Swim, Bike, Run, Pray

It’s time I resurrected this blog. And I’ve decided on a new focus for this year. Swim, Bike, Run, Pray.

In December, I was attending a conference at work where they invite employees to speak on a topic of their choice. It can be work related, personal, spiritual, etc. Something that would uplift and/or educate your co-workers. I started to think about what I could speak on for the next year’s conference and played with a few ideas. But last night, laying in bed unable to sleep (which happens every night these days), the topic finally popped into my head: Swim, Bike, Run, Pray.

I am entering my 4^th year of triathlon. I still love it. My big race this year is completing the Half Ironman in St. George May 7^th. I’m also hoping to work up my nerve to go after another full Ironman in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho in August. As training is becoming increasing long and difficult, and I start to question my sanity in once again attempting these longer distances when I absolutely loved doing the short distances the past 2 years, I’ve realized there are a lot of positive things going on, even during a tough workout or a tough race. In addition, the spiritual side of my life is very important and defines who I am. My faith, my beliefs, permeates all aspects of my life.

So, in order to keep myself going during the long training days ahead, I am going to write about my experiences, focusing on 2 things.

• The positive things that come from tough training days and tough races
• Parallels between triathlon and spirituality

I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or Mormons as a lot of people know us. My goal with this year’s blogs isn’t to preach our specific beliefs, but rather to stay focused on Christ. As a believer in Christ, a follower of Christ, I believe that He has a hand in every aspect of our lives. But it’s hard to see it when difficult things happen. You may wonder why He would care about triathlon when there are so many other things to be concerned with in the world these days. The New Testament if chock-full of examples of Christ sharing stories to illustrate gospel principals. I think this is one of the best ways to teach a concept – relate something that may be difficult to understand with a real-life example to make it more meaningful and easier-to-understand. That is my goal – to link spiritual concepts with seemingly mundane things so I (and hopefully others) can understand them better and easily apply them to their/our own lives.

Whether this helps anyone else or not, I’m not worried about it. I’m looking forward to my journey this year, and welcome any and all to join me!

So, time to Swim, Bike, Run, Pray!