I have a bunch of scattered thoughts to share. These will come in no particular order.

My treadmill is basically broken. I can run on it in a pinch, but it skips a bit and makes a loud bang every few steps making it very hard to maintain any type of pace or focus. I have had this treadmill for at least a decade. I have run thousands and thousands (I’m thinking at least 10,000) miles on it. It owes me nothing. I wanted to run today, but it’s cold and snowing… so I went outside anyway.

Today, at least, I found running in the snow and cold to be invigorating. It was great! It was better than great. I wanted to cover three miles. I did four. Sometimes when we seek to change our experiences or attitude, we find that the things we thought we might not have wanted to do give us new energy, focus, or perspective. I wanted to run indoors. Going outside made all the difference.

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I retired from running marathons last January. I ran 27 marathons in my life. I did all I wanted, and needed to do in that sport. My body told me that it was time to give up running 26.2 miles (and training hard to run 26.2 miles). There is a part of me that misses marathoning, but I am very much at peace with that decision. There comes a time in life when we need to move on.

Even though I didn’t run a marathon (after January 2025), I still ran 425 miles last year. That’s the fewest miles I ran in any year in a long time, since I had surgery on my Achilles. 425 miles isn’t great, but it isn’t bad either. My body needed a rest (I had been running marathons for about 24 years), and while I still exercised, a lot, I gave my running legs a needed and necessary break. My mileage will increase this year.

Yesterday I exercised for the 365th consecutive day. I went a year without missing a day of exercise. Last year, I took a day off for travel after completing the Dopey Challenge (which included my last marathon). I haven’t missed a day since. Prior to missing some days just before and just after the Dopey Challenge, I had exercised for 2,000 consecutive days. It might be silly, but I am proud of that.

***

I pray when I run. There is a point in every mile when I recite The Lord’s Prayer and a few lines from Psalm 23. I have been doing this for many years. I feel these “mile prayers” keep me close to God and Jesus. The prayers help my runs. At times the Lord carries me. I don’t say that with any hyperbole or irony. It is absolutely true.

Even though I have recited The Lord’s Prayer tens of thousands of times, it took me until today to I realize that I needed to change a few words. I will write more on this one day in the future and will base a sermon on this, but, while I am far from the one who should be modifying the content of The Lord’s Prayer, I felt this was necessary.

In The Lord’s Prayer, we say, “Forgive us our trespasses,” and “Lead us not into temptation,” among other things. I have said, and considered, those words more times than I can count, but I came to a new realization today.

“Us” is a way to allow for a little bit of a cop out. “Help us all,” doesn’t necessarily force us to own what needs help in our own lives. We can rationalize, “It’s not just me, it’s all of us.” (And of course, we all need our daily bread and to be led on the paths of righteousness, but that’s not my point here.) I changed the words as I ran today to, “Lead me not into temptation…” I made the ask, of God, not about “us” but of me. Yes, we have to pray for all of us, of course, but when we ask for specific strength and the need to grow and heal and to be forgiven (and all of that) the ask, I realized (finally) today, needs to be more personal. Today I asked God to help me be better, not all of us. Today I realized that to grow more in my relationship with God, I needed to make the request much more personal. And since I asked more personally, I now need to own all of that, all of the words I said, even more.

***

I retired as a principal after a most wonderful career in 2022. I was called out of retirement to be an interim English Supervisor and then a year later as an interim principal. I was just asked to step up again and be an interim superintendent of schools.

I love being retired. It allows me more time to be with my family. It allows me more time to write. It allows me time with my friends. It allows me more time to do what I want to do. Retirement is great. I highly recommend it.

But, that being said, when one is working, especially in a leadership role – when one assumes responsibility for hundreds, if not thousands of people, directly or indirectly, along with the stressors, the angst, the debates and discussions, and the like, comes a renewed energy and spirit that awakens the very soul of one’s existence. I never lack energy, but I have some renewed energy as the superintendent of schools…

People ask if I am nervous about being a superintendent of schools. I tell them, “No, not at all.” And I am not. I have found that when one leads from the heart, when one is sincere -when someone truly cares, and when one respects and values others, those others give that same energy and spirit back. I have said this for years, “When you give love, it comes back to you in greater amounts than you ever gave.” I know this to be true. It has been, in large part, a big part of my life’s story.

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(I will write more on this one day soon, as well, but…) I recently found that I really enjoy the Scherzo. Con moto ma non troppo from Chopin’s Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello in G minor. (Those were a lot of words. I did that on purpose.) I don’t know what most of those words mean. I know Chopin and the instruments, and I know what G minor is. As for the rest of it, I have no clue. I just know that I like that piece. A lot.

A few years ago, I decided to listen to all of Mozart’s Symphonies. I used youtube and started going one-by-one. This task proved to be impossible and then annoying. First, they’re not all there. Some symphonies aren’t on youtube. Second, the pieces are now interrupted by commercials. I don’t want to hear music and then be yelled at to get the BAERskin Tactical Hoodie and Balance of Nature supplements.

I soon found that there are CD compilations of certain classical artists that include every one of their works. I soon learned that the Chopin set had only 17 discs. I purchased it, and with the very nice stereo my wife gave me for Christmas, I have now listened to Chopin’s complete works. That’s right, I have listened to everything Chopin wrote. (Pretty cool, right?) I’m now going back and making note of the pieces I particularly enjoy. Among them is that Scherzo I referenced above.

My wife also gave me Mozart’s complete works. 179 CDs. (Yikes.) I’ll get started with that soon.

And before anyone accuses me of being too erudite, I am also the guy who read every single Peanuts comic strip and am now working my way through the complete collection of Calvin and Hobbes.

It’s all about finding ways to learn, enrich ourselves, grow, push boundaries, connect with God, and become, over time, the best people we can be.