aug. 24. Sorry it took me so long to post about it. I ran out of good pix I could 'borrow' from online so I wanted to take my own of this garden I love that I see on my runs.

Believe me, it's better than the things I found googling "mosquito bite on the back of my knee".

Magnificently Imperfect

"Like a fluttering sparrow or a darting swallow,

an undeserved curse will not land on its intended victim." (Proverbs 26:2)

So, this is a little off topic, admittedly, but it reminded me of a few things. I like people to be happy with me. I don't get 'talked to' (you know what I mean) all that often, but when I do, I tend to take things personally. Once, when I was a kid, playing tetherball at recess with Tony Janick, with my back to the school door, I was so into the game that I did not hear the recess bell. On completing the game, I/we turned to realize the schoolyard was empty, which meant we were IN TROUBLE. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong on purpose, I pretty much shook with the knowledge of my guilt, my unworthiness, and when the teacher talked to us about it, it was hard not to cry.

But, on two distinct occasions in particular (again, I don't get rebuked too too often), I remember being really free from that. First, at a temp job I had, which was only for a few months, a month or so in I was captured by the distinct inner knowledge that one of my bosses was writing A LIST of my shortcomings and would soon call me to her office and talk to me. I was a good worker, though not perfect. And the thought of being rebuked for my imperfections was a little bit of a blow. However, tho' I have no idea how I knew that in advance of its occurrence, when the moment came I was prepared. I faced her, listened to her 10 grievances about how I sometimes forgot to put a sticker on a chart, or some other little things, and I was free. Light as a bird. It was her issue, her need to control things, that she was dealing with. It wasn't me. It wasn't about me.

Another time some fellow I had been dating (though not committed to/ie not a 'boyfriend') made some unfounded accusations about my intention to flirt with other fellows and manipulate him based on some comments I had made. In that situation, I stood my ground easily, and just countered with saying I did not think he realized how cruel and unjust what he was saying was. I believed he was better than that. Communication was discontinued. A long time later, I did receive an apology.

I run into too many folks that get verbally abused, or unjustly accused. I'm not the only one who has. All I want to say is, don't receive it! Don't stay in the situation if it keeps repeating. And remember who you are, not who you aren't. If the words are untrue, they won't stick, they won't land where they are trying to. You are free from that stuff! You're human, you make mistakes, you're magnificently imperfect. But that doesn't make you bad.

Whew! I have to go run. I was just reading Proverbs 26 (because today is the 26th) before I left, and thought, I have stuff to say about that! Now it is MUCH hotter outside...but I will persevere. The summer is almost over!! Yay! (because of the running goal, not because I dislike the season, like...*ahem*...some boy I know ;P)

Fundraising 1 Penny At A Time :)

After procrastinating sending the support letters for 2/3 of the summer, I finally wrote them. They are sort of the color of this pig. I was laying on the lawn with Zion (7) the next day addressing envelopes as we sunned together. She asked what I was doing. I explained that I was fundraising for one or some of the trips that Tommy is doing in the next 6 months or so that I might go on, or some other trip, and sending the letters out to people. This got her started on the subject of money. "I have some money! I have a piggy bank - can you guess how much money I have in it?" She talked about it for a while, and then said, brightly, "do you want to see my piggy bank? I can show you how much money I have in it!" I said "sure" and she disappeared into the house for a longish time. When she came back, she pulled it open and dumped what looked like a dollar and 75 cents or so, mostly in pennies. We then ate our snacks and chatted. She said, "I need help to put this back in" so we put the coins back in the piggy together. At one point she stops and hands me 7 pennies. Then she gave me 5 more. "These are for you. You can have those." "....and this!" she said, handing me a nickel. She was totally serious.

It reminded me a little of when I was a kid and found a letter from World Concern in the garbage. It said that they needed money to care for the lepers (I don't remember where). Upon learning there were actual lepers still in the world, I took it upon myself to organize help for them. I and 5 or so other kids (I'm guessing, this is 25+ yrs ago) went door to door offering to do odd jobs to raise money for the lepers. We raised about $14.16 if I remember right. I was just going to send it in, but my mom made me write a letter and tell them how we raised it. They called back a month or two later and asked me a bunch of questions and put an article with my picture in their newsletter about how "kids can give too!". It's funny. I don't think about kids as 'supporters of ministries' usually. I mean, I'm sending my letters to folks who happen to have kids, but mainly to their parents. It's an interesting thought.

