A Will of Iron

Almost a year ago I decided that I wanted to attempt an Iron Man with my son Jeremy. For those who don't know, the Iron Man is an endurance race. The one we did was in Louisville. We swam 2.4 miles in the Ohio River, then biked 112 miles up and down the hills around Louisville, and then ran a marathon which is 26.2 miles. At 7am I was standing shoulder to shoulder with my son on the pier overlooking the Ohio River. At the sound of the cannon we looked at each other, did a fist bump, put our goggles on, and jumped in the river. I didn't see him again for a very long time. We both finished in the allotted time. Jeremy quite a bit faster. We are both happy and sore today. I noticed something as I hung around the 3000 or so competitors. There was an amazing camaraderie. It wasn't the normal competition. People asked about each other, showed concern, and genuine respect. At one point in the bike leg there was an up and back where cyclists pass each other. I passed Jeremy and we yelled to each other. I turned to the biker next to me and said,"Hey, that was my son" and he said, "That is so cool. Good for you". There was a feeling that you wanted everyone to do well... to finish strong. I think there are two reasons. One is the result is unknown. If you are playing a basketball game you know someone is going to win and someone is going to lose. But in the Iron Man you really don't know if you or anyone you talk to is actually going to finish. During the course of the 140.6 miles of swimming, biking, and running virtually anything can happen to derail the best prepared. The other thing is that it is so very difficult. We were all just hoping to survive. The whole reason for this kind of race is to test yourself not compare yourself to others. It made me want life to be like this. For those of us who are Christians it really should be. Life can be hard. For many of you it feels like an endurance race right now. We should all know life is hard and lean over to each other to give encouragement and offer strength if we have any. I want to quit competing and start encouraging. Let's all make it a point to find someone to encourage tomorrow. You never know if you are the one that will give them to will to keep going.