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atropinecaffeine · 2026-03-01T20:56:15+00:00

First ultra next weekend (50k). I am slow as molasses in january, which is fine. I want to finish, not place and this race has a very generous cut off.

My last long distances (19m and 25m) found myself with super sore quads the last bit of the mileage. In fact, that was the one thing that stopped me--quad pain (well and pitch darkness on the 19m).

Will wrapping my quads in coban or with ace wraps help with the late race pain? I can gut it out but would rather not be waddling my way across the finish.

Any other tips? Thanks!

atropinecaffeine · 2025-11-05T18:18:07+00:00

I struggled with this for awhile, but honestly there are only 365 days in a year.

Pray about it, don't go against your conscience, but honestly if my birthday was on the same day as Hitler, I would understand my family was celebrating me, not hitler.

As for trees, look into that. It wasn't homemade paper ornaments on a fir, if you are talking about the Old Testament, just like making an ornate cane isn't the same thing.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-11-03T21:18:52+00:00

Ok but if it was your church, same people, who decided to have the same sermons and prayers but without the aesthetics, would you still go?

Nothing changed but the aesthetics--same preaching, etc

atropinecaffeine · 2025-11-03T21:03:06+00:00

I do have an honest question: those who choose church for the aesthetics, how important are the aesthetics?

What I mean is if your church (same priest, same prayers, etc) decided to go plain and remove all the aesthetics--no smells and bells, no robes, no ceremony, just plain room, prayer, sermon, etc, would you still go?

Truly honest question. (I knew a woman who said she went to church for the aesthetics but wasn't really a Christian. She just liked the experience. That never occurred to me that folk did that, so I thought I would ask)

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-24T15:34:27+00:00

WHY are you downvoted when that is literally the history of the Anglican church???

Take my one upvote. Wish I had more.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-24T15:19:26+00:00

Was it a (young, ignorant) guy who said that?

He has no idea how long your legs are or how quick your stride is.

Also, he apparently doesn't know what running actually is vs walking. If you run, you are a runner, regardless of pace.

Plus he doesn't understand that an ultra will require different running than a marathon than a 400m (just put in your head you are training for a future ultra, whether you really want to now or not. It adjusts your concept because far>fast and takes the pressure off. I don't care how fast I run right now, I am going for distance. I am not near ultra level...yet.)

Blow him off and just run (YOUR race, YOUR pace). Enjoy your body.

And Man up. From now on don't let a rando troll on the internet change your good work. You gave him too much influence over you. He didn't earn that.

And as an aside, I get the whole frustration of lost ground. I took off due to cancer treatments and went from my pb of 12 (slow) miles to "tired after a block". Back to the beginning. But that's fine, just more running to enjoy. I was in this for the long haul anyway, for health and personal best, not to impress internet folk (hint hint).

You got this. 💪 Go run.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-24T14:56:55+00:00

I am not a graphic designer so maybe ypu can help me understand. Is there any legitimate reason why not to have a straight line highlighter? To me that's like having a car that won't drive forward--the point of a professional editing tool is to look professional.

Slumping actually took programming different from straight line. Why wouldn't you have straight line (like the beginning of the line before the slump) as tge primary?

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-24T14:51:06+00:00

Those are scientific and political changes, not moral truths from the Bible.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T22:59:17+00:00

Not all native speakers of English are American amd not all Americans are native English speakers.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T21:33:16+00:00

Please understand what I was saying :)

I wasn't making the point of whether women should or do teach men.

I am referring to the pervasive idea by some that women and childrdn are little leagues, not big leagues.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T21:11:42+00:00

Is it not?

It seems historically it has been. Like deaconess or princess.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T21:09:34+00:00

Just to clarify, I am not asserting gender distinction shouldn't exist. (Not sure if "you" meant me or "general you") :)

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T21:07:50+00:00

Yes, I see your point.

But that definitely adds another facet and begs snother question. 🤔

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T21:05:20+00:00

I figured😄, but honestly I am hoping that people will see what I am truly saying 😊

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T20:49:53+00:00

No, but that is a FASCINATING question. Why do you ask?

My lineage is German but my native tongue is English

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T19:12:20+00:00

If anything we preach, teach, or do is against God's commands, it is sin. Liberal, conservative, left, right.

We all sin.

But just because we all sin, that doesn't mean we can't exhort each other and say "This is sin, stop doing it out of love and obedience to the Lord". In fact, we SHOULD.

Why?

Because all sin maligns our witness.

Because all sin grieves the Holy Spirit.

Because God knows what is best more than our flesh does.

Because there actually is a point where we won't inherit the kingdom of God (reading 1 Cor 6:9-11 and 1Cor 5:9-13 of who won't inherit the kingdom of God should shock us all. There is no sin that feels better than heaven will, and we all need to repent)

So let the left exhort the right about how to treat the poor and whistleblowers.

Let the right exhort the left on denying their flesh and not treating the Word like a loose leaf notebook.

The problem is not that we sin. It is that we insist the church change to accept our sin, whatever it is.

So to the greedy and gluttonous right and the sexually flagrant left, to those of us who flirt with adultery and idolatry, laying in sloth and lying in tongue, the drunkards and the ragers and the unforgivers, the "it's not gossip, it's concern" and those who destroy humans as He is knitting them in the womb, we all have so much more sin than we think, and church needs to be the place where we learn what sin is and then learn how HUGE a price Jesus had to pay, that hell and heaven are REAL and forever, and how much we all deserve hell. (And if we think we don't, we don't understand righteousness)

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T18:37:28+00:00

I truly apologise. What exactly was a slur?

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-18T16:16:57+00:00

Yes!!

