My monthly blog traffic is up 164 percent over the same month last year. Mindy, my advertising director, is pressuring me to raise my rates, to bring them more in line with the market.

I told her that I wanted to wait until May 1st. I want to give you, my faithful reader, an opportunity to get more than double the impressions at the same old price.

But you must act now: This will be the last time you can get this kind of exposure at these prices. I only have a few available slots, and they will sell out quickly.

My audience is demographically unique: more educated, more affluent, and more engaged than the average citizen. (You can read the specifics in my 2012 Advertising Kit.) If this is the audience you want to reach, you’ve come to the right place.

Though I am highly selective, I also offer sponsored posts to a limited number of qualified companies. If you have an idea, please email Mindy directly. If you are interested in a long-term partnership, she can craft a proposal to meet your goals and budget.

Interested? You can purchase an ad here. If you need an ad designed, check out RightBanners! or Web Ad Banner Design. We look forward to serving you.

I spent most of last week parked in my chair. I was working hard to finish the first draft of my new book. On the day before I turned it in, I sat at my desk for 12 hours. It was no surprise that my back was sore—really sore—by the end of the day.

My first instinct was to buy a better chair. But after reading an article by Dean Karnazes in Runner’s World, I realized that the real problem was the sitting itself.

Since that time, I have been using my standup desk and feeling much better. Then I stumbled across this very compelling infographic from Visual.ly. Wow.

We all know the physical benefits to running. I won’t waste your time by repeating them here. However, people who don’t run, often miss the non-physical benefits. To me, these are even more valuable than the physical ones.

This week, I have been running outdoors. I have chosen to run in the heat of the day—usually when the temperatures are 90° or more. I know, I’m crazy. But I am loving it.

In addition to losing a few pounds, I have enjoyed three non-physical benefits. This isn’t an exhaustive list, but they are highly compelling to me.

1. Running provides me with “think time.” I don’t know about you, but I am so busy these days that I rarely have time to think. Yet, I know instinctively that I really can’t accomplish anything signicant without serious reflection, dreaming, and planning. Running affords me this opportunity. Just today, I thought through the outline for a new book I want to write—and this blog post.
2. Running provides an opportunity for personal growth. Often, I listen to audio books, podcasts, or courses when running. This has become the primary way I “read” these days. The great thing is that I find myself looking forward to running, because I am eager to get back to what I am reading. For example, I am just finishing up Fast, Effective, Copywriting by David Garfinkle. I have been pushing my running mileage just so I have more time to listen and learn!
3. Running provides the chance to recharge. It sounds counter-intuitive, especially to non-runners, but running actually gives you more energy that it consumes. Some people think, I can’t run or walk. I just don’t have the energy. What they don’t realize is that if they would just do it, they would be more energetic for the rest of the day. Running clears your mind, improves circulation, and eliminates toxins. I never feel better than right after a good run.

I have often told my wife, Gail, “Whatever you do, please make sure I keep running. Nothing I do pays more dividends than this.” Who knew that there were so many non-physical benefits?

We live in a world that is desperate for fathers. I am not just thinking about the millions of children who grow up without the benefit of a biological father. I am talking about the need for men who act like fathers and are willing to assume the role of fatherhood—with their families and in their communities.

This beautiful infographic tells the whole story about Father’s Day with some interesting facts about fatherhood in general. I am offline today, choosing to disconnect from Twitter and Facebook to reconnect with my family. I hope you will do the same.

After attending the services at our church last night, I am still speechless. Good Friday commemorates perhaps the greatest mystery in the history of the world. How is it that God Himself—the Creator of the Universe—can suffer death at the hands of His creatures?

Last night, our church observed the ancient service of the Twelve Passion Gospels. Though I have participated in this service more than twenty times, I never cease to be amazed—and deeply moved. I am almost always brought to tears, as I contemplate God’s extreme love for us.

The climax of the service comes in the procession of the Cross, right before the reading of the sixth Gospel lesson. The church is completely dark, with the exception of a few candles. Our pastor, carrying a large wooden cross, sings the following hymn during the procession:

Today is suspended upon the Tree He who suspended the land upon the waters. (thrice)

A crown of thorns crowns Him who is the King of the angels.

He is wrapped about with the purple of of mockery, who wrapped the heavens with clouds.

He receives smitings—He who freed Adam in the Jordan.

He is transfixed with nails, who is the Son of the Virgin.

We worship Thy Passion, O Christ. (thrice)

Show us also Thy glorious Resurrection!”

I hope that in the hustle and bustle of this week, you have the opportunity today to stop and reflect on this holy mystery and what it means for your life.

While it may be Friday, Sunday is coming. It was true in Jesus’ life. It will be true in yours. On the other side of suffering and death lies the hope of the Resurrection. This is our expectation and comfort.

Financial advisor and author, Dave Ramsey, says that one of the keys to financial success is to spend less than you earn and do it over a long period of time. The key to weight loss is similar. Burn more calories than you consume and keep doing it until you reach your target weight.

This is also the premise behind LoseIt.com, a Web site and app that Gail and I have been using since the first of the year.

Actually, Gail started using it first. She joined a fitness class at a local gym. One of the requirements was that each of the class members had to use LoseIt to track their calorie intake and exercise. Each day, LoseIt sends her fitness coach a summary of the previous day. Talk about accountability!

After seeing Gail’s progress, I decided to give it a whirl for myself. Here’s how it works:

1. Set up your account and goal. It’s easy, and it’s free. In addition to the web-based program, you can download the iPhone app (also free). This comes in handy when you are on the road or away from your desk.

   When you sign in for the first time, LoseIt walks you through a simple wizard. You record your beginning weight, height, birthdate, etc. You then chose a plan. You can chose to:

   • Maintain current weight
   • Lose 1/2 lb per week
   • Lose 1 lb per week
   • Lose 1 1/2 lbs per week
   • Lose 2 lbs per week

   Based on your current situation and goal, LoseIt tells you how many calories you can assume per day and then calculates exactly when you will real your goal—assuming you follow the plan.

2. Begin recording your food consumption. LoseIt has an extensive food database, including most major food brands and even restaurants. You simply pick the meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snack) and then select what you ate.

   If you can’t find the food in the database, you can create a custom food or entire recipes. (You can also share these with others.) Each time you add a food, LoseIt subtracts the calorie count from your total daily budget. As a result, you always know exactly how many calories you have left for the day.

3. Begin recording your exercise. This is my favorite part. LoseIt also has an extensive database of exercise routines. Just like the food module, you can also create custom exercises and routines. When you exercise, LostIt adds back calories to your daily total.

   For example, my daily budget is 1,427 calories. If I walk at 4.0mph—which I have been doing during these cold winter days—I get a credit for 665 calories. This means I can consume 2,092 calories on that day and still hit my goal. This motivates me to exercise, because I am immediately rewarded with extra calories I can consume.

4. Regularly record your weight. You probably shouldn’t do this every day—your weight will fluctuate too much. What you’re looking for is a longer-term trend. Once a week is probably sufficient, though you can choose any frequency you want.

   You can even connect the Withings WiFi Body Scale to LoseIt and it will automatically transmit your weight and your BMI data. If you are in the market for a new scale, this is a good option, though it’s expensive.

5. Use the “Motivators” module. This could also be called the “Accountability” module. You can tell LoseIt to send you a text message, reminding you to record each meal or just one message at the end of the day. You can define when you want to receive each message. You only receive a message if you have forgotten to record a meal.

   In addition, you can email your daily summary to an accountability partner. If you are brave, you can even send your summary results to (gulp) Twitter or Facebook. It only posts when you log an exercise, your weight gain or loss (not your actual weight) and when you have achieved your goal.

LoseIt.com also provides extensive reporting. Since all the foods in the database provide full nutritional information, you can monitor, for example, your weekly intake of cholesterol, sodium, carbs, fat, or protein. You can also see charts of your weight trend over time and many more.

For achievers like me, who want to see their daily progress, LoseIt.com is great tool. The app even awards you “badges” along the way. So far, I have collected eight different ones. No one other than Gail sees these, and they have zero monetary value. But for some reason, they really motivate me. It’s kind of like when my piano teacher gave me a gold star for playing a musical piece well.

This blog post has absolutely no point, other than a good laugh. Kick back and enjoy the fun! Thanks to my brother-in-law, Jack, for sending this link to me.

For many evangelical Christians, the word eucharist is a scary word. It suggests ritual, sacrament, and liturgy. For them, this seems to be the very opposite of a personal relationship with God through Christ.

But eucharist is word that all Christians, regardless of tradition, should embrace. It is no accident that for two thousand years it has been central to the experience of millions and millions of Christians.

The term comes form the Greek word, eucharisto—“to give thanks.” Not only should this behavior be central to the life of every Christian, but it is that which distinguishes man from every other created being.

All of creation owes its existence to God. As the Apostle Paul noted, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Only man has the capacity to offer thanks to God for life and every other blessing.

Other animals can walk upright. Some even seem to have the capacity for language. But, so far as we know, man alone has the capacity to realize that he comes into the world with nothing and leaves with nothing (see Job 1:21). Everything in between is a gift—and worthy of offering thanks to the One who provides all things.

This is one of the many reasons I love the Thanksgiving holiday. While I thoroughly enjoy getting together with my family and sharing a meal together, I especially look forward to reflecting on the past year and offering thanks to God for his many, many blessings.

When people ask Dave Ramsey how he is doing, he typically responds, “Better than I deserve.” That expresses my sentiment exactly.

This is a technical post for power users who want to setup a vanity URL shortener for HootSuite. Admittedly, it is off-topic for most of my readers. This is something I wanted to do, and it turned into a bigger project than I anticipated. So I thought I would document my experience and post it for posterity.Hopefully, it will save others some grief.

As you may know, a URL shortener is a way to take long Web site addresses and shorten it to a fraction of its size. This makes it much easier to share links via Twitter and other social media services where you have a limited number of characters to work with.

Bit.ly is perhaps the most popular of these services. You can take a long URL like this:

http://michaelhyatt.com/do-you-make-these-10-mistakes-when-you-blog.html

And shorten it to this:

http://bit.ly/cFoSHe

HootSuite—the Twitter software program I use to manage my Twitter account—has it’s own built-in URL shortener: ow.ly. The same link above becomes this:

http://ow.ly/3d5SC

The cool thing is that the HootSuite Pro now offers the ability to create your own “vanity” URL shortener. This makes it possible to use your name, your company’s name, or a brand name as your URL.

For example, I bought the domain mhyatt.us. This gives me the ability to transform the long link above to this:

http://mhyatt.us/3d5Xy

I really had hoped to secure the domain hya.tt, which was only six characters long (counting the period). However, it would cost at least $1,000. (The region of Trinidad and Tobago sets the price.) I may be vain, but I am also cheap!

Here are the steps you need to take to setup your own vanity URL with HootSuite:

1. Secure a short, custom domain. The shorter the better. I use GoDaddy.com for all my domain registrations. Frankly, I am not that crazy about it, but, as the largest domain registration service available, I want a service that won’t suddenly disappear—along with my domains.
2. Sign-up for a HootSuite Pro account. This will cost you a minimum of $5.99 a month. It has a number of features not available with a free account.
3. Buy the optional Vanity URL support. This will cost you $49.99 a month, Frankly, I think this is way too high for such a simple service, but I was willing to sign-up in order to see if a vanity URL would drive more traffic to my blog.
4. Map HootSuite to your custom domain. This was the most difficult part. When I signed up for HootSuite’s vanity URL, I got a really obscure email that said:
   

   Please ask your network administrator to point your vanity domain’s DNS record to the following address: lb1.ow.ly

   Maybe it’s because I am technologically challenged, but I could not figure out what to do with this. I appealed to @HootSuite_Help via Twitter, asking for help. Sadly, it took them several hours to respond. They sent me two links, neither of which were helpful. However, I eventually figured it out on my own.

   With the help of Brooks Bayne (via Twitter), I converted the lb1.ow.ly address to a numeric IP address. This gave me an IP address of 75.101.155.42. I then went into GoDaddy and created a new “A record” that pointed to this address:

   

5. Set up your vanity URL in HootSuite. Click on the Owl graphic (in the upper-left hand corner), then select Settings | Preferences | URL shorteners. Then click on “Add Vanity URL.” Add your vanity domain name.
6. Wait for the DNS change to resolve itself. When you make a change to your DNS service, it takes 24–48 hours to propagate across the Web. Be patient. If it doesn’t work immediately, this is normal.

Once you have done this, you should be able to select your new custom domain in the URL field. As soon as you do this once, it will become your default choice.

So far, I am really enjoying this feature of HootSuite. It is too soon to tell if it will cost-justify itself. I am watching it closely.

Several days ago, my wife, Gail, forwarded to me a Franciscan benediction that she had received from a friend. I thought it was so good, I just had to share it.

Warning: this is completely counter-cultural to the feel-good, prosperity spirituality that is so popular today.

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships,
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger, and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them
And turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen”

Whoever thought that someone would intentionally pray for discomfort, anger, tears, and foolishness? I don’t know anyone who prays like this.

In the last 48 hours, we have had 10–15″ of rain in and around Nashville, Tennessee. I have lived here for 26 years and have never seen rain or a flood like this. It was eerie last night to watch National Guard trucks roll by in front of our house with soldiers in full camouflage and helmets.

Here are just a few quick facts:

• The park where I normally run, was turned into a lake.
• All the roads in and out of Franklin, where I live, were closed.
• The mayor of Nashville has declared a state of emergency. The governor is attempting to get Nashville declared a federal disaster area.
• The Cumberland River, which winds through downtown Nashville, rose more than 50 feet—a record. As I am writing this, First and Second Avenue are under water.
• Thousands of homes, basements, and cars are filled with water.
• Entire neighborhoods are still submerged, leaving thousands displaced. Thousands more are without power.
• So far, eleven people have died.

Yesterday morning, I spoke with a friend of mine, Andy Reese, who happens to be a flood engineer. He said that this is the worst flood in Franklin in more than 500 years. (They have written records of the biggest flood in the last years. They have geological data going back more than 500 years.)

