Biking can Improve Running and Fitness

by   May 18, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

My running heyday (that means the best timed results) was back in the mid-’80s through the ’90s. I was mostly a self-taught runner, although a few really good books on the subject eventually came out. Two events in my life made me realize that a bicycle is a good training partner for running improvement.

One of my experiences involved a stationary bike, shortly after the South Rowan YMCA opened in November 1994. I was running well in races and trying to stay right on the cusp of not training so much that I became tired while still maximizing my efforts and focus on the next weekend’s race. At that time, I was running 70-mile weeks and sometimes more. Sleeping too little as well.

When the Y opened, I joined right away with the intent of improving my training concept. It’s the sort of thing that a coach would help with now, but having a personal running coach didn’t really exist then. Several days a week, I ran twice a day, something fairly common with super competitive runners then and now. The Kenyans sometimes run three times a day.

Experimenting with a few things, I exchanged the second run (often done at lunch or at night) with an intense stationary bike workout. The South Y at that time only had two upright stationary bikes, the ones that more closely simulate a real bike ride. I kept my early morning runs and then added an evening programmed intense ride on the stationary bike twice a week for 45 minutes, usually Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Two things happened. Because the bike rides were not weight bearing, I didn’t wear my legs out. I had more zip in my morning training runs and almost immediately faster times.

The second event was arthroscopic knee surgery in 2012, just ahead of my first cross-country bike ride. I had loose cartilage in the knee removed, and then immediately went back to run training. For several months, no matter what I did, the scoped knee remained weaker. I listened to a couple of favorite physical therapists and the operating surgeon and used both road and stationary bikes to help strengthen it. I began to make improvement but wondered if my knee could stand more than 4,000 miles of pedaling across America.

Not two weeks into the ride, I realized that I couldn’t tell which knee had been operated on. I credit the bikes for finally strengthening the knee to evenly match the other one.

Here are some other good ways to use a bike to improve performance and increase overall fitness. Most runners pick a certain number of days to train per week. They usually mix in a long day, a couple of intense days at near race pace, maybe an occasional hill workout, and a slightly less long run. Often they plan to take a day or two off from running, yet still want to get the mental boost from exercise. Cyclists would say that you can get all those things from a bicycle. The benefits are similar, and just for fun, you as a runner might try a high-intensity bike ride and see whether it can fit your training program.

If you feel the need to fill an off day from running, that could be the perfect time for an easy bike ride, stationary or road, just letting the body move and recover from the impact. Keep the resistance light for active recovery and to balance the stress load on your body from the week. It’s an effective way to increase circulation without impact, which can help speed the rate of recovery. Some runners find it much easier to cycle easy than to run easy.

Next Saturday, May 15, is the Ed Dupree 5K, held at East Rowan High and benefitting Hospice and Ed’s scholarship. Ed’s daughter Allison is the race director and will make all runners and walkers feel welcome as she and Ed’s grandson, Frank, join the participants on the fast course. As a long-time Salisbury Post sportswriter and editor, Ed was one of Rowan’s foremost advocates of running.

Let Go

by   May 17, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Letting go.

It is personal.

No one can do it for you.

Telling someone to let go can be helpful — but only if they let go.

As a 10-year-old, I attended swim classes at the YMCA. The instructor was nice. The water was not too cold. I would sit on the steps of the pool. I would then walk down the steps while holding on to the side of the pool.

The next step would be to let go of the side of the pool. I refused. Not one time during those lessons did I let go. I regret that my parents had to pay for me to hold on to the side of the pool.

As a 20-year-old, I was required to pass a swim test in college in order to pass PE. My teacher very calmly told me that I would need to let go of the side of the pool in order to swim.

I promised I would try. He waited. Nothing.

Finally he counted expressively, “One, two, three. Let go!”

After a few countdowns, he gently spoke these words, “In order to let go, you will have to open your hands.”

Trust me — the side of the pool was not easy to let go of, but I finally did. Instruction became possible. I learned to swim that semester and earned my A in PE. My teacher was proud.

Until I opened my hands, let go and chose to trust, there would have been little chance of overcoming my lifelong fear of the water. I could have held on with hands tightly clenched to the side of the pool for the entire semester — and admit defeat. But I chose to trust my teacher and then began to trust the water that surrounded me.

Trust changed everything.

Trust. It is a small but beautiful word that brings out our emotions and resonates as a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or some thing.

When most of us were growing up, we may remember standing on some stairs yelling out, “Catch me, Daddy!” Then, with reckless abandon we would let go and fly through the air because we had complete trust that our father would catch us. He always would.

