Enough For Today

"Jesus said, 'Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.'" Matthew 6:34 (NRSV)

Every morning before I leave for work, I read a devotional for the day. A few days ago I read one from The Upper Room that I felt applies to Ironman training. The quote above was the verse for the devotional. Following is the rest of the devotional:

In my backyard is a small pond that I made a few years ago. I decided to direct some of the rainwater runoff from the roof of our house to the pond, using plastic drainage pipe. The pipe was 100 feet long and would need to be buried underground. I did not want to spend the money to rent a trencher, though the ground was full of roots, making the job difficult. After an hour of digging with a pick and shovel, I realized that I didn't need to dig 100 feet all at once. I could do a few feet each day and, eventually, I would complete the job.

I have often found that a particular task seems too great when I look at it in its entirety. However, when I break it down into smaller parts and do just what I can do today, I can complete the task over time.

Jesus encouraged us to deal with today's concerns and to trust him for the rest - for all that we need in the future. When I trust God for one-day-at-a-time strength, what at first seems impossible becomes more than possible. It becomes accomplished!Mike Smoot (Virginia)

To me, this applies to Ironman training in the sense that you have to do the day-to-day workouts and not worry about race day. When most people first get into triathlons, completing an Ironman seems impossible. But,if you do the work required each day, then on race day you WILL accomplish your goal.

So that's what I'm going to do. Follow the plan. Do the required work each day and see where it takes me. And if I complete the scheduled workout I can say, "Enough for today".