Jonathan R. Schmidt

On Sunday I completed my first marathon. Early in January I was poked a bit by my sister to run in this year's ING Ottawa Marathon. Sherri ran in it last year and was she trying to make it a larger family event. Like many of the marathon runners, I set out in January with an 18 week training program. I began by running in snow, sleet, ice - everything that Canadian winter can throw at you. I stuck relatively close to my program and it all paid off with a good result on Sunday. I finished in 3 hrs 33 min, placing 520th overall and 50th in my age category. I reached my goal of finishing in under 3:45. I also achieved a little unspoken goal to myself of having the announcer say my name as I finished "Jonathan Schmidt from Baden..." The announcer's try to say everyone's name, but if you finish in a big group they aren't able to catch everyone's name. So I know it's trivial, but I was happy he announced my name. It was definitely a crazy weekend. My sister and Steve also completed the marathon. For my sister it was her second Ottawa Marathon and for Steve it was his first. Sherri had some difficulty with the heat, but much to her credit she perservered and completed it with Steve in just over 5 hrs. Congrats big sister for toughing it out and not dying :) All in all it was 42.2 km of running for Sherri, Steve and I. 10k of running for Mark and lots of support from Darlene and the Schmidt and Stutzman parents. Congrats Mark on your 10k finish. On Sunday we enjoyed a great feast of a picnic with the Stutzman & Schmidt families & friends. What a weekend! Praise God for health and strength and supportive family. Catch a glimpse of the weekend by browsing the pics link on the left.

Chris and I went to the Leafs game last Saturday against Ottawa. For both of us it was our first Leafs game and it was a dandy! The Leafs beat Ottawa 5-1. Chris' dad generously gave Chris a couple of tickets to the game for his birthday and I must have won the lottery, because I got to tag along. Our seats were great, 23 rows up at the one end of the arena. I enjoyed the atmosphere of the game, the crazy Leafs fans and all the cheering when the home team scored. It was a great memory that I'll always remember. I'll post some more pictures from the game soon, for now you can check out Chris in the picture above.

My marathon training is coming along decently. Yesterday I did the long run for the week. The run ended up being 20km, 3km less than what was scheduled, but I completed the general idea, which is to get out for a long run. I ran from our place in Kitchener to few country blocks away from my parents' place in Baden. Darlene provided the support vehicle :) complete with snacks and gatorade! This made the run much more bearable, since I could look forward to seeing Darlene every so often and refueling. Overall I'm about 7 weeks into training, with another 10 weeks to go. It's been nice to have consistent exercise and to re-learn some discipline in my life.

Are the Olympics about over-competitive fame greedy athletes, replicating the world's social inequities and willing to win at any cost? Or do the Olympics live up to the ideals of fair play, honesty and the best elements of the human spirit?

I think the Olympics are one of the most inspirational events on this planet. Athletes from all countries giving forth their best efforts to succeed at their chosen sport. Joy, exhilaration, disappointment and the thrill of victory. While watching the Olympics I, perhaps just like you, wonder what it would be like to stand on the podium with a medal around your neck, the world watching you, the centre of attention - the champion. Whether you admit it or not, I think we all desire to be successful, to achieve greatness in sport or in life and the reason we watch the Olympics is to dream a little - that we too, with a little change in fate could've been that athlete standing there.

I've been thinking a lot about this inner desire for greatness and how it complements or contradicts my religious beliefs and Jesus' way where the last shall be first and the first shall be last. I've come to think that my (perhaps your) inner desire to achieve, to be famous or successful, is actually a desire to achieve meaning from what you do in life. We often associate someone who is successful (particularly in sports) as having done something meaningful. So, while most of us click away at our computers and search for meaning at our workplaces, the Olympics gives us a chance to live through our Canadian athletes what we don't always feel present in our own lives - which isn't success as much as it is meaning. The Olympics reveals to us the beauty and thrill that can come from decades of hard work and persistance. It really is a celebration of the human spirit - that what each of us does is meaningful, that the small daily tasks we complete are important to humanity and that we all should celebrate our accomplishments. This at least is the goal, I believe for all of us, that our daily actions of kindness, hard work, caring, patience, generosity and the like, actually mean something and will in the end result in something wonderful and in the end meaningful to the world. In the end I believe the Olympics portray to us, not specifically that winning is everything, but that the things we do in life can, in the end, result in something great and meaningful, not only to ourselves, but also to an entire country or the entire world. It has inspired me to love more deeply, pray more sincerely, be more generous, exhibit more patience and strive to reach my potential - knowing that what I do does matter, that it is meaningful and that it does make a difference.
imagine reality.