Thankfully, Gail and I experienced little damage. We had an inch of water in the basement and a leaky roof in one spot that created some sheetrock damage upstairs.

However, my sister and her family weren’t so fortunate. They had a foot or so of water in the first floor. It destroyed their flooring and some of the sheetrock. In fact, we are headed to their home shortly to help. (The roads just opened here, so we can drive through.)

We also closed Thomas Nelson today. As far as I know, we didn’t have any water damage at our corporate headquarters or at our warehouse. However, we were concerned that our employees could not get into work. More importantly, we want them to be free to deal with their own issues or help out with their family, friends, and neighbors.

My blogging may be a little irregular this week. I would be grateful for your prayers as our community deals with the aftermath of this storm.

Last Friday, I watched the Tiger Woods press conference in amazement. I was stunned at his candor. He didn’t sugar-coat his sin. Instead, he repeatedly acknowledged the magnitude of his wrongdoing and the scope of its impact.

It is worth reading or watching the statement in its entirety. It contains several important lessons. However, these three paragraphs summed up his thoughts:

The issue involved here was my repeated irresponsible behavior. I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated. What I did is not acceptable. And I am the only person to blame. I stopped living by the core values that I was taught to believe in.

“I knew my actions were wrong. But I convinced myself that normal rules didn’t apply. I never thought about who I was hurting. Instead, I thought only about myself. I ran straight through the boundaries that a married couple should live by. I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt that I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I felt I was entitled. Thanks to money and fame, I didn’t have to go far to find them.

“I was wrong. I was foolish. I don’t get to play by different rules. The same boundaries that apply to everyone apply to me. I brought this shame on myself. I hurt my wife, my kids, my mother, my wife’s family, my friends, my foundation, and kids all around the world who admired me.”

I’ll be honest: I was moved by Tiger’s confession. It is rare for celebrities to accept responsibility for their sins, understand the full scope of the damage they have caused, and express such remorse for their actions. At the end of the press conference, I tweeted:

Almost immediately, I received several direct messages from people who thought I was naive. One person wrote, “It was totally scripted. I don’t believe a word of it.” Another said, “It was a PR stunt. He’s just trying to salvage his sponsorships. He will be right back at it once he’s away from public scrutiny.” Still another wrote, “If I were his wife, I would have dumped him long ago. I could never forgive someone who had cheated on me that many times.”

Maybe they are right.

However, during this season of Lent, my church prays an ancient and beautiful prayer by St. Ephraim the Syrian (ca. 306–373). It says,

O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, faintheartedness, lust of power, and idle talk.

“But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience and love to your servant.

“Yea, O Lord and King, grant me to see my own sin and not to judge my brother, for You are blessed from all ages to all ages. Amen.”

I have been especially struck by the last sentence. Consequently, I am trying to avoid the sin of unforgiveness, especially during this season. Jesus stated plainly: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses” (Matthew 6:14, 15).

Based on this, whenever someone confesses their sin as Tiger did, I have at least five responsibilities:

1. Resist the temptation to judge. It is not my place to judge Tiger or anyone else. I don’t have to account for his sin. That’s his responsibility to bear alone. I have plenty to account for myself, thank you very much. Instead, I should feel compassion. As the old saying goes, “But for the grace of God go I.”
2. Accept the apology at face value. It is not my job to determine if Tiger is sincere. (How would I do that, anyway?) As Tiger himself said, “My real apology to her [i.e., Elin, his wife] will not come in the form of words. It will come from my behavior over time.” Is he done repenting? No. He is just getting started. But he has begun well. And for that, I should be grateful and affirming.
3. Believe in the possibility of change. Cynicism is easy. It costs me nothing. Belief, on the other hand, requires risk. He may be lying. He may fall again. He might betray us all. But if people really cannot change, then what hope is there for any of us? One of my core beliefs is that “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). No one is beyond the reach of God’s redemption.
4. Extend mercy and grace. Justice demands that we pronounce him guilty, dismiss him from further consideration, and move on. But Mercy requires that we refuse to condemn him. Even more astonishing, Grace insists that we extend to him what he does not deserve: hope, patience, and love. Though he doesn’t deserve this, he needs all of it. Without mercy and grace we are all lost.
5. Pray for transformation. Tiger seems to understand—as all self-acknowledged sinners must—that he cannot overcome his sin alone. He needs help. His journey has just begun. The road ahead is long and difficult. He will need human assistance, to be sure. But more importantly, he will need God’s help. This is where I can play a role by refusing to cave to cynicism and judgment. Instead, every time I am tempted to go there, I can pray that God would transform him into the man he could be.

Tiger’s story is not that different than mine. Yes, it is perhaps more severe and more public. But in the end, sin is sin. It is only a matter of degree. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). If there is hope for me—or for you—then there is hope for Tiger.

May God help him to find his way home and reconnect to the One who gave His life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).

Yesterday was hard. A business deal stalled. I didn’t make much progress on several key projects. I was discouraged. And toward the end of the day, I learned that a friend had died. I just wanted to go home, put on my pajamas, and go to bed.

But I had signed up to attend the Recreate Conference. (What was I thinking?) Last night was the opening night. It was to begin with a mixer, then dinner, and finally a concert. As an introvert, this is not what I enjoy. It takes lot of energy to jump into the midst of a crowded room and be … well … pleasant.

Fortunately, I managed to miss most of the mixer. When Gail and I arrived, we found a few of our close friends and hid in the shadow of their company. Unexpectedly, I had a very pleasant dinner conversation with a few Twitter acquaintances. I began to sense that my mood was shifting. I stopped brooding over my own problems and became immersed in the conversation.

Finally, Amy Grant took the stage. There she was in Puckett’s Grocery in downtown Franklin, Tennessee, a few blocks from my house. Only about 115 of us were in the room. Amy sang with a small band. Acoustic guitar. Informal and without pretense. Just her and her art. A gift. Unexpected. And deeply moving.

I was completely swept up in the moment. I forgot about the day. I stopped worrying about the future. For a few precious hours, I was lost in her music. Overwhelmed by the beauty and the wonder of God’s goodness in giving me this unexpected gift, I teared up several times. This always happen to me in the presence of beauty. It is a clue. Suddenly, things come back into focus.

Meanwhile, as we sat in the restaurant, it had begun to snow outside. This, too, was unexpected—and beautiful. By the time we left, a couple of inches had accumulated.

Gail and I walked home in the quietness of the snow-covered lawns and streets. I could hardly speak. The day that had seemed so hard and so present just a few hours before had vanished. I had been healed and restored by an encounter with an artist and her art—and serendipitously, the Artist and His art. My heart was full, once again surprised by unexpected beauty.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about “Why You Should Sign Up for a Half Marathon”. I provided eight reasons why you should get off the couch and out the door. Today, I want to take that challenge to the next level.

My eighth reason to run the half marathon was to help raise money for a worthy cause. That cause is New Hope Academy, a school in Franklin, Tennessee, committed to turning racial division, class segregation, and poverty into community, possibility, and vision.

A few years ago, I visited the school. It was almost in my backyard. I wept at the beauty of what I saw. It was a rainbow of diversity—black children, white children, brown, red, and yellow. There were children from wealthy families and children from poor ones. Together they were an icon of the world Martin Luther King envisioned when he thundered,

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’ I have a dream that one day … the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood….

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character… I have a dream that one day … little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”

But to grow this dream and expand upon its vision, New Hope needs additional funds. Therefore, I want to invite you to sign-up to run (or walk) with the Powered by Hope team and help us raise $50,000.

The first 50 people who sign up to be part of our Powered by Hope Team will receive the following FREE benefits:

• A complete online training plan
• Weekly group training in Nashville with the Jeff Galloway organization
• Weekly training and motivational tips for your training journey
• Official team jersey and t-shirt
• Friday luncheon before the race (April 23) with me at the Thomas Nelson headquarters
• Private tour of the Thomas Nelson facilities
• Race day group photo
• Private VIP team tent at race finish

Here is what you provide as a team member:

• $105 registration fee for the Country Music Half Marathon
• Donations totaling a minimum of $1,000 (special prizes for those raising $2,000 or more)
• Refund of the $105 registration fee if you meet your fundraising minimum
• Transportation and lodging to the race and other events (April 23–24)
• Run or walk the Country Music Half (or Full) Marathon

Note: The deadline for registration is Friday, January 15th at midnight, CDT.

Raising $1,000 is easier than you may think. Powered by Hope Team provides the necessary training and recruitment materials, including sample letters, emails, and social media strategies. Last year, I got started late, but raised way more than the minimum in one day! I am convinced that with the recession people’s values have shifted and they want to help causes like this.

In addition, I plan to run with the Galloway team every Saturday when I am in town. So this is an opportunity for us to meet face-to-face. I love getting to know other runners and walkers who are committed to making a difference in the world.

To get started, all you have to do is register here. Once you do that, you will be on the team and get the instructions for what to do next.

P.S. If you don’t want to run, but would like to sponsor me, I’d be grateful. One hundred percent of the money goes to New Hope Academy. Thanks.

I stumbled across this video in one of my RSS feeds. Honestly, it is difficult to believe that people like this still exist. It is embarrassing. It just goes to show you that religion—in the worst sense of the word—is still alive and well. Frankly, it makes it that much more difficult to communicate the true nature of Jesus to the world.

David Wilcox, maybe my favorite singer-songwriter, captures this in his song called “Good Man” from the album Vista. It says,

Let me apologize in advance
For the way my friend behaves
He’ll pick a fight and take a holy stance
He’s so proud that he’s so saved

I hope you don’t judge Jesus
By the things my friend will say
He holds a bible like a dagger
And he twists it just that way

He just loves conversation—like a cat loves a bird
I guess he’s always been a good man—in the worst sense of the word

The good knights went out to save the day
In the age of the crusades
A sharp sword on a tortured soul
They were sure the point was made
Any tool can be a weapon
If it’s used with that intent
The devil’s great at quoting scripture
And confusing what it meant

So all the evils done for Jesus —it is a history so absurd
But there will always be a good man—in the worst sense of the word

They ‘jacked a plane to make a sneak attack
They were trained to die in flames
Their last words were to God above
Just to praise His holy name

For all the terror and destruction
They felt no sense of shame
You gotta wonder why religion
Can make people so insane

But their devotion was unquestioned—follow straight and never swerve
The devil always needs a good man—in the worst sense of the word”

This is the first thing I thought of when I saw the video above. By the way, David’s new album, “Open Hand” is fabulous. I highly recommend it.

After I finished reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall, I bought a pair of Vibram FiveFingers shoes. I have been running in them now for five weeks. I am loving them. The only negative is that I am continuously having to explain them to curious strangers. In fact, three people stopped me today in the space of three miles.

As a result, I thought it would be helpful to share my responses to the nine most common questions I get. If you’re thinking about buying a pair, maybe this will help you.

1. Why do you run in those things? Because I like running barefoot. However, I can’t always run on safe terrain. Running in the Vibram FiveFingers is as close as you can get to running barefoot and still have some protection. They provide a thin layer of rubber than keeps you from getting cut or bruised on sharp rocks or glass.
2. Why would you want to run barefoot? Twenty-five percent of all your bones are in your feet. Your feet are a marvel of biological engineering. They are designed to adjust your stride, distribute your weight, and minimize the impact on your joints—on the fly. Unfortunately, when you encase them in modern running shoes, your feet lose contact with the ground. They don’t adjust. They aren’t free to do what they were made to do.
3. But aren’t running shoes designed to provide cushion and prevent injuries? Yes, but according to McDougall, despite supposedly huge improvement in shoe technology, 70 percent of all runners get injured every year. This number has not decreased in decades. Interestingly, running injuries were very rare until the invention of the modern running shoe in 1972. McDougall claims, there is a direct correlation between running shoes and running injuries. In fact, the more expensive the shoe, the more likely you are to be injured and the more severe your injury will be.
4. But all the running magazines advocate the super expensive, super advanced shoes. Why? Follow the money. Running shoes are a $15 billion industry. The companies that make these shoes are not going to admit that their product is the problem rather than the solution. These same companies advertise in the running magazines. The magazines can rate the various shoes and write reviews, but they can’t challenge the whole premise behind the shoes without flushing the bulk of their revenue stream.
5. But they look so bizarre. Aren’t you embarrassed to wear them? Yes, they look weird. My kids say they look like “gorilla feet.” I was initially embarrassed, but I got over it. When people make fun of me now, I tell them, “ridicule is the last stage you go through before you order a pair!” I have several friends now running in them who initially laughed.
6. Can you run as far in your FiveFingers as you can with traditional running shoes? Not yet. So far, the longest I have run in them is 3.5 miles. Regardless, even if you are a seasoned runner, you must start slowly. Your feet have essentially been encased in casts for years. You will be using muscles you never knew you had. Some of your muscles have atrophied. I recommend that you run no more than half a mile at first and gradually increase. However, I am on-track to run a full half marathon in them in November.
7. Which model of the FiveFingers do you like best? I initially bought the Classic. They are the easiest to get on and off. However, after my son-in-law bought the KSOs, I decided to go with those. “KSO” stands for “keep stuff out.” They just feel better to me. This is totally subjective and “your mileage may vary.”
8. Do you really think you will stick with them? Only time will tell. I am admittedly an early adopter. I love new stuff. I try things for a while, and then I discard them. That’s just my personality. That’s why I haven’t blogged about the Vibrams until now. I wanted to give them a month and see if I still liked them. I do, but that could change. Caveat emptor.
9. Where did you buy your Vibrams? I bought mine on the Vibram FiveFingers web site. It was totally self-service. I got them in about three days. However, they do distribute them through some retail outlets. For example, Cumberland Transit in Nashville carries them. You can check their store locator for a local retailer in your area.

If you are a runner, I think the FiveFingers merit serious consideration, particularly if you have been prone to injuries and tried everything else. If you are still not convinced, I would urge to read Born to Run. Even if you don’t buy into running barefoot, it is still one of the best running books I have read.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am runner. I didn’t start until age 50, so I am making up for lost time. I just finished a fascinating book on running by Christopher McDougall. It is called Born to Run. At the end of this post, I will tell you how to get a copy free.

