Running the Race: Lessons from Ironman Triathlon
previously published on December 2004
Last June two of my friends and myself finished something that we had only dreamed of accomplishing 4 years prior. In the heat of the Idaho sun we spent the better part of the day in constant motion, albeit slow at times. It is called the Ironman Triathlon.
A day of pain, agony, pure ecstasy, as well as being deeply spiritual all wrapped in one long package. It is a race that begins at 7am and then allows you 17 hours to finish. Midnight is when the bell tolls for all athletes. You try your best to come in before that midnight cutoff.
It begins with a 2.4-mile swim in the lake being pummeled by 1800 other peoples’ arms and legs. Afterwards you change out of your wetsuit and hop on a bike for about 7 hours and ride 112 miles. Then you have to convince yourself that you can complete the halacious marathon that awaits you, 26.2 miles. I know what your thinking, “they do this all in one day?”
That was my exact thought 4 years ago when I did my first triathlon race. My friends Jimmy Yoo and Danny Kang had just completed a smaller triathlon in Santa Barbara, California and asked me to do another small race with them at Hermosa Beach, CA. I had already been swimming to improve my surfing, I owned a bike which I didn’t really ride, and had been running a bit to stay in shape, and so I thought “why not, how hard could it be?” This short race was miniature in comparison to the ironman but when I was in the throws of the chaos I felt as if I was going to die. The quarter mile swim, 13-mile bike and 3 mile run were more than my body could handle. As I was running the final 3 miles of the race I vowed to myself that I would never again put my body through this pain. But strangely enough after the race was over I thought to myself what an awesome sport this was and that I wanted to do it again. Each year we found ourselves doing more and more races as well as longer and longer distances. Our training times and methods started to take on meaning and substance.
For those of you that exercise on a regular basis or train for certain sports understand the time and commitment that it takes to train for one sport. The problem with triathlons is that you now have to train for three sports. This requires a gargantuan amount of time if you want to train properly for this sport. At times training upwards to 20-25 hours a week. I am married and have a small child and I desire to remain married to my wife so I have intelligently opted to alter my training schedule to accommodate my other responsibilities in life. Many a triathlete’s spouse has claimed to be an ironman widow.
If not for the loving support of my wife and child I would never have accomplished this lifelong goal of mine.
Just like my first triathlon race experience the pain and agony of that ironman race was quickly replaced by awe and determination. So quickly that the day that my plane landed from Idaho I was signing up for my next ironman race the following year April of 2005. I just couldn’t walk away from something that has taught me so much and helped me to develop my health and determination to levels I never thought I could reach.
I have learned so much from the parallels of exercising and my spiritual walk with God. Many of us who are Christians and have been for a long time are looking to be stronger Christians. We want to have a rich walk with God and be mature and strong but we can’t figure out how to get there or what to do. We get frustrated when we mess up or when our roller coaster spiritual life gets us so nauseous that we just feel like giving up. That is when we need to train my friends. There is a saying in triathlons that goes like this, “train hard, race easy.”
We need to train in our spiritual lives. Just like in triathlons, if I want to improve my times I need to train. I need to spend time in the pool working on my swim drills and on the mountains grinding away the gears on my bike. My marathon times will not miraculously improve if I do not spend the necessary time training. It takes effort. People’s spiritual lives are the same way. A strong Christian life just doesn’t fall into your lap. You need to train. We need to immerse ourselves in the Christian drills that will hone our responses to fear, selfishness, greed, lust and temptations. We need to practice and train to love others that are unlovable; so that when we are faced with a real situation we can truly race and accomplish that which we never thought we could do and do so with ease and joy. Race easy. We need to be disciplined in studying the word of God, surround ourselves with opportunities to hear Gods word and fellowship with those that love and fear God. Than and only than can we race easy. Train hard, race easy.
By the way, I finished that ironman race just under the 17 hour cutoff. After enduring muscle cramps, stomach bloating and cramps I ran into the finsh chute at the agonizing time of 16 hours 31 minutes and 39 seconds. I didn’t have the race results that I desired but I know that I need to train better to get better race results.
Hope to see you all out there training both physically and spiritually.
Ken Pak is an ER physician living in Pasadena, CA. He attends the Glendale Seventh-day Adevntist Church.