Or maybe we remember our children jumping into their father’s arms from the stairs, as they yelled out, “Catch me, Daddy!” and went diving through the air with complete trust that he would catch them. He always would.

The trust a child can have in his father — it is an amazing thing.

The trust we can have in our heavenly father — it is an amazing thing.

Which would feel sweeter?

How we feel when we know we can trust God?

Or how God must feel knowing that we trust him?

I think both make him smile.

Ecclesiastes 3:6 tells us that there is a time to let go.

Trust God! Do not fear. He will catch us!

Every. Time.

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

A Mother’s Love

by   May 15, 2021 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

A Mother’s Love

            My mother lives about an hour away and I try to get by and see her a couple of times a month. My mother is what I call “Information Central.” When I arrive at her house she tells me all the family news. There is lots of news when you consider her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. She knows or wants to know what is going on in everyone’s family. Then when she finds out, she can’t hold it in. She is just so excited to share the news.

            Naturally, when I arrive she wants to know any news from my little corner of the world so she can add it to her collection of family news. I think my mother would have made a great traveling news person from long ago. She can tell stories in such interesting ways. I sometimes worry about who will keep all the news when she is no longer with us.

            My mother always has something she wants to show me. At this time of the year it will probably be related to gardening. It could also be the snake she killed in her house, have you heard that story yet? Sometimes she wants to show me something she found at the store for one of the grandkids. She is so excited and can’t wait to see their faces when she gives it to them.

            My mom is getting a little older, although she will tell you she’s a year older than she actually is. Her reason is that she is “working” on that age. Anyway, I like to help her with whatever chores I can while I am there. Our parents sacrificed and give so much of themselves for us while we were growing up, it feels nice to be able to pay some of that back at this point in my life. She always appreciates anything I do even though it doesn’t feel like much.

            I think most moms make great cheerleaders for any accomplishments in their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Moms are genuinely excited and proud of achievements. It is nice to be noticed for the good things and accomplishments in life.

            When it comes down to it, moms wear so many different hats in life. First, they go through all the trouble to bring us into this world. Their burden doesn’t end there. They have to take care of us when we are sick, fix all our bumps and scrapes, feed and try to keep our growing bodies in clothes, help us with our homework, take us to our many activities, listen to our problems, and forgive us when we say mean things. They take care of our physical needs, help us through emotional moments, and try to point us to God for our spiritual needs.

            The truth is no mom is perfect. Mrs. Cleaver or Mrs. Brady from TV just don’t exist in the real world. Moms are real people who struggle to maintain in an imperfect world. They do their best, and understandably, have to leave the rest. Our job, according to scripture, is to love, honor, and appreciate them.

            I have heard through the years of people who have been blessed to find a second mom. They discovered someone who shows them the love, care, and boundaries that they missed at home. It’s wonderful when we can find someone who provides that deep sense of comfort. The scriptures promise us that God himself will step in and be our mother and our father if we find ourselves in that place of need.

            God loves us far greater than any parent ever could. His love is perfect. It provides the support and corrective guidance to help us live godly lives. His love encourages and challenges us to fulfill our God-ordained purpose in life. His love draws us into a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him. His love fills the empty hole left by an absent parent. His love can and will meet us at any point of need in our lives. We just have to open our hearts to Him.

            I want to encourage you to open your heart to God. It doesn’t matter if you had great parents, absent parents, or something in between; God wants to heal any brokenness in your heart. God loves you unconditionally, but His love will not leave you in a broken state. His love will grow you and mold you into the image of His Son. His love wants to mold you into a vessel that can carry His perfect love so you can share it with others.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

A Personal Testimony

by   May 13, 2021 with No Comments

By Jim Howard

A testimony from today.“Give and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.””

Luke 6:38 ESV

I am going to share an experience from today. In sharing it, I will mention skin pigmentation. The only reason that has any bearing on this story is that possibly it will help someone see things through a different light. Here’s the story: Wanda and I were eating at a local cafeteria. I saw a gentleman who was probably 15 years younger than me but looked older. He had skin darker than mine, and he was walking with a cane as he headed toward the cash register. As he passed our booth he was fumbling with a couple things that he was carrying. In the process, his ticket fell to the floor. I saw it and got out of my seat to pick up the ticket for him. My decision to do that was not influenced, one way or the other, by pigmentation. Compassion in me saw someone who could use help and I responded. I knew immediately that I was going to pay for his lunch. He had spotted the Navy cap I was wearing and showed me his Marine Corps ring. I thanked him for his service, as he did me, and I told him that I was paying for his lunch and he thanked me as he left.