Updates on my goals since the details given in my first post on May 31st:

1 - Still unsure which trip(s) I'll be joining on...obviously, I'm already on the first of them here in S. Dakota (story of how this came to be here). Helping orphans in Honduras? Lepers in India? Assisting a ministry in Wales? We'll see.

2 - Still hoping to raise $2,000. However, I'm not going to run more or less than the 20 hours I set out to, and weirdly pro-rate the hours run. I'm just going to complete the goal of running 20 hours, and I'm seeking 100 persons to pledge $1 per hour (total of $20 buckaroos). More or less works too, everything helps (!), I just thought that would work out neatly math-wise. (On that note, if someone could give $19.83 to offset Zion's $0.17....? KIDDING! ;P)

Thank you for all your love and notes etc. Literally, both prayer-wise and financially, I can't do this without you. Hugs to y'all! ~ Christy

PS - I'm sending out 'actual' letters so if you want one and are not sure I have your address, send it to me at hey@christymerry.com. But if you prefer just to read the blog & give, you can send a tax deductible gift via a check made out to Church in Uptown (with my name in the memo portion) to:

Christy Merry

c/o Church in Uptown

PO Box 19572

Minneapolis, MN 55419

* photo from brandmerchandise.com

Run #30 & #31: 27 min. and 25 min.

Aberdeen. Today was really hot. Good thoughts. Quick quiet morning runs.

* photo by Christian Schmidt

Run #29: 1 hr 5 min.

Aberdeen. 78 degrees.

The benefit of running when you get up (with a little reading before: Father Fiction by Donald Miller and Proverbs) and cranking your ipod volume, is that you can get a fair distance without even realizing you are running. Your mind is hazy and full. It's nice.

Run #27 & 28: 27 min. & 30 min.

Aberdeen. Yesterday, it was about to rain. A few drops graced my shoulders, but I made it home in time. Today, I thought I could attempt another hour run in the evening after I got back from spending the afternoon w/Angie & Zion (& a few of Zion's friends) at the water park, as it seemed cooler than some of these other days. However, this run was preceded by a hastily eaten pbj. Not recommended. For the record, this results in abdominal discomfort and profuse sweating, I mean, "glowing". I glowed rather a lot.

Otherwise all was fine. I remarked to myself about the large # of pickup trucks in the vicinity (they & SUVs/minivans outnumber smaller cars 2 to 1 out here it seems, did my usual situps & had brief but thought-provoking chats w/God. I've started to read a chapter of Proverbs before running (there's 31 so I just read the one that corresponds w/the day of the month - my pastor Joel did that for about 3 years once), so that is good food for thought.

* photo of garden gnome is from gardengnomesetc.com

Run #26: 23 min.

Aberdeen. 85 degrees. Bit o' wind. I think the run was longer than 23 min. but had a mixup w/the timer and prefer to under-than-over estimate.

Tommy went running today too (separately). He has awesome new sport shorts that are shiny red (w/a black stripe). That was kind of a non sequitur. He's more of a lone runner, but someday I think he'll run w/me. ;)

* photo is from www.mychloeflower.com (I did my sit-ups beside a grove of trees today) p.s. this woman's work is really cool! so glad I came across the site!

Run #25: 1 hour

Aberdeen. Yesterday. Temp unknown. Hot, and a bit windy.

"I am so sore, dude."

This cracked Tommy up, the way I said it, but it is true! Super sore. But since there were 15 days left to run and 15 more 28 min. runs left, I had begun to have a secret fear of 'bad weather' or a 'turned ankle' or something kaboshing the completion of this. So I've got to step it up a little if ya know what I mean.

But, not today. Mega sore. Maybe I'll go squeak out a 26 minuter. And then one of these days there will be a tornado and I shall say, "No! I do not have to run in you, tornado!" because I thought ahead. ;)

* got photo from 123RF (royalty free stock photos)

Run #24: 30 min.

Aberdeen. Went to the Y and ran with Angie again. Ran. Swam (6 long laps). Steam room. Sauna. Pretty awesome.

Recommended. :)

Run #23: 29 min.

Minneapolis. I can't remember anything about this run to save my life. 8:30 am-ish. Out and back in time to leave for SD...ummm...

Yeah. In other news, I saw my friend Taylor at the coffeehouse this morning and she's "in" for my Spirit & Flesh group for fall (see last post if you don't know what I'm talking about. She just started running herself, after thinking about how we are to care for the body of Christ (aka 'the church at large'). She said, "So I thought, if I don't take care of my own body, how can I take care of the body of Christ?" It seems like good timing, eh? That was kinda cool.

