Kind of a Big Deal

Everywhere I travel, there seems to be an odd fascination with one man.  His picture is all over the wall or the fridge; this is how I am tipped off that people are thinking and talking about this guy a lot.  It's not Crowie or Macca, the Raelerts, Andy Potts, or the Brownlee brothers.  He's been around a lot longer.  It's Jesus

In St. George, it's the Mormons.  In Birmingham, there are Protestants, and in Boise they are non-denominational.  Why, even out East I still find the Mennonites in Lake Placid (or maybe those are orthodox Jews...anyways).  One homestay host is a V.P., another a Ph. D in Biology, another a Ph. D in chemistry, yet another is a police officer, another is a college student.  But the fascination still remains- it seems to traverse age, education level, socio-economic status, and occupation.

Jesus is kind of a big deal.  Even in a sport that can consume our time, thoughts, and (especially) our cash, there is still a big interest in Jesus in the triathlon community- Pro, Age-grouper, volunteer, fan, and homestay host alike.  We pray at Ironman banquets, and at Rev3 you hear worship music.  Wildflower has Campus Crusade for Christ all over the place, and numerous Christian organizations are very active in triathlon- Fellowship of Christian athletes (FCA), Multisport Ministries, and Tri 4 Him to name a few.  Consideration of who this man is or was cannot be easily dismissed.

Some say he was a good teacher.  To that, Jesus replies, "Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone."  Some say he is useful for some people if they feel it helps them, but is not useful for others.  To that, Jesus says, "I am THE WAY, THE TRUTH, and THE LIFE" (emphasis mine).  The repetition of "the" carries the same meaning we would ascribe it like when we call someone “the man” – terms like "supreme," "preeminent," the only thing that really counts," or "kind of a big deal" could carry the same meaning.  Following this, Jesus statement, concludes, "No one comes to the Father except through me."  If that isn't a chilling statement, why did I just have to put my arm warmers on?

Still others think that Jesus is on his throne in heaven, angry at them, issuing commands and expectations, while offering no real help.  To this Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." So just what is going on here, is Jesus demanding something or offering something?  Because many are confused on this point.

Yet others assume that if their good deeds outweigh their bad deeds, then Jesus will love them, accept them, and grant them admittance into His heaven.  According to Jesus, this is the grossest distortion of them all.  The gospel of Luke records:

He also told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and viewed others with contempt:

"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  "The Pharisee stood and was praying this to himself: 'God, I thank You that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.'I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.'  "But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, the sinner!'"I tell you, this man went to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 18:9-14)

My point today is not to give a philosophical proof for the existence of God, or provide evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, or even to provide a clear explanation of the gospel.  All these things I can and will do, but that is not my aim here.  My simple question is, "do you really know Jesus?", and my appeal to you is, "get to know the real Jesus."  Don't rely on hearsay, rumor, or conjecture.  Don't even rely on what your parents, priests, or pastors told you when you as a kid.  Go to the primary source documents.  If you don't know where to start, start with the Gospel of John.

"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him."  - John 3:17

St. George and the Strangest Race

I call this race the strangest race because I always considered myself down, out, and nearly dead for the majority of the race.  Only in maybe the last half of the marathon did I think anything good would come of this endeavor. It was just so funky, windy, treacherous, hot, scary, and crazy, that it was easy to get negative.  I don’t think anyone that raced really felt good or in control for the vast majority of the race.

Apparently M-Dot has decided to change this race to a Half-Ironman next year.  Given that it is considered too difficult and too early in the season (for a full distance race), that the attendance has suffered over the last couple years.  Well, I think the 2012 edition really put the nail in the coffin on that one!  One nice part is that since the marathon course was changed from the previous year, and will never be run again in the future, I am the proud owner of a run course record that can never be broken!

Pat “Nope not enough” Sheeks, my coach and soigneur, roadtripped down with me to St. George.  We felt good about our journey, my preparation was very solid coming into it, I had my race strategy mapped out, and we thought it might even cool down a bit on race morning.  We also had an amazing homestay family to show us the ropes in St. George and treated us like royalty. 

But little did we know what awaited us on race morning…

This news article from the Salt Lake Tribune gives a pretty good description of the days events:  http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/54055727-77/race-didn-george-athletes.html.csp

My Own Stats:

Swim - 1:04 (10^th elite)

• Even with the nasty chop, this was still my fastest IM swim by about 10 mins.  Apparently I have a nasty chop stroke!  I tossed my race strategy about 20 minutes into the race and went into “just don’t die” mode.  Even though I am not afraid to die, I figured I would save it for another day if possible.

