Alaskan Bear Hunting

The Pope took a couple of days off to visit the mountains of Alaska for some sightseeing. He was cruising along the campground in the Pope-mobile when there was a frantic commotion just at the edge of the woods. A helpless Democrat, wearing sandals, shorts, a "Save the Whales" hat, and a "To Hell with Bush" T-shirt, was screaming while struggling frantically and thrashing around trying to free himself from the grasp of a 10-foot grizzly.

As the Pope watched in horror, a group of Republican oil field workers came racing up. One quickly fired a 44 magnum into the bear's chest. The other two reached up and pulled the bleeding, semiconscious Democrat from the bear's grasp Then using long clubs, the three oil field workers finished off the bear and two of them threw it onto the bed of their truck while the other tenderly placed the injured Democrat in the back seat.

As they prepared to leave, the Pope summoned them to come over. "I give you my blessing for your brave actions!" he told them. "I heard there was a bitter hatred between Republican oil field workers and Democratic Environmental activists but now I've seen with my own eyes that this is not true."
As the Pope drove off, one of the oilmen asked his buddies "Who was that guy?"
"It was the Pope," another replied. "He's in direct contact with heaven and has access to all wisdom."

"Well," the oilman said, "he may have access to all wisdom but he sure doesn't know anything about bear hunting! By the way, is the bait holding up, or do we need to go back to Illinois and get another one?"

Let it Snow

Here are some snow totals from this past weekends unexpected blast of winter weather. I had a total of roughly 14 inches at my house in Black Forest.

"Oh Deer!"

Deer were running throughout my property like rodents yesterday. I've come to realize taking good pictures of deer amongst trees/snow/sunlight/shadows is a tough task. Here are a few of the best ones!

"You can't shoot me"

As mentioned in a previous post I went hunting last week. Unfortunately I didn't shoot anything or even see many animals. As if to rub it in a big 5x5 buck came around my house...


(click on the picture to make it larger)

Laugh for your election day

Gone Hunting

Going hunting this weekend in the beautiful Colorado Rocky Mountains. Here is a shot of Castle Peak from last year.

Can you hear me now?

A friend sent this to me today...you have to watch the whole thing!

Campus Chaos Challenge #2: Completed

Marathon pictures- part 3

Here are a couple of pictures Chad's wife and another family member spectator took. These are probably the best ones of us during the race!

This is pretty hilarious

Marathon pictures- part 2

The team eating dinner the night before the race


Notice the bib number on the confirmation ticket and the number behind Chad



At the expo


Time until the marathon started


Find Waldo...


Laser Teeth Whitening? At a race expo? Weird...




The Clif Bar Tent!


Random cool building

Person
Bib#:	44171
Last Name:	Fisk
First Name:	Ben
City:	Elbert
State:	CO
CTZ:	USA
Age:	24
Gender:	M
TIME
5K:	0:30:42
10K:	0:59:59
15K:	1:29:43
20K:	1:59:20
HALF:	2:06:41
25K:	2:30:10
30K:	3:01:00
35K:	3:32:31
40K:	4:05:37
FINISH:	4:19:26
Chip Time:	4:19:26
Clock:	4:30:05
Pace / mile:	9:53
Placement
Overall:	10151
Gender:	7160
Division:	559

Marathon pictures- part 1

(click on any of the pictures to make them larger)

Soon after completing 26.2 miles!




Steve and Chad



Running buddy Chad and me


The compilation of toe injuries--mine is the bloody one =(


A couple of hours after the marathon.


The four of us supporting the Alpha Foundation (notice the Alpha shirts)


Showing off our medals


The "pro life" van.


Most of the pro life team, standing in front of the awesome pro life van!

26.2

My apologies for not updating sooner, no web access until now. Yesterday I completed the marathon in 4 hours, 19 minutes, and 23 seconds. That is a pace of 9:53 per mile. When we began training my goal was 10 minute miles so I came in just under that. My pace at the 10k and 30k mark(9:39p/m) was exactly the same which was surprisingly good.

Praise the Lord for the strength and endurance to run 26 miles! Thinking back on it this morning, I'm amazed that our bodies can handle something like that.

