Getting Into Shape

There are few things in life that I hate more than getting into shape.

Being in shape is great, but getting into shape is terrible.

I’m running in a 5K this weekend in Rogers with Caroline, my brother, and some men from church, and because I tend to be somewhat competitive, I’m trying to get into some sort of shape so I don’t get dominated by a bunch of middle-aged men.

Over the last 10 months, I’ve done a shameful job of staying in shape. That’s due to a combination of several factors: I severely sprained by left ankle last August, which prevented me from running for about a month, my work schedule isn’t always conducive to the types of athletic activities that are available to me, I’m somewhat lazy and I also probably eat more now than I did in my bachelor days due to the fact that my wife cooks a lot better than I did/do.

But the biggest reason of all is the change in my lifestyle. When I was in college (not quite as much in my last year, when I was incredibly busy), I was constantly active. I played ultimate 3-5 times per week, played in 8-10 tournaments every school year, participated in club sports, played pick-up basketball a couple times a week, lifted weights every now and then, and some semesters, ran three times a week.

Now that I’m away from college, I don’t have nearly as many opportunities to be active. In fact, for most of the year, the only real opportunity for being active that I have is running by myself, which is something I absolutely hate.

Which leads me to where I am now, struggling to get into shape for this weekend.

Last Saturday I played in a Savage 7 (which means you play without subs) ultimate tournament and Sunday evening I played ultimate with my youth group, which was good for me, but also hard on me to the extent that all my runs this week (I took Monday off and then ran Tuesday evening, yesterday afternoon and this morning) have been awful.

Tonight I have summer league ultimate, and then I’ll take tomorrow off in hopes that by Saturday, my legs will be fresh again and that I’ll have somewhat of a spring in my step for the first time in months.

Basically, what it comes down to I guess is this: if you’re in good shape, congratulations. Stay that way. Because falling out of shape and then frantically trying to get back to where you were is atrocious.

UPDATE: In case I needed more evidence of how out of shape I am, I got burnt deep on game point tonight at summer league. That never used to happen.

Conflicting Natures

I read a children’s version of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when I was about 10 years old, and it is a story that has fascinated me ever since.

Robert Louis Stevenson, of Treasure Island fame, penned the novella in 1885. Stevenson’s body of work was criticized and largely dismissed by modern writers because it was so popular (and therefore perceived to be too commonplace), but in recent years, critics have begun to appreciate him as a man of prodigious artistic talent.

That talent is never more evident than in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which features impressive character development despite being a novella, clever framing, and most importantly, an insightful investigation of the dualistic nature of man.

In the story, Dr. Jekyll is a respected and talented medical doctor who wants to live a good and pure life but is plagued by his own evil desires.

Jekyll’s problem is experienced by all of us to some degree, and is one which the Apostle Paul describes in Romans 7.18-21:

“For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.”

In Stevenson’s story, Jekyll recognizes the good and evil natures warring within himself, and, by means of a chemical potion, decides to separate those natures with the hope of purging himself of his evil desires and the guilt that accompanies them.

Jekyll’s potion leads to the creation of Hyde, his despicable and wholly evil alter ego, who ultimately brings about his downfall.

Continuing in Romans 7.24-25 and 8.1-2, Paul points out a different solution to the problem of sin:

“Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.”

Sin is dangerous and seductive, and has the power to enslave us. No chemical potion or medical doctor can loosen the bonds of that slavery; only The Great Physician can set us free.


The 1895 photograph above pictures Richard Mansfield, an American actor who was best known for playing the dual roles of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

Bound for the Hall

Forty-year-old John Smoltz pitched seven shutout innings tonight to give the Braves a 2-1 victory over the Mets, bringing Atlanta within a game and a half of the New York in the NL East.

The win was Smoltz’s seventh of the season, which leads the National League, but more importantly, was the 200th of his illustrious career.

Smoltz became the 106th pitcher in Major League history to reach the 200 win mark, but is the first pitcher ever to get 200 wins and save at least 150 games.

Although milestones probably shouldn’t be such a big deal statistically, they are a big deal in the minds of Hall of Fame voters, and Smoltz almost certainly cemented his place in the Hall with his victory tonight.

I’ve always been a Smoltz fan, partially because he’s the only player who has been around for Atlanta’s entire run of 14 division titles but also because he is one of the nicest players in the game, and I’m glad that he is getting the recognition and acclaim that he deserves.

The Worst Team Ever

Because I am a fairly opinionated person, and because I generally consider my opinions to be pretty much on-target, I’ve decided to start a semi-regular series of blog posts entitled Best and Worst.

Every week/month/undetermined random period of time, I’ll crank out one of these little jewels which will describe the best or worst of all time in a given category.

The first post in the series centers on one of my favorite topics of baseball history: the Worst Team Ever, the 1962 New York Mets.

A brand new team in 1962, the New York roster was a perfect storm of inexperienced and untalented youth, incompetent utility players and over-the-hill stars who united to amass an appalling record of 40-120, the worst in Major League history.

Just how bad was this team?

Sit back and enjoy.

Starting catcher Harry Chiti was acquired from Cleveland in a trade for a player to be named later. Chiti proved so inept at handling pitchers and a baseball bat (he hit only .195) that he was sent back to Cleveland after 30 days—the first player in Major League history to be traded for himself.

Clarence “Choo Choo” Coleman served as Chiti’s replacement at catcher, and while he proved to be a marginal offensive improvement (Choo Choo hit .250 in 1962), he also struggled behind the plate, and according to baseball writer Roger Angell handled outside curves “like a man fighting bees.”

The manager was Hall of Famer Casey Stengel, but by 1962, Stengel was in his 70s and routinely fell asleep on the bench during games.

Outfielder Richie Ashburn was a bright spot; he led the team with a .306 average. Unfortunately, he was also 35 and retired at season’s end.

The Mets’ top three starters combined for a 26-63 record.

But of all the Mets’ players, perhaps no story better illustrates their hapless plight than that of shortstop Elio Chacón. An eager 25-year old from Venezuela, Chacón kept running into the outfield and knocking down center fielder Richie Ashburn as he was about to catch a fly ball.

Chacón didn’t speak any English, so fellow outfielder Joe Christopher explained to Ashburn that if he was going to catch a fly ball and saw Chacón coming out to get it, all he had to say was “¡Yo la tengo!” (“I’ve got it!”), and Chacón would pull up.

So Ashburn practiced the phrase and memorized it, and a game came along where a shallow fly ball was hit towards him. As Chacón came sprinting out, Ashburn shouted “¡Yo la tengo, yo la tengo!” and put his hands up to catch the ball—and was bowled over by Frank Thomas, his left fielder.

Stengel summed it all up this way, “Come and see my amazin’ Mets. I been in this game a hundred years, but I see new ways to lose I never knew existed before.”


Honorable Mention: The 1994-95 Happy Hollow Tomahawk 6th grade basketball team went 0-9 with two losses of at least 40 points. We had a chance at victory in the last game of the season, but I missed a layup as time expired. Oops.


Sources for this post include Baseball-Reference and Ken Burns’ Baseball.