Running the Table

Joe's MBA Junior School cross country team ran the table on Thursday when they won the meet at USN's River Campus, finishing the season undefeated.  The HVAC championship meet is this Thursday and while Coach Elijah Reynolds' squad will be the favorite, USN has run a close second at every race.

In junior school at MBA, the athletic seasons pass by so quickly.  Cross country is almost over, then it's on to soccer.  I've really, really enjoyed watching Joe and his teammates race, although the weather has been horrendously hot.  

I don't want Joe's cross country season, and how much it's meant to me to watch him run, to get lost in the excitement of JP's quest for a 5k under 15:00 and a state title.  Joe has had an outstanding season, which is a result of all the work he put in this summer and has continued to put in since school started a few weeks ago.  

Every race, Joe has consistently finished 7th or 8th overall and been in MBA's top 5, scoring runners.  As I've learned over the years with JP's group, almost every cross country team has a runner or two who can challenge for the top spot.  What makes a successful cross country team, though, is depth.  When MBA qualified for NXN in Portland, OR, during JP's freshman year, it was because they were so deep.  As freshmen, JP and Gabe Guillamondegui were already high level runners who gave the team an opportunity to compete an a level unseen for several years.

In Thursday's race, for example, Cullen Weaver battled the leaders early, and finished third overall.  Joe ran with a group of MBA runners who finished 6 - 10.  Having that many boys running that close together effectively ended any chance USN had at finishing first overall, even though they had three very good runners in the top 10.  That's depth.

Joe finished Thursday's race in 11:56, another PR for him.  Two miles in under 12:00 is a strong run.

To see Joe's growth as a runner this summer and fall has been a tremendous and unexpected blessing for me.  As I've written before, I was a little skeptical when Joe approached me at the end of the school year last spring and suggested he wanted to run cross country this fall.  I wasn't sure what his motivations were but I knew - I mean, I really knew - that if he wanted to do it, he would need to train his ass off all summer.  I just wasn't sure if he had the desire and the discipline to do it.

I also wanted Joe to want to run cross country for the right reasons.  Not because his brother was such an accomplished cross country runner.  I wanted Joe to want to run for Joe, and for no one else.  Not for JP and certainly not for me.  At one point, JP intervened on Joe's behalf and initiated a conversation with me to convince me that Joe was serious about wanting to run cross country in the fall.

I agreed, bought Joe a pair or two of running shoes, and off he went.  Joe ran all summer long in the mornings.  His dedication impressed me because I hadn't seen him commit to something with his whole heart and mind in the past.  Over the course of the summer, Joe turned himself in to a runner.  His body changed and, I think, he gained confidence in his ability to run.  This fall, I think he's gained confidence in his ability to run well, even in extreme heat. 

Joe has really, really enjoyed being part of the cross country team.  As I learned with JP, there is a bond that the members of a cross country team share that is different than with other teams.  The boys spend so much time together, running.  Training and racing is a shared experience at all levels of skill.  With Joe's team, too, Elijah Reynolds does such an amazing job with the boys, too.  He instills in them a love of running, I think.

What does the future hold for Joe as a runner?  Honestly, I don't know.  My hope is that he will run cross country in high school, but he's going to have to love running to do it.  The time commitment and the training will increase, of course.  However, his confidence will grow if he dedicates himself to running.  Most of all, though, I want Joe to sustain a lifelong love of running, like I have.  My fervent hope, for Joe and JP, is that they will run throughout their lives.

It's not about the running.  It's what you learn from the running.

Southern Showcase

This morning, JP and his MBA team ran in the Southern Showcase in Huntsville, AL.  Traditionally, it's the premier high school cross country race in the south, as it attracts some of the best teams from nine or 10 states.  This year, for example, Belen Jesuit out of Miami, FL - one of the best high school teams in the country this year - was there and had runners finish 1-2-3.  Quite an impressive feat.

I stayed home with Joe and Jude drove down last night for the race.  I hated like hell to miss the race but I went with JP to the Cecil Field Summer Classic saw him run in the Chickasaw Trails Invitational last week.  To be honest, too, I'm a little superstitious.  JP has run his best races when I wasn't there, so I thought my staying here might change his luck on a course at John Hunt Park where he hasn't run his best in the past.