McDougall begins his book with the question that almost all recreational runners inevitably ask, “Why does my foot hurt?” I have personally suffered through bouts of plantar fasciitis and a pulled Achilles tendon. What I didn’t realize until I read this book is that 70% of all recreational runners will experience at least one running injury every year.

In McDougall’s case, his doctors told him he should stop running. According to them, he wasn’t really built for the sport and should consider doing something else to stay in shape. He didn’t really like that answer, so he embarked on a quest to see if he couldn’t solve his problem.

Over the next several months, he interviewed endurance runners, sports physiologists, and even anthropologists. He also discovered the Tarahumara Indians of northern Mexico’s Copper Canyon. These indigenous people are renown for their ability to run long distances—often 50–200 miles at a time! It is not unusual for them to run into old age, some even running into their nineties. Yet, they rarely experience running injuries and seem to love traversing extreme terrain.

In stark contrast, he took an objective look at modern runners and, in particular, the modern running industry. What he discovers is startling. For example:

• 25% of all the bones in your body are in your foot. It is an engineering marvel, unrivaled in the animal world.
• Running injuries were essentially unknown until the invention of the modern running shoe in 1972.
• Not only is there a direct correlation between running shoes and running injuries, the more expensive the shoe, the more likely you will be injured.

The solution that McDougall discovers is at once both simple and obvious. I won’t give it away in this review because it is in large part the focus of the book. Let’s just say that it has turned my running world upside down. I have realized that most of what I believed about running was completely wrong-headed.

Thanks to the good people at Knopf Publishers, I have 24 copies of the book to give away. To get a chance at snagging one, you must take the following two actions:

1. Leave a comment below. Tell me why you want this book. C’mon: be creative.
2. Fill out your shipping information in the special form I have set up for this book.

On Wednesday, I will select 24 people, based solely on my arbitrary and subjective evaluation of their comments. If you are one of those selected, I will notify you via email. If you don’t hear from me, you can assume you didn’t make the cut.

Warning: If you are offended by rough language, this book is not for you.

By now, you have no doubt heard about the new Apple iPhone 3G S. It looks pretty cool, but I’m not too excited about the pricing—at least for existing AT&T customers. At any rate, Julian Smith, a very bright, young filmmaker, did a video tribute to the new device last week. You may remember Julian: he’s the one who created the popular 25 Things I Hate About Facebook.

So, how many pair of shoes do you have? Stop what you are doing, go to your closet, and count them. I know this sounds like a random question, but hang with me. It’s important.

When I went through this exercise yesterday, I counted fourteen pair, including two pair of golf shoes. Worse, I had just said to Gail before church, “I need to buy another pair of casual shoes to wear with my jeans.” (Before you judge me too harshly, count the shoes in your own closet.)So why is this important? Did you know that half the people in the world do not own a single pair of shoes. This includes 300 million children. They are forced to walk around barefoot, often in unsafe—even life-threatening—situations. Many of these are children.

Can you imagine what it must be like to go barefoot, not by choice, but because you don’t have any other option? When I was in Ethiopia a few weeks ago, I saw this first hand. People walking barefoot for miles just to get water. It was heart-breaking.

The truth is, I don’t need another pair of shoes. I may want another pair of shoes, but I don’t need them. They aren’t a necessity for me; they are a fashion accessory.

But for millions of people, shoes are an unaffordable luxury.

In 2004, Wayne Elsey, a shoe company executive decided to do something about the problem. In the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami that hit Southeast Asia, Wayne was home one night watching the reports on TV. Like many of us, he wondered what he could do to help.

Then he saw a picture of a single shoe washing up on the beach. That triggered a few calls to some other executives in the footwear industry and the subsequent donation of a quarter of a million shoes to victims in the devastated countries.

A year later when Katrina hit, Wayne called the same group of friends, and they sent over a million pairs of shoes down to the gulf coast communities affected by the hurricane. He admits now that he did not expect such an immediate and generous response. This left him wondering, why not start a non-profit and do this all the time? One year later, he founded Soles4Souls. It’s simple mission? “To impact as many lives as possible with the gift of shoes.”

Since that time, Soles4Souls™ has distributed more than five million pairs (currently donating one pair every 13 seconds) to people in over 125 countries, including Honduras, Uganda, Romania, and the United States. The charity has been featured recently in Runner’s World and National Geographic, as well as CNN, NBC, ABC, FOX, and CBS. Best of all, they operate on just 2% overhead. This means 98 cents out of every dollar they raise is actually given to those in need.

This week, the charity kicks off it’s second annual Barefoot Media Week. It is challenging members of the media to go barefoot for at least four consecutive hours in public this week and report on their experience.

Various celebrities are lending their support to Barefoot Week in hopes of encouraging more participation with Soles4Souls. Scarlett Johansson, Jessica Simpson, Amy Grant, Jeff Fischer and many, many other celebrities are lending their support. About 55% of the shoes donated during this week will be distributed to needy people here in America.

What can you do? Here are three possibilities.

1. Make a financial contribution. For just $5.00, you can give two pair of shoes to someone in need. All you need to do is click here to get started. It takes less than two minutes.
2. Donate your unused shoes. You can take your shoes to a Finish Line Store in your city or town. (There are more than 3,000 locations.) You will receive a $5.00 coupon toward a purchase. Believe it or not, there are 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes sitting in American closets.
3. Host a shoe drive. This is a fun and painless way to help a lot of people without a lot of effort. You can find a step-by-step plan by clicking here

Please help Soles4Souls “change the world one pair at a time.”

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. It is a day that we set aside to commemorate those who have died in the service of the military. It was first enacted to honor those in the Union Army who died in the American Civil War. After the first World War, it was expanded to include American casualties of any war or military action.

Unfortunately, I have never had the privilege of serving in the military. However, I am profoundly grateful for those who have. In the U.S., I fear we have come to take our national security for granted. The tragic events of 9/11 were a wake-up call. The fact that we have not had another terrorist attack on U.S. soil is a testimony to the brave men and women who work tirelessly to protect our freedoms both here and around the world.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank a few of my family members who have served in the military. Not all of these were injured or killed in the line of duty, but all served with honor and distinction:

• My Dad, Robert T. Hyatt, who served as a Marine in the Korean War. He was critically injured when a piece of shrapnel hit him in the head and nearly killed him. He received the Purple Heart. Amazingly, He was just eighteen-years-old when it happened. (He enlisted when he was seventeen.)
• My father-in-law, Col. Sidney C. Bruce (deceased), who had a distinguished career in the Air Force. He served in both the European and Pacific theaters and then went on to serve in the Pentagon as the Secretary to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
• My brother-in-law, Col. Philip W. Bruce (deceased), who also had a distinguished career in the Air Force. He graduated from the Air Force Academy. He then served in Vietnam and eventually became a highly-honored instructor at the Test Pilot School.
• My brother-in-law, Karl Bruce, who also graduated from the Air Force Academy. Like his older brother, Philip, he trained pilots. However, he focused on beginning pilots.
• Gail’s cousin, Charlie J. Loffer (deceased), who served in the U.S. Marines. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam. He also received the Purple Heart, was honorably discharged, and recently died from complications related to his wartime exposure to Agent Orange.
• One of Gail’s cousins, Mark St. Amand, who served as an Army Ranger. He was involved in the first Iraqi War, where he was shot through the stomach. He survived and also received the Purple Heart.

There are scores of others, including many, many friends who have served in the military. Regardless, I am eternally grateful to them and want to take this opportunity to honor them on this special day.

I am still trying to process my experience in Ethiopia. It was so profound that I can barely articulate it. It has been a true shift in my worldview. As I have thought about this, I have realized that “I need Africa more than Africa needs me.” This has been beautifully depicted in this video:

I would be grateful if you would consider sponsoring a child from Ethiopia. For $35.00 (U.S.) a month, you can make a huge difference. You may not be able to change the world, but you could completely change the world for one child. In fact, as we witnessed first-hand, child sponsorship has an impact far beyond the life of one child.

A few weeks ago, Gail and I visited Ethiopia as guests of World Vision. This was our very first trip to Africa. Although we Twittered about the experience in real time, words can barely describe the incredible shift that took place in our thinking. It has profoundly affected us.

I hope to say more in another blog post or two. However, for now I think a picture is worth a thousand words. Here are some pictures that Gail and I took with our little Sony Cyber-shot camera. It will give you a feel for what we experienced.

I would be grateful if you would consider sponsoring a child from Ethiopia. For $35.00 (U.S.) a month, you can make a huge difference. You may not be able to change the world, but you could completely change the world for one child. In fact, as we witnessed first-hand, child sponsorship has an impact far beyond the life of one child.

My wife, Gail, and I are in Ethiopia this week with World Vision, the largest non-government humanitarian organization in the world. They specialize in “sponsoring children” in developing countries.

Their work is truly amazing. We are traveling with Max Lucado and his wife, Denalyn; Rich Stearns, CEO of World Vision and his wife, Renee; Mary Graham, head of Women of Faith; and a few others.

I was hoping to be able to blog while on the trip. However, we are in such remote areas that I don’t have access to the internet. However, I am able to text message and Twitter from my iPhone, thanks to AT&T’s wonderful network of international partners.

My friend, Anne Jackson, volunteered to upload this brief blog post (which I banged out as a text message with my thumbs!) Several in our group, including Gail (@gailhyatt), Max (@maxlucado), and Mary (@marygraham), are Twittering their experiences live under the #wve hashtag. Just click on this link to follow us all.

As soon as I can regain internet access, I will upload a few posts and pictures. In the meantime, we would all be very grateful for your prayers, not only for us, but for the children of Ethiopia.

You can’t listen to the news for five minutes without hearing a story about the Swine Flu. It is amazing at how this has taken center stage in just a few weeks. By the sound of things, you would think we are on the edge of a pandemic, not unlike what Stephen King described in his novel, The Stand.

In times like these, it is important to maintain perspective. I did a quick search on Google and found the leading causes of death in the U.S. The most recent data I could find were from 2004. These are the annual numbers:

The 10 Leading Causes of Death in the U.S.
Cause of Death	Number
Heart disease	652,486
Cancer	553,888
Cerebrovascular diseases	150,074
Chronic lower respiratory diseases	121,987
Unintentional injuries	112,012
Diabetes	73,138
Alzheimer’s	65,965
Influenza and pneumonia	59,664
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis	42,480
Septicemia	33,373

And how many people have died in the U.S. as a result of Swine Flu? So far, one. Yep, just one.

In light of this, I suggest that we all stop, take a deep breath, and put this into perspective. I am not saying that this won’t get worse or that more people won’t die. Nor am I saying that we shouldn’t be cautious or smart.

However, we need to remember that what drives the media is drama. If they can keep you glued to the TV set, the radio station, or their website, then they they win with their advertisers. Don’t discount how this impacts the 24-hour news cycle.

At Thomas Nelson we use Microsoft Outlook for Windows and Microsoft Entourage for Mac. They are connected to our Microsoft Exchange Server. This setup has been our corporate standard for years.

I have used Entourage since I converted to the Mac about four years ago. However, I have had some calendar issues, and I am tired of the clunky user interface. I was using Entourage for both my corporate and personal email.Recently, a friend of mine shared with me that the mega-church where he works is using Gmail. They have 450 employees. That got my attention. He also told me that they have their church’s domain mapped to Gmail. They are using the enterprise version, along with Google calendar.

So I immediately talked to my IT folks. I asked them to explore Gmail as a possibility for Thomas Nelson. They are doing that now. However, given our investment in Microsoft technology this is not a trivial matter. This is definitely a case where we must measure twice and cut once—if we cut at all.

In the meantime, I have started using Gmail for my personal email. I am using the simple web-based interface. So far, I am loving it. Here are eight reasons why:

1. Multiple Inboxes. I have a email address I use for online purchases, newsletters, etc., and I have one I use for personal business. I can manage both from the same Gmail dashboard. In fact, Gmail can receive email from almost any account and even send from that account.
2. Built-in Search. Searching for almost anything in Entourage is a hassle—even with Spotlight. Often, I simply give up. However, Gmail find anything and everything. If you use Google as much as I do, you’ll love this feature.
3. Email archiving. All my email is stored on Google’s servers. I realize that maybe a problem if Google goes out of business. But I think the chances of that are remote. Archiving with Entourage is also a hassle.
4. Keyboard shortcuts. I hate to use the mouse. I just find it much slower than using the keyboard. Thankfully, Gmail has a keyboard shortcut for almost everything.
5. Conversation threading. The original email and all the replies are linked together. As a result, I feel like I maintain the conversational context much easier than in Entourage.
6. Embedded Links. Entourage provided no way to embed a link to a web site. I had to literally insert the full URL. Gmail has a “Link” button, so that I can simply select the text, click the button, and add the URL link.
7. Style Elements. All the usual HTML style elements are available, including bullets, numbers, block quotes, indentation, etc. I can even use line-breaks between numbers or bullets—something I could not do in Entourage.
8. Spam Filtering. Gmail’s spam filtering is second-to-none. I get zero spam, and I haven’t found a false positive (i.e., legitimate email that was incorrectly identified as spam) in ages.

So, at this point, I don’t know if converting to Gmail make sense for our company, but it sure makes sense for me—at least for my personal email.

Indulge me. Today is Valentine’s Day. At the Hyatt household it is the third most important holiday of the year, right after Easter and Christmas.

When our five daughters were at home, Gail always made a big deal out of it. We ate breakfast on special valentine plates, and exchanged candy and cards.

I still like to make a big deal out of it. I have been married for 30 years. I love Gail more today than ever. She is my best-friend, my lover, my therapist, and my constant companion.

