44 Days and counting

Today is November 30.  That means there are 46 days to the marathon, and 44 good training days remaining, and about 2 weeks for the last good, long run of my training schedule before the taper begins.  Oddly enough that last good, long run coincides with the 30k.  That’s the current “goal”.  It seems a little odd to me to be setting a “goal” of running 30k.  I don’t really like this stuff.  The constancy of the marathon training is beginning to wear on me.  I wish it would just be over so I could get on with doing…  well, anything else.  One of the few consolations I have right now is the knowledge that it’s a bit too cold and dark when I get home to ride my bike and it’s a lot too cold in the morning, too.  It’s not too cold for a leisurely stroll on the bike, mind you, but I don’t do leisurely strolls.  50 degree temps are downright frigid at 20mph.

 

But I can keep in mind why I’m doing this.  I’m raising money to support Child Advocates.  They are a fine organization that works tirelessly to end child abuse.  Let me paint a quick picture for you:

A woman who is slightly mentally challenged gives birth to a boy who is also mentally challenged.  Dad goes to jail for some theft charge and Mom goes and gets a new husband and a new baby, not necessarily in that order.  The boy is now around 5.  The baby is around 18 months old.  Due to his mental deficiency the boy still isn’t perfectly potty trained.  Mom discovers that her child has used the trash can instead of the toilet once again and goes back into the living room and tell her husband to discipline the boy.  While she’s watching television in the living room…  or washing dishes in the kitchen…  the step-father proceeds to beat the boy to death.  That’ll teach him to use the trash can.

In fact, it did teach him.  Reportedly the last words of the child were along the lines of “Sorry, no dookie any more”.  Not only does the child get beaten to death, he comes to understand that the beating was his fault.  He dies under the misconception that he brought this punishment on himself and the defect did not lie in the soul of the monster killing him.

This is the battle Child Advocates fights every day.  Cases just like these.  They didn’t save the 5 year old, but because of their work the baby is now in a safe environment.  More importantly, the baby will grow up, have children, and model the behavior learned in the safe environment back on his children rather than the monstrous abuse that would have been learned had he stayed in the house of the murderer. 

There was a time, not long ago, when domestic violence was simply considered a family affair.  If you beat you wife, that was no business of the state.  If you beat your children, that was no business of the state.  Just so long you didn’t kill them you could do whatever you wanted.  That time is in the past now.  We now understand that abuse affects this generation and the next.  We now recognize abuse as something distinctly different from discipline.  When does a spanking become abuse?  I don’t have an answer for that question, but I know good and well a child shouldn’t fear for his life when he comes home from school.  I know that the people charged with protecting a child sometimes violate that trust by violating that child…  or collecting money from people willing to violate that child for them.

The question shouldn’t be “when does a spanking become a beating”, but rather “what will I do to stop the abuse happening all around me in this city to over 4000 children each year?”

 

I’ll run a marathon.

I’ll volunteer my time.

I’ll do something.

 

 

So, on that note let me tell you about the fantastic run I had in Galveston over the weekend.

 

Done.  I brought the gear along, but didn’t use it.  I couldn’t run, you see, I didn’t have a stop watch.  Yea, that’s my excuse this time.

 

Tonight I run at Memorial park 3 or 6 miles, depending on how I feel after work (I remembered the stopwatch, so I have no excuse).

Tomorrow I’ll do the same.

Friday I’ll probably rest.

Then Saturday will be a good 8 or 11 mile run.  Maybe I’ll run another ½ marathon.  Who knows?