So You Want to Run a Marathon

by   January 15, 2026 with No Comments

By David Freeze

So You Want to Run a Marathon?

 Every few years, I visit this topic. Running a marathon is for many a bucket list item. For me it was achieved one year to the day past my first training run. How do I remember this exactly? Because I watched the 1979 New York City Marathon on TV and then gained entry before finishing the 1980 NYC event. I chased marathons for the next 20 years.

    Running a marathon is complicated, and much of that comes from goals, many of them that are based on what the participant would be happy with for their first marathon (26.2 miles). Lots of questions become immediately important, like the “why?” What made you want to do this, at this time, at this particular place and what results are you looking for?

    Most runners do think about the possibility of their own marathon, even if just in fleeting. I also suggest that runners figure out their own why with some experienced input.

    Is the timing right, do you have available hours to hit the road over a continuous period for an average of about 16-18 weeks? At this point, runners need to decide what pace they want to run and how many training days a week will be needed. Usually for beginners, there is a day off or even two per week. And consider a professional who can help you with a training plan that needs to be posted in plain sight. This is your goal sheet for the whole training cycle from start to finish.

     The key to a good plan is to increase the long run distance weekly, making this day the most important day of the week. No good marathons come without long distance training runs, the meat and potatoes of marathoning. You want to build to at least a minimum of 20 continuous miles running, but my recommendation for those more competitive is to do 23-24 minimum miles, All this at a slightly slower than race pace but to instill in the mind that you “can” do this distance. Along the way are the evenly paced base runs and the interval sessions or occasional 5Ks to keep your legs remembering how to run fast.

     Next comes the “where”. There are thousands of good marathons around the world, so find one that excites you to visit and see closely while on the course. Make it a destination event, to build more energy and excitement. Some want to make the first marathon into a group event, with friends participating or spectating too. Or maybe, your goal is an all-in adventure focused on yourself or just close family. My suggestion, make sure you meet your own goals of how to experience this “once in a lifetime moment!”

     Once you have made these decisions on logistics, lock in your travel plans. Take that worry out of the equation and also register at first opportunity for the race. At the cost of marathons now, get the cheapest early pricing. Lock in both and push far away any thoughts of backing out.

    Learn about yourself during your training. Do the work, make up any lost training days and research your race. Learn the course and plan how you will run it. Set a goal time and pace but know that you will learn a huge amount about yourself in this first marathon.

    What else do you need to worry about? Get your sleep, try out your race day gear, food and any gels you plan to use. Anything else that stresses you, figure it out and remove the issue. Practice your early morning runs at the same time your race will be.

   There are a few things you won’t know about until you experience them during training and the marathon. Follow a good plan, get your miles and complete your marathon challenge. Good luck.

   Don’t forget Thursday’s Resolution Run 5K at The Forum for a great price while benefiting Rowan Helping Ministries. Look for more info and other upcoming events at www.salisburyrowanrunners.org

Gotta’ Run: So you want to run a marathon?

A Brush with the Law

by   January 14, 2026 with No Comments

By Lynna Clark

I love my little town. Salisbury, NC has so much going for it. Sure, that includes some crazy but don’t you think every family has a touch of crazy? It keeps things interesting. Sometimes folks refer to us as “Smallsbury” in a derogatory fashion. That’s okay. I think small is a good thing. In fact, someday when I write my book I might just title it that. Smallsbury, USA.

Many neighborhoods still exist here where we look out for one another. The other day I was standing at the kitchen window when I noticed a cop car slowing down. It proceeded to pull into my mom-in-law’s driveway. My heart just stopped. I alerted David so we both moved to the front window and peered through the curtains like Gladys Kravitz on Bewitched. What is going on across the road?!!

We checked our cell phones to make sure we hadn’t missed a call. As we watched to see what was afoot, David grabbed his shoes so he could run interference between the police and his eighty-nine year old mother. Not that we needed to warn her in case she was smoking pot or something. We just wanted to be there if she was going to be arrested while “Bad Boys, Bad Boys” played in the background.

Jay w KK

However, before David could get his shoes on all fear was gone. The policeman turned out to be our nephew. Since he was in town for court, he decided to stop by his grandmother’s house to check on her. Then every cop’s worst nightmare happened. His grandmother sent him across the street to our house with a box of doughnuts. Talk about stereotypes. Bless his heart. 

This would not be Nina’s first brush with the law. She was driving home from serving Meals on Wheels one night years ago, when she made a right turn beside a vehicle which was stopped for a light. Since there was no turning lane, the police pulled her over. When asked for her license she realized her purse was locked in the trunk. Exiting the vehicle into a night filled with flashing blue lights, there she was, guilty before God and everybody. As she opened the trunk she was sure that all who passed thought she’d been busted for drugs. Nervously she retrieved her purse. Suddenly matters got even worse. Dropping her pocketbook, as we say in the South, she watched as the contents spilled across the pavement. No telling how many tubes of lipstick rolled into the gutter that night. As she stood there mortified, two nice policemen chased down the contents. Her lifetime motto has always been, “Lipstick makes everything better.” That night might have been the one exception.