Here are the top ten things I love about her:

1. She is the most positive person I know. I could count on one hand the times I have seen her down.
2. She is totally fearless and simply doesn’t have the capacity to worry about anything.
3. She is always learning—reading books, listening to podcasts, and spontaneously interviewing others.
4. She is warm and affectionate. Many of my daughters’ friends think of her as their second mother. I think some of them think of her as their first mother.
5. She is a great listener. She asks great questions. She is genuinely interested in other people.
6. She loves to do things with me. If I take up a hobby, she takes it up. If I like a certain kind of food or music, she learns to like it.
7. She is tender and compassionate. She cries when she watches “Extreme Makeover,” “Super Nanny,” or even “The Dog Whisperer.”
8. She makes me feel super-human. To the degree that I have experienced any success, it is largely because Gail has been my constant cheerleader and my biggest fan.
9. She is passionate about her relationship with God. She is constantly growing and becoming more spiritually mature with each passing year.
10. And, finally—let’s be honest—she is really, really cute.

Two years ago, I ran the Country Music Half Marathon for the first time. Sixty-five of my colleagues from Thomas Nelson ran with me (about 10% of our workforce at the time). It was such a great experience that we did it again in 2007. Last year, we doubled the number of participants—135 finished the race (about 20% of our workforce).

Well, we want to do it again this year. My goal is for 150 of our Thomas Nelson employees to run the half marathon this year. This represents about 25% of our post lay-off workforce. I don’t know about you, but after the holidays, I am feeling more motivated than ever to get myself in shape.The Country Music Half Marathon is scheduled for April 25, 2009, here in Nashville, Tennessee. If you have never participated, this is an amazing race. It features many of Nashville’s best live bands on 28 stages along the 13.1-mile course. The musically-themed road race is expected to attract 35,000 participants. You can’t imagine the energy and excitement that many walkers and runners can generate.

Why run a half marathon? Here are my top five reasons, gleaned from two years of personal experience:

1. You will lose weight. We had people in our workforce who lost over 50 pounds.
2. You will feel better than you’ve likely ever felt in your life.
3. It will make you more energetic and productive at work—and when you get home from work.
4. You will be able to apply what you learn from running (or walking) to other areas of life.
5. It will give you confidence to tackle other significant life goals.

It short, it will change your life. If you don’t believe me, read the testimonials form last year.

If you are a Thomas Nelson employee, I have an offer you can’t refuse. First, like last year, go ahead and register for the race. Next, notify Lindsey Nobles if you plan to run the race. She is our official team coordinator.

Here’s the best part. If you complete the half marathon or full marathon—even if you only walk—you will receive the following:

• An official Team Thomas Nelson t-shirt. We will all wear these the day of the race.
• Reimbursement for your registration fee.
• Official public recognition at the first All Employee Meeting following the race.

This year we are also partnering with New Hope Academy in Franklin, Tennessee. I am especially excited about this part of the program. We want to help them raise $300,000 to enable low-income children the opportunity to get an exceptional, Christian education. In return, Powered by Hope, the fund-raising arm of New Hope Academy, will provide personalized training for all of our fund-raising participants.

For now, the important thing is to register for the Half Marathon and start training. The moment you commit, is the moment the change begins. Do it now!

If you have additional questions, I have a detailed FAQ that you can read here.

I’m tired of the relentless torrent of bad news coming from the media. I feel like I am stuck in a recession version of Ground Hog Day. The names and places change with each story, but underneath the veneer, it’s the same story-line:

• “We’re in a severe recession.”
• “It’s the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.”
• “It’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
• “There’s very little you can do about it.”

I don’t know about you, but this is not having a healthy impact on my psyche. Last night, after waking up again at 3:30 in the morning, I thought, Enough is enough. I don’t need the additional worry and fear that this is creating. It’s time to turn off the news.

I’m not sticking my head in the sand. I understand that we have a significant economic problem. But, in my opinion, the news media are exacerbating this problem with their reporting. They are systematically undermining consumer confidence. This is a case where reporting the news is actually causing the news.

The truth is that I can’t fix the global economy. As a result, the bad economic news is a waste of my time and energy. I need to be focused on what I can do to improve the performance of my own company and our industry. This means focusing on the future and forgetting the immediate past.

Therefore, effective immediately, I am taking the following four actions:

1. I am stopping my morning habit of reading online editions of the daily news, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, the Tennessean and, especially, Drudge. (Note: I didn’t link to these publications on purpose.)
2. I am removing any news-related feeds from Google Reader. I will continue to keep up with publishing and technology industry news, as well as my favorite bloggers. This more directly affects me.
3. I am going to stop watching the Today Show, which I usually watch while I am getting ready for work. I am also going to leave the TV off in the evening. I usually have Fox News on in the background, but I’m going to play music instead.
4. I am going to stop checking the stock market during the day. The market is volatile, so what? Do I really need to ride it up and down? I don’t think so. It’s going to do whatever it’s going to do.

I figure that if some big story happens I need to know, someone will tell me. In the meantime, I have more important things to do.

The list I posted yesterday was so popular, I thought I’d post a few more items from the original one. So by popular demand, here they are:

1. Any connection between your reality and mine is purely coincidental.
2. I’m not being rude. You’re just insignificant.
3. Do I look like a “people person”?
4. This isn’t an office. It’s Hell with fluorescent lighting.
5. If I throw a stick, will you leave?
6. Whatever kind of look you were going for, you missed.
7. I’m trying to imagine you with a personality.
8. Too many freaks, not enough circuses.
9. Nice cologne. Must you marinate in it?
10. Chaos, panic, and disorder—my work here is done.

Thank God there is a filter in place between my brain and my mouth. If I said everything I thought, I would be in constant trouble.

Yesterday, while cleaning out my closet, I stumbled across an article I had saved. It is called “Things You’d Love to Say at Work But Can’t.” It had thirty-eight items. Here are the first ten:

1. I’ll try being nicer if you try being smarter.
2. I don’t know what your problem is, but I’ll bet its hard to pronounce.
3. I’ll pencil that in for never. Does never work for you?
4. I see you’ve set aside this special time to humiliate yourself in public.
5. It sounds like English, but I can’t understand a word you’re saying.
6. Ahhh … I see the screw-up fairy has visited us again.
7. I like you. You remind me of when I was young and stupid.
8. I have plenty of talent and vision. I just don’t give a rip.
9. I will always cherish the positive initial misconceptions I had about you.
10. The fact that no one understands you doesn’t mean you are an artist.

Several weeks ago, I was on a strategic planning retreat with my executive team. I began the meeting with a prayer that I have used for years in my own morning devotions.

This prayer was originally composed by Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow (1782–1867). It seems particularly relevant and timely in these turbulent times:

O Lord, grant me to greet the coming day in peace. Help me in all things to rely upon thy holy will. In every hour of the day reveal thy will to me. Bless my dealings with all who surround me. Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul, and with the firm conviction that thy will governs all. In all my deeds and words guide my thoughts and feelings. In unforeseen events, let me not forget that all are sent by thee. Teach me to act firmly and wisely, without embittering and embarrassing others. Give me strength to bear the fatigue of the coming day and all that it shall bring. Direct my will, teach me to pray, pray thou thyself in me. Amen.”

I watched MTVs VMA awards last night. Some of my daughters’ friends are in the band Paramore, and they were nominated for an award. And—to be honest—I wanted to see how Britney Spears would do, since we are publishing her mom’s book next week.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen MTV, but I was flabbergasted. I could not believe the sensuality and decadence I witnessed. Gail and I finally had to turn it off. We just couldn’t take it any more.

As I thought about my experience later, it made me sad. I am the father of five daughters. So perhaps I’m just a little overly sensitive. But I was shocked at the complete absence of modesty, the ridicule of virginity, and the latent misogyny displayed by Russell Brand and many of the artists themselves.

One of the few redeeming moments in the evening was when Jordin Sparks, referring to Brand’s contempt for chastity, said,

I just have one thing to say about promise rings: It’s not bad to wear a promise ring, because not everybody, guy or girl, wants to be a slut.”

Touché. It must have struck a nerve, because the next time Brand appeared, he apologized for his comments. Sort of.

Regardless, it got me to thinking, Where are these girls fathers? Has anyone ever taught them the concept of modesty? Or have all the men in their lives simply exploited them as sex objects

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a prude. But I do think some basic guidelines are in order. These are not rules about skirt length or the amount of cleavage you can show. I’m just not a very good legalist; they are simply guidelines.

I gave these to my girls when they were growing up. Frankly, they haven’t been perfect in following them. Modern culture exerts a powerful influence. Nevertheless, I wanted them to have something that would transcend current fashion and guide their attire once they were older and, perhaps, a little wiser.

Here they are: “Four Guidelines for Modesty”:

1. If you have trouble getting into it or out of it, it is probably not modest.
2. If you have to be careful when you sit down or bend over, it is probably not modest.
3. If people look at any part of your body before looking at your face, it is probably not modest.
4. If you can see your most private body parts or an outline of those parts under the fabric, it is probably not modest.

If you think these guidelines are helpful, you might want to pass them along to the young women you know. Evidently, not many are getting the message elsewhere.

For every athlete who made it to the Olympics, there are hundreds—probably thousands—who tried out. Here are a few who didn’t quite make the cut. All I can say is “Ouch!”

The new iPhone 3G launches next week. July 11 to be exact. You’ve seen the ads. You’ve read the hype. Now let’s be honest. You’ve already made the decision to buy an iPhone 3G. You fell in love the first time you saw it. Now, you just need to justify the decision and enroll your brain in the process.

Here are my top ten reasons to buy (or upgrade to) the iPhone 3G. These might also come in handy in trying to convince your spouse!

1. Fast 3G cellular network. 3G technology gives iPhone fast access to email and the Internet on cellular networks around the world. iPhone 3G also makes it possible to multitask. You can surf the web, download email, get directions, and watch video—even while you’re on a call. Apple claims the iPhone 3G is 2.4 times faster downloading pages, email, or attachments.
2. Enhanced contact functions. Yon can now find a contact by typing a name into the new contacts search field. iPhone then shows you the matching names. (If you have a lot of names, as I do, this is a God-send.) If you use iPhone with Microsoft Exchange, you can even look up contacts in your company’s Global Address List (GAL).
3. Push email, calendar, and contacts. Up until now, the iPhone used “pull technology” to retrieve my email from my company’s Exchange Server. To sync the calendar or contacts, I had to physically connect to my computer via a USB wire. With iPhone 3G, those days are over. Now iPhone has the same capabilities as the Blackberry. New emails, calendar appointments, and address contacts are synced wirelessly as they happen. If my assistant changes an appointment on my calendar, I will have those changes in a matter of seconds on my iPhone. I can even wirelessly accept or decline meeting invitations.
4. Better Email management. iPhone users have long complained that they are forced to work on one email message at a time. This doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but when you are dealing with more than 100 messages a day, it becomes an issue. Now the iPhone supports mass email move and delete. So you can delete many messages at once and organize groups of messages by moving them into different mail folders.
5. Email attachment support. The iPhone already reads more than a dozen file formats, including PDF, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel. However, the iPhone 3G will now display iWork and Microsoft PowerPoint files. You can open them in email and view them right on your iPhone—even in landscape mode. (I predict that showing iWork or PowerPoint presentations on the iPhone will create a whole new category of one-one-one presentations.)
6. Maps with built-in GPS. By utilizing the Global Positioning Satellite system, iPhone 3G always knows your current location. It can also show you what is close to your current location. So, for example, if you are taking a stroll in downtown Chicago, you can instantly find all the bookstores near your current location. Via Google Maps, it can also give you directions, using your current location as the starting point. It can even indicate the current traffic conditions—green streets where the traffic is flowing smoothly and yellow and red streets where the traffic is congested or at a complete stop.
7. Third-party applications. Until now, iPhone has been a closed ecosystem unless you were willing to “jailbreak” your phone and install third-party apps. Even I haven’t been geek enough to do that. But with iPhone 3G, Apple as unleashed an army of third-party developers. And if the applications that Steve Jobs demoed in his keynote at the recent World Wide developers Conference are any indication, we are in for some treats. These apps are unlike anything we’ve ever seen on a mobile phone. That’s because they leverage all the groundbreaking technologies of the iPhone, including the accelerometer, Multi-Touch, 3D positional sound, and GPS.
8. MobileMe Support. Apple is finally re-branding and upgrading it’s .Mac service. The new name is MobileMe. It boasts several new features, including “Exchange for the rest of us.” It provides a simple way to keep everything up todate. If you make a change on your iPhone calendar, for example, it pushes the change into the Internet “cloud” and then automatically updates any other devices you have connected to MobileMe. This creates true device independence. It doesn’t matter if you work on your iPhone or your laptop. Changes will automatically be synced to the other.
9. Additional Languages. iPhone now offers complete language and dictionary support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), French (Canada), German, Japanese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Portugal), Portuguese (Brazil), Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish, Korean (no dictionary), Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Russian, and Polish. You can even draw Chinese or Japanese characters, and the iPhone will recognize them.
10. Scientific Calculator. iPhone already provides a simple business calculator. I use it all the time. But now, in iPhone 3G, if you rotate the iPhone to landscape mode, the business calculator is transformed into a sophisticated scientific calculator with dozens of functions for solving complex scientific and advanced math problems. I’ll probably stick with Excel for this, but the investment bankers and scientists amongst us will find this useful.

In addition to all of this, the iPhone itself is cheaper: $US199 for the 8GB model and $US299 for the 16GB model. However, AT&T is charging $US10 more per month for access to its 3G network. (The rationale is that you will be using more of their available bandwidth.) Prices will range from a US$69.99 monthly plan with 450 anytime minutes and 5,000 night and weekend minutes, to a US$129 plan with unlimited minutes. Each of the plans will include unlimited data transfers.

SMS will be separate, with prices ranging from US$5 per month for 200 messages to US$20 per month for unlimited messages.

Finally, you may want to watch the iPhone 3G Guided Video Tour. The Apple spokesperson will take you through all the major iPhone features.

About three weeks ago, 135 of our employees completed the Country Music Half Marathon in Nashville, Tennessee. (Our Dallas-based employees completed the Big-D Dallas Half Marathon a month earlier.) While it was fresh in their minds, I wanted to capture their thoughts.