When we finished our meal, Wanda spotted, across the room, a young family of father, mother, and a daughter that appeared to be about 6 years old. The parents were probably the age of our grandchildren and their skin, ie. their outer covering, was darker than ours. They were not present to witness my earlier experience. We walked over to say what a lovely daughter they had. During our conversation the dad asked for our ticket because he wanted to pay it. Our ticket was more than twice the amount of the one I was paying for the marine (good measure, pressed down, etc). In just a few minutes we all knew that we had made a divine connection. We knew that we had met some kinfolks from the family of God. We spoke God’s blessings on each other. I gave them a signed copy of “If You Don’t Get Offended You’ll Get Blessed” and the dad asked if he could hug me and he did. We hated to go our own ways.

I’ll share an old expression of mine that can be a Jim-ism when I can abbreviate it enough to fit a little green box. “We are not all children of God. Jesus said to some religious folks, “you are of your father the devil”. A whole lot of the people you meet tomorrow will be the devils kids. God has been trying to adopt them but they are not willing. There are two families on the earth. You are in one of the other. You’re either a sinner or a saint, you are saved or you ain’t. Being a Christ follower locates me in a family and gives me family relationship with all other Christ followers. Skin pigmentation does not necessarily indicate family relationship. I know a lot of people with skin that is colored about like my Scotch Irish covering, (a little pinkish and real light brownish), that I claim no kinship to and don’t want to. I also know a lot of people who would identify as black, brown, red, or yellow, and we know, without a doubt, that we are kin. We all need to be careful who we call brother or sister. You might be claiming the devil as your daddy”.

Wanda and I were blessed to meet some family members today. We recognized some strong family resemblances. The Bible calls them the fruit of the Spirit. For a little extra blessing on our giving, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick up a prescription and the lady handed it out the window and said, “we took care of the co-pay. Have a nice day”. I love this family I live in. If you are not a member The Father is waiting to welcome you.

Romans 8:16-17 ESV – The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.

Upper Body Strength

by   May 11, 2021 with No Comments

By David Freeze

One of my favorite things to do each year is returning! The dragonboat festival is set for July 24. Our running club members look forward to competing each year, even though runners aren’t the stereotype for the fastest dragonboat participants. You might wonder why, since runners usually have the best cardiovascular systems and can push their lungs and heart for long stints.

The reason that some runners might be lacking is that many don’t worry much about core and upper body strength. Runners have strong legs and big lungs, but the best dragonboat teams have some upper body strength too. Men and women.

Each race in the competition only lasts about 80 seconds, which doesn’t seem too long unless you are in the boat trying to keep rowing strongly during that time. That 80 seconds is really hard work, likely to have you feeling and looking like a worn-out Olympic rower at the finish line.

As a running coach, the first thing I assess is the arm involvement and perceived momentum generated. Having a certain strength in the arms is a goal. I’m known to yell, “Arms, arms, arms!” as a runner does track workouts. A stronger arm carriage makes for faster times, meaning that the arms don’t weaken and gradually drop during an intense interval.

What is especially interesting to me is the similarity of strength building workouts for dragonboat paddlers and runners too. All of these are simple, and everyone can do them. I can guarantee that you will improve in balance, strength and confidence too. The only equipment needed are two dumbbells or a set of resistance bands.

Here are some things that all of us can do to help strengthen our upper bodies, all doable at home or a gym. Nearly every morning, I go upstairs for some additional exercise. I always start with planks, my favorite strength exercise. The core, and especially the lower back benefit as well as the arms and shoulders. Check out the proper form online and start small. I dread them and love them too, but planks work to build physical and mental strength. I do a certain number of minutes after having worked on it at least 5 days a week for the last couple years.

I follow that with pushups, something that I have done for most of my adult life. I follow the planks with pushups after waiting 2-3 minutes for recovery. Just start with as many as you can do and work up. Remember to breathe. One set minimum. With any of these, increase sets as desired.

Then I move to sit-ups, doing as many as I can. One set. These three exercises don’t require any additional equipment.

If interested, you can add some more dumbbell workouts. I prefer simple.

Start with lateral side raises. Start at your sides with a dumbbell in each hand, raise them to shoulder height with arms straight out, and then return to your side. Sort of like a bird flapping its wings.

Then bicep curls, holding the dumbbells with palms out and raising them to your shoulders, using just the forearms. Then lower back to in front of thighs.

The triceps raise extension comes next. Most people start by holding the dumbbell behind your head with elbows at the ears, both hands on the same dumbbell. Raise it over your head and then lower back down.