Did it work?  That I don't know.  What I do know, though, is that JP finished 10th out of 241 runners and ran a blazing 15:08.  He ran out of gas the last 10 yards or so and a couple of Tennessee runners, Trey Bailey (Greenville High School) and Tommy Babbit (Maryville High School) nipped him at the finish line.  Still, a great run in hot and humid weather and only four second off his PR of 15:04.    

I watched the entire race live on a video feed, which was excruciating.  I could see, after the first mile, that Marcelo Mantecon (Belen Jesuit Prep) was going to win handily, which he did.  I desperately wanted JP to stay connected with the lead group after Marcelo, which he was able to do.  That made all the difference, I think, in his pace and time, and enabled him to run one of his best races ever, all things considered.  

JP is hunting a time below 15:00 and before the season is over, I think he will get it.  

For the season, so far, he's finished 6th, 1st, and 10th, which is none too shabby.  Next weekend, he and I are visiting Davidson College and Elon University, which should be informative and fun.  

After JP's race, I got my three mile run in before it got too hot.  It was funny - I ran through the Ronald McDonald House 5k on Fairfax.  Joe just got back from his three mile run.  His fall cross country season ends next week with the HVAC Championship Meet.

  

My Lion in Winter

This is a hard one to write.

Yesterday, I called my friend, Ed Silva, on my drive in to work to check on him.  Ed's 83 and a couple of months ago, he was diagnosed with Mantle Cell Lymphoma.  He's been in and out of the hospital - Williamson County and Vanderbilt - a few times, initially for extended stays.  He's lost a lot of weight, too, which isn't great.  His doctor recently changed his treatment from a chemotherapy pill to an infusion, apparently because the chemotherapy pill wasn't as effective as had been hoped.

I was a little concerned because I had called Ed on Monday but gotten no answer, and he hadn't returned my call or texted me, which was odd.  He answered the phone yesterday morning when I called, though, but it didn't even sound like Ed that I was talking to.  In a high pitched, almost shrill voice, Ed told me he was back at Williamson County Medical Center, had a lot of pain in his right leg or foot, and wasn't sure how long he had been there.

I called a mutual friend and learned that Ed had been admitted to the hospital Tuesday night due to a blood infection that was causing cellulitis, accompanied with redness, swelling, and pain, in his right leg.  Not good.  He was on medication for the pain and a heavy dose of antibiotics. 

I drove straight to the hospital and tracked Ed down on the fourth floor, where he had just been moved to the critical care unit.  A nurse I talked to wasn't able to tell me why he had been moved since I am not family.  Ed and I probably see that a little bit differently, as he's been a surrogate father to me in many ways over the past three decades that I've practiced law in Franklin.  

When I finally found Ed's room - # 467 - I was taken aback by how diminished he looked, lying in the hospital bed, connected to an IV drip and various other machines.  He's lost 30 + pounds which, truthfully, he could afford to lose, but still . . . physically, he's far from the lion he's always been.  The raw physicality, the girth, the strength, that's all gone, which is to be expected.  Still, it's hard to see it firsthand.

More troubling, at least yesterday, was how different his personality was because of the pain medication he is taking.  Ed was emotional when I walked in, near tears at times, which is a side of him I've rarely, if ever, seen in the past.  A healthy Ed Silva is gruff, profane, gregarious, confident, and loud, in all of the best ways.  That's not who Ed is now and it's not who he was yesterday.  It may not be who he ever is again, and that's very, very difficult for me to accept.  

I realize, of course, that where Ed is now, physically, is a part of life.  Still, it's a very difficult part of life, most difficult, I know, for Ed and his family.   

What I think, too, is that true friendship is what I experienced yesterday at the hospital with Ed.  Sitting for a while with my one remaining professional mentor and holding his hand, helping him take and swallow at least a dozen different pills, asking a nurse to give him something for his pain, and telling old stories to distract him - that is friendship, plain and simple.  In truth, it's probably the purest form of friendship, and it was a blessing for me to experience it with Ed in his hospital room.  

In my legal career, certainly since I've been in Franklin, there is no one upon whom I have relied so much for advice, perspective, and support.  Over the years, I've called Ed or stopped in to see him when I've had a problem with a judge, a client, or another attorney.  I sought him out for advice 20 + years ago when we bought and renovated our building in downtown Franklin.  His advice always has been on point and what I needed to hear.  When I've needed Ed, he's always been there.

