Archive for the ‘Life Lessons’ Category
43 times around the sun and today was one of the BEST days of my life!
I am now officially a triathlete! Got to tell you…I really like the sound of that.
RACE DAY REFLECTIONS
- Got up at 4:00 am and journaled to God.
- Trying to communicate gratitude to God was emotional. How do you express thanks to someone like God? Basically, I told Him this…Thank you for helping and encouraging and kicking my butt thru this whole journey. I love you.
- Ate the breakfast of champions…oatmeal.
- I also ate bananas…they are a racer’s friend.
- Loaded up with the fam…headed off to the course.
- Registered and set up transitions stations
- My worst nightmare…they replaced the swim with a run
- Canceled the swim because of the surf (Hurricane Kyle and rip currents)
- I like swimming…I hate running.
- Second worst nightmare. No iPods. I can’t run without my worship jams
- Not cool…1.5 mile run, 15 mile bike, 5 k…No iPod.
- My goals? Don’t quit or stop and FINISH THE RACE.
- Made the first 1.5 mile…had to pick up my pace…old guy was beating me.
- Coolest thing ever to hear my family cheering for me!
- They all ran aside me with their posters and kept cheering!
- I definitely had the BEST cheering out of 700 traithletes
- Did I tell you I like the sound of that?
- Got on my Pee Wee Herman modified bike
- 15 miles here I come!
- Suffering from Railroad Tracks Phobia since my spill.
- Had to ride over 2 railroad tracks…made it…almost crashed on the bridge
- Saw about 4 bikers crash. Yikes!
- Half way on bike…feeling OK
- 3/4 of the way on bike…hamstrings hurting…stinking Pee Wee Herman bike!
- Old guy just passed me…he has a better bike!
- Finishing up with my bike. Debbie and the kids are screaming like crazy!
- I’m blessed.
- I like swimming. I hate running.
- Here I go…if I quit…this will be the leg
- I miss my iPod
- Kept going thru Scripture in my head (Heb. 12:11) (1Cor. 9:24) (Heb. 12:1-3)
- Same old guy keeps passing me…he has an iPod! Not Cool!
- Half way…haven’t stopped…water table…needed that!
- Can’t believe I’m almost done…insane that 6 weeks ago I was 40 lbs heavier
- I can’t see the crowd yet, but I hear them…getting very emotional
- Picking up the pace as fast as I can now. I see the finish line ¼ mile away
- I can now hear Debbie and the kids…running as hard as I can!!!!!
- I’m a basket case!
- Thinking about tripping the old guy…just kidding…I did pass him!
- I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Footage to come…from Devin…enjoy the pics
I asked my bride and kids to refer to me now as Triath-a-MAN. I think I’ll copyright that since I just made that up.
I’m thinking I might just be crazy! I know some of you are thinking…finally, he admitted it! Why am I crazy? I’m sure there are a lot of opinions as to the answer to that question however, here is my take. Four weeks ago, I stared into my soul and took on one of the hardest challenges of my life by admitting that food has controlled my life. I went away for several weeks to get some help on fitness, stress, and nutrition.
It honestly has been one of the best decisions of my life. I have learned a lot, and with God’s grace, I have made some progress. So here is where it gets crazy. I had an insane idea of trying a sprint triathlon. That’s a ½ mile swim, 16 mile bike ride, and a 5k run. Now 4 weeks ago, I couldn’t walk a mile without being exhausted, and get this…the triathlon is Sept 28th.
I know. Insane in the membrane.
Monday, I accomplished a half mile swim for the first time in my life. I was pumped out of my mind! Today, I rode my bike for 12 miles…pumped again. But then I tried to run right after. My legs felt like they were going to spontaneously combust! I pushed thru and made it 3 miles…but then I tried to walk. Seems simple, right? Not so much. Now I’m walking like the Hunch Back of Notre Dame. I really hurt. I’m talking major pain…could this be what child birth feels like?
I was feeling confident with the swim thing…but now I’m second guessing. I knew it would be painful…but not this bad. Glad I already paid the registration so I wouldn’t quit.
I’ll keep you posted.
Here is a quick glimpse of one of the most powerful services I have ever been to and the most amazing students in the Northeast!
Numbers…More Than Just Your Weight
So they did blood work on me when I arrived several weeks ago. It reinforced everything the doctor told me, and it was very discouraging. One of my goals was to get some weight off and hopefully start to lower my high risk category. Well I’m ready to jump on a plane and come home, and the newest numbers are extremely encouraging! Thank you, God! Thank you to my family for your understanding and encouragement and the incredible staff here. Last but not least, thanks to you in the blog world! I had no intention of blogging about any of this…but I felt God prompting me to get it out there. Thank you for your prayers and comments and encouragement!