And finally, the shoulder press has you standing with a dumbbell in each hand at ear height and pushing both straight up to maximum height, almost touching at the top of the extension, then lowering back to ear height.

No matter what your intent, these exercises will increase your upper body strength. Then join us at one of our upcoming activities, found at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

The Overcomer

by   May 10, 2021 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Without a doubt, the columns I have received the most messages and emails about have dealt with going through difficult circumstances in life. The Lord has certainly allowed me to go through many trials — and my tests have become my testimonies.

I love the promise in John 16:33: “These things have I spoken unto you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

How much tribulation must we deal with that needs to be overcome?

In most of our lives, the answer to that question is: a lot!

But we can be of good cheer! Not only can we be of good cheer, but we can have peace. Not only can we be of good cheer and have peace, but we also have an overcomer! His name is Jesus!

To overcome means to prevail over, to defeat, to overpower or ascendancy. The word ascendancy is a noun that means to occupy a position of power or influence.

The Lord is our overcomer! He prevails over our lives. He defeats and overpowers our enemies. He occupies the position of power and influence in our world. This knowledge surely can bring peace in our lives.

It seems way too often that my husband and I have to look at each other with a sigh and a head-shake as we say, “It’s always something!”

It is always something, isn’t it? I mean — that’s a promise, right? We will have tribulation. The meaning of tribulation is great trouble. Yes, great trouble comes quite often.

I like to repeat this often: Jesus is my overcomer.

• Health problems? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Financial needs? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Anxiety? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Spiritual weakness? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Emotional problems? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Children struggling? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Marriage problems? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Fear? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Problems at work? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Loneliness? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Grieving? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Failure? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Ice cream in a cone melting over my hand? Jesus is my overcomer.

• Need to get a flying bug out of my house? Jesus is my overcomer.

The last two were to see if you were paying attention, but also remind us that Jesus is not only our overcomer in times of life’s big problems, but also in our everyday lives.

Jesus is my overcomer!

Ann Farabee is a teacher, writer and speaker. Contact her at  annfarabee@gmail.com or annfarabee.com.

Plant Day

by   May 8, 2021 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Plant Day

            There is a day in late spring that I consider a very happy day. It’s the day when all my wife’s plants move out of the garage and find their summer home outside. I imagine the plants are happy, too. Some of them are leggy and in need of some TLC. My wife and I work on them together. We trim off old, dead leaves. We add soil and fertilizer when needed. Some plants get cut way back, while others get repotted.

            The plants will fill both the front and back porch areas. They get moved around all summer as they will grow bigger and fuller. I love to sit on the porch and read with her plants all around. There is such a wonderful peace being surrounded by her plants. It is a happy day when the plants come out of the garage.

            I have also been working out in the vegetable garden. I have everything in the garden except the tomatoes. I know, what’s wrong with me? Between the late cold snaps and just being busy with other things, we haven’t made our many spring trips to the garden centers. We’ll be out there soon; I hear those tomatoes calling.

            I want to put up some more fences to discourage the deer from paying us a visit. I haven’t seen them in the yard yet this year, but I am sure they are in the woods. I am also going to have to do some work on the squirrels and rabbits. They need a little discouraging, too. They are both a bit brazen. They will sit a few feet away and eat.

            I looked out the window early one morning and saw a baby rabbit scampering around our back patio. I hope he knows that the lettuce growing in a pot is NOT for him. While I really don’t want to see a hawk take away a rabbit, I wouldn’t mind seeing a few less squirrels in the area. We seem to have an abundance of them right now.

            I have been thinking about all these critters that want to eat what I grow. I love to see wildlife outside my window; I just don’t want to see it enjoying my fruits and vegetables. There is a parallel to our spiritual lives. God provides lots of spiritual food for us, but sometimes we allow the enemy to come and steal it.

            I can’t be the only one who has sat in church and allowed my mind to wander onto something else. Why is it so easy to be distracted at church? The enemy wants to keep you from growing strong and producing fruit. There are plenty of things to distract us and keep us from the meal that the pastor has worked so hard to prepare for us.

            You know why your Bible is covered in dust all week? The enemy has ways of keeping us busy so we don’t have time for reading and building our strength. If we read the Bible, believe it, and find ways to apply it to our lives, then the enemy to our soul will be in big trouble. He will do anything to keep us from cracking open the Good Book.

            When we pray we are changing the world around us. The enemy doesn’t want us to pray. If we pray we will tap into unimaginable power. Have you ever fallen asleep while praying? Have you ever started praying and then realized you were stewing about something else? Has your phone ever rung while you were praying? The enemy wants to keep you from bowing your head in prayer.