We've laughed together, a lot.  And we've argued when we had cases against each other.  Ed has mediated for me and I've mediated for him, too.  We've talked on the phone countless times to discuss cases when one of us called the other to get an opinion on a case or a novel legal issue.      

For years, my partner, Chas, and I have affectionately called Ed "the Godfather."  He loved the nickname, and loved it even more when Chas and I had business cards made for him, on heavy card stock.  On the front, it said "Ed P. Silva" and underneath that his name, centered, "The Godfather."  On the back, it said, "It's not personal.  It's strictly business."

Like Steve Cox and Don Smith before him, Ed Silva has been one of my lions.  It's so hard to see him sick, to see him struggling, even though I know what he is experiencing is part of life.  The hard part of life, to be sure, but a part of life nonetheless.  And to the extent I can, I'm going to be be there for him in the same way he has been there for me.   

A Win at the Chickasaw Trails Invitational

It wasn't easy but I made it to Decatur, AL, about midnight last night where I was staying in an Airbnb before JP and his MBA teammates raced in the Chickasaw Trails Invitational at Oakville Indian Mounds Park in Moulton, AL.  

My mediation went late, then the starter died in my Yukon.  I drove back to Nashville and met Jude at Polly's on Belmont Blvd., where I left my Yukon so it can be looked at Monday.  After I swapped out my luggage and gear, Jude, Joe, and I drove to MBA.  Jude used a spare to drive JP's Honda Pilot home, and I was off to Alabama.  

The Airbnb is the same one I've stayed at the past couple of years.  Nothing to write home about but it's about 30 minutes from the park, so it's convenient.  

When I awoke this morning after a poor night's sleep, the weather didn't look promising.  I was fearful of a  second consecutive rainout as I drove the park.  Fortunately, though, the weather held and the boys were able to race, as scheduled, in the second race of the morning at 8:55 a.m.  There was a lot of rain yesterday, so I don't think the course was particularly fast.  

I lucked into by most parking spot at Chickasaw Trails as I arrived just before the team.  I had purchased two new multi-seat camping chairs and packed a cooler with Gatorade and bottled water.  I loaded it all into the travel soccer "dad wagon," and made the short walk to where Coach Russ was setting up the MBA tent.  Coach Bassett and I set up the chairs and the boys quickly settled into them.  I added the tarp last year, multi-seat camping chairs this year, and now I have to work on some MBA XC t-shirts.

Nosing around on the internet last night, I saw that JP was seeded first and Gabe was seeded second.  That surprised me a bit but that's where we are at most of these races, I guess.

As I waited for the race to start, I walked around part of the course.  I found the USN tent and talked to their coaches and a few team members.  I was excited to find my guy, Ram, whom I began coaching in baseball when he was four or five years old.  He's one of my all-time guys, for sure, and his parents are dear friends.  They couldn't make it down to watch him run in the junior varsity race for USN, so I sent them some photos.

Before the start, I walked across the lake on the narrow bridge to the 1 mile mark to wait for the boys.  After I heard the starting gun, the next five minutes seemed to take forever.  Finally, I saw the four wheeler, with the lead pack of boys close behind.  JP and Gabe were running comfortably near the front.  I jogged through the woods to what I believe was just past the two mile mark.  More waiting.  At that point, the lead pack had thinned considerably, and JP and Gabe were running up from with another boy.  Both looked strong.

I raced over to the finish line and waited a couple of minutes.  As the stragglers from the girls' race neared the finish line, I heard the four wheeler coming.  Next, I saw JP, running out front, with another boy four or five yards behind him, and Gabe in third place.  JP crossed the finish line in front of me, as I cheered for him.  His time, 15:41, might have been a little slow for his liking, but the name of the game is to win, right?

The boys walked back to the MBA tent after the race and debriefed before they went for their cool down run together.  I got a nice picture of the seniors, JP, Gabe, and Winn sitting together after the race.

I hung around for a bit and watched JP pick up his first place trophy.  MBA finished fourth overall, four points out of third place.

A win is a win is a win.  

Labor Day

Over the Labor Day Weekend, I accomplished what, for me, is an almost impossible feat.  I didn't do any work at all.  No e-mails.  No texts with clients or the office.  Nothing.  I'll probably regret it this week, as work piles up, but for one weekend it was quite nice not to work at all.

