+FillUs

"Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints.  For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ." Jude 3-4 Suppose I have a friend Jill who told me she has a sister. I believe my friend since she has never lied to me. However, another friend of mine, Erin, insists that Jill does not have a sister. Since I have reason to believe that Jill is telling the truth, I have to disagree with Erin. While I respect that Erin has her own reason(s) to believe otherwise, I cannot - with honesty and integrity - agree with her. The bottom line is, Jill either has a sister or she does not. Whichever it is, my friend Erin and I cannot both be right. There are various ways to find out ...

Little Uno Big Deuce is a one or two mile swim at Jordan Lake, and is part of  the Triangle Open Water Mile Swim Series in Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. It is also my first open water event and my first two-miler. Leading up to it, I've been uneasy about my ability to swim two miles continuously in murky water, no black line, and no end in sight. My fear is later confirmed that open water swimming is almost a different animal than pool swim.  But what I didn't account for was the new experience that I was about to engage and the excitement of it. Arriving at Jordan Lake a little after 6 a.m., the sun has just risen above the horizon. An hour later, I found myself lining up at knee-high water with the rest of the big deuce (two mile) group, waiting for the big moment to come. My race strategy is to copy the people in front of me. They run, I run. They start to drop into the water and swim. I do the same. And the rest of my plan is summed up in two words: keep swimming. ...

Being on the mountain is always refreshing. God has made everything good but I think He is especially  pleased with the mountain work. Personally, the mountain has always carried an image of God's sovereignty and associated with it a sense of freedom.  The invitation to be part of the Ethiopia project team came in today. It's a step into the unknown for me. Like repelling down the rock today, I have to let go of some of my own sense of security and trust the equipment and my partner to do their job - and therein lies my freedom.  From Heidelberg Catechism, Question 28:  What advantage is it to us to know that God has created, and by his providence does still uphold all things? Answer: That we may be patient in adversity; (a) thankful in prosperity; (b) and that in all things, which may hereafter befall us, we place our firm trust in our faithful God and Father, (c) that nothing shall separate us from his love; (d) since all creatures are so in his hand, that withou...

Quite a few people found it amusing that I've ran half / full marathons but had never done a 5K. Well, I can't say that anymore because I just did my first yesterday at Columbus Firecracker 5K. Columbus is about 50 mins southwest of Asheville, at the foothill of the mountains.  Veteran 5K-er Richard Hefner said it was a tough course, which made me feel better consider how much I "suffered." The first mile was mostly downhill, leading to a mostly uphill mile two where I sworn to myself I'd never do this again, then rolling hills at mile three with an uphill finish. Going out, I didn't know what to expect. I know how it feels to run 3.2 miles, but I've never ran 3.2 miles hard. It's too short of a course to take it easy in the beginning but it's too long to go full out right off the bat. I ended up finishing 23:35.6, bringing home a pottery mug and a $50 check as second overall female. The joy of running a small town race. Shout out to Richard and...

After being turned back from the airport due to weather on Friday, I finally made into Calgary Saturday night, less than 12 hours before my fundraising half marathon for eMi. This is my first race after injury. Going into the race, I wasn't sure what to expect - high altitudes, hills, and my performance with limited training. But with all the travelling delays and flying 2,000 miles plus made me realize being there for this great cause was half the battle. And that took the pressure off. We couldn't ask for better weather. It had been pouring ALL week leading up to it. And today? Blue sky and sunny the whole time. I was glad to be away from the muggy weather in NC for a little bit. I crossed the finish line at 1:53. Not a great race time, but I did have a great time at the race. More significantly, I was able to go back and pace one of the first-time marathoners to finish her race in under 4:00. Greg Hanssen from South Coast Road Runners paced my last couple miles during my f...

Day three of Charlotte UltraSwim. I was an anti-doping volunteer, helping USADA to carry out drug test on swimmers. While waiting, I watched a couple of final events, including Men's 200 Fly. Many great, world class swimmers were at the meet, but Michael Phelps was at the center of all focus. Winning eight gold medals in one Olympic has elevated him to the status of a hero. We wanted our hero to win. We cheered; We stomped; we roared. But I was left moaned as Wu Peng pulled ahead in the final 50m and took another win of the 200 fly which was once "Phelps event." Last month, Wu overcame Phelps, ending his winning streak. To see Phelps swim live for the first time and see him lose is a disappointment, I have to admit.

The Charlotte UltraSwim uses Colorado 6000 timing system. But when a stopwatch was handed to me, the thought that I could wreck months and months of hard work swimmers put in to take off fractions of a second in their performance kept me on my toe. As swimmers step on the block and take their mark, my eyes are fixed on the strobe. Once the strobe goes off, my stopwatch starts. When the swimmer approaches the wall on the last lap, I hunch over the edge of the pool to watch for his/her hand(s) to touch the wall and - as quickly as my reflex allows - press both the plunger and my stopwatch simultaneously. To say the least, it's an exhilarating experience. Michael Phelps took the Olympic Gold from Cavic by 1/100 of a second in 2008.  In a sport that time is (almost) everything, I am glad that technology has closed the gap of human error.