After some encouragement from my sister and an innner desire to say "I've done it", I've signed up for the Ottawa Race Weekend Marathon. That's 42.2 km of running. I'm a few weeks into my training program and have moderately stuck to it thus far. Much of what I've read discourages people from beginning their running career with a marathon, but I've been told I'm in reasonable shape and if I stick to the program I'll be okay. My training has to pick up a bit, since I haven't fully completed a scheduled week of training yet. I've completed the long runs, but the flu and our anniversary meant that I've modified my program over the last few weeks. This week is going well and I'm encouraged by my times and how I've felt during and after the runs. This undertaking is sure to be a big committment, but Darlene is very supportive and if all goes smoothly I'll be in Ottawa in May. See you there!

This winter I've found it very difficult to get active outside. The weather has been inconsistent, creating a permenant spring time feel, either slushy and mild or icy and cold. Over the Christmas holidays I took time to go out running a few times, but regretfully, I haven't kept up the pace once getting back in the work routine. The one bright light in my active lifestyle has been our indoor soccer team. Our Thursday night games are a ton of fun and our team is very supportive of each other. Many people make new year's resolutions to get more exercise, while I'm not going to do that, I am going to get out running more often and maybe, just maybe, I'll take a look at that marathon training program my sister so eagerly wants to send me. Get out - Get Active

This past weekend I visited Ottawa to watch my sister, Sherri Schmidt Stutzman, run her first marathon. If you aren't already aware, a marathon is 42 kilometres or 26 miles. Sherri finished it in 4 hours and 25 minutes, a good time and just around the Canadian average of 4 hours and 22 minutes. You can find more results on the race website - National Capital Race Weekend. The race atmosphere was something that I found incredible. Unlike other sports where you have a team you cheer for and a team you are cheer against, at the marathon everyone was cheering for every single racer. The crowd cheered on the young and the old, the faint and the strong, and it was a wonderful place to be while thousands accomplished their personal goal of simply crossing the finish line. The thing that I noticed was that the people that finished the race didn't fall into your standard marathon runner body type. Many people that finished did so not because of a natural ability to run long distances, but simply because of determination and probably lots and lots of hours of training. I'm not saying that marathon running is easy or for everyone, but those that do accomplish it should be congratulated for their mental toughness, perserverance and determination as well as the amazing physical accomplishment. Congratulations Sherri on your big success and keep on running. You and all the other runners are an inspiration to the rest of us. So if you haven't dusted off those running shoes from the winter, get outside, get moving and feel those spectators cheering you on. I'd better go grab my running shoes...see you on the trails!

Last weekend myself and a number of my family and friends participated in a run to raise money for Youth Unlimited/ Youth for Christ. My sister convinced my uncle and I to run in the 15km race, while Steve and Rob ran the 8km race, and Mark and Will ran the 4km race. It was a great family event as my dad and mom and aunt came out to cheer us on and take pictures. It was the first time that I had run in something semi-competitive since high school and I enjoyed it a lot. I came in at 1 hour 8 minutes, my sister came in at around 1 hr 25 min, and with my uncle Dan behind her by only about 5 minutes. As many people have said running is definitely addicting, it's painful sometimes while you're doing it, but afterwards you feel great. Who knows what my sister has gotten me into, perhaps one day I'll run a marathon, or more realistically a half-marathon. So until next time "keep fit and have fun".