* photo taken from blog.tinyprints.com

Runs #21 & #22: 27 min. & 37 min.

Minneapolis.

I missed a day. What happened? Well, I worked (=5 hours walking) and Tommy's band (FC) played the Pizza Luce block party (=5,000 people, lots of walking also...a little additional when a friend could not find her car and we wandered for an extra 1/2 hr/hr or so...) I'm a little bit concerned. I have NEVER in my memory, run every day like I am now, except PERHAPS in senior high track/x-country. Any missed days now, up the ante for all the other days left. And upon my arrival in SD (I have pepperoni pizza to eat on the way), I will be a vegetarian for 2 weeks as previously mentioned. Can I do this?? We will soon find out.

Friday's run was 27 min. Thought about how I'll keep tabs on my working out after the blog is no more, since I'll be working 2 jobs (temping and the oil change sales thing) this fall, and I won't attempt to blog about every one then. Decided on perhaps starting a leetle group o' gals, calling it Spirit & Flesh or something... which would be more than an accountability group... we'd talk about the theology & philosophy of being embodied spirits and such, and the interchange that exists there. A lot of Christians picked up a kind of Platonic dichotomy on the way I think (spirit = good; body = bad) which was a cultural view, not implicit in the scriptures... and some of us are tempted to become 'so heavenly minded that we aren't any earthly good'. What does it mean to really live with an awareness that our bodies are God's temple? Anyway, I need to sleep here, but that was my latest little 'light bulb'/idea. :)

Today's run (yes it's after midnight but this post refers to Sunday) was one of those ohmygoodness I have to do this errand AND I have to run so I'm doing 'em together things. I ran my work paperwork over to my boss' place so that it would be included for this week, and then hitched a bus home. Less walking than most of my runs because I did NOT want to be late to the wedding (of Tommy's friends). It was the ultimate in multi-tasking. Had two phone calls whilst running, and my ipod playing, and a fist-full of paperwork and a small recorder in an envelope. A little much.

Well, we drive on out back to SD in about 8 hrs. now so I'd best get some sleep!

* photo from www.raw-food-health.net

Run #20: 27 min.

Minneapolis. 76 degrees. Full moon.

The moon was sweating too

I mean, sweating like a woman -

Uncle John says we 'glow'.

We glowed together.

When I got to the park, I walked.

I did situps. I prayed lackluster prayers

which nevertheless, I meant. I want to

glow like Moses, and I don't think that

was just sweat.

Bats were abundant

wheeling and turning on pins of sound

flying by faith and not by sight. There's

a man in Aberdeen who is blind, but

goes about with a video camera. He

makes movies. I don't understand.

I suppose I do understand wanting to

operate in a sense I don't possess.

Common sense, perhaps?

Enough of this poem. I just wanted

to make it possible somehow for all of you

to smell the flower-thick air with me

to hear the million crickets

and to see how the street lamp light

led me home.

* photo from www.sodahead.com

Runs #18 & #19: 42 min. & 24 min.

Aberdeen. Not much to say. Both days were hot but windy. Yesterday I found a great stretch of the longer run I did for Run #17, which is good for walking/praying out loud...which seems to be the best way for me. That way I can 'have it out' w/God or sing or whatnot without prying eyes/ears about. It's good. It was a 'breakthrough' day...one of those days when you feel like you said what you needed to say and you got at least a bit of some answers. I came back from yesterday's run (& walk/prayer) with a decision to be a vegetarian for my last 2 weeks here. Most of the house is vegetarian and it just seems more 'community' to throw in w/them and learn while I'm here, rather than doing what I'm used to. It's good to get outside your comfort zone once in a while. Anyway, that's what's up! Tomorrow we head on back to MN for the weekend, for the Pizza Luce Block Party (Farewell Continental is playing) and a wedding. So you might get some 'lake' commentary. :)

* photo of Banducci purple heather borrowed from www.cchutchison.com

Run #17: 47 min.

Lord, have mercy! 47 min. is a long time to run. Aberdeen. 82 degrees. Good breeze.

Found a new route that spilled out at a field with hay bales and barns, and followed it along out of curiosity. Can't believe I went so long on such a hot day! But the wind really made a difference. It's preparing to storm 'round here I think, but the pre-storm weather was perfect.

Think that Tommy & I will have to picnic out at said field one o' these days. ;)

* photo borrowed from Greg Morton Photography

Run #16: 27 min.