As Joe pointed out at one point, it was JP's last Labor Day Weekend at home.  Just typing that sentence makes me sad, melancholy even, but there it is.  So, I didn't do any work.  I think I am going to try to do more of that - no work at home - for the rest of JP's senior year.  That's a goal of mine, anyway.

Part of the James Gang was in town for the holiday weekend and stayed with us.  James and James were her, while Megan and Caroline enjoyed a girls' weekend in Asheville, NC.  I think James the Younger loves to visit, and stay with us, because just lie magic, he has two older brothers to play with.  As was the case during their last visit, ping pong was an ever popular activity for James.  So were basketball and hockey, upstairs, in the playroom outside the boys' bedrooms.  That space doesn't get used in the same way it used to, as the boys have grown older, so it was fun to hear James and Joe or JP roughhousing upstairs.

Friday night, the boys watched what may have been MBA's most exciting game since JP started 7th grade on the Hill.  In a back and forth game, MBA rallied late to beat FRA 40-36.  In a performance for the ages, Junior Henri Perry kicked four field goals, punted, ran a successful fake punt on 4th and 10, converted an onside kick, and had a pair of interceptions - including one in the end zone to end the game - all after attending his grandfather's funeral earlier in the day.  An unreal and courageous performance.

Joe and I ran four miles together on the trails at Shelby Bottoms on Sunday morning.  As I say, running with one of my boys is a gift, always.  It's even more special to run with one of them at Shelby Bottoms, my favorite locally to run.  I took Joe on a new trail - new to him - leading down from the tennis courts and around the lake.  I hadn't run that trail in a while, so it was nice to share it with Joe.

Yesterday, JP organized a long run for the cross country team at Shelby Bottoms.  The boys ran 11 miles on the bike path, then came to our house for breakfast and a fantasy football draft.  Seeing them

sitting together on the screened in porch reminded me, yet again, why it was so important to Jude to finish the project before JP's senior year.  She was right, of course, as we've already made good use of it for gatherings a couple of times since school started.  

There remain a lot of moving parts for JP, as he makes his way through the college selection process.  Saturday, he received another scholarship offer from a college to run there next year.  He has official visits scheduled two more schools later this month, as well.  This morning, we're meeting with his college counselor to get a handle on the college application process in the context of JP's desire to run in college.  It's a lot, to be sure, but I am very proud of him for the hard work he's put in, academically and athletically.  It's opening doors for him.

Family dinner last night at Adele's in the Gulch.  It was quite good.

Leadership

As I've written before, I spend a lot of time thinking about leadership.  It's a fascinating subject to me on so many different levels.  It's something I like to read about in biographies, memoirs, or, occasionally, in self-help books.  

In my many years of coaching baseball, I always was fascinated by which of my players were leaders, how they lead, etc.  Were they vocal?  Did they lead quietly, by example.  

What made a group of boys -a team - want to follow or listen to a certain player?  Sure, sometimes a team leader was the best, or one of the best, players.  Sometimes it was the biggest, toughest player.  Other times, though, the leader of one of my teams was an average player with a big personality.

One of the things I learned from coaching is that some boys are born leaders.  I had a couple of those as players over the years.  Part of it was a natural charisma that attracted other boys to them.  A big part of it, too, was confidence.  A fearlessness, too.  

I coached other boys who lead but more quietly.  Those boys were the hardest workers, in practice or games.  The ones who never complained and never argued with umpires.  They were always locked in and focused.  They were intensely competitive.  They may not have said much but they lead by example.

Like all parents (I guess), I want my boys to be leaders.  Always have.  So much of what I have tried to teach JP and Joe is in service of developing leadership skills.  If they lead, they are more in control of their own destiny.    

If I could give my boys one character trait to help them succeed in life, personally and professionally, it would be confidence in oneself.  Every leader I've ever known is unwaveringly self-confident, even and especially in the face of failure or defeat.  That's the key.  Confidence.  I remind JP and Joe of that all of the time.  Be confident in all situations.  Let people see how confident you are.  

Part of being confident, I think, is understanding the importance of keeping things in perspective.  Most things, in fact nearly all things, are not going to matter in the scheme of things.  

One of my philosophies of life is if it's not going to matter in 10 years, how important is it, really?  

