I'm a little over a month out from my 3rd and final Ironman, this one in Madison, WI. I've shared before that the toughest part of doing the event (2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run) isn't the actual race itself, but the training which leads up to and prepares you for it. The load is tremendous. One day a week, you simulate two elements of the event (it's called a brick workout) and it tends to be a very long, tough, difficult day....90 mile ride, followed by a 17 mile run, as I covered just the other day. While these long days help you prepare, the more important part of the training is the next day or two, when you back off the volume and allow your body to recover and regenerate. If you don't, you risk jeopardizing your ability to compete come race day. The day after a long brick I often have trouble walking, I get winded fairly easily, my back tends to cramp up, the inside of my things are often rubbed raw and I'm feeling every bit of my 46 years. But the body is an amazing machine, God's design is utterly remarkable. Over the course of the recovery day, the body repairs and heals itself, eventually adjusting to the volume and the increased training load. As the months roll along, your body becomes stronger, more capable, and more efficient.
During today's recovery run on the Mountains to Sea Trail, I was halfway out on an easy seven-miler and the heavens opened up. I got absolutely drenched; but it felt so good! The rain cooled me off, soothing my sore muscles and slowing my pace as puddles formed on the path ahead. My breathing became less labored, and I realized how much I was now enjoying the experience of getting caught out in a downpour. There was something physically and mentally therapeutic about the rain. My mind drifted back over the past eight months - the trials and tribulations, the times I felt like packing it in, when my body was so tired, when things seemed so hopeless, when I couldn't find peace in the midst of the turmoil. And I realized that God was ALWAYS in control, using these trials to strengthen my resolve and refine my character. And He was always there to see me through to the other side. You see, our Creator knows that we can't keep carrying the burdens forever - just when we think we can't go on, when we think we can't endure the pain any longer, He provides that refuge, a place and a time to heal, to recover and to rebuild. His design is perfect, His timing is perfect, and His love for us immeasurable. BELIEVE! http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/Michael+W.+Smith/Healing+Rain--54456579;_ylt=AucZ7NzYCG.erpYLl3NirRXesyUv
After reading your post from the WW log I was moved by your openness...thank you. Two things come to mind after reading this. First is that the exhilarating moment was that of, Hosea 6:3, Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth."
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I gained some wonderful insight from another Beth Moore study that I'm doing.
God's Will is always purpose driven. If we are going through difficult times, then there IS an end result! The harder the test, the grater the purpose He has for us. We may fail the test, but he will keep giving us the test until we pass the it!! ~ My teacher is Yah!~ God already knows if we are going to pass the test or not, but maybe he is just trying to prove it to us.
*Often the hardest test involve your dearest loves.
*You are not powerless in the tests.
*How you take them are entirely up to you.
*Obedience isn't always the hardest point.
*It's keeping the faith that is hardest of all.
This lesson came out of Abraham's test to sacrifice his son whom he loved. Ultimately God was enacting what He would have to endure with the sacrifice of His Son through the bloodline of Abraham.
~Victoria