So Lindsey Nobles, my Director of Corporate Communications, produced this simple 6-minute video with the help of David Woodard at Literary Video. In it, our Nashville employees talk about their experience. I can’t wait until next year.

In late December of 2007, I issued the 2008 Half Marathon Challenge. An amazing 135 of our employees participated in the event and participated. It was my second half marathon, and I enjoyed it even more than last year.

Last week, Lindsey Nobles, my Director of Corporate Communications, invited everyone who finished to write about their experience. Like last year, we were overwhelmed. It seemed that the majority of runners wanted to share their experience. As a result, I have included them below in full. (They are listed alphabetically by last name.) I found them truly inspiring.

In case you are wondering, we are definitely going to do this again next year. I would also like to tie our participation to raising money for a worthy cause. We will recognize all the runners at our All Employee Meeting next week (May 14).

“After completing the 2007 Music City Half Marathon (with no practice or preparation) in 03:16, I resolved I would dedicate the following year to getting my body in better shape. I committed to a 5-day exercise program (at the YMCA) which included cardio training on Tuesdays and Thursdays (running for one hour) as well as core weight training on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“During this year-long training time, I have experienced a reduction in weight (41 pounds), a huge reduction in body fat, and significant improvement in flexibility and strength, as well as an improved mental approach to all aspects of my life.

“I completed the 2008 Music City Half Marathon in 02:14—a reduction of 01:12 or 36.7% from my 2007 time! I would like to thank Chris Long, who influenced my tactical approach to finish under 2:15, and Chad Graves, for mocking me enough (in a way only Chad can get away with) in 2007 which motivated me to get off my lazy butt and go for it. By the way, Chad wanted to know if I planned to GPS all the restaurants along the course.



“My goal for 2009 is to finish under the 2:00 mark.”

“Yesterday was awesome! It was fun to spend the day with my co-workers, encouraging each other and getting to know some of them a little better. And the thrill of crossing the finish line and the feeling of accomplishment—there is nothing like it! Once I get over the aches and pains, I’m ready to go again.”

“I am so thankful for the challenge to participate in the half marathon. This is something that I never would have done on my own but now that I have completed one, I will definitely continue in my training and participate in other races. While the race was long and tiring, I cannot even begin to describe the sense of accomplishment I felt when I crossed the finish line. To add to the excitement of finishing, having a group of our team, who had already finished, cheering me on at the finish line was such an encouragement. I love that we stuck together, started together and supported each other throughout the race.

“This was by far one of the best experiences I have had over the course of my life and while my goal was just to finish one, I am now inspired and ready to train for future races.”

“When I started training for the half marathon, it was early January and we were so focused on the last quarter of the fiscal year that I thought of my goals for the race in terms of budget and target. I really didn’t think I could run 13.1 miles, so I focused on walking with maybe a little running. I thought I could finish in 03:15, so that became my budget. But if I really worked hard I might be able to hit 03:00, so I set that as my target, my ‘I can be proud of myself if I do this’ goal. 



“Around mile three on Saturday, I made the exhilarating discovery that I was already on track to hit my target. I had started the race with the expectation that I’d have to kill myself the last few miles to make it, and yet already I could see that if I just didn’t fall apart I could do it. From that point on, the race became fun. The burden of the miles remaining was completely replaced with the excitement of what could be accomplished. And because my outlook on the race changed, I just kept getting farther and farther ahead of my target. I crossed the finish line in 02:41–19, minutes ahead of my stretch goal and having run well over half the race. 



“During those last few miles, I couldn’t help but think about the parallels between the race and the goals we set here. So often, we have good targets that we should be able to reach. But we start the race behind and needing to make up ground and so we’re constantly feeling the burden of what more can we do? and how can we overcome this? Starting out on track, though—which of course is a result of the training and preparation done ahead of time—brings exponentially greater results because of the energy and freedom that comes with a goal line that is literally close enough to reach out and touch. 


 
“Not only am I now in possibly the best shape of my life, but I have a refined vision for the goals I’m setting. Thanks for challenging us to take the first step, Mike!” 


“There were many things that surprised me about my participation in the Half Marathon. I wasn’t too surprised that I finished. Being a scoutmaster and having hiked with my scouts 12 miles in one day with a 40-pound pack, I knew I could walk 13.2 miles. In my training, I had gotten up to running 9 miles. So my strategy was to run as far as I could and then walk/run the rest of the way. What did surprise me was that I still felt good after 9 miles and ended up running the whole way.



“The other thing that surprised me was how good I felt after I finished. Not my legs! That was a different story! But how good I felt inside. It was a great sense of accomplishment.



“Six months ago, if you had told me I could run a half-marathon, I would have told you that you were crazy. But the feeling of setting a major goal, working hard to prepare for it and achieving that goal is something everyone should experience.”

“I have never done anything like this before and I did better than I expected in the half marathon. My neighbor, Jan Eppard, started walking with me as I was training. She eventually decided to walk the race with me, which really encouraged me.



“Our only goal was to complete the race, so I thoroughly enjoyed relishing all of the details of the event from people watching to taking in all of the beautiful scenery along the course. We went through some beautiful neighborhoods and the azaleas were in bloom! We surprised ourselves and finished in just under 4 hours (a tad over an 18 minute mile). I was like 1,634 out of I don’t know what. Of course, I was sight-seeing and taking pictures all along the course—which probably cost us time.



“It was fun crossing the finish line to the cheers of the crowd. Everyone was so encouraging all along the course and that made the walk all the better. It is also very satisfying to complete a goal that was a stretch for me. Thanks to Mike Hyatt and Women of Faith, I have done something I would have never dreamed of trying a few months ago!



“I figured that including the race, I have walked over 155 miles in preparation for this half-marathon. It certainly helped my stamina. My legs and feet were tired, but fine overall. Jan and I plan on continuing our walks and may attempt this again next year without my camera! I know I can improve on my time.”

“After finishing my first marathon last year, I was so excited. I lost weight and was feeling great. When Mike made his challenge this year, I thought, Oh boy, here is my chance to improve.



“I trained harder and, while I didn’t lose as much weight as I did the first year, I definitely toned up and lost two more clothes sizes. I beat my time of last year by 15 to 20 minutes.



“It was so exciting to see how many Nelson people took the challenge. You get to know so many people from other divisions that you normally do not work with. This year I trained with Lisa Lehr, Bob Jones, and Susie Koch. We met up with Lisa Mattern (who trained with us last year and wasn’t able to this year) at the marathon. It was fun and we each challenged each other. My goal for next year is to finish in under three hours. (My time this year was 03:20:49.) I have already started training!”



“This year started off much harder than last year. I went through three tennis shoes in three months—keeping me from training as hard—and ended up using the ones I used in last year’s half marathon. In the middle of training, I had heavy requirements at work that required I stop exercising for about four weeks. That gave me about a month to get back up to speed before the marathon. On top of all of that, I have bad knees. 



“About mile five my knees started aching and having sharp pains, but I kept going. About mile six, my stomach started stinging. However, the largest hurdle was the people in front of me. I was amazed at the number of them who would cut in front of me, stop to tie a shoe in the middle of the street, slow to a walk, etc. and right at the right point in front of me where I literally had to hurdle them or twist around them or jump to keep from knocking both of us down. It was incredibly thick with people running at all different speeds. We had such little room to maneuver.



“However, through all that adversity, I still was able to cut off almost 20 minutes from my time last year. My goal was to run it in 2 hours 10 minutes (7 minutes less than last year). But I ended it in less than two hours (1:58 or a little over 9 minute miles). That’s the fastest I’ve ran in all my training for the past three months. It was a really unexpected success.

“I’m quite impressed with what God allowed to happen. There was a lot against me and many things that could have taken a turn for the worse. I simply took the race one focused step at a time—and came out a winner on the other side. It was a good experience for me.”

“I just like to say I thank Thomas Nelson for extending such a wonderful opportunity to me and my fellow co-workers. The experience was great; I have done a lot of things in my life but next to the birth of my daughter and being saved, this was the most exciting feeling I have ever felt. The pain was painful, but the reward I got from crossing the finish line totally outweighed the pain. I will definitely do it again next year.”
 


“For the last few years I had considered running the CMM, but every year I made up some kind of excuse. (I had never run a race before.) After reading about Mike’s challenge and the testimonials from last year, I decided that if I was ever going to do it, now was the time.

“I starting running three times a week in January and did it consistently leading up to the race. I did have a few setbacks as the weeks rolled on (knee, arch, blister issues), but I persisted. My goal was to finish in 02:30. I finished in 02:15:53.

“I enjoyed my experience Saturday, but my last two miles where rough. I was in so much pain, as I’m sure everyone else was. During the last two miles I told myself several times that I would never do this again, but by the next day I was making plans/goals for next year.

“My immediate goal is to keep running three times a week and periodically enter 5K/10K races. Next winter I’ll start my longer runs to get ready for CMM ’09.

“I’d like to thank Mike for issuing this challenge.”


“I must say I was very apprehensive about signing up for the half marathon but glad I did. I was already running three times a week for 30 minutes each time due to heart problems and cholesterol in both sides of my family. However, I thought 3 to 3-1/2 miles is quite different than 13.1 miles. 

“I’ve always thought of myself as athletic and pretty physically fit, so I finally gave in and decided to take the challenge that Mike set before us. My plan was to run the first three miles and then walk 2 minutes, jog 8, and continue the 2 and 8 format until I finished and this is how I trained. 

“I was not sure how long it would take me, but I put down 2 hours and 45 minutes. The further my training went I realized I could beat that, so I changed my time to 2 hours and 30 minutes with a goal of 2 hours and 10 minutes. People who ran it last year kept telling me, ‘Oh, you’ll hit this runner’s high and the adrenaline will be running wild,’ but I had my doubts. Usually I rolled my eyes and followed it by a, ‘Yeah, whatever.’

“Anyhow, after finally arriving I started in corral 21 and spent the first 5 or 6 miles zig-zagging in and around people. The runner’s high and adrenaline did in fact kick in, and I only stopped one time to stretch and walk 2 minutes between mile 11 and 12. Once I reached mile 12 I realized I could beat the 2 hour mark and picked up the pace a tad bit and finished in 1 hour, 57 minutes, and 54 seconds.

“I must say I had a great time and if asked right now whether or not I would sign up again for next year’s run, I’d say, ‘Yes.’ During my training I never went more than 8 miles and quite honestly felt I could have kept on going once I crossed the line. Next year, I plan to do the same thing and hopefully shave a few minutes off.”


“I too thoroughly enjoyed the half marathon and can hardly wait to do it again next year. It was SO FUN to join together with my co-workers and celebrate all the training and work we had put into making the race possible. I loved it and am grateful for the challenge that awakened me to my passion for running.”

“I knew that I needed to get into better shape than I was in last fall. Mike personally challenged me to join my co-workers in the half marathon. He mentioned that you have to ‘put a stake in the ground’ and commit publically that you are going to run in the event. This was a big step that kept me focused on training once I made this commitment.
 


“I finished the half in 2 hours and 31 minutes which is about where I predicted my finish time would end up. I have shed a few pounds since last fall and seem to have more energy now that I am in a running routine. Thanks to Mike for the encouragement as well as the reimbursement plan for the runners who finished.”

“My wife, Karen, and I ran the half marathon with the Thomas Nelson team this year. In January we committed to running together for the entire race, and the goal we set was to finish in 2 hours. Our training went better than we could have hoped. We had some wonderful conversations as we made our way through our neighborhood, and when we completed our 12-miler two weeks out, we felt completely prepared.

“Then, one week before the race, we both came up gimpy. She had a knee injury that at times made it impossible for her to run even a few steps, and I had tendinitis in my foot that was unlike anything I’d experienced in 24 years of running. We were discouraged—big-time.

“The week before the race we took it easy and used lots of ice and ibuprofen. When we hit Centennial Park at 6:30 last Saturday morning, we didn’t know what to expect. At the starting line, we agreed our new goal was to finish—that’s it. Then, as we made our way through the first six miles, we allowed ourselves to think again about our original goal. We ran through some pain in those last few miles, but when we passed the runner holding the 2:00 sign in mile twelve, we were—to say the least—excited.

“When we crossed the finish line, we had achieved our original goal: our official time was 1:58 and change. Especially given the injuries, we were both very proud of what we had accomplished. Together.”


“It was AMAZING!!! I started out strong but by the 8th or 9th mile I was about to give up. Thanks to my husband and the cheerful people at the water stations I kept going. Even though I came in last of all the half marathoners [in Dallas], it felt GREAT crossing the finish line. I did it in 4 hours and 43 minutes (give or take) which I think was great for me not to have trained for the last two months and to have just moved the Friday and Saturday before. My stomach started to cramp up from my c-section a couple of times but I got through it. All in all, with a little more training I would do it again!”


“Thank you all for checking on me. I am okay but exhausted and very sore. I can hardly walk, but I will recover okay tomorrow—I think.

“I finished, although I would not say well. I don’t know my official time, but by my watch it took me 04:18. I had to stop 10 times for the bathroom!

“I saw Mike (passed me in the other direction), and he looked strong and well. My knee is swollen and hurt so badly the last couple of miles I would have quit except I didn’t want to disappoint Mike and all of you. I am glad I finished which is a tribute to Mike’s leadership and encouragement. I have already decided I am going to run (walk!) Again next year!

“You gave me courage Mary [Graham] by finishing yourself!”


“Run your own race. My dad who is avid runner would advise this as I began my journey 13 weeks ago. Your race is yours and not anyone else’s. You can compare yourself with others along the route, but it is your journey.

“Many times, I would try to keep up with my husband on the long runs, and my body would scream ‘SLOW DOWN’ or you will not finish this properly or at even at all. And this has been echoed many many times in my life. I would want things at my time and not God’s and many times in my life I have heard God telling me to ‘slow down.’

