4 states down...

Forty-six to go!  I have completed races in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama.  I seem to be repeating myself in these states because of where I live and my sentimental attachment to races such as the Coosa River Challenge in Wetumpka, AL.  I plan on making that one an annual race.  So far my journey has included my first full marathon, 3 half-marathons, 2 adventure races (same one twice), 3 sprint triathlons, and few local 5k's. 

This year will not be the year to add a state to my list.  This year I plan on competing in my 3rd Coosa River Challenge Adventure Race and competing in my first half ironman (70.3) in Wilmington, NC.  I am excited to start building a base and training for these races that take place in October. In May I will be participating in the West Georgia 100 bike ride. 

 I would love for my journey to include the Kona ironman one day.  Assuming I can ever qualify.  I would like for it to be the pinnacle of my goal, but I am so excited to try to do it I do not want to wait to make it my last state.  In addition to all 50 states I feel it is important to include our nations capital, perhaps the Marine Corp marathon.  I still haven't decided if I should include Puerto Rico, but I guess if time and budget allow I will. 

The next states on the radar for 2012 will either be Austin, TX 70.3 or the New York City Marathon if we (my buddies and I) are able to win a bib number through the lottery. 

If anyone has recommendations on fun, unique, or must-do races I would love to hear about them.

My Story...

As Paul sat in prison writing in II Timothy 4:7-8 that he had fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith, I can only hope that my life is and will be like that.  I want to be able to look back when I am an old man to say that I was faithful to let God use me in ways I never imagined.  That’s where this blog comes in.  I have felt called for over a year now to write one, not because I am a good writer, but because it is a medium in which potentially millions of people could see.  However, I am not naïve to think that I will have a million followers, but I am also not naïve enough to believe that even if only one person reads this and is at worst inspired to try a triathlon and at best give their lives to Christ then it will be well worth the effort. 

The sermon at church this morning reminded me that God desires more for me than to just lead a comfortable life, but to move away from my “safe place” so that I can see God move.  I am passionate about my faith, however have shied away from sharing it as openly as I once did as a high school and college student.  Somewhere life got in the way. 

My story of salvation at surface level does not appear particularly exciting, but in context of eternity and the price Jesus paid for me on the cross it is very exciting to think about what I have been saved from (eternity separated from the presence of God).  I think it is important for anyone who decides to follow me on here to know where I came from and that you too have been invited to take part in this life race to grow closer to God through his son, Jesus. 

I grew up in your ordinary household with great parents, did well in school, played just about every sport imaginable, and had some good friends (you now see why at first glance my story may not be particularly exciting).  I somewhat grew up in church, but never really fit in or enjoyed it much as a kid.  It wasn’t until I was in high school that my dad had a few preliminary conversations with me on what it was to be a Christian and a move to another state where one of my football coaches began to teach me more about Jesus and what it meant to have a relationship with Him.  Funny thing is, this coach thought I was already a Christian because I came to church with him, Fellowship of Christian Athlete meetings, and did what I was asked to do at school and football practice without hesitation or much complaining.  I thought being a good person and doing the before mentioned things were what it took to get to heaven. 

This coach and one of the pastors from his church shared with me that God had a plan for me and created me to know Him personally (John 3:16, John 17:3).  However, I had sin in my life (and still do and always will – not an excuse to sin, but just the truth) that was preventing me from experiencing God’s love and plan (Romans 3:23, 6:23).  They went on to tell me that Jesus Christ was God’s only provision for my sin and through Him alone we can know God personally and experience God’s love and plan (Romans 5:8, I Corinthians 15:3-6).  There was nothing that I could do on my own to achieve salvation!  Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6).  This was great news…the Creator of the universe desires to know me.  One day the pastor of the church visited me at home to again share these truths with me and that day I prayed with him to ask Jesus into my heart to be the Lord and Savior of my life so that I could experience His love and plan (John 1:12).  As it says in Ephesians 2:8-9, I was saved by grace, through faith, and not from myself or from works, but instead it was a gift of God.  This gift was undeserved because of my humanness and there were no conditions on this gift, purely rescued from eternity separated from God because of the sacrifice of Jesus. 

I believe that I am free in Christ, saved by the grace of God.  I don’t believe that I can ever lose my salvation despite my continual shortcomings and human desire to disobey God.  I still have my struggles with sinful and worldly desires, however I am praying that I can become more like Christ in attitude and love for God everyday.  I want to pursue God with the same energy I put into training for endurance races.  I think there are great parallels between the two.  I think that is why I feel called to write this blog.  When I cross the finish line of this life I want to be able to look back on it and say, “Well done, I fought the good fight, I finished the race, I kept the faith.”   

If you follow the Bible verses in parentheses above it takes you through how to have a relationship with Jesus.  If this has struck a chord with you, I encourage you to let it ring out, pursue the truth and allow yourself the opportunity to explore what God may have in store for you.  It can be quite the exciting race if you allow it to be.  If you feel like God has spoken to you or is speaking to you all you have to do is invite Him in (Revelation 3:20).  That invitation may sound like this:

“Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally.  Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins.  I open the door of my life and receive You as my Lord and Savior.  Thank You for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life.  Take control of the throne of my life.  Make me the kind of person You want me to be.”

For anyone that made any decisions or has any questions I would love to hear about it on here so that I can be praying for you or help you get connected with a local church near you.

Why do I race?

Why do I swim, bike, and run?   Prefontaine said he ran to see who had the most guts.  I tend to agree with the idea of that quote.  I know I will most likely never win a race, but I love the training, racing against myself, and the comraderie of training and competing with friends.  I love the feeling of crossing the finish line knowing I left all I had on the course.  In my opinion, this is one of the greatest feelings one can have. 

 

I am embarking on a goal to compete in a race in every state, Washington D.C., and as many countries as possible.  This will most likely take me 25+ years to accomplish knowing I will most likely only be able to do one to two races per year.  Surprisingly, this is not daunting, but exciting.  I am excited to see the country with my wife, family, and friends, knowing that I will leave my stamp on every state in the United States or better yet the stamp that state and race will leave on me.  During this journey I hope to grow in my walk with Christ, honor the memory of my dad, encourage others to race/exercise, and to encourage readers to examine the man who claimed to be Christ.  

I would love to hear from anyone who takes the time to follow this blog about anything from races you recommend to Jesus.  This may seem like a wide variety and may not seem to go together, but I want to see where this goes.