Exercises in Humility

If I'm honest with myself, I would admit that I don't like to do things that I'm not good at doing. I work hard, but usually I work hard at things I know will turn out well. Growing up, I was not good at any sports I tried. I was that girl who was picked last for every team in PE and benched at church softball. Convinced that I was not athletic (an opinion frequently reinforced by others), I found other talents and left all sports to those more talented than I.

In the past 10 years, I have made various attempts to find exercise that appealed to me. I tried running, and enjoyed the races, but was not fast, and never seemed to get better. I tried various aerobic classes, weight lifting, and even Zumba. Nothing stuck, and I became further convinced that I was not athletic. Needless to say, taking on triathlon training was not a logical course of action for me since I am not good at swimming, biking or running.

This week has been particularly humbling. I went out to Carolina Triathlon on Woodruff Road to participate in their Saturday morning bike ride. I called ahead to verify the length of the ride (30ish miles), and pace of the "C" group (14-16 mph). I have ridden up to 25 miles before, and tend to ride 16-20 mph on flat ground, so felt comfortable with this. Right out of the parking lot, I knew this was not going to be as I had envisioned. The pace on the flatland was 25-27 mph, which had me working a lot harder than I had planned from the very beginning. Five miles into the 30 mile ride, the yogurt I ate for breakfast was long gone, my chain came off my bike (I got it back on, but got behind the group), and a series of hills wore me out. There I was, dead last in the group and off my bicycle mid-hill trying to catch my breath. Randy, the ride leader, pushed me along, and I survived the ride. Yes, I rode further than I had ever ridden before, and I was not dead last for the rest of the ride. And yes, I felt publicly humiliated. Then on Monday, my tri training class did a group run at the Greenville High track. I was the slowest in the group - by a good bit. We did speed work, and when we ran 1200s, I was almost a full lap behind the lead runner - again dead last.

To me, the most interesting part of this journey is that I have been praying for humility, as pride tends to be a dominant sin in my life. You've heard the phrase, "be careful what you pray for?" In this training, pride has been the furthest thing from my heart. I'm NOT the best, in fact, I'm the worst in the group. My accomplishments are not defining me, which is a new experience. I spend every training swim, bike or run praying and/or singing praises to God. I have to rely on His grace and strength to get me through. At the end, I'm thrilled with my baby step accomplishments. Yes, I was mortified on Saturday when I was the last person who held up a whole group, but I got better, and I finished the ride. Yes, I was embarrassed to be the last person running on the track, but I ran a LOT faster than I thought I could. With God's strength, I am persevering my goal to complete this triathlon. With God's grace, I am learning strength in humility.