I am a Triathlete!

I did it! I completed my first "sprint distance" triathlon! I almost died, but I completed it.

The title is linkified over to where I log all my workouts and races so that you can read all about the experience for yourself. You can read all about my swimming adventure, my biking prowess, and my less-than-stellar run.

What you won't read about is absolute joy that I find in sheer terror. (Read that again; let it sink in.) I long to go beyond the borders of "comfortable." I vacation is the wilderness of "unknown." And I LOVE to go to the edge of "terror."

When I was in high school, my friend, Jeff, and I used to talk about Kamikaze faith. It was the kind of faith that jumped first and feared later. It was the kind of faith that didn't leave anything for the return trip, just enough to get to our destination because it relyed on God to get us back.

I owe a lot of life's best experiences to Kamikaze faith:

• I left for college with only enough money to pay for one quarter and graduated four years later.
• I left for Seminary the same way, and graduated four years later.
• I spent my vicarage year in San Jose, California because I wanted to know what it was like out there.
• I "dated" and married a woman who lived half-way across the country because I felt like she "got me."
• I turned down numerous calls to lead churches as the sole pastor because I felt called to do youth ministry, even as an ordained pastor.

And now, I can add the fact that I have completed a triathlon to the list. To be honest, there were times when I wasn't sure I would survive the swim. I have a bit of a fear of the water that I'm still trying to overcome. But, for 18 minutes or so, I was on the edge of fear, looking it in the eye, and eventually I won. That is the greatest feeling in the world.