            There are so many things that can easily distract us and keep us from growing stronger and closer to God. There are texts, emails, 24-hour news channels, and scrolling through your favorite social media. There is also anger, bitterness, resentment, and being offended. The point of all these distractions is to keep you away from God’s presence, His deep love for you, and the power He has for you to live a different life.

            I want to encourage you to remove the distractions that are keeping you from being in God’s presence. He loves you and wants you to grow stronger by consuming His word and allowing it to grow within you. He wants to answer your prayers, but you have to pray them first. He wants to speak to you through your pastor, so you have to discipline your mind to listen. God wants the seed of His word to produce fruit in the garden of your life. Work with Him so you can bring in a bountiful harvest.

Contact Doug Creamer at PO Box 777, Faith, NC 28041or doug@dougcreamer.com

Seasons and Sadie

by   May 7, 2021 with No Comments

By Roger Barbee

        Seasons and Sadie

            Sometime last week I first noticed the seasonal changes on the mountain. Working in the raised flower garden, I went to the shop for some pruning shears and on the way back, I glanced to the saddle just south of Edinburg Gap. Yep, there was a light touch of yellow, gold, and specks of red. Since that day last week, the change has spread along the ridge, causing the mountain to take on an array of colors like those of an artist’s palette.

            However, before the cold and snow of another winter arrives,  we have weeks of sharp, vibrant colors to enjoy. Not only have leaves begun to turn on the ridge of the mountain, but I have seen some sugar maple leaves turning.  It is indeed a magical season that seems to have arrived unannounced, but I know that lack of awareness  is about me and not the seasonal cycle. Yet, we all are often taken aback by how quickly the change of seasons happens. On the last day of September, while working on a doll house in the shop, I opened the large doors that face the mountain so I could see the same saddle from last week.  I glanced up often to marvel at  how the colors had increased. Not only had the ridge taken on more color, but also the base shone with a dull orange tinge that announced the coming change. Sanding and painting the intricate parts of the doll house, I thought how as this seasonal change has come  many of us in the valley have continued on with our daily lives—the joys, the sorrows, the squabbles, and the mundane, without taking heed of the dramatic change happening on the mountain and around us. Then I thought of Sadie and her words to Mary Ann, my wife.

                        When Mary Ann and I first met, one of the first people in her life about whom she told me was her long-time friend, Sadie, who now lives in Gettysburg. Attending the same church, Sadie and Mary Ann had shared much in their lives until Sadie was called to counsel violent, male prisoners in the Pennsylvania state system. Over the years of her prison counseling, Sadie came to realize that, until she became an ordained minister, she would be limited by the restraints of the state prison system. So, this  spunky lady in her late fifties enrolled in the Lutheran Seminary in Gettysburg so that she could do more for “her” violent prisoners. After years of hearing about her and her work in the prisons with the men that she said had been forgotten, I was finally going to meet her.

                        Sadie and Mike, her husband, invited family and friends to her ordination. It was a lovely service in an old Lutheran Church near Gettysburg. However, what struck me was how much energy flowed from the small frame of Sadie. Like many celebrations, her ordination was over a weekend, but her glass-framed, smiling face seemed to be in all places with all her family and friends. With her ordination, her prison outreach expanded, and we began regular trips to Gettysburg to race the local marathon, see the historical sights, and share time with Sadie and Mike.

                        Sometimes we would share time with both, but on occasion  Mike would be out of town, so we had Sadie to ourselves. She showed us interesting, seemingly unknown parts of her hometown, she shared with us her work in the prison system, and her work as an assistant pastor. She told us how the men she ministered to had done horrible, unspeakable things, but also how they were human beings who had suffered abuse. She could sit over a meal and tell of these men without  judging; she acknowledged their horrific crimes and their humanity. And always, she was cheerful, bright, wise, and kind. Then  three years ago she shared, over a light salad, how she was having discomfort and could not eat much. That discomfort progressed into cancer.

                        Tears. Treatments. Pain. Fears. All of it and more, she and her family have gone through  much. Yet, like some people, Sadie has somehow continued to smile and radiate energy—until this week when she told Mary Ann, “I knew this would happen (her decline). Do what you have to do…it happens so fast.” The vibrant, loving lady who went to seminary late in life in order to serve humanity now has only about an hour of energy each day.

                        Change is happening on the mountain and in our lives. In the midst of all that change,  we are occupied with the ordinary concerns of life. But, are we living or just going through the motions? Perhaps we should heed Sadie’s words-”it happens so fast”-and do what really matters.

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