Today's picture is actually taken by me! My blatant plagiarism thus far is uncharacteristic, but you can't be your own photographer all the time...

Today: Aberdeen. 8:15 a.m. 70+ degrees? Shorter run than usual because, it's Sunday, church is at 9:45 a.m., and, well Sundays should be days of rest. Since not running today would mean a 52 min. run on another day to make it up, I thought it more restful just to get in a 'short run' today so I won't have to stress about hour-long runs!

From there, we (Tommy, Rosa & I) went to The Journey, a fun laid back little church where our roomie Jeremy plays guitar. Afterward we went by the grocery store and then came home. I think Tommy may have gone back to bed then. I decided to go sunning in the yard, and after a while Zion joined me. We played with the hose and the swingset and my camera and read books and such for a few hours. You can see her cuteness in the pic above. The book I was reading (I'd picked up at church this morning) was coincidentally called The Gates of Zion. (Even better, the one I bought last night at the Red Rooster for a quarter was called Journey Continued) Later we gave each other fake tattoos. In the evening, Rosa and Angie got inspired to do a huge vegetarian Thanksgiving meal in the back yard, and it was splendid. We went around and said what we were thankful for.

Not a bad Sunday sun-day. :) It wasn't hard to be thankful.

Run #15: 35 min.

Aberdeen. 5:15 pm. On the treadmill at the Y. With Angie & Roseanne. A number of events transpired earlier which pushed our departure until later in the day, so we had limited time before they closed. Still got in 35 min. tho'. And watched the gym tv with horribly written transcripts, detailing the joys of WalkFit inserts and the horror of the latest military casualties. All the same, despite our country now being a worse credit risk than say, the Isle of Man, it was a good run. :)



Have you ever had that crazy effect where everything seems to be moving in slo-mo when you get off the treadmill? Weird. And kind of awesome.

Guess what? According to my special little spreadsheet, I no longer need to run 29/30 min. day everyday. Now I can accomplish my goal w/just 27 min/day...

I now depart to get ready for a dinner date with my special Mr. Tommy Rehbein. Have yourselves a great night! :)

Run #14: 30 min.

8:15 a.m. Aberdeen. In the 70s. Ran w/Angie Cleberg this lovely morning. It was the first run I did not walk at all during! She chattered away and told me the ins-and-outs of the town, who was a creeper, what dogs scare you, her favorite house, the county fair, how the town was built on a railroad, and most importantly, where the overpass for the railroad is! (Tommy and I waited 20 min. last night for the Slowest Train in the Universe to pass by, and I couldn't figure out why no one else was lining up behind us.) I was so caught up in listening that we were done running before I knew it! Yay. Tomorrow we're going to run on the treadmills at the Y I think. Maybe that will be nice. It was actually really hot this morning even though we got out early. At some point I should probably ramp up and run for an hour one day or 45 min two days in a row so I can take a day off...I'm getting a little achey.

Run #13: 30 min.

Aberdeen, SD. 79 degrees. I need to get up earlier, and get running earlier to catch the cooler weather. I fell asleep last night in the middle of a deep spiritual discussion, so deeply asleep that Tommy had to carry me to my room. Not sure how long I was asleep, or if I snored, or spoke in my sleep (I've given a speech on the 'importance of the red square' before). It wouldn't have been the most embarrassing thing I'd done that day if I had. In the evening, there was an art/protest sort of thing where they projected this video they'd made of people swimming in clean water, onto the 'Mog' or mud-bog to show how disgusting that idea is. We drove over there in a big red pickup truck with a bunch of the 'clients'/folks Tommy is here to work with.

After we'd been out there for a while the mosquitoes became REALLY aggressive and were eating me alive. Tommy and Dan were leaning against a red pickup truck that I assumed was ours. When I could not take the bug-biting anymore I climbed into the front seat and closed the door. A girl turned and laughing said, "Oh no! don't drive it away!" which I thought was silly and we both laughed. About 20-30 min. later, Tommy knocked on the truck and said we needed to take off, so I waited for everyone to pile in, but instead they were all walking ACROSS THE STREET to where OUR RED PICKUP was parked! !!!!!!! Thankfully, all the 20-30 folks who were at the event sort of knew each other in one way or another, so the vehicle - which was probably that girl's - was at least in 'our group' sorta. But.......eeeeyag. How embarrassing.

Angie's going to run with me tomorrow! Yay! :)

Run #12: 31 min.