Said another way, quoting Tom Petty in "Crawling Back to You" from Wildflowers, most things I worry about never happen anyway."  

For the second year in a row, JP is co-captain of the MBA cross country team.  Serving in that capacity two years in a row is a sign of the respect his teammates and coaches have for him and how diligent he trains and works.  As a senior co-captain, though, I suspect he feels a stronger sense of responsibility to ensure his teammates have a good experience this year on the team.  

I know JP feels pressure to perform, as one of the top-ranked cross country runners in Tennessee this year.  He has set lofty personal goals for himself, I know.  He also wants the team to be competitive at the State Championship Meet, too.  He knows colleges are watching him, too, to see how he runs the fall.  That's a lot.

On top of that, JP has to figure out how to lead this team of boys.  He has to be able to reach the boys on the fringe, who aren't overly competitive runners, as well as the boys who love it like he does.  He's got to be a liaison, to a certain extent, between Coach Russ and the rest of the team.  That's also a lot.  

It's also part of the big picture, too.  The life picture.  Through trial and error, hopefully, he will continue to pick up leadership skills that will serve him well down the road, in life.  That's the plan, anyway, or at least it's my plan.

It's all happened so fast.  Three weeks into the school year and I can't seem to slow things down, not even a little bit.  I mean, damn. 

(I'm at Dose, a place I don't visit as often since JP drives Joe to school and Ive become a regular at 8th & Roast.  Still, I just had a spontaneous interaction with one of the longtime baristas that reminds me why I love this place so much.  On top of that, my guy, Trevor, and I contacted, as we always do when is working in the kitchen and runs my food out to me.  Little things.  It's always the little things.)

   

It's All Happening

It's September 1, which means a (partial) month of JP's senior year already has slipped away.  In spite of my best intentions to slow down and savor my last year with him at home, it seems like the opposite is happening.  Everything is moving faster and faster.  

One cross country meet in the books.  Two football games - both MBA victories - with the season well under way.  An official visit to another school, with more visits planned.  A deposit due for the Ireland trip after graduation.  Homecoming plans.  

As Penny Lane said in Almost Famous (2000), "It's all happening." 

Indeed, it is all happening and I am utterly powerless to stop it, or even to slow it down.  To be honest, that saddens me more than a little.  

I'm struggling with finding a way to balance a busy, busy professional life and familial obligations with my overarching desire to slow down - to stop and smell the roses, so to speak - during JP's senior year at MBA.  All I am able to do at this point is steal a few quiet moments, here and there, to contemplate.  To smile as I remember.  To be sad at the thought of a house without JP in it.  To be thankful for the 18 + years I have spent with JP under the same roof.  

To sip my coffee, like I am this morning at Honest Coffee Roasters, lost in thought as I try (and fail) to understand how quickly I went from rolling JP though the neighborhood in the Baby Jogger City Elite stroller to visiting colleges with him.  Time is fleeting and always, always ephemeral.  It's more valuable than money.  And, of course, there's never enough of it.

Morning cross country workouts to beat the heat.  Weight lifting for strength and maintenance.  Catholic club meetings.  Honor Council meetings.  Football games.  Dinner and a movie with a new friend.  Telephone calls and text messages with college coaches.  College visits.  A quick run to the pool at Seven Hills.  And, of course, homework, and studying for quizzes and tests. 

It's all happening.  

   

Joe's Wide World of Sports

It won't always be like this and, damn, I'll miss it when it's not, but Joe's weekend (and ours) was packed with sports, sports, sports!

Friday night, Joe went to the first MBA home football game of the year.  It was a resounding victory against an overmatched Memphis Hamilton squad.  I didn't get away from work early enough to go but I knew I wasn't missing anything when Jude texted me that it was 24-0, Big Red, in the first quarter.  She came home early and we had a nice meal out at Sally's Stay Awhile on Wedgwood Avenue, near the Fairgrounds.  It seems we may have found our new favorite family restaurant, since Burger Up closed.

Saturday morning, I drove Joe to Green Hills Park at 8 a.m. for a goalie workout with Coach Pritchard.  MBA's junior school soccer season is just around the corner, so Joe's polishing up his goalkeeping skills.  The talent level on the junior school team is tremendous, so I am curious to see if he earns a spot on the A or B team and gets meaningful minutes.  Last year, he played a lot in goal for the A team due to injuries, but that changed in the tournament.  