Today I'm a little sore especially my right knee and one my toes. My knee felt great for the first half of the race but as the miles wore on the knee got pretty sore. I'm looking forward to now letting it heal properly! My toe is nasty. I think the whole toenail is about to fall off and the whole upper part of the toe is black and blue. Beyond that my body feels pretty good this morning considering what I did yesterday =)

Throughout the race my lungs/cardio felt great. I was never winded or felt my heart racing. My legs were tired around mile 20 but got a good jolt from the crowd around mile 21. Speaking of the spectators, I was amazed at the number of people cheering. It was really incredible. Crowds lined the streets for much of the race cheering and giving high 5's. And they are looking for something/someone to cheer for so I had fun with that a couple of times. My running partner, Chad, and I sometimes waved our arms up and down to get them going! It gave us energy. So kudos to all you spectators out there!

I have some pictures and videos to post later today when I get back home.

A big thank you to all who prayed for me this past week/weekend. My cold was totally gone, and I was able to run the whole thing. I only walked for about 10 seconds through one of the last water stops. Praise the Lord!

Its Marathon Time!

Well its almost here. The marathon is just 11 short hours away. After a busy day of picking up our race packet, wandering through the race expo, and driving through a bunch of Chicago I'm ready to get a full nights sleep.

Throughout the last 7 months of training, numerous people have asked me why I'm running the Chicago marathon. I was reminded tonight of how grateful we should be that we have the ability to run, walk, and breath. I hope by running to bring glory to God. I hope by running to support pro life. This is really our teams mission...that is to support the gift of life.

I would go on but brievity rules the night.

Up in the morning at 4:45am.

P.S. pictures to come hopefully tomorrow.

Arrived in Chicago

Well I've arrived in Chicago. The two people I sat next to on the plane from Denver were both running the marathon; in fact I think about half of the people on the flight were running =)

I met up with some of the other people on our running team in Denver and just met a few more here at the hotel. I think there are 12 of us in total. We are getting ready to go grab a bite to eat and then to bed. More to come tomorrow!

Its Chicago Time!

T-3 days! I leave for Chicago tomorrow early afternoon and the marathon is on Sunday morning 7am MST. So as your are headed to church remember me in your prayers.

I hope to post some updates on this blog throughout the course of the weekend so check back often.

As I often tell myself on the long runs: "Run for fun, Run for Him"

Wow...

As I'm just 10 short days away from the Chicago Marathon, I'm not sure if this story is encouraging or discouraging; yet is certainly is amazing!

"Imagine running a mile in four minutes, 43 seconds. Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia just ran 26.2 of them to shatter his own marathon record on September 28. He completed the distance in 2:03:59 at the Berlin Marathon. Talk about incredible!"

2 Peter

"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love.

For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (Chapter 1:3-11)

I have been reading through 2 Peter each day in my devotions over the past couple of weeks. This section in chapter one has stood out to me. We are called to "make every effort" to add these wonderful character traits to our everyday lives culminating in an increase of our faith and love.

Beer Drinkers Beware

PDA addiction

Sure, you love your BlackBerry, but do you sleep with it?

A study by Sheraton Hotels & Resorts released this week says nearly 87 percent of professionals are so addicted to their PDAs that they’re taking them to bed — and would even choose them over their spouse.

The study surveyed 6,500 professionals from the United States, China, Australia, the United Kingdom and Germany with an individual income of $50,000 and higher.

Nearly 35 percent of those surveyed say they'd pick their PDA over their spouse.

About 84 percent of people say they check their phones either before they go to bed or when they wake up in the morning. (CSBJ daily)

Do you have experience?

You couldn't get a job at McDonalds and become district
manager after 143 days of experience.

You couldn't become chief of surgery after 143 days
of experience of being a surgeon.

You couldn't get a job as a teacher and be the
superintendent after 143 days of experience.

You couldn't join the military and become a colonel
after a 143 days of experience.

You couldn't get a job as a reporter and become the
nightly news anchor after 143 days of experience.

BUT....

'From the time Barack Obama was sworn in as a United
State Senator, to the time he announced he was forming a Presidential
exploratory committee, he logged 143 days of experience in the Senate.
That's how many days the Senate was actually in session and working.
After 143 days of work experience, Obama believed he was ready to be
Commander In Chief, Leader of the Free World .... 143 days.
We all have to start somewhere. The senate is a good
start, but after 143 days, that's all it is - a start.
AND, strangely, a large sector of the American public
is okay with this and campaigning for him.

We wouldn't accept this in our own line of work, yet some are okay with this for the President of the United States of America ? Come on folks, we are not voting for the next American Idol!

Dear Mr. Obama

Here is a video someone forwarded me today...

