Now Boarding KLM Flight #662...

....with service from Houston Intercontinental Airport to Amsterdam, Netherlands.

That will be the public address announcement that I will hear in less than 100 days. And after my "short" flight to Amsterdam, I'll be boarding another KLM bird headed to Nairobi, Kenya to visit my best friend, Chad, and the love of his life, Jill.

I cannot tell you how excited I am about my trip in late May -- it's uncontainable at times. I've come a long way from seeing the realization of traveling to Kenya slip away to having a flight book and plans beginning to fall into place. This will be my first time to travel abroad and I'm so excited about visiting a country that has been on my heart for a long, long time.

Chad and Jill are busy planning a blockbuster schedule for my time over in Kenya. I can't wait til the final copy shows up in my inbox, but until then, Chad gave me a little preview. The preliminary agenda includes a possible safari, Kenyan beaches, volunteering, hiking, and possibly some inter-country travel. Right now, I don't foresee any marathon training runs with the Kenyan athletes, but if I do get the chance, you better believe I will be up for the challenge. My blog will definitely be heating up prior to, during, and after my trip so stay tuned. I will be sharing as much as my Internet connection will allow me.

Hopefully, this will be the first of many trips over to Africa. While I'm over there, I hope to scout out the area a little bit, so that I can potentially return in the future on a medical mission trip.

Running the Race in Kenya!!

Integrity Weekend Retreat

This past weekend, I headed south to Glen Rose, Texas and Riverbend Retreat Center for an Integrity Men's Retreat. Over the weekend, we look at 3 areas of integrity: our professional lives, our relationships, and our spiritual lives. It was a great time to connect with other guys in the church, learn from and take in some wisdom from older men in my church, and just escape life for a couple of days.

I think we all need those times when we can escape "life" and enjoy some time away to reflect and recharge our batteries.

One of the points that stuck out to me on the retreat was our discussion on John 15 and striving for fruitfulness. The Lord's entire purpose for our lives is to produce fruit for His kingdom and His glory. This is where we will find fulfillment in life.

So....
Do you wake up every morning with this mindset?
-or -
Are you similar to me, in that, you see your days as a never ending to do list?

Are you asking the Lord to prune you so that you can produce more fruit?
-or-
Are you asking Him to remove you from situations because it's uncomfortable or causing pain?

I don't believe there is a "quick fix" or "easy answer" to any of these questions, nor do I see myself perfecting this area of my life anytime soon. However, I can start heading down that path and ask the Lord to change my mindset and heart along the way.

Running the Race's "Top 20"

There is a "viral" post floating around Facebook where if you are one of 25 people tagged, you must reply back and post 25 things that people might not know about you. Personally, I have learned some very interesting things about my friends through these posts; however, I have not responded myself. So the wait is over and I'm caving into peer pressure, but my list has a little twist.

Without further ado, here are the top 20 things (I like to be unique) you may or may not know about me.

1. My family means the world to me. Between both sets of grandparents and my parents, I have more than 100 years of marriage experience to draw from.

2. My first half marathon entry was a Christmas present from a friend. He asked me to run in the Austin half marathon in February 2003 to celebrate our last semester at Texas A&M. Now, six half marathons and six full marathons later, I'm still hooked and still running.

3. I was born on Memorial Day 1981. Every so often (like this year), my birthday will fall on Memorial Day.

4. My 16th birthday gift was a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, NE with my dad. I will never forget that trip for as long as I live....and if you are wondering, I did get a car too.

5. I was 5'0 tall when I graduated from high school. And even though I've grown 10 inches since then, some of my friends still call me "Little Guy."

6. I have several nicknames. I guess Burke is really hard to pronounce. Here are a couple: Bucky, Burkle, Burkey (only reserved for my momma), Little Guy, Puppy, Stoney, White Kenyan, PB, and B Dub, and Extreme Brother (reserved for a couple of my YoungLife kids).

7. I've escaped a bus fire returning from a YoungLife trip to Windy Gap, NC in the summer of 2005.

8. I love to travel and visit my friends. I'm preparing for my first overseas trip this coming May. I'll share more on this blog soon!!

9. Birthdays and anniversaries are a big deal to me. I really like celebrating my friends and family's big days and marriage milestones.

10. I like doing things that other people think are absolutely crazy like flying from New York to Arizona to interview for a job the day after a marathon, like traveling to Galveston from College Station just to see the sunrise and then making it back for my first class.

11. My running playlist on my iPod consists mostly of cheesy love ballads because it helps keep my heart rate down while I run. I only have a few fast songs on my iPod for that last kick home.

12. Photography is a hobby that I'd like to pursue as I get older. I've got the camera -- now I just need to invest in learning how to use it effectively.

13. Thirteen is my favorite number. It's also the favorite number of one of my good friends. Rock and Stone shout out.

14. I don't watch much TV, but my DVR is always set to record The Office and Grey's Anatomy. I love when I can watch those shows without the commercials.

15. I'm a new uncle and I'm on a quest to assert myself as the Best Uncle in the World. I even make my 8 year old niece tell me that before she gets off the phone with me.

16. I coached two Little League baseball teams while I was out in Scottsdale. By far, some of the greastest memories of my time in Arizona. I can't wait to coach again after I get out of school.