“Looking at my life, indeed I have gotten so much of my hearts desire, but not at my time. He has always prepared me for me what is come. We can’t run 13 miles overnight—it takes a lot of pain and dedication and time. Times of frustration and times joy…feeling of triumph and feeling of defeat… just as mirrored in our personal journey. 



“The other thing it has taught me is that we can’t go it alone. The encouragement we receive from others is vital in our daily lives as well as out on the race path—being held accountable, helping others, and sharing is each others accomplishment was so rewarding.

“As Johnette, Lori, and Leslie, were cheering us all on I though of the great encouragement we should feel everyday from God. ‘Keep pressing on—you can do it!’ I can hardly imagine what it must feel like to cross the final finish line and Jesus is there waiting there saying, ‘You made it! You made it!’

“I thought of this when I saw Lori, Johnette and Leslie: ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith’” (Hebrews 12:1). 


“The Tennessean ran this article before the race (April 26), in an article called, Today’s Walk Shows Friendship:

‘In 2006, Susie Koch was delivered a devastating diagnosis—lung cancer. After surgery, the 52-year-old Smyrna resident joined a gym. She began her own recovery but soon heard another friend was hit with the same fate. To show him strength, she has decided to walk the Country Music Half-Marathon.

‘I might never have considered entering a marathon if it weren’t for what has happened to me in the last two years. One may not see it this way, but I now consider it a blessing in disguise!

‘I heard my diagnosis—lung cancer—at the age of just 50 years old, on June 26, 2006.

‘Needless to say, I was devastated. Just weeks afterward, on July 10, the lower lobe of my left lung was removed. It took over a year of recovery, and my lung capacity was noticeably less.

‘I joined the YMCA to try to gain some strength, and began to notice a difference. Soon afterward, Mike Hyatt, the CEO where I am employed, Thomas Nelson Publishers, began to encourage staff to do the Country Music Marathon.

‘Paul Terwilliger, a dear friend of my husband, Phil, and I, who lives in Kingston, N.Y., found out this year he has lung cancer. He is now going through treatment. We have been praying for him, but being so far away, haven’t been able to help him and encourage him like we would like to. But I thought, ‘I’ll do it. I’ll enter and walk for Paul. I want to encourage him that there is life again after lung cancer.’

‘This is my first (half) marathon, and doing it for Paul has given me so much motivation and discipline to train for this event.

‘And to my friend I say, “Paulie, I look forward to when you can walk beside me in a future Country Music Marathon.”’”

“This year’s race was my fifth half marathon. In year’s past I’ve done the distance in approximately 2 hours, and each year I’ve come to the start line with hopes of breaking 2-hour barrier but was never able to do so. This year was my year though. I crossed the finish line in 1:54 thanks to training for four months with my roommate and a fantastic team of people from my church, St. Bartholomew’s.

“The best part of the whole training/racing experience? I now have a group of 14 or so great individuals whom I consider close friends. The relationships formed during the process will last far longer than the excitement of breaking the 2-hour barrier and for that I am grateful. You’ll see me again next year!” 



“This year was much different—I was sick and probably should have opted out, but . . .
 


“I kept going even though I didn’t want to, even though I had a very hard time breathing, even though I didn’t feel motivated, even though I knew I would not get the time I hoped for. I don’t know why, maybe to say I finished my third half Marathon, maybe because I want to finish what I started, or because I knew there were other people I would let down if I quit. Whatever—I finished.



“I guess I learned a few things about myself.

• Attitude makes or breaks me.




• I’m 46, not 26, there’s no getting around that.




• Hit the portapotty earlier.




• The race isn’t about the finish—its about how you get there—its your race.




• And I have great friends who stuck with me when they could have left me in the dust.


“I will do it again next year, just because. I also found out today that I have a stress fracture of my right ankle—my first athletic injury—now I’m really in the club!”



“Notes to self for next year:

1. Get farther up in the starting corrals. I ran an extra half-mile sideways because I had to keep moving around walkers and slower pokes than me. And it made my knees wobble at times. Scary.
   
   
   
2. Go ahead and kill anyone who says the last two miles are downhill—even if they just mean it metaphorically. They aren’t. They are the worst hills of the race and they hurt.
   
   
   
3. Don’t race with anything you haven’t trained in—including headphones. Two days before the race, I paid 50 bucks for those fancy-schmancy headphones Mike Hyatt recommended which stay on your ears better than anything on the market. Of course, you can’t actually hear music through them and that seriously messed with my mojo. [Note from Mike Hyatt: Mine work great. Maybe you should exchange them for another pair.]
   
   
   
4. Be sure to complain about this year’s placement of the company tent. I didn’t need the extra mile tacked on the end of the race.
   
   
   
5. Run in the company T-shirt, even if it does feel like sandpaper. If I could give some other Nelsonite as much comfort as I received just to see a teammate in front of me, it will be worth it.
   
   
   
6. Eat the company food the night before. Darfons’ lasagna tasted like cardboard soaked in Ragu. Try to figure out why I lost all feeling below my waist at mile 10 and don’t do that again.
   
   
   
7. Go to the bathroom as many times as necessary before lift off. It really hurts to run 7 miles when you gotta go. And never get a pre-race massage on your lower back when you gotta go, either.
   
   
   
8. Best pre-race purchase: nipple guards. Best post-race advice: remove said nipple guards prior to publicly changing shirts.
   
   
   
9. Petition Hyatt for a one-day moratorium on our chemical-abuse rules. Quality beer and cigars is definitely the way to celebrate. Joel Miller is a saint. Maybe we could pretend Thomas Nelson is Episcopal for a day (after all, 3 out of 4 of our publishers are), then HR could bring the cooler!”

“Last year was the first time I participated in any type of event like this. I finished in a blazing time of 3:22. This was due to me thinking I was still in my 20s and not needing to train for a mere 13.1 miles. During last year’s event severe pain developed in my right knee, and I literally limped across the finish line. It took 8 months to get to the point where I could run more than two miles without pain.



“Having some intelligence, I decided I would train this year. My goal was to beat my time from last year by 1 hour. This was accomplished as this year I finished in 2:20. During the training period this year I became mildly addicted to running. My goal is to continue to run and compete in various races. Maybe next year it will be the full marathon and, hopefully, one day Team Nelson can travel to Boston!” 



“What an amazing experience—one I’ll always remember! This was my first half marathon and definitely won’t be my last. 



“Training started out great but became monotonous leading up to race day. My excitement, however, far outweighed any of the shadows of training. The race challenged me physically, mentally, & spiritually, but it was one of the most gratifying events I’ve ever participated in.



“Through this event, I see the friendships and camaraderie fostered over the past few months lasting a long time within our company. Congrats to everyone else who finished!”



“This is my second year of running/walking the half marathon. Words cannot describe the joy I have had of completing it each time. Not only is it wonderful to have the feeling of elation and accomplishment when I cross over that finish line, but it is even more so for me because for both times I have had my beautiful daughter to cross over it with me. I have three children and anybody that knows me, knows that they are my life.

“I can truly say that my daughter is my best friend. She is seventeen, and she never ceases to amaze me in everything she sets out to do. She has already done so much more at her age than I was able to and I don’t see her slowing down any in her future.

“She strained her meniscus last year in training and now has a small tear. She has a very large brace that she wears that covers practically her whole leg. We were only able to train one day this year and we still were able to finish 15 minutes earlier than what we did last year. Without her it would have been very hard for me to finish where I did.

“If you have not ever done a marathon or anything like it, you should. It is truly an experience you will never forget spiritually and physically.”

“The half marathon makes me pause a moment to thank God for how very blessed we are to have health, friends, a good work environment, and challenges that make us grow.”


“I count my decision to participate in the half marathon one of the smartest things I’ve ever done, not just because I feel great and am in better shape, but because it changed one of the ways in which I see myself.



“When I was young, I wore a Milwaukee back-brace that went from my neck to my hips. I also had a prosthetic arm that weighed 13 lbs. Let’s just say I gave new meaning to the term ‘Heavy Metal.’

“Because of all this apparatus, I hated gym class. The weight of all of that made it hard to run and jump, plus I would get really hot under there. On team sports days, I always prayed there’d be an odd number of kids, so I could just keep score or gather equipment. The only sport I ever liked and won at was dodge ball, and that was just because I think everyone was scared to throw the ball too hard and break my prosthetic arm.



“I tell you all this in order to explain how I came to view myself as a ‘non-sporty’ person. Yes, I had a lot of positive adjectives for myself overall, but zero when it came to participating in sports and athletics. Don’t get me wrong, I love sport—just from the sidelines. 



“However, my friend Patty Curtis really encouraged me to try the half marathon. She even met up with me one weekend to train. I received a lot of advice and encouragement from so many people here at work, and over time, I’ve started to view myself as a ‘mildly sporty’ person. ;-)”



“After last year’s race, I wasn’t sure whether I’d run it again. But after this year, I’m ready to do it again for sure. I didn’t train as much as I should have, but since I was more relaxed and strategic this year (as opposed to nervous and ignorant last April), the race flew by and I didn’t hit the proverbial wall I hit last year.

“I finished in 02:26:53 (about six and a half minutes better than my 2007 time), and now my goal for next year is 2:14:59. It was great competing with so many colleagues, and I hope all of you do it again. And for those who didn’t run or walk, commit your entrance fee early and start training!”

“In the Lord of the Rings, it becomes obvious that Frodo wouldn’t have made it had it not been for Sam. The journey is the story, and that’s how it is for me with the half marathon.

“If you’ve seen the times, you know that I barely finished under the four-hour time limit Mike laid down at the onset. I finished in fact 03.59.21 (couldn’t get much closer). While the energy, the excitement, the rising above the sun, the bands, the cheerleaders (especially Jack & Marsha) all make the experience unique and stimulate the desire to repeat the experience and share it with others, I have to say that I would never had made it without the pushing, the encouragement, the sharing, the pulling of Mandy Mullinix (the way Sam did with Frodo).

“About mile three those I started with left me. But just ahead of me, around mile five, I happened to see one of those blue Nelson t-shirts, so I pushed to catch up. It happened to be Mandy (who, by the way, I really didn’t know, but five miles later I knew much better). She remained with me from mile five through mile eleven. Even though my lower body felt like I had been in a car wreck, and I had blisters on my feet, she would not allow me to give up. She refused to run off and leave me until I finally made her leave me at mile eleven.

“I know that I would have long been over four hours had it not been for Mandy and possibly not even finished had it not been for her. I’m grateful to know we have an employee who has a heart that continues to see the worth of encouraging others even when sacrificial to her.

“Mike, I would like you to give my reimbursement to Mandy for she’s the one that truly deserves mine. The thrill of crossing the finish is the close that inspires me to sign up for next year with 2 changes: train better and recruit more to share the experience!”

“I walked the half marathon on my 23rd birthday and finished in 03:12:01. (Happy Birthday to me! My present to myself was soreness.)

“I never once thought I would even consider participating in a half marathon, let alone actually do one. I can still remember elementary school gym class when we had to run ‘the mile.’ While most of the kids ran it well under the maximum time limit with no problems, I had to train with my dad for weeks just to barely squeak by, purple-faced and nearly losing my breakfast. Needless to say, long distances are not my cup of tea.

“But when Mike issued the challenge, I made a hasty decision to participate and then couldn’t back down because I’m cheap and wanted to get my money back for finishing. But now that it’s all over, I can honestly say that all of the training and the frustration and the weekly outbursts of ‘What was I thinking?!’ were worth it.

“I’m so proud of myself and proud of everyone that I saw out there on Saturday. I never would have been able to do it without Team Nelson! Thanks for a great birthday!”

“My wife Melinda and I never seem to find, or make, the time to exercise on a regular basis. When Mike threw out the half marathon challenge, I took it as the perfect opportunity to work toward a more definitive goal than the nebulous ‘Let’s get into shape.’

“It took some convincing to get Melinda on board, but the entry fee reimbursement and the gift card were great motivators! We both started actively reading as much training information as we could, and in early January made the commitment to walk, not run. We began to tell family and friends what we planned (making it that much harder to back out) and started training.

“I wish training had gone better, but we worked steadily and did fairly well. Our goal was to just finish in four hours. As we trained we felt like we could finish in three and a half hours. We got more and more excited (and nervous) as the big day drew near, but our resolve to finish was strong.

“Our final time came in at 03:23 (seven minutes under our training pace) and, with the exception of some soreness and few blisters, had a blast! The best part of the race was walking down Belmont with the runners coming back up and looking for blue Team Nelson shirts and shouting encouragements to each other! That was truly motivating. As we were in the car riding home the most shocking part of the day happened—with big smiles on our face we heartily agreed with each other to do it again next year, this time with the goal of finishing in under three hours.

“Bring it on!”

Technorati Tags:
Exercise, Half Marathon, Marathon, Running, Thomas Nelson, Walking

One week ago today, I was running the Country Music Half Marathon. It was an incredible experience. I enjoyed this year’s race even more than last year’s—which is saying a lot.

Amazingly, some 32,000 people participated in either the race. According to various media reports, another 32,000 or so spectators attended. Regardless, it was a sea of people. Unless you run these types of races, you can’t imagine the energy.

My goal this year was to have 158 of our employees participate in either the Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon in Nashville or the the Big-D Texas Marathon & Half Marathon in Dallas. Between our two offices, we signed up 159 people. Of these, 135 (or 85%) finished. Another 37 non-employees (e.g., spouses, authors, and agents) ran with us for a total of 172.

Some people who signed up didn’t run because they were sick or injured. I’m not sure about the rest. Regardless, next year, I want to focus on helping people finish. We probably need to explore why some people didn’t finish and then see what we can do to help them.

The top ten Thomas Nelson finishers were:

#	Runner	Time
1	Mark Schoenwald	01:36:13
2	Adam Stein	01:39:58
3	Bryan Norman	01:46:45
4	Seth Matlock	01:47:20
5	Tim Caylor	01:52:39
6	Brittany Lassiter	01:53:47
7	Adam Hill	01:54:53
9	Chad Graves	01:57:54
9	Brian Hampton	01:58:27
10	Dax Edwards	01:58:49

In addition, honorable mention goes to Andy Hooper of Gap International. His finish time was 01:36:17, just four seconds behind Mark Schoenwald. He and his wife, Susanna, along with Kevin and Ilene Muething of Gap, ran with us, proving that they are true partners in every sense of the word.

