A religious posting

So usually when I speak of god(s), I'm speaking of all the people I see at triathlons that I wish I could become. Today, I'm going to talk about God with the capital G.

A funny post for me, I know. While my husband and I founded our marriage on the principal that we wanted to go to church on a regular basis, I don't think we've been to church in oh.... let's just say a long time. Sundays these days are usually spent with 5+ hours of my seat planted on my bike.

Anyways, I went out for my Friday night bike ride. It was a rough ride. For countless reasons that need not be named, I was cranky. My mind immediately wandered off as it always does. I started thinking about school. Particularly the new guy I work with. Gosh I hope he never finds my blog online, because the guy is a little nerdy, and I'm just going to call it the way it is.

I've been trying to befriend the nerd guy, but I just don't have a lot in common with him. Normally I don't have anything in common with women that adore Gucci and similar namebrands. This guy is in a category all his own. He was telling me today that he has diabetes and needs to watch his diet closely. He recently lost a bunch of weight and he's trying to get it in check. His doctor wants him to do 30 minutes of cardio everyday (man, if only!!!) Anyways, he doesn't like sports, running, biking, etc. Huh. That's a tough one. I was trying to encourage him today to find something, anything, just make sure he enjoys it. I suggested dancing. If he wanted to try running, I told him to start slow. 2 minutes running 2-5 minutes walking. He didn't seem interested in the least. Whatever dude, it's your life. I've got enough things to worry about. I don't need to worry about encouraging this guy to exercise (do I?)

So I leave on my bike ride tonight, and I'm thinking about this guy. I'm a really bad Christian, because I haven't thought about God in a while, but for some random reason I suddenly started thinking, "This guy at work is in my life for a reason. I don't know why, but God does. I just know it. Am I supposed to encourage him to exercise? Is he there to help me for some reason that is yet to be disclosed? Are we going to benefit each other in some weird way later down the road?" I don't know why this guy has come in my life, but I need to be nice to his nerdy self. There is a master plan in there somewhere, I just know it.

I'm riding along, and my mind drifts on to other things. God got a whopping two minutes of my wiley brain time. Things started to get really negative. I try not to go there, but I can't help it. I'm extremely stressed out trying to balance school, coaching, Ironman, and family. I had to stop because I was hitting meltdown status. Seriously, if you don't understand Ironman, you have to read the Athena Diaries blog. It is amazing. This gal just finished an Ironman in Louisville. Her account has me scared to death. I'm so worried that I'm not going to make it before the 17 hour cutoff. Really, really worried. If I were doing all my workouts, at least I could say, "I did the work. I gave my best. That's the best I could do." But currently, I can't even say that.

Anyways, I meltdown. Meltdown is over, I continue to ride. Thank goodness. I'm gonna do my 2 1/2 hour ride. Only it's now getting dark and I'm an hour from home. But I want to get the full 2 1/2 hours in. I opt to cut it short and turn around and head home, and I'm glad I did. It got dark quickly.

I kept wanting to take my sunglasses off, but I had my yellow lenses in. They were making everything seem brighter. It was actually darker with my glasses off. That scared me. It got darker, and darker, and darker. Stupid, stupid girl!

I hit the point where I had to make a decision as to which was better 1) bike trail: no cars, but tree cover makes it even darker. Spill on the bike or get hit by a car? 2) Get to the streets with streetlights as quick as I can? Only, I'm a triathlete... I don't have no stinkin' reflectors on my bike. Yeah, right! Only I'm also dressed in all dark colors. Not good either. I decide to do bike trail as long as I can, then switch to streetlit roads. I was getting nervous. It was getting seriously dark.

Wouldn't you know it. Just as I'm about to head to the car filled roads, I look down, and somebody's flashy light must have fallen off. It's laying right there on the ground, blinking and begging to ride with me. I just couldn't believe my luck. What are the odds? I hadn't seen another cyclist in an hour. Did somebody leave it there and intend to come back and get it? No, that's just dumb. Why would you leave it? It HAD to have fallen off somebody's bike. It's one of those freaky things that really makes you question divine intervention. It doesn't mean that I won't hit a crack and spill, but it does give me some visibility from cars that might not see me and do a whole lot worse to my body.

I can't help but think God was watching over me and encouraging me in some way. If nothing else, maybe it was a "Hey, good to have you thinking about me. It's been awhile" sentiment. Maybe it's a sign that I need to be nice to the new guy. Huh.