17. During one YoungLife skit, I ate sardines, turkey and dressing baby food, and washed it down with prune juice. Can you say Fear Factor?

18. I was voted "Most Spirited" in my high school graduating class. Does this title fit me?

19. When I was growing up, I dreamed about being the pilot of Air Force One. Some kids dream of being fire fighters or police officers or sports stars, not me.

20. I'm extremely OCD about my closet. My clothes are evenly spaced and arranged in ROYGBIV order and also broken up into categories -- short sleeves, polos, button downs, slacks and blue jeans. I also use white plastic hangers and wooden hangers for my nicer shirts and suits.

Rescuing Running the Race

Either my blog flat lined or it was just on life support? In any event, I'm back after a long, long absence. What have I been doing for a whole month? If I could sum it all up in one sentence, I'd say -- "I've been doing lots of things I enjoy." I've celebrated Christmas with my family, held my niece and changed her stinky diapers, schooled my niece in Guitar Hero, rung in the New Year with friends, worked at the physical therapy clinic, volunteered at a children's hospital in DFW, visited my best friend and his wife in the Hill Country, started a new semester at school, received a brand new computer, celebrated my cousin's birthday, had lunch with one of my old YoungLife kids, and ran a marathon.

It was a great Christmas break, but I'm glad to be getting back into a routine. I just finished a planning session which I'm sure will continue for the remainder of the week as I attempt to get organized for the semester.

Ohh....and since I mentioned it first on this blog, I thought I might give you an update on the marathon. It was an absolute blast! I had four very special people supporting me, cheering for me, and even running with me last weekend. Thank you - Mike and Karee and Justin and Jennifer!! I finished the race in 3 hours and 30 minutes. The time was not good enough for Boston, but my time was 15 minutes faster than my previous best in the marathon. I'm planning a special post on my experience for later this week. Check back for full coverage and some pictures.

Looking forward to the year -- and have some great conversations on this blog!!

Back Among the Living: Finals, Windy Race, and Chin Hair

What does finals, a windy race, and chin hair have in common? They were all life experiences that I've had over the past 15 days that I've failed to keep my blog updated. At the first of December, I went into a perpetual state of hibernation until finals were complete on December 10. I was sighted a couple times in public by friends, but other than that I had my head in the books. The verdict is still out as to how I did since grades are not released until this Thursday, but I felt very good. I prepared as well as I could and put the maximum amount of effort into all of my tests.

Since studying took precendent for a week and half, I didn't get too many training runs in. I did manage to go out for a couple "stress relieving" runs which were great and helped me start getting acclimated to running in colder temperatures. The week "off" ended being very beneficial as I ran a 1:36 in my tune race yesterday at the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon. Now, if you double that time, I would miss Boston by two minutes. But with all things considered (i.e. 10-15 head winds), I thought I ran a very good race. I took it out slow and was able to run negative splits coming in. In fact, I passed 20 people over the last 3 miles of the race and was only passed by 4 people. Looking at my run as a whole, I was very pleased but realize there is still a LOT of work yet to be done.

Who's ready for the ride?

(Ohhh...I almost forgot. You may want to know what chin hair has to do with anything. Well, I went to Dallas last week to have lunch with a couple friends. After lunch, I boarded the train back to Fort Worth when I looked over (to my horror) to find a woman plucking the her friend's chin hair. Gross!! Seriously, did that really have to be done on public transportation?)

On the Road Again....

TRAINING UPDATE:
Aside from last week's victorious Turkey Trot, I took the week off and rested my bum right ankle. Thankfully my training plan calls for two week builds and then one week recovery so I took full advantage of my "recovery" week.

Today begins week four of my 10 week journey to qualify for the Boston Marathon. It's already been an interesting ride with several highs and one really low low. But I'm going to persevere to the end and continue running the race. In two weeks, I will have my first test here in Dallas with the White Rock Half Marathon. It will be my first true race environment since I completed the Kansas Half Ironman in June. I'm excited about getting out there and competing but I have to keep reminding myself that it is only "dress rehearsal" for the real deal in January.

Tonight I was scheduled for a light run of less than 30 minutes. With the temps in the 40s it was a great opportunity to start acclimating to and running in colder weather. It was also a blast too. Call my crazy, but I absolutely feel like I can conquer the world when I go out on a run. I got a chance to talk myself through all of my upcoming finals, see Venus and Jupiter line up alongside the moon, and take a stroll through the neighborhood and see everyone's Christmas lights.

As I like to say, "it was pure goodness."

It was good to be "back in the ballgame" tonight. I'm looking forward to sharing the next 6 weeks with you as I get ready for Houston.

It Happened!

I told you that it would happen and today, it did. Embarrassing beyond belief. I realized today that at 27 years of age, I still cannot get myself dressed. To my horror, I looked down this afternoon to find that I have been wearing my sweater backwards all day long. This includes trips to school and work and out in public in the DFW area. I've interacted with my teachers, co-workers, and bosses and no one was nice enough to point this out. I can only sit back and laugh really hard and now you can too.

I'm not sure if this is a redeeming event or not, but I hit the jackpot searching for my tacky Christmas sweater. I scored three sweaters in total -- all at 50% off. Who needs Black Friday?

More to come on the sweater purchases....I might even get brave and post some pictures.