Setting Your Sights a Little Higher

I had the best bike ride the other day. A buddy of mine came over and we set our trainers up in the playroom upstairs and watched "Breaking Away" for the 500th time. It was too cold, dark, and rainy to want to ride outside, and I have never had a ride end up being that much fun. It's always easier to train with a friend, and when you decide to do something out of the ordinary (like running in the extreme cold or rain) it really makes for a memorable event. Especially if you can get your mind off of competition for a while and just enjoy the moment.

I started receiving "Lava" magazine in the mail this year. It was a surprise to me... I didn't order it. But I am enjoying it. It is a large magazine distributed every two months. It has thicker pages and seemingly more "photography focused" articles than a lot of other magazines. I do subscribe to one magazine... "Triathlete". I am enjoying their new format and likewise their new focus on the "images" of triathlon. Everyone likes pictures of fancy bikes and underwater shots of an open-water swim start. If Lava is sending me their magazine because of my subscription to "triathlete" in hopes that I will fall in love... enough to start paying for it... then they are simply brilliant, because it just might work. It really does the job of getting me motivated for my workouts. In the words of Belle and Sebastian, "Stars of track and field you are... beautiful people." Triathlon is like no other sport in the world. Where else can you pay your fee, show up, and race the same course the pros are racing... possibly even get passed by one (if your course has multiple loops). As far as total fitness is concerned there are no better examples than those seen in the world of Triathlon.

But don't get too excited and go "all-in" just yet. This world has too much to offer and there is way too much to lose if your priorities are not straight. Many people have jumped head-first into triathlon and ruined jobs, marriages, and friendships in the process. If you are not being paid (or hope to get paid one day) to race triathlons, then you need a quick reality check... triathlon is a great hobby. Period. Your job... your family... your wife... and your relationship with God are the only things in this world that truly deserve your affection. I'm not saying you shouldn't drop a couple grand on a tri-bike if you have the means... but I am saying that maybe you should also have a bike that you can chain up down at the park while you're getting dizzy on the merry-go-round. If you simply don't have time to spend with the family because of your required mileage... something has to change, and if you can't find time to spend alone with God or at Church because you can't afford to miss that long ride. Then consider this... what are you trying to prove? What is so important about that next race? Can you step back and ask yourself if this verse... Jeremiah 9:23-24... applies to you? Can you say that about yourself? I think I've finally asked myself that question, and I didn't really like the answer... so that... my friends... is my personal training goal.