Marathon Update 9/9/08

After some painful runs over the past couple of weeks I'm starting to feel better. I've been battling some intense IT band soreness, which is the muscle between your quad and hamstring. As I'm beginning to learn runners often deal IT band issues. I just got a new pair of shoes this week and they have made a world of difference. Additionally my chiropractor has stretched it out a couple of times which really makes my entire leg feel better.

After this evening's 6-miler, my right knee is the only thing that is sore. Praise the Lord! Hopefully, I'll get totally back on track this week and be able to run all the miles on my training schedule.

Less than 5 weeks till Chicago!

"Run for fun, Run for life, Run for Him"

Quoteables

"The Democrats now have a mama bear and her cubs to deal with"

Chicago Marathon

For those of you who don't know I'm training to run the Chicago Marathon coming up October 12th. I have just completed my 22nd week of training with 8 weeks to go. A normal week consists of 4 runs: two short(er) runs, one medium run, and a long run. Today I ran 15 miles which is the farthest I've run up to this point. Never having run a marathon before or even really being a runner has made the last couple of months a new experience. As the marathon draws closer, I hope to share some of these experiences with you via video blog updates!

"And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us" -Heb 12:1b

Running in the rain

So this morning my buddy Chad and I ran 15 miles...in the rain. We were both drenched to the core but it really wasn't all that bad. Here are a couple of videos!

Fireproof

From the creators of Facing the Giants, Fireproof has the makings of a family friendly film that portrays an ethical and Biblical worldview. Check out the trailer below...

Did you know...

The word "racecar," "kayak," and "radar" are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.

What are you looking at?

Here is a picture I took over the weekend. Over 20 big horn sheep walked right towards us--they were only about 30 feet away!

Winners drive home in the dark...

Neil Boortz, Commencement Speech:

• Don't look in other people's pockets. You have no business there. What they earn is theirs. What you earn is yours. Keep it that way. Nobody owes you anything, except to respect your privacy and your rights, and leave you the hell alone.

• Speaking of earning, the revered 40-hour workweek is for losers. Forty hours should be considered the minimum, not the maximum. You don't see highly successful people clocking out of the office every afternoon at five. The losers are the ones caught up in that afternoon rush hour. The winners drive home in the dark.

• Free speech is meant to protect unpopular speech. Popular speech, by definition, needs no protection.

Finally (and aren't you glad to hear that word), as Og Mandino wrote:

1. Proclaim your rarity. Each of you is a rare and unique human being.
2. Use wisely your power of choice.
3. Go the extra mile .. drive home in the dark.

Read the entire speech here

Quoteables

"I can live two months on a good compliment" -Mark Twain

"You can't stay mad at somebody who that makes you laugh" -Jay Leno

"You are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long" -Psalm 25

Be like an old oak tree...

Have you ever planted a tree? I have…lots of em.’ When a tree comes from the nursery it is “balled and burlaped.” The roots are wrapped to protect them until the tree gets planted. Imagine what would happen if the burlap never came off of the rootball. Would the tree grow strong and healthy? Nope. In fact, it would die. The roots would get so confined that the tree would actually kill itself. Just because it is a tree doesn’t automatically mean it can grow. It needs water, sunlight, and space to thrive in.

Now you may be wondering why I’m giving you a tree planting lesson. I don’t expect many of you plant trees on a regular basis but the question I have for you is: are you in a place where you can grow?

You might be okay right now at the nursery wrapped in your protective burlap but what will happen in two years if you haven’t planted yourself somewhere? What will happen in five years if you are still wrapped in the burlap and you haven’t grown in stature, wisdom or other things of the Lord? What will happen if you manage to plant yourself but don’t get any sunlight, water or space?

Be like an old oak tree; never stop growing.

Here are three practical suggestions:

1. Put yourself in places where you can grow. Sitting at home watching sitcoms doesn’t cut it.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to convict you of areas in your life you need to grow in. Ask for humility while working on these areas.
3. Talk to a close friend and ask them what your weakest character trait is. Work on it.

Change?

Springs Starbucks Safe

For all you coffee lovers out there...

"Starbucks officials released a list yesterday of 600 underperforming U.S. stores the company planned to close in order to save money, and it appears that all Colorado Springs locations will remain open.

However, nine stores in Colorado will close – three in Denver, two in Loveland and single stores in Longmont, Lakewood, Broomfield and Conifer.

No specific closing date has been announced, but the company said many will start closing this month.

The shutdowns will continue through the first half of 2009" -CSBJ Daily