Bike - 5:48 (9^th Elite)

• It was super duper windy, with 20 mile stretches at 8-12 miles/hour.  This was the windiest ride I have ever been on, much less raced in.  My IT band got sore just from trying to stabilize the bike!  My time was so slow, I assumed incorrectly that there was no way I could eek out a good placing.

Run - 2:55  (1^st elite, results incorrectly have me at 5^th).

• Thinking I was down and out, I asked my brother how far back I was while leaving transition, wondering if I should even start the run.  Oh, only 50 minutes; No Big Deal!  I only realized how much ground I made up by about the 15 mile mark, and proceeded to take some names.  Coming into the finish chute with a lead bike by my side, high-fiving spectators was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.  Apparently I accidentally denied my brother a high-five though!

I’ve had some amazing support leading up to this race, mostly from local sponsors such as Sports Reaction Center, Elite Sports and Spine, Run 26 and Woodinville Bicycle.  I am super blessed to have these guys 100% behind me.  As an example, I stepped on a rock while on a training run in Klamath Falls, which inflamed my foot pretty badly.  A last minute dual-threat treatment from Sports Reaction and Elite Sports and Spine totally extinguished the pain and got me through the marathon.  Thanks guys!!!

Matt

 Pre-race, looking sleepy but really I am jacked to get started!

Fastest run split of the day

Never been happier to have a race be over!

 In the money

 Eventual winner and outstanding guy Ben Hoffman 

The Dynamic Duo - Matt with Patrick "nope not enough" Sheeks, the ultimate manager.  

Matt:  "Hey Pat, I put in 5 hours of training today.  Is that enough?  I was kind of thinking I still have enough energy for a shake-out jog."

Pat:  "Nope not enough."

Name	Country	Swim	Bike	Run	Finish	Div. Rank	Overall Rank
Hoffman, Ben	USA	00:52:44	05:10:01	03:01:24	09:07:04	1	1
Twelsiek, Maik	DEU	00:52:42	05:10:35	03:18:23	09:25:58	2	2
Zeebroek, Axel	BEL	00:51:22	05:26:52	03:12:53	09:35:33	3	3
Gerlach, Thomas	USA	00:59:19	05:33:54	03:12:14	09:49:00	4	4
Sheeks, Matthew	USA	01:04:09	05:48:41	02:55:37	09:52:03	5	5
Moser, Ernst	AUT	01:04:52	05:39:00	03:16:58	10:04:07	6	9

Klamath Falls Training Camp

Following my trip to Pear Blossom, I immediately headed up to Klamath Falls, about a 1.5 hour drive east.  I was really interested to check out this area of the country, seeing that is at medium altitude (4200 feet) without having to be in Colorado.  This would be ideal preparation for St. George, which sits at 3000 feet, I reckoned.

My first reaction to the place was how amazingly friendly the people are in Klamath.  Maybe they should get thrown into a competition with the Scots and the Birminghaminians!  I drove up with my little brother Patrick (also my unofficial coach and “soigneur”).  Our first stop was the bike shop, Hutch's Bicycles, to inquire about trails and good road riding and so forth.  One of the staff there, Andrew, not only gave me some great riding advice, but also invited me to stay at his place!  Andrew is a major cycling enthusiast and cyclocross racer, and also very active in the community.  It always pays to know an insider when you are in a new town.  He and his wife Christine made my life very easy while I was checking out the town and training my butt off.  Hopefully Andrew gets that engineering job at Specialized once he graduates! 

I was looking forward to some long rides, but honestly the first couple days my legs felt like death from the 10-miler; I was super sore and couldn’t even run for the next 3 days!  I managed to get in about 3-4 hours per day, with some auxillary running and swimming.  Ella Redkey Pool is an excellent facility there, which is a geothermally heated pool right in town.

The cap off to the trip was the 102 mile Dead Indian loop.  You really need to do this ride if you are ever near Ashland of K-Falls.  Starting in the town of Keno, just west of Klamath, you head north on Clover Creek road.  This runs you into Dead Indian Memorial Road, which is a swoopy backroad, mostly big rollers, which leads all the way into Ashland at sea level.  The last 10 miles or so is an epic twisty descent.  Enjoy the crazy hilltops and varied scenery as you enter Peter Britt country.  From Ashland, you climb back up the 4000 feet you just descended on Route 66 east.  This is a fierce , twisty climb and it was about 80 degrees when I did it; 39 x 23 almost the whole way.  Once you peak out, you assume it will be mostly flat or rolly back to K-Falls.  You assumed wrong, as there are several 500 + foot climbs that you will encounter on Highway 66 as you labor and putter through the last 30 miles or so of riding.  Agonizing but beautiful training.

View from Moore Park in Klamath Falls.