An Introduction

Hi, my name is Tim and I’m a 30-something Christian guy living in Tasmania, Australia.  I’m starting today something I honestly never thought I would, a blog.  Why?  Good question, but first a bit more about me so you know where I’m coming from.

As I said, I’m in my thirties and currently living in Tasmania.  I grew up on the mainland of Australia and have been living in Tassie since 1996, but I still consider myself a “mainlander”.  I’m also a Christian.  Being a Christian is not just something I do, it’s who I am, so you’ll probably see that coming through in my posts.  I’m not going to preach and it’s not going to be all I post about, but given it’s a core part of my life it’s bound to come through.  I’m also into fitness and healthy eating, and a recent convert to crossfit.  I’m a strong believer in holistic fitness, that fitness is more than physical.  I believe that as people we are body, soul and spirit and that we need to look after every aspect of ourselves.  I believe that physically we need to eat clean and exercise frequently.  I believe that in terms of our soul we need to be conscious of what we take in through our eyes and ears, that we need to keep our mind active and stay positive in our thinking.  And spiritually I believe that we need to have a relationship with God and involve him in every aspect of our lives.  This focus on holistic fitness is a relatively new thing for me.  Around 18 months ago my diet was appalling and my physical activity was minimal.  I lived on chocolate, take away or pre-packaged meals, and massive serves of steak and pasta.  Mentally I was kept busy with work and not much else, spiritually I was a bit the same, cruising along but not really pushing myself.  Then I started going to the gym with a friend in an attempt to get fit.  About 12 months ago I decided it was time to get serious if I actually wanted to get somewhere.  I couldn't get the phrase "Run The Race" and the associated Bible reference out of my head, so decided it was something I needed to do.  I started training more seriously, cleaning up my diet and increasing my focus on spiritual growth.  I started to try and "run the race" in every aspect of my life, to try and be the best I can be and to grow and develop every day.  It is a goal I continue to pursue every day, and I still have a long way to go.

Following on from this, a quick word on the name of my blog: RunTheRace21-15-9.  I've talked a bit about the "Run The Race" part of it, so I won't go into that any more at this point, it will probably be the subject of a whole post at some point.  Where does the 21-15-9 come from?  Crossfit.  21-15-9 is a rep combination for a number of crossfit workouts.  21 reps, then 15, then 9, generally of 2 different alternating exercises.  It's also an analogy for life.  Life doesn't generally work in the nice 10-10-10 routine that a lot of workouts recommend, it challenges us to give as much as we can.  It varies, alternates and changes.  It pushes us to our limits to make us grow and develop. 

Which leads me to why I'm starting this blog.  I want to share my journey, my experience and what I have learned in an attempt to encourage and help others.  I want to share my thoughts in an attempt to make you think.  I want to help you see health and fitness in a more complete way and perhaps look at your own lives and try to do things better.  I believe we can all improve, grow and develop more and more each day.  I believe every day is an opportunity for something positive, and I hope I can encourage you with what I write.  I'm not going to write every day, or even every week, I'll write when I have something to share.  I'm definitely no expert, as I said I've still got a long way to go, but hopefully my experiences and thoughts can encourage and challenge you.  Some of the things I write about will be things I am still working through myself, and a lot of it will be things I am still trying to get right in my life.  But life is a journey, not a destination, and each day is an opportunity to take another step forward.  I hope you'll join me on this journey.