Walking in Memphis

It's just past 7 a.m. and I'm sitting at The Hub, a coffee shop inside of a church (the Mission) walking distance from our hotel.  A little bit of an odd setup but convenient this morning, for sure.  I can always find coffee.

In less than three hours, JP will run for a state championship.  I haven't seen that the boys are seeded, like they were last year, but based on each runner's best times for the season, I would place him third or fourth.  All four of the fasted runners are within 10 to 12 seconds of each other however, so it seems to be that anything could happen.  Whoever runs his best race of the season will win the state championship in my estimation.  

It's 57 degrees and will be 70 degrees or so at race time at 10 a.m., so the heat should not be a factor.  It's a bit overcast, though, and as of yesterday, there was a 30% chance of rain today.  My thought is that rain would favor JP, particularly since he ran on such a wet, muddy course at NXN in Portland, OR, two years ago.  That's just a guess, though.  Either way, as Coach Russ says, "it's a good day to run."

I think JP is ready.  I hope he isn't running this race with the idea that there's always next year, when he's a senior.  There is no next year.  There is only today.  I want him to be in moment.  To lay it all on the line and to give his all to win this race.  To compete.  To be willing to suffer.  To be willing to hurt.  To want more than anything to win.  Today.  

There is no next year.  There is only today.

I think he can win today but only if he's willing to go to the place he went to when he led wire-to-wire in 104 degree heat at USN's river campus when he won his first cross country race as a 7th grader.  When he finished the race, he had run so hard he couldn't see or talk for five to 10 minutes after the race.  I put a wet towel around his neck and, as he leaned on me for support, we walked around near the finish line until he came back to me.  

As I wrote at the time, that was the day the beast was born.  I knew, then - knew for certain - that he had something special.  Something within himself that would allow him to succeed in this grueling sport if he chose to pursue it. 

To win, today, JP needs to summon the beast again.  To surrender to him.  He needs to be want to return to that place, again, where there is no one but him, the pounding of his heart, and running.  That's the secret. 

I can't go there with him, not anymore.  But I can be there waiting on him when he returns.  And I will be.