I didn’t make the top ten list, but I finished in 02:32:04, which is about seven minutes better than I did last year. The amazing thing is that, I didn’t train as well this year and really wasn’t in as good of shape as I needed to be due to a bout of plantar fasciitis.

One of the things I noticed this year—my second time to run—is that I had to fear or anxiety. Last year, I was really wondering if I would finish. This year, I knew I would finish, so I was much less tense. As in all sports, you do better when you are relaxed.

Yesterday, on the plane ride home, I wrote down seven things I learned from my marathon experience this year.

1. A half marathon is a wonderful metaphor for life. There are dozens of parallels. I’m sure this is part of what makes running so appealing.
2. When I set a goal, obstacles instantly begin showing up. These are part of what makes the whole exercise so valuable. I must learn to persist and overcome them.
3. I perform best, when I am fully present to this moment. When I think too much about the past or the future, I lose my edge, and become anxious. Worse, my performance goes down.
4. I didn’t run alone. I was part of a family (two of my daughters, Megan and Mindy, ran with me), a company, a city, and 32,000 people who had the same goal. I can’t begin to describe how encouraging and uplifting this was.
5. A big goal is easier to accomplish if it’s fun. Elite Racing, the sponsor of the Country Music Marathon and Half Marathon, understands this. With 50 bands along the way, thousands of spectators, 4,000 volunteers, and a concert after the race, they pull out the stops to make this a fabulous experience for every participant.
6. I experienced tremendous joy in seeing people I care about accomplish such a significant goal. Every person had a story. They had to fight their own demons and overcome their own obstacles. But they did it. I was truly inspired.
7. I can’t wait to run another half marathon. In fact, I am planning to run the Philadelphia Distance Run on September 21 with my friends from Gap. I am already getting excited thinking about it!

We have been collecting photographs and testimonies from our employees who ran this year. I am hoping to post those in a day or two.

Technorati Tags:
Exercise, Half Marathon, Michael Hyatt, Running, Thomas Nelson

On January 4th, I set a goal of enrolling 158 of our employees in one of two half marathon races this spring. This represents roughly 25% of our workforce.

I knew this was a big goal and, frankly, it was a little daunting. However, I am happy to report that we now have 160 employees registered. In addition, we have 32 spouses, and 14 authors or agents registered for a total of 206 people. Wow.

Our theme for this year is “Run for the House.” (Our company logo is the house where Thomas Nelson first started his business in 1798.) We have developed posters and arm bands that we are distributing at a Half Marathon meeting we are hosting today in Nashville.

I want to especially thank Suzanne Thompson, our Nashville-based team leader, and Lara Dulaney, our Dallas-based team leader. They have done a fabulous job recruiting others and dealing with all the registration logistics.

I am really excited about running the race this year, despite the fact that I am still struggling with plantar fasciitis. The thought of running so many of my co-workers and friends is truly inspiring. I can’t wait!

I don’t know what it is about snow, but it always gets me excited. It probably stems from my childhood, when snow meant the possibility that school would be cancelled. Or maybe it was just the shear joy of playing outside in the snow.

Regardless, on the way home from San Jose yesterday, I checked the weather widget on my iPhone. It had the little snow icon next to Friday and Saturday. I next checked Weather.com. The meteorologists there were predicting 3–5 inches for Nashville. My heart lept!My plane touched down in Nashville at about 6:00 p.m. after a bumpy approach. About 15 minutes into my drive home, it began to sleet. By the time I arrived at my house in Franklin, it was snowing hard. I couldn’t have been happier. I’d been praying all winter for a good snow.

It snowed steadily all evening. When Gail and I went to bed it was still snowing—big beautiful flakes. I woke up at 6:30, scurried outside, and snapped a few photos before anyone spoiled the thick white blanket with foot prints.

I realize that these modest snowfalls make northerners laugh. But when you live in the south, you take what you can get. This is the latest snowfall we have had since 1996. It is also the biggest snowfall we have had since 2003. My guess is that we had about three inches in Franklin.

Three weeks ago, I got out of bed and noticed that my right heel was really sore. That’s strange, I thought. I wonder if I stepped on a stone. Over the next few days, I kept running and noticed that it was getting progressively worse. Then it dawned on me. Could this be the dreaded Plantar Fasciitis?

I immediately looked it up on Wikipedia. It said,

Plantar fasciitis, formerly known as “policeman’s heel,” is a painful inflammatory condition caused by excessive wear to the plantar fascia of the foot or biomechanical faults that cause abnormal pronation of the foot. The pain usually is felt on the underside of the heel, and is often most intense with the first steps of the day.

Those were my exact symptoms.

The first thing I did was to stop running. The repetitive impact on my foot was only aggravating the condition. I have continued working out, but now I am using the elliptical machine or a stationary bike. (As a side benefit, this has finally got me doing cross-training, something I should have been doing since I started running more than a year ago.)

Next, I went to Fleet Feet Sports in Brentwood. Jeff Wells, the proprietor, was a big help to me. He thought my chances of recovery were good, since I seem to have caught the problem early. He fitted me with some PowerStep insoles, which he said would give me more support for my arch.

He also sold me a Step Stretch device that I have been using religiously since I got it. I stretch each leg three times for forty-five seconds each, twice a day. It has really helped.

In addition, I have been periodically icing my foot. I found a reusable ice pack at Walgreens that has worked well.

However, I have still been unable to run. So, last week, I visited Adam Carter, a physical therapist here in Nashville who works with a lot of runners. He fitted me for some custom orthotics (shoe inserts). They came in on Wednesday, and I did my first workout with them yesterday.

Adam suggested that I keep using the elliptical machine or the for the next week. I have to break the orthotics in. I am hoping that I begin seeing improvement quickly.

If you are a runner, there are some import things you can do to avoid injuries. Here are my top five:

1. Make sure your shoes are in good shape. You should keep a running log of your total miles. Shoes should be replaced every 300 miles.
2. Stretch before and after you run. This is incredibly important. Unfortunately, I wasn’t doing this consistently, and I believe that is where my problems began.
3. Don’t increase your mileage by more than 10% per week. So, for example, if you are running 12 miles a week (three miles, four times a week), you can safely add 1.2 miles the second week, but no more.
4. Cross-train on an elliptical machine, stair machine, or a stationary bike. Cross-training will keep your aerobic level up without punishing your legs day after day.
5. Engage in strength training. Strong muscles are important. They support you and make you less likely to become injured. This actually one of the reasons I often run barefoot

I am all for the TSA screening system at airports. In today’s world, you can’t be too careful. Overall, I have found TSA officials to be pleasant, professional, and courteous.

However, I continue to be surprised at the inconsistent application of certain screening procedures. I travel a good deal and am in and out of airports all over the country. You would think that a federal program would insure that rules are applied consistently. Evidently not.Here are the inconsistencies I have found:

1. Initial screeners. Sometimes this is a TSA official; sometimes it is simply airport security. Sometimes, they jot a mark on your boarding pass; sometimes they carefully compare you with your picture. The most annoying habit is when they ask you for credentials at the beginning of the line and then again at the end. It’s almost as if the second guys don’t trust the first guys.
2. Secondary screeners. Sometimes a TSA official wants to see your boarding pass again, right after you go through the detection monitor. But not always. As a result, I always put mine in my right pocket—just in case.
3. Shoes off or on? This is getting more consistent now, but for a long time, I left my shoes on when going through security in Nashville and a few other cities. Now, as a matter of standard operating procedure, I take my shoes off.
4. Is paste a liquid? When you carry on your bags, you’re supposed to remove any liquids and place the containers in a one-quart plastic bag. According to the official rules, each container must be three ounces or smaller. And, you must use only one, zip-top, clear plastic bag. This seems straightforward and clear. The confusion comes over pastes, some gels, and a few other substances. For example, I have always left my toothpaste and deodorant in my suitcase. However, a few weeks ago, security in Colorado Springs, pulled these out of my bag and lectured me. I’ve flown since then and kept them in my suitcase. So far, no one has pulled them out. It would be great if TSA would clarify this on their site.

What inconsistencies have you found?

Again, compared to what I expected from a federal agency, the TSA is doing a remarkable job. I certainly don’t want to make their already demanding work more difficult. However, I think consistency would help them and the travelers they serve.

A little over a month ago, I issued the The 2008 Half Marathon Challenge. I invited our employees, spouses, authors and agents to run either the The Big-D Texas Marathon & Half Marathon in Dallas on April 6 or The Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon in Nashville on April 26. So far, we have 102 employees signed up. My goal is 158.

In various meetings last week, several people told me they were “on the fence.” This post is a shameless attempt to get you off the fence and sign-up! Here are seven reasons why you need to do so:

1. It will get you into the best shape of your life. I’m fifty-two years old. I can honestly say that I have never been in better shape. I feel great! I didn’t feel this way eighteen months ago. Before I started running, I was twenty pounds overweight. I wasn’t sleeping well. I was worried about growing older and thought that perhaps this was just the aging process. Wrong! It doesn’t have to be that way, and I have proven it to myself.
2. It will make you more energetic and productive than you ever thought possible. This is the surprising thing about any kind of exercise. You think it would make you more tired because you are expending energy. However, I have experienced just the opposite. Since I have started running, I am more energetic and productive than I have ever been—and I wasn’t doing too badly before.
3. It will teach you an enormous amount about goal-setting—and the ups and downs along the way. Whenever you set a goal, you almost immediately encounter Resistance. (See The War of Art by Steven Pressfield for a great discussion of this phenomenon. He’s the same one who wrote The Legend of Bagger Vance.) This also happens with running. However, you have more control over the variables than other projects, so it comes down to passion and discipline. Running is a great metaphor for how all of life works.
4. It will give you an exhilarating sense of accomplishment when you finish. I loved running across the finish line last year. So did scores of my colleagues here at Thomas Nelson. There’s no feeling quite like it. I think I was high for days. As I have spoken with other runners, I have discovered that this is a common experience. You will find that this spills over into other areas of your life.
5. It will test your resolve in ways that will be applicable to every other area of your life. When I decided I would run again this year, I created a spreadsheet. I mapped out every run leading up to the race. However, the whole thing blew up two weeks into my plan when I developed plantar fasciitis. This indeed tested my resolve. It would have been so easy to quit. After all, I had a good excuse. But I refused. I have been working out on the elliptical machine and the stationary bike. Frankly, I needed this kind of cross-training, and my injury has forced me to do it. And I am still progressing toward my goal.
6. It will give you the confidence to take on other significant life goals. Achieving any important goal will help build your confidence. In this sense, running is no different. It was a huge boost to my own confidence. Since completing my first Half Marathon last year, I have noticed that I am willing to dream bigger and set higher goals. I suddenly realize that more is possible.
7. It will model taking care of yourself to the other significant people in your life. I think this is really important. Whether you think of yourself as a leader or not, others look up to you. Maybe it’s your employees, your children, or even your spouse. When you decide to walk or run, you model the importance of taking care of yourself. If you don’t take care of yourself, you won’t be of much use to anyone else.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. These are simply my reasons. What are yours?

If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Now is the only moment you have. Just by signing up, you will feel your life begin to shift. Come on. I dare you!

Sometimes people just need a nudge from a friend to get with the program. This is particularly true with exercise.

Last week, Suzanne Thompson, our Nashville-based half marathon team leader, sent out an email to some employees. Lisa Stilwell, our Senior Editor for Gift Books, was one of the recipients. Yesterday, Suzanne received this response from Lisa:

This got me to thinking, What if we could turn each participant into a recruiter? That led me to the idea of a contest—“The Half Marathon Sign-up Contest.”

Here’s how it works: We will ask each participant for the name of the person who encouraged them to sign-up. That person will be the designated “sponsor.” The sponsor with the most participants in each city (Nashville and Dallas) will win a $200 gift certificate to the running store of their choice.

Suzanne, Lara, and I will be excluded from competing. (Suzanne and Lara are our two team leaders.) Sponsors will be given credit for anyone who has already signed up.

So, all you have to do is encourage a co-worker to sign-up. If the contest doesn’t motivate you, here are three additional reasons you should nudge your friends:

1. It will benefit the other person. The mental, emotional, and physical benefits of running are well documented. By encouraging others to walk or run, you are giving them an invaluable gift. They may not appreciate it initially, but they will eventually thank you. You may literally be adding years to their life. You certainly will be improving the quality of their life.
2. It will benefit you. It will motivate you to keep training when you are tempted to quit. Even though you know the benefits of running, some days you will want to stay in bed. But then, when you realize someone you recruited will ask you how your training is going, you will get up and put your shoes on. (It happened to me this morning!)
3. It will benefit the whole team. We are already seeing some buzz in the company. This will only increase as more people enroll. And, the bigger the team, the more fun all of us will have. There is nothing like showing up on race day with your family members and co-workers to complete something you have worked on for weeks or months.

We are planning to have a pasta dinner with the whole team the night before each race. We will announce the winner there. Will it be you?

Technorati Tags:
Exercise, Half Marathon, jogging, Marathon, Motivation, Running, Thomas Nelson

We are making great progress on our Half Marathon registrations. As of the close of business yesterday, we had 60 people signed up. My goal is 158, so we are 38% of the way there. (Note that I am keeping a running total of the signups in my right sidebar.)

Today, I wanted to share a few running resources I have found helpful. First, I have created a simple Excel spreadsheet to help you plan out your training regimen. This is a 13-week program; however, there is nothing sacred about this time-frame. I have seen at least one 10-week program.

Keep in mind that the data in the spreadsheet is customized for me. If you use it, you need to take into consideration your own fitness level, goals, and time remaining until the Big Race. If you haven’t run at all, you might want to try the The Couch to 5K Running Plan at Cool Running. My daughter, Mindy, has just started training for the half, and is reporting good results from this program.