As you know, things aren’t always as they seem. The policeman knocking on her door was not there to interrogate. The cop carrying doughnuts across the road was just doing his grandmother a favor. And the lady in the blue light was not being busted for drugs. In Salisbury though, we already knew that. Word travels fast here because we’re all standing at our windows, peering out checking on our neighbors. I especially love that small town living includes policemen who love their grandmothers, deliver doughnuts, and chase lipstick for nervous women.

God bless Smallsbury!

*Special thanks to my beloved nephew Jason Hinson who allowed me to take his picture while in uniform holding a box of Krispy Kreme. What a man!

Hope & Joy!

by   January 13, 2026 with No Comments

Have you ever seen a beat up car or truck driving down the road? Have you ever wondered why? Most people just point, or now, take pictures and post them. This Steve Hartman story is about just such a truck… ENJOY!!!

Our Timeless Jesus

by   January 12, 2026 with No Comments

Max Lucado says we just did something God never does… Know what it is? Take a few moments and listen to his encouragement… You will be encouraged!!

Baa! Baa!

by   January 12, 2026 with No Comments

By Ann Farabee

Baa! Baa!

While on a field trip to a farm with my twenty kindergarten students, we saw some sheep. You know – those beautiful pure white animals that softly and gently say, “Baa.”

Even though they were in a fenced in area and my students were safely huddled around me, I laughed when one of the sheep emitted a true, “BAA!” Every student and I backed away immediately and collectively, sticking closer than a brother to their teacher and their classmates.

Seriously, though. That “BAA” was really loud!

Plus, that fleece was nowhere near pure white!

Some sheep stats for ‘ewe’ to read:

 *They have no survival skills.

 *They will follow the sheep in front of them, even off a cliff.

 *They bleat, grunt, rumble, snort. (BAA is a bleat.)

 *Their main defense mechanism is to RUN.

 *Most die because of predators or from stress.

 *They have poor vision.

 *They feed from dawn to dusk.

 *They are often referred to as being dumb.

Some shepherd stats for ‘ewe’ to read:

 *They guide their sheep to the best pastures.

 *They are skillful, guard, lead, correct, and teach.

 *They tenderly search for sheep that stray.

 *They protect their sheep from harm.

 *They bind their wounds when they are hurt.

 *They nurture them through health problems.

 *They shear and clean them to provide better mobility and decrease stress.

 *They anoint them with ointment to bring comfort when troubled by insects, so they can rest.

 *They stay with them during the darkness of night, keeping them safe.

 *They put the welfare of their sheep above their own lives.

Those sheep. They sure are needy.

Those shepherds. They sure are good.

Reminds me of something. Oh yes! It reminds me of us!

John 10 says that Jesus is the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives his life for his sheep. He knows his sheep. He calls them by name. They know him.

Say this aloud: The Good Shepherd.

Again: The Good Shepherd.

Beautiful words, aren’t they?

We like sheep have gone astray.

We sure are needy, aren’t we?

The Lord is our shepherd. We shall not want.

We once were lost but now are found.

He sure is good, isn’t He?

I don’t know how you feel while reading this, but I sure was thanking God while writing it!

It makes me just want to look toward heaven, lift my hands in praise, and cry out to Jesus, “Baa…baa. I need You, Lord! Thank you for being my Good Shepherd!”

If we truly get a glimpse of how much our Good Shepherd loves and cares for us, I don’t think we will need to count sheep to help us get to sleep tonight!

National Quitters Day

by   January 11, 2026 with No Comments

By Ashlie Miller

We live in a time where every day on the calendar seems to be a “National ________ Day.” Many restaurants capitalize on the idea to sell more products: “Come get your deal on donuts on National Donut Day!” It should come as no surprise that there is a “National Quitters’ Day.” In case you missed it, you may have inadvertently celebrated it anyway. This year, it was Friday, January 9th, and it marked the time when many people have already given up on their New Year’s Resolution. To be fair, it does feel like we are already in spring, so maybe you feel like you are doing a better job keeping resolutions than you actually are.

According to Strava, a fitness app that tracks data of its users, a huge majority of people slow or halt their fitness goals by the second Friday of January. Motivation has gone out the window with the empty Krispy Kreme box.

While teaching my children science lessons recently, we were discussing the First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) – energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another. The amount of energy is just there existing. We cannot get more out of it than what exists.

