God is the most important part of my life. But I fail to remember that always. I forget to put Him first. I appreciate friends holding me accountable to what I say.

First, about these "Troy-stories", I've written many, and some of you may be tired of them, or wonder why I have to mention God in them, or maybe just have too many incoming e-mails. Just let me know. Or delete them. I don't want to impose so will remove you from the list.

The reason I seek Ironman again is because this "Road to Kona" makes such a good opportunity to talk about perseverance.

Jam 1:2-4 describes the importance of perseverance, "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.'

And Heb 12:1 talks about "..running with perseverance the race marked out for us."

I skipped 1999 because I felt 2000 was the year I should go. However, this year I've made some hasty decisions, and I've let myself get too busy, running around without knowing God's plan. Then I prayed for 2 months as to if I should train for qualifying again. I considered alternatives; hanging up the running shoes & canceling flights, to focus on other worthy endeavors. Besides, many people who care about me suggested to quit because I'm just hurting my body. And that seemed true as the feet continued to complain through every treatment I tried. Ironically, quitting running made them worse.

But the worst part about quitting wasn't to stop racing. Racing was time consuming, expensive, and agonizing at times. It seemed peaceful to just not worry about it anymore. But it had become my ministry.

A class of 3rd and 4th graders who wanted to talk to an Ironman got me thinking. For 4 yrs I've been enjoying the times I could encourage friends, church congregations, young kids, and other athletes to persevere in their schooling, relationships, jobs, and marriages with the faith that God will reward. And my example was my Ironman training; no matter how bad or frustrating it became at times, if I just persevered, I was always rewarded.

So how could I encourage perseverance after I quit my main example?

But the months I prayed for an answer, God seemed quiet.

This last weekend was a scheduled training trip to the Wildflower Triathlon course near King City.

It's a tough course, and with my almost non-existent training, I was actually glad it got cancelled.

But Cheryl suggested I go anyway as an opportunity to spend quality time with God and relax a little.

I headed down alone. It was a beautiful day, the fields were bright green, and Lake San Antonio was cool blue under the hot sun. There was hardly anyone there, in the middle of nowhere. I arrived at 11:30am.... with my shoulder injury from swimming, my chronic foot problem, and a painful bike seat that's kept me from riding much. I hadn't trained up to any of the half Ironman distances (1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run) yet. And I was sick with a sore throat. So I figured I'd do the entire Half Ironman course. I don't know where that crazy plan came from, I just prayed and started the swim. Half way out I thought I should turn back, but there was no reason. Everything was surprisingly feeling OK. The water wasn't very cold and the current made the 2nd half an easy return trip. I transitioned to the bike. I took it real easy, staying very calm, because I knew what a beast of a course this is. But the beast must have still been half asleep from it's winter slumber. There were no terrible headwinds. The fierce sun was only at "comfortable" setting, and a tail wind pushed me through the tough rolling section of mile 34. I ate & drank & took throat lozenges & was enjoying the beauty all around. I finished in about 3 hours which was good. Before the run I took time out to pray again. I asked for a good run but agreed that if it went like usual, having to stop and work on my feet, then I wasn't going to try qualifying. It was a tough commitment.

I remembered a similar prayer 9 months ago on this same course with the same injury. I made another difficult agreement to cancel an upcoming Ironman if I didn't have a good 20 mile run through extreme hills and heat. It was an amazing run with no pain and the following Ironman at Vineman turned out to be an important experience.

As my run started I felt God telling me He wants me to continue writing these stories.

My feet felt great. The scenery was incredible as the late afternoon sun cast cool shadows up and down the trail. Nobody was out there. I was a little worried because being sick made my head feel pressured and my heart rate was way up. I walked the hills to keep it below anaerobic threshold. At 6 miles you're farthest from home and all alone and I was having some anxiety. But I turned my focus to God again. And He made me realize something. How happy I am when I'm doing this. How much I enjoy being out here. This is something I do well and something that brings me pleasure. Then at 8.5 miles I felt God all around me and just put my arms out in front of me as I ran. I seldom even felt that at church. At 9mi my ears started feeling pressured. I remembered that feeling from 2 years ago when I got heat sickness, so I decided to head back and cut 2 miles off the course. It was a good thing as I was completely spent at the end. But I managed 8:30 pace and the Achilles never flared up!

I was very sore. But I was very happy. I showered, pitched a tent, made dinner and finally had time, after months of craziness, to relax. Under a warm, clear, full-moon sky. Reading the Bible and knowing for sure that all this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

It doesn't mean that I'll qualify, or that anything will become easier, but that I'm to try and to enjoy trying.

I hope the Lord will give you the answers to what weighs heavy on your heart.

God Bless.