Second, I received an email on Wednesday from Tom Green, who runs a running Web site called Runners’ Lounge. It is a community-based site where runners can connect and talk about running. The site allows users to:

• Create profiles and talk about their training, racing, and their running lives
  
  
  
• Share stories, give advice, and offer useful resources and encouragement to other runners
  
  
  
• Build the community and the site content using profiles, customized groups, forums, rating systems, and wiki-formatted resource lists to share running information openly
  
  
  
• Store their favorite running stuff—details of their daily running, articles, inspirational quotes, web sites, blogs, widgets, their running log, and more
  
  
  
• Add and comment on running products, events or running resources, plus share their own media, including books, podcasts and video
  
  
  
• Have a voice in the world of running and a place to come home to where they can connect with other runners
  
  
  

Best of all, it’s free. I registered and started logging my runs this morning. You can see my complete profile here.

Third, Marathon Rookie is a site I have recommended before, but it is worth mentioning again. I used their Half Marathon Training for Beginners guide last year. But this is only the beginning. The site also offers advice on nutrition, hydration, motivation, weight training, cross training, etc. It’s a treasure trove of running resources.

Fourth, Jeff Galloway’s site is also excellent. His walk-run method was extremely helpful to me. It made my training regimen manageable and gave me the confidence I needed to finish. He also has a specific training program for the half marathon.

Fifth, I’d like to mention Danny Dreyer’s ChiRunning book and site. If I had to recommend one book on running, this would be it. Danny offers “a revolutionary approach to effortless, injury free running” (the book’s subtitle). If you’ve had trouble running in the past or suffer from hip, knee, or foot pain, you must read this book. I blogged about it here several months ago.

Finally, besides a great pair of shoes, I bought an Apple iPod Shuffle that has become part of my essential gear. You can buy one from Amazon.com for about $75. It’s worth every penny. My wife, Gail, likes to listen to music, but I listen to books on tape. It’s a great way to do two things at once: feed your brain and strengthen your body. I blogged about it more extensively here.

What are some of your favorite running resources or gear?

Technorati Tags:
Exercise, Half Marathon, jogging, Marathon, Running

Admittedly, I am a novice runner. I’ve been running just a little over a year. So what could I possibly have to say about training for a half marathon? A couple of things.

For starters, my lack of experience is precisely what qualifies me to speak on the topic. When I got started, most of the advice I received was from veteran runners. They knew a lot about running—as a veteran runner. But apparently they had forgotten what it was like to be a beginner. I still remember.

Second, I am not your typically annoying, just-made-a-new-year’s-resolution-and-want-to-enroll-all-my-friends-in-my-new-hobby kind of runner. I have had a year for the novelty to wear off. I’m still annoying, but, hopefully, it’s been tempered by some experience.

So if you’re considering running in a half marathon, here’s what I recommend:

1. Make a decision. This is where any journey begins. You have to decide to do something different. No one can make this decision for you. Until you make the decision to lose weight, get in shape, or start exercising, nothing else will happen.
2. Sign-up for a race. This will give you a concrete goal. It makes the training relevant. It also puts a stake in the ground and says, “I’m going to do this.” It might be a 5K, a 10K, a half marathon, or a full marathon. The important thing is to sign up. Once that happens, you are committed.
3. Go public with it. Once you tell your family, friends, and business associates, it’s difficult to go back. The alternative is go forward and do what you said you were going to do. I did this last year on my blog, and it almost guaranteed that I would be successful. There was no way I was going to go back on my word.
4. Tie the decision to your identity. Some people say to themselves, “I’m just not a runner” (or a jogger, or a walker). And because they chose to define themselves this way, their behavior follows. Something shifted in my own psyche when I started defining myself as a runner. I remember writing on my About page that “I enjoy running.” As a result, I actually started enjoying running. One of the great things about being human is that we get to define who we are what we will become. We don’t have to let our own internal files—or other’s—define us.
5. Buy some new running shoes. Numerous people have written to say that they have decided to take up running. Almost always, the very next sentence is that they have just bought a new pair of running shoes. I think investing in yourself like this also makes it more difficult to turn back. You have something at stake. And, if you’re like me, you like to try the new shoes out and see if they make a difference.
6. Adopt a strategy. I think it is virtually impossible to succeed without a plan. If you just get up in the morning without a plan, chances are, you’ll do nothing. Instead, I try to plan out my running in order to get ready for the next race. The are wonderful resources on the Internet. MarathonRookie.com is a fantastic resource. You might also want to read my previous articles on running, exercise, and goal setting.
7. Plan the night before. I learned this tip from Bill Phillips, author of Body for Life. It has been the key to my running success this past year. If you wait until the alarm clock goes off in the morning, you’re hosed. Nine times out of ten, you’ll roll over with a vague commitment to “run tomorrow.” However, if you know exactly how far you are going to run and how far, you have a much better chance of actually doing it.
8. Get started. The best way to start running is to … start running. There’s no substitute for putting on your shoes and hitting the trail. I remember when I started running last year, the first few weeks were the most difficult. I was out of shape and sore. Sometimes, I couldn’t wait to be through with my run. But after about six weeks, something happened. I actually started looking forward to running. I especially love how I feel immediately after running. In fact, my energy stays up for most of the day. But it all comes down to getting started.
9. Listen to your body. When I first started running, I actually walked most of the time. I only ran a little. Then, as I gained strength, I would run a little more. Eventually, I could run the whole time. (This is a method I learned from Jeff Galloway.) But even now there are days when I have to walk part of the way. I just accept this as part of the journey. I listen to my body and work with it instead of against it.

I contend that almost anyone can walk or run a half marathon with three to four months to prepare. (Amazingly, that’s exactly how much time you have between now and the Big-D Texas Marathon & Half Marathon in Dallas on April 6 and the Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon in Nashville on April 26.) Forgot about setting records. Your first goal is just to finish—and enjoy the experience. With these recommendations, you can do so.

Last year, I ran the Country Music Half Marathon. About 65 of my Thomas Nelson colleagues ran with me. It was my first half marathon, and it was an awesome experience. I think that most of my colleagues would agree.

Well, I want to do it again this year. Between our Nashville office and our Dallas office, I want to see 158 people run or walk the race. That would represent 25% of our workforce of 630. The Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon is scheduled in Nashville for April 26. The Big-D Texas Marathon & Half Marathon is scheduled in Dallas for April 6.

Why run a half (or even full) marathon? Here are my five top reasons, gleaned from the testimonials of those who ran last year:

1. It will empower you to achieve more than you think you can.
   
   
   
2. You will enable you to feel better than you’ve likely ever felt in your life.
   
   
   
3. It will make you more energetic and productive at work.
   
   
   
4. It will help you appreciate the value of teamwork—especially when the going gets tough.
   
   
   
5. You will be able to apply what you learn from running (or walking) to other areas of life.

If you need additional motivation, read the testimonials. They are hugely inspiring!

If you are a Thomas Nelson employee, regardless of your location, I have an offer you can’t refuse. First, like last year, go ahead and register for the race of your choice, whether Nashville or Dallas. Next, notify Suzanne Thompson if you plan to run the Nashville event or Lara Dulaney if you plan to run the Dallas event. I have asked them to serve as our official team leaders.

Here’s the best part. If you complete the half marathon or full marathon—even if you only walk—you will receive the following:

• An official Team Thomas Nelson t-shirt. We will all wear these the day of the race.
  
  
  
• Reimbursement for your registration fee.
  
  
  
• A $100 VISA gift card.
  
  
  
• Official public recognition at the first All Employee Meeting following the race.

Keep in mind, that you must notify the appropriate team leader to qualify for these benefits.

In addition, if your spouse or fiance participates, we will also give them a t-shirt and reimburse their registration fee. (You’ll have to share the gift card.) I want to do everything I can to encourage you to participate.

We are also working on a few other cool items, including a charity that we can officially support, a carb-heavy, team dinner the night before the race, and a variety of training walks/runs that we can do together. I will announce those here on my blog as we finalize the details.

For now, the important thing is to register and start training. You’ll save $15 by registering for the Country Music Marathon & Half Marathon before January 1.

I plan to share a few more tips on getting started in a subsequent blog post. Stay tuned.

Technorati Tags:
Thomas Nelson, Exercise, Running, Marathon

Last weekend, I attended a Christmas party with several of my friends. After getting a cup of hot apple cider, our polite conversation quickly turned to our mutual concern for the economy.

It seems that everywhere you look, the news is bad. The media drone on and on about the sub-prime mortgage crisis and high gas prices. While the outlook may not be apocalyptic, it is certainly pessimistic.

But not all the news is bad. On Sunday, the New York Times ran an article entitled, Not If Exports Save Us. In the article, they noted three positive economic indicators:

1. Macroeconomic statistics are still good, including a 4.4% annual growth rate in GDP.
   
   
   
2. Because of foreign investment, banking losses are spread around the world thus minimizing the pain in any one location.
   
   
   
3. The weak dollar is actually helping U.S. exports, since foreign currencies buy relatively more U.S. goods than they did previously.

While there is certainly bad news to counter this, not everything is negative. My biggest fear is public perception and its impact on the economy. We don’t need to talk ourselves into a recession.

Frankly, some days I think the best thing for the U.S. economy would be if everyone stopped watching the news for a few days.

Technorati Tags:
Economy, Market, Recession

This morning as I began mile three, I felt a tug in my left ankle. It took a moment to register, but I had injured my Achilles tendon. This is the same ankle I broke four years ago. I still have a plate and six screws in that ankle.

At first, I was in denial. I walked a few steps and then tried to run again. Nope, I thought, I’ve injured myself. I began walking home from the Park. After another 100 yards, I tried to run again. Bad decision. That only made matters worse. Now I was limping.

This is my first bona fide running injury. I plan to lay off for a few days in the hopes it will get better. Bummer.

Technorati Tags:
jogging, Running, Injury

As I have mentioned before, I usually listen to audio books while I run. It’s a great way to kill two birds with one stone. The problem is that I have had difficulty finding headphones that don’t slip out of my ears when I begin to sweat.

I’ve tried nearly everything. Neither the standard-issue headphones that come with the iPod nor a pair of high-end Shure headphones worked. In the end, gravity prevailed and the headphones fell out. This got to be quite a nuisance.

Finally, someone recommended to me a set of Sennheiser sport headphones. They retail for $49.95, but I found them on Amazon for $31.28. As you can see from the photo above, they hang over your ears, thus making it impossible for them to fall out.

Initially, they bothered my ears. The pressure was a little much. But, after a while I stopped noticing. Now I love them and use them every time I run.

Technorati Tags:
running, jogging, headphones

I bought my iPhone a month ago. I have used it extensively since then. I have traveled the country with it and, I think, given it a fair test. I thought I’d report back on my experience with it.

I’ll start with the positive:

• The interface is awesome. It is very Mac-like, which is to be expected since it is using OS X, Apple’s operating system. Still, whenever I demo it to someone, they are blown away. I think I sold two phones on my trip home from New York last week.
• The e-mail application is good. It took some effort to get it to work with our Exchange Server, but it is now working. It would be better if it were truly “push e-mail” like the Blackberry, but, once you get used to it, it is fine—if a little slow (more about that in a moment). My favorite thing is that it displays HTML e-mail exactly like a regular e-mail client.
• The keypad takes some getting used to. I don’t think it is as easy or as forgiving as the Blackberry, but it is decent, and I am getting better at it. The keypad tries to guess at what you are trying to type. The more you use it, the “smarter” it gets. I have finally graduated from typing with one finger to two thumbs.
• Voice mail is simple and elegant. This application is Apple at its best. It is how voice mail should have been designed from the beginning. You can select any message and play it. With the push of a button, you can call the person back or delete the message.
• I also like having the iPod built in. This saves me the hassle of carrying two devices (a phone and an iPod). I was nervous that 8 gigabytes would not be sufficient, but I am currently only using about half the capacity. While it would be nice to have access to my entire music library, the truth is that I only listen to a much smaller subset on a regular basis. The iTunes integration is also very nice.
• I love having access to a real browser on my phone. Surprisingly, I use it more than I expected I would. (I almost never tried to access the Internet with the Blackberry browser.) It is very handy. It renders Web pages just as the Safari does on my Mac. I also like having one-button access to stock quotes and weather. I use these more than I thought I would, too.
• “Maps” is also a nice little application. Two weeks ago, I was in New York. I was on the street and wanted to find a bookstore. I typed in the name of a major chain, plus “New York.” Almost immediately, a map of the city popped up with all of the stores in the area. The nearest store was only a block away. I only wish they would add GPS functionality.

So, those are some of the things I like. Here’s what I don’t like so much:

• Contrary to what the name suggests, the AT&T Edge Network is not cutting “edge.” It is slow and, frankly, I don’t think I get as good as coverage as I had with Verizon. In my opinion, AT&T is not pulling its weight in this partnership. People are buying the phone despite AT&T not because of it.
• The battery life is okay but not great. I must charge my iPhone everyday, unlike my Blackberry, which could last a couple of days. On two occasions, I have completely drained the battery with heavy use. You don’t realize how dependent you are on a cell phone until it dies on you.
• The camera could use an overhaul. No matter how still I try to hold the phone, it is difficult to get a shot that isn’t a little blurry, especially around the edges. I would also like to have a zoom feature, but perhaps this isn’t realistic on a camera phone. (This is my first camera phone, so I don’t really know what is possible.) I do find myself using the camera, so I suppose it is better than nothing. Still, I think Apple could do better.
• Unlike the Blackberry, my contacts and calendar don’t sync wirelessly with the server. Instead, I have to connect my phone to my computer. The good news is that I have to do this once a day anyway to charge the battery. So far, this seems sufficient. However, if my assistant changes an appointment or adds a contact, I won’t get it until the next time I sync.

Overall, I’m glad I bought the iPhone. This is definitely a major leap forward in cell phone and mobile device technology. Apple has raised the bar and set a new standard. And with the drop in price, I think they might have a real shot at grabbing some significant market share. Regardless, Apple has proven once again that they lead the pack when it comes to design and innovation.