Aberdeen. Probably 70s again. This was yesterday. At the end of my run I sat down in a park to pray a bit, and this couple was in a fight. The guy was swearing and super-agressive with the woman. I couldn't hear her say anything, but when I was looking the other way I heard sounds that sounded like slaps, but I couldn't see anything when I looked back. I didn't want to be too obvious in looking because he looked scary. There were a bunch of kids there near them listening to him yell at her. Maybe their kids. Anyhow, she looked kind of passive/afraid to react too much, stood very still most of the time, although a few times she was reaching for something he had but wouldn't give to her. I didn't want to leave but since Tommy was a couple blocks away I thought the presence of a Big Tough guy might cause this guy to watch himself. When I got to the house, Tommy was in the shower, but I told Angie what was up and she grabbed her phone and bike and headed over immediately. I ran a bit behind. She rolled her bike right up to them, parked it and then walked around the playground for a while as she was talking w/the police and didn't want him to hear her. The police came and took care of stuff, so we went home. I realized later that the reason the woman hadn't left is because I think the guy had her car keys and wouldn't give them back to her. Mean guy. Anyway, when I talked to a friend of ours on the phone in Bahrain last night about how my 'quiet time w/God' was sort of interrupted, he considers that it wasn't...and that this falls into the category when God says 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice". So by helping out the person whose trouble 'coincidentally' became apparent to me in my time of prayer, it was doing something a lot more important than having some transcendent spiritual experience. He's got a point. Anyway, that Angie is a bold girl, I'll say that for her!

The Path to Aberdeen

Well, I mentioned before that my roommate Kaitlin was buying a house, and that the timing coincided with Tommy's month-long Aberdeen trip closely enough to make it a possibility. Though I did not feel a personal burden to come on the trip, I had said that if it seemed financially viable for me to come, I would make it happen. I would have to 1) not be paying rent in 2 places, and 2) find a temp agency or agencies to work through in Aberdeen.

Initially, we thought I had to move as of the end of Sept. That left the awkward question of where I would store my stuff in August and the likelihood that I would have to move my stuff twice, which I did not want to do. This was because Kaitlin was the caretaker of our building and because I could not take over that job, I could not take over the apt.

Then, before she had gotten around to giving her 2 month notice, we received notification that the caretaker system was being abolished and they were going to outsource the care of the buildings. She had been the caretaker for our property for 3 years. Since this 'coincidental' happening allowed me to stay on and take over the lease, I stopped seeking a new apt. and started to seek a new roommate. I finally settled on Erica Christenson, a friend of Kaitlin's, who also, luck would have it, needed to move in early, in the middle of August. Thus, at Kaitlin's suggestion, Kaitlin is subleasing from me for the month of August, and Erica will be able to move into her room (the larger room) in August. I paid about $50 for the first week before the move-in, and wallah! I was free to go to Aberdeen, where they are not charging us for rent at the community house where we are staying. Tommy was given a small room in the basement with a bed, and I inhabit the 'piano room' on the main floor. The other residents here are Dan and Angie Cleberg, the directors of the Fallout Creative Community and owners of the Red Rooster Coffeehouse, their daughter Zion (7), and Rosanne and Jeremy, who are both volunteers here.

I also applied for a temp agency out here and went to my interview on Aug. 2nd. I have not been sent out on any jobs yet, but I'm sure that will come.

That's my story! Tommy also has a bit of a story about how we made it here, which you can read at his blog, The World and Everything. Feel free to follow along for the ride... :)

Run #11: 45 min.

Aberdeen, SD. 70 degrees, cloudy and a bit windy with some serious humidity.

You may have noticed an extraordinary lack of running activity for the last 3 weeks or so. This reflects, in addition to the weather & heat index being in the 100-110 degree region in Minneapolis, the sad fact that I got sick with a pretty brutal cold & cough. So I have been doing my best to recover and give myself adequate rest. Now, in Aberdeen for the month, I realize that in order to accomplish my summer goal of 20 hours of running (of which I have approx. 14-15 hours left if my math is correct), I have to run 30 min./day or an hour every other day or somesuch. The 45 min. was a compromise between the two.

It's always a bit easier to run in a new city where all your exploring adds to your knowledge of your surroundings. There also seems to be a good likelihood that Tommy, or Angie Cleberg (a director of the Fallout Creative Community w/her hubby Dan), or Rosanne (a volunteer who also lives in the community house) will join me for some of my runs.

My next post will give the update on how exactly I DID end up here in S. Dakota. Promise.

* borrowed photo.