Unfortunately, this is true of motivation, as well. If we go into a plan or goal with a certain amount of energy and enthusiasm, it eventually runs out if we aren’t adding to it. That leads to exhaustion and eventually collapse (evidently in most cases by the second Friday of January).

What can sustain us? How do we continue doing what we should and quit the things that aren’t good for us?

Well, first, we can consider the difference between giving up on something because we are tired and turning away from things because we are being transformed. Transformation comes from repentance. Humans have never been great at self-help. It is an always-striving sort of position. We are miserable at transforming ourselves, because we only have so much energy. But our Creator is above and beyond us. He knows what makes us tick and what wears us down. He knows that the weight of sin is often the ball and chain that is keeping us burdened and incapable of saying “no” to things that ruin us. Repentance offers hope that the change we need is in the hands of someone better, working things for our good. The Holy Spirit transforms us from the inside out, but there is more!

Secondly, we can rejoice that God promises Christians new, daily mercy. We are going to fail because we live in a fallen world. As we make efforts to change and submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit, new mercies await us daily (see Lamentations 3:22-23). While we are instantly justified from an old man to a new man, the sanctifying transformation is a continuing journey of mercy and grace. When our will-power pops but then fizzles, mercy covers our faults, and grace brings us where we need to be but haven’t earned. Our grit is gone, but grace remains.

So, whether you choose freshly squeezed juice or strawberry ice cream (both share a national day) on January 15, and you get to the gym or binge on the couch, for the Christian, our hope remains in the perfect plan of God, the completed work of Christ, and the dwelling of the Holy Spirit all meeting us with new mercies each day.

Ashlie Miller resides in Concord, NC. You may email her at mrs.ashliemiller@gmail.com.

Time

by   January 10, 2026 with No Comments

By Doug Creamer

Time

            We are moving forward into January. There are fewer holiday lights shining at night. Most of us have finally taken the Christmas tree down. The after-Christmas blues can be seen on people’s faces as we return to work and our normal routines of life. Holiday treats have disappeared for another year, replaced with healthy eating. Many have turned their attention to the next national holiday, Super Bowl Sunday! 

            While most people are looking forward with great anticipation to what the new year holds for us, we have to remember that others are struggling. I have talked with some people who have been dealing with sickness. There are plenty of cold and flu bugs being passed around, and those people just want to get better and return to normal. Some have talked about the cough hanging on for weeks, while others say they have shaken it off only to get sick again a week or two later.

I have talked with neighbors and friends who are struggling with the loss of loved ones and found the holiday season only a stark reminder of their pain and loss. Our family has been dealing with the loss of loved ones and the pain has carried over into the new year. People say that time heals all wounds, but the pain that comes with the loss of loved ones has a way of surfacing over and over again, especially during the holiday season. So remember to hug your loved ones and treasure the moments you get to share.

Even though some are struggling, time continues to move forward. It’s a reality that none of us can escape. Are we using our time wisely? The biggest lie we have been sold is that we can multitask. You can’t multitask. Your brain can only focus on one thing at a time. You can fold laundry and watch TV or eat and watch a movie, but you can’t do many other things at the same time.

Some people may think that watching TV or a movie or even scrolling social media is wrong, but it’s not. We need to allow ourselves some down time. We need to give ourselves a break from the daily pressures of life. We need to slow down and catch our breath. We just need to enforce some reasonable limits on these kinds of activities so we can engage with each other and spend quality time together.

Time is not our enemy; it is really a gift. We have to make the choices of how we enjoy the gift of time. We can’t always be working or trying to knock things off our “to do” lists. We need to allow time to read so we can stimulate our minds, to exercise and take care of our bodies, to pursue hobbies and personal interests which allows us to grow as individuals, and sometimes to just sit and be lazy or to lay in bed a little longer on a Saturday morning.

We get to choose how we use the gift of time. One of the choices needs to be spending time with God. Some people think that you can only talk with God on your knees. I like to talk with Him while I am walking and while I sit on my front porch. The important thing is that we invite Him into our daily lives. He wants us to become more aware of His presence. He promises to be with us all the time. We are often so distracted by daily life that we don’t notice that He is right there with us.

Choosing to spend time with God and reading His Word will guide us as we move forward this year. There will be good times and challenges, but we can handle them if we invite God into our lives. We can make room for Him by our choices. He only goes where He is invited and that is our choice.

I want to encourage you to make the choice to invite God into your time. It’s easy to allow time to slip through our fingers. We have to make a conscious choice to watch our time and use our time wisely. There are so many things we want to do in life, bucket lists we want to accomplish before our time is up. We can do many of them if we make the right choices. The wisest choice we can make is to invite God into our lives and allow Him to guide us. Time is God’s gift to you. Open it. Enjoy it. Spend some of it every day with Him.

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

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