Faith and Fitness Article
| Read Mike's article, "Tri-athlete Training for Body and Soul" in the June /July issue of Faith and Fitness |  |
Here are a few snapshots from the article. Mike shares how he got started in triathlons:
“A sprint triathlon? What’s that?” I asked my spotter, Curt, after we finished our set on the bench. “Oh, it’s just a shorter distance triathlon,” he replied. “You swim around a quarter-mile, then bike anywhere from 10 – 15 miles, and run 3 – 4 miles. I’ve been racing them for about 3 years now. It’s a blast. You should give it a try!” As he headed down to the pool and I to the basketball court, I thought it sounded kind of fun. Too bad I couldn’t swim.As the summer went on, I kept running into Curt. Every time I saw him, I thought about the sprint triathlon. I knew I had to give it a shot. On July 15, 2000, I asked Curt if there were any races coming up in the fall. He said the only one left that summer was on August 4 in Duluth, MN. Perfect. That gave me 3 weeks to learn how to swim!
The race consisted of a 600-yard swim, followed by a 10.5-mile bike and a 2.5-mile run. I had a fairly solid running base, but had to dust off my old mountain bike and quickly learn how to swim. But it was just a 600-yard swim. In golf terms, all I had to do was swim to my tee shot and back. How hard could that be? Stupid question. My first time in the pool, I didn’t even make it to the other wall – just 25 yards away – without resting on the side of the pool! The next 2 weeks consisted of crash course swimming lessons and some time on the rusty mountain bike. By August 4, I could successfully swim 600 yards without stopping (albeit a mix between the crawl and the backstroke). I’d be just fine as long as the swim course was truly 600 yards and the lake water fairly calm.
As my wife and I pulled up to the race in the early morning, I felt a bit out of place. My soccer shorts and tee shirt didn’t seem to match the spandex attire of the rest of the racers, and a trade between my car and one of their bikes would have resulted in me still throwing in a thousand bucks. What was I doing here?
He addresses how to balance training and life:
How could I justify spending 12 hours per week training? And that was the bare minimum, according to all the triathlon-training articles I had read. My priorities were very clear: Faith, Family, Others, and Self – in that order. How could triathlon fit into that mix?
He offers 5 keys from triathlon that can be applied to your spiritual and phyiscal training:
- Set a goal. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:26 that he does not “run like a man running aimlessly… or fight like a man beating the air”.
- Aim high. Ephesians 3:20 says “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us…”
- Give God the Glory! Ephesians 3:21 completes the verse quoted above by saying that God’s power is at work in us so that he may be glorified “in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations.”
- Discipline. It may take discipline, but any goal worth accomplishing requires discipline.
- Rest. Rest is something that God incorporated into his creation, demonstrating this to us by resting on the 7th day... Your body needs rest, and God built it into his creation.
And he explains how the Janus Charity Challenge has made all the difference:
The Janus Charity Challenge became the key that would transform this self-serving sport of mine into something that would serve a greater purpose. In the last 4 Ironman triathlons, we’ve been able to raise over $573,000 for various non-profit organizations such as my local Christian school and crisis pregnancy center, and have received additional bonuses from Janus totaling $32,000. Over $600,000 raised for these non-profits! Praise God!
The fund-raising is a tool to draw others to the sport and communicate to them what really drives me: My passion for Jesus Christ and what he has done for me.
Read the complete article at www.faithandfitness.net