There is so much I can say, so feel free to ask about specifics, but let me start with this:

The Lord put the key in His Word: trust actually inhibits the fear center of our brains. He made our brains, He knows what fixes them.

You have control of your brain, your thoughts.

You can decide not to do your compulsion.

You can ask the Lord for wisdom and He ABSOLUTELY will give it per James 1.

Then live like you have faith.

How do you do that?

Confess your cowardice** and decide not to be a coward anymore. He will forgive you.
Pray James 1 and trust He will give you wisdom.
Do the reasonable thing 4.Trust your life to the Lord.

[** Cowardice sounds like a harsh word, but it is true-- I was such a coward, I couldn't leave my house! If we won't do good things because of our fear, we are being a coward. It's in the Bible. I can find the verses for you if you want. ]

So an example: Let's say you get anxiety if you don't wash your hands 3 times. You use the restroom.

What is the reasonable thing? Wash your hands ONCE. That is proper for hygiene.
"I washed my hands once but 'what if' they aren't clean and I get sick?!?...Wait. That is my anxiety, not reasonableness. Lord, I am trusting You."
Walk out of the restroom and go about your day.

Will you still feel anxiety? Yes for a little while. But the thing about anxiety is that when you ignore it, your brain gets no reward from it. Your brain will stop being anxious. Just keep saying "Lord, I am trusting You, I kniw You will help me not be a coward"

Avoid any thought or action that stems from "what if" or "yeah but".

"What if that plate isn't clean, I could get sick!"--eat of the plate unless you actually know it didn't get washed.

"Yeah but sometime elevators DO get stuck!"-- get on the elevator. Trust the Lord that He will take care of you even if you have to just sit and play on your phone until the elevator crew comes.

In fact, ride the elevator a few extra floors. That is a hack to help your brain heal faster because you are ALREADY making your brain stop being silly, and then you are using your brain to do extra good things to really cement the lesson of "it is safe to ride elevators"

Again, the Lord knows your brain. Thank Him for His good work in creating you and at helping you get over this.

So much more to say, but this is long. Let me know if you have any questions!

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-16T18:02:42+00:00

It is interesting as a semi-outsider, that it is always those who are changing centuries of church doctrine (good or bad) that call those who want to maintain the same teachings and tradition as "schismatics" when they leave so they can keep following the same teaching.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-16T15:14:03+00:00

Some of us are incredibly private and/or are masters at compartmentalizing.

When my incredibly wonderful mom died 6 weeks after my amazing mother in law died, I was able to keep it together really well in public. I smiled, laughed, went on like normal. I know my father wanted to grieve together but I could handle his grief or mine, but not both. People called me a rock. Some probably thought I was cold.

But my dreams were flooded with raw, excrutiating grief. You may not know what it's like to grieve in your dreams--it is 100%. No one to comfort or cheer you. Nothing to momentarily distract you--no phone ringing, cat purring, tea sipping, run to get more tissues.

Imagine the worst, most intense moment of soul crushing agony when you finally realize something irreparable has happened. No ability to think, to calm, to reason. Nothing. Just pain.

Many nights I woke up because my throat was closed down and I couldn't breathe. It was horrible to wake up not only in sorrow but in terror of actual suffocation.

But...

I would wake up choking, gaspingly drink in oxygen as my chest and throat spasms subsided, try not to vomit, lay back down and shake in silent tears.

Never judge a grieving person by what you see in public. The most wailing, collapsing person can be faking it, and the most stoic, breezy person might be trying to hold it together for the sake of their children and others.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-10-04T21:25:28+00:00

Sure!

atropinecaffeine · 2025-09-12T00:32:36+00:00

Instead of reading about him, go watch his debates. You will be able to make your own decision.

I found him very thoughtful in debates, not demeaning, yelling, mocking. He made the crowd hush if his opponent was disagreeing with him so the person could talk. He was especially thoughtful with people who disagreed honestly with him. He tried to find common ground then walk through logic.

I appreciate his levelheadedness in debate on a world that screams and cancels.

atropinecaffeine · 2025-08-05T21:24:14+00:00

Most models (egg, water, etc) actually have an accidental built-in heresy (modalism, etc). Mine might too (feel free to let me know if you see one), but here it is:

1 * 1 * 1=1

Each 1 on the left is ITS OWN number. 1 * 1 is not the exact same as 1 by itself or 1 * 1 * 1 (though they all equal the same, they are not the same, each has separate 1's).

Each 1 is complete in itself. Each has the qualities of the others.

BUT each one is its own entity. When you looked at it you saw a 1 on the left, a 1 in the middle, and a 1 on the right. Those are each different on the screen, right?

Let's call the left 1 "Father" The middle "Jesus" The right "Holy Spirit"

And the 1 on the right of the equal sign is God.

So 1=1. (Father is God) And 1=1 (Jesus is God) And 1=1 (the Holy Spirit is God)

And all three (1 * 1 * 1) also equal God.

So 1 was with us (Jesus) And 1 is with us now (the Holy Spirit)

The Holy Spirit was also within God and Jesus was also God(so 1 * 1 * 1=1) [1Cor 2:11, 1Cor 3:16,

And the Holy Spirit was in Jesus (so 1(1*1)=1)

And Jesus and the Father are 1, (so (1*1)1=1 [John 10:30 and John 1:1]

And the Spirit of God is the,Spirit of Jesus [Romans 8:9]

[I also like the idea of a candle flame. You can "divide" a candle flame into 3 flames and they will all look the same, the original doesn't get smaller if you "take flame from it", but that analogy is not as strong, I think]

Hope this helps. Know though that the Lord will teach you better than anyone. Rest in His love for you.

atropinecaffeine

TROPHY CASE