See ya soon!
Click on chart to view full size
Worship Is Your Way Out.
In our blockbuster summer series At The Movies, I shared that worship is your way out of your dark times. That has resonated with me here. Alone. I have had some of my sweetest times with God. There is no question I have felt God’s overwhelming encouragement to me to kick this life-long addiction to food.
I’ve been here over 2 weeks now, and I decided to try something crazy. Please understand that two weeks ago I couldn’t even walk a mile without being exhausted and fatigued. I have slowly and carefully implemented 4- 6 hours of light exercise a day building my cardio up. Well I’m on the home stretch and about to hop on a plane home, so I went for it. What did I do? I road my bike to a beach and put on my ipod and tried to run. Now, at my size, it just about kills me to run, but I have made some progress on my weight. So I figured what the heck, and I started to run. I ran…and I ran…and I ran…Forest Gump style. I thought about quitting many times, but then I heard this incredible worship jam by Hillsong called Christ Our King!
I kept running…get this…2 miles! I threw my arms up in the air in celebration…Rocky Balboa style if he was a worshipper. I ran up to the ocean smiling and laughing with overwhelming joy and gratitude to God for helping and encouraging me. I closed my eyes and kept my hands raised high…I couldn’t care less who was watching. As far as I was concerned, it was just me and God.
As I prayed a small wave of water surrounded my dry feet. Not to get weird, but it was as if God was touching me in response to my uninhibited worship. It was a holy moment on a crowded beach that I will never forget.
Thank you God! I’m ready to come home now.
I’ll miss everyone here, and I’m thankful for making some life-long friends…Andy being one.
See you soon!
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The latest…I’m learning
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- Can’t skip breakfast anymore
- Eating frequently and exercise increase your metabolism
- Portion Control is key
- Weight control is a life long war
- Set victory goals of weight loss of no more than 10 percent
- Once you accomplish your first victory goal then set another 10 percent
- Cardio is daily non-negotiable
- Strength training raises your resting metabolism rate
- Went to a Hip Hop class!
- I can bust some new moves…salt shaker and throw it back!
- Debbie won’t believe it!
- Maybe I’ll go on dancing with the stars
- Andy taught me how to do laundry…Debbie really won’t believe it!
We filmed this video during our Just For the Health of It series last year. Thought I’d add a little humor to this string of posts and let you enjoy seeing some of my “issues” on film.
Friends.
One thing that has blindsided me is the incredible people I have met here. I just wasn’t expecting that. I figured I would be so focused on my own goals that I wouldn’t have time to really connect with people. I was wrong. What I’ve discovered is some of the nicest people I have ever met! People from all different backgrounds, all different ages, but one thing we all have in common is we are in this together.
Community.
I want to share something that I hope comes across the right way. I just seem to get along better with unchurched people sometimes. I find them honest, transparent and genuine. What you see is what you get people. No pretense. I think that’s one of the reasons they were Jesus’ favorite people to be around. In fact, God has convicted me that I’m around Christians way too much. Ironically, the whole reason I started Northway Church was for the unchurched, and somehow my weekly schedule is saturated with Christians.
I’m changing that immediately.
Detox my soul.
That would pretty much sum up what’s going on. God has really been kind and gentle to me in this. I think you call that Grace. For most of my life when I think about this stronghold in my life…some of the emotions that come to mind are shame, guilt and hopelessness just to name a few. But God is starting to replace that s l o w l y with hope.
Awareness and Accountability are keys to that hope.
Another part of the detoxing is I’m learning how to be alone. It’s actually been a good thing. I guess you could say a God thing. Don’t get me wrong, I miss my family and church like crazy…but I’m actually discovering that being alone is extremely healthy for me. What am I doing? Good question.
I’m walking, swimming, and riding my bike. I’m also reading Oswald Chambers and Wild Goose Chase and journaling like crazy! Ironically, I’m talking more to Debbie long distance. This experience has made me appreciate and love her more. I’m blessed and a rich man.
I think this detoxing of the soul needs to be an annual spiritual discipline for me.
Made it thru the first week! I’m learning a TON! No pun intended. Here are some things that stuck…
Weight follows behavior.
Weight follows behavior…but not right away!
You can choose to focus on how hard it will be to change…or you can choose to focus on how hard it will be if you don’t change!
This one hit me good!
