Triathlon Training and the Cyclical Nature of Life

For me Triathlon season officially begins March 26th at the Redhills Triathlon in Tallahassee. That means Triathlon training officially began December 27th. As training begins it occurs to me…there is a natural frustration that goes along with the beginning of a new training season. I remember what it felt like midway into the season last year. I remember the satisfaction that comes after a long run where you have just beaten a personal best time. I remember what it feels like to hop out of the pool after doing a 500m faster than you’ve ever done it. Those are good moments. The beginning of training doesn’t feel like that at all. Physically it hurts but that is not the bad part. The hardest part is psychological. There is something very frustrating about starting over. It can be disheartening to know where you have been and knowing you are no longer there. It can be frustrating and even scary to think about how hard you worked to reach a certain level of achievement and than realize you are going to have to do the work all over again to get back there. I believe that is why most people give up and quit. They can not take the frustration that goes along with having to start over.

I had not planned on starting over. I originally planned on training through the off season to prepare for a marathon in February which would lead right up to Redhills in March. My body had other plans. A hip injury put me down for close to four months and so here I am…starting over.

But that is life. There is a cyclical nature to everything. Relationships go from close, to distant, to forgiveness to close again. Not once…but constantly. Ministry can be that way. It’s fun when things go well in ministry. But if things always went well we would quickly become arrogant and self sufficient. So God allows tough times in ministry so we can go through the tough training ground of depending on Him again. So when things are tough instead of dwelling on it and wishing for the ‘good old days’ let’s learn from the place God has and learn to depend on Him to get back to the place He has for us.

tags: triathlon