Sometimes You Just Gotta Grunt and Groan!

My brother and I are doing a duathlon this end of March. (2 mi run, 12 mi bike ride, 2 mi run) In preparation for this event I decided I should get out on the road and see what I can do outdoors. On Saturday morning last I ran a two mile course I mapped out in the neighborhood, that went fine, felt pretty good. Then I set out on the bike course I also mapped out. The first half of the bike ride went fine. I felt a little strange biking among the traffic, I grew up out in the country biking on country road so biking among the cars in the city made me a little nervous. I worried that I was violating some road biking etiquette. But I think I did okay.

The second half was a bit unexpected. I didn't anticipate there being so many stinkin' hills on the course I mapped out. (never traveled the course I took). Nor did I anticipate the freezing winds I was riding into while climbing those hills. As I was trucking up the longest hill ever I just needed to grunt and groan a bit. I was listening to General Conference on my ipod so my mind kept going over various spiritual analogies to the hills and wind I was working through. There were a lot of analogies.

By the time I arrived home I was so cold I didn't do the last two mile run, I could hardly walk I was so cold from biking into the chilly wind. So I have now started going to cycling classes, these classes push me further then just going it alone on the bike in the gym. Today was especially a difficult class. The serious biker next to me was wearing all the avid biker gear. The decal shirt, padded crotch spandex shorts, clip shoes , special water bottle. And if all that didn't give him away the long rat tail down the back really finished off his biker look. I kept looking over and noticing his RPM's, they were unreal. I couldn't help but sarcastically ask him "You don't bike much, do you?" He told me he used to bike over 10,000 miles a year. "Oh is that all" I responded.

Anyhow the point to all this is that once again in class today I just had to grunt and groan a bit, it helped me get through it. And in life sometimes you just gotta grunt and groan through some parts and when that part is over you are grateful you did it. And through it all Christ helps us learn how to be grateful during the grunt and groan moments. So grateful for the Savior!