I drove to TOA Courts in Cool Springs for a Bucket Squad basketball game at 2:30 p.m.  For various reasons, I had missed the first two Bucket Squad games of the fall seasons, a win and a close, controversial loss when I was in Jacksonville, FL, with JP last weekend.  I had heard the competition was much better in this league, which proved to be true in the game that I watched on Saturday.  After falling behind early, then tying it up near the end of the first half, the Bucket Squad pulled away in the second half to beat a good team by six or eight points. 

Joe was 0-3 from the filed but had four or five assets and easily could have had a couple more.  He's still limited from a ball handling standpoint as he faces more athletic boys but his awareness, court sense, and basketball IQ are so high that he's able to run the team and make the right passes for the most part.  A couple of times, he saw a mismatch with one of our big men - Aaron and Bennett - and emphatically directed them to the post for an easy layup or foul (and free throws).  

It's so gratifying to watch how well the boys play basketball together, which I guess it to be expected since they've been playing as a team for seven or eight years.  The new players, Chandler, Bennett, and Aaron fit in nicely, too.    

Joe turned the table on me in ping pong, beating me 4-2 in a best of seven game set.  I've lost it lately, after dominating him for a couple of weeks.  

Saturday night, in our one non-sports event of the weekend, Jude, Joe, and I watched Lethal Weapon (Danny Glover and Mel Gibson), from 1987.  JP was at his official visit at David Lipscomb, so it was just the three of us.  Good movie, too.  

Yesterday, Joe and I went for a 3-mile run at 7:30 a.m.  We finished at 8th & Roast, where I got a cup of coffee, then had a nice cool down walk home.  Those are the best times, really, the cool down walk after a run or the ride home after a travel baseball game in another town.  Good music or a podcast, and good conversation.  

Jude drove Joe to a baseball scrimmage Saturday afternoon at Collegiate Sports Prep., where his NBA Cannons plays.  It was miserably hot but Jude said he played reasonably well.  He pitched a 1-2-3 inning and played outfield for the most part.  He walked, stole second and third, then scored on a passed ball.  Later, he struck out swinging.  I've got to get him back to Franklin for some hitting lessons with Coach Tad.  It's hard to find the time with school, though.

While Jude was with Joe at his baseball game, I was with JP touring David Lipscomb and meeting the cross country/track coach and a couple of other recruits' families.  JP and college.  That's happening.  

Last night, Joe had his annual USN fantasy football draft at the Wedge, hosted by our friend, Derek Hughey.  It was nice to see some of the dads when I picked Joe up about 8:30 p.m.

Later this morning, I'm going back to David Lipscomb so JP and I can have an individual meeting with Coach Polk.  Jude flies out later this morning to Washington D.C. to testify before a subcommittee of the House of Representatives.  Gulp!

On the go, non-stop, or so it seems.  It never ends until it does, I guess.

Joe and Bennett after a hard fought victory on Saturday at TOA Courts.

Laying it All on the Line

As a father, or at least as the kind of father I am, there is no greater joy than watching one of my sons compete.  Not win or succeed, mind you, but compete.  

To put it all out there and see what happens takes courage, discipline, confidence, leadership, and faith.  I hope I have imbued my sons with all of those characteristics.  Why?  Because those are some of the things I believe will help them have a rewarding, productive, and successful life.

Yesterday, in 90 + degree heat, I had the privilege of watching Joe compete for the MBA junior school cross country team in a meet at Ensworth High School.  It's my least favorite course the boys run on because there is no shade, it's two laps, and the course is, well, flat and boring.  It doesn't feel like a real cross country race.  It feels like a bunch of kids running in a field.  

Pretty quickly after the start, a group of three - including Cullen Weaver (one of my favorite boys and one whom I've known forever) - broke away.  An Ensworth boy, a USN boy, and Cullen.  Joe was in the second group, running 10 yards or so behind the first group when I saw him at what I think was about the half-mile mark.  He didn't look particularly comfortable, so I was thinking it might be a difficult two miles for him.

When the boys completed the first lap and approached me again, the first two had pulled away and Cullen was in third, 20 - 25 yards behind the two leaders.  Joe and the second group of runners had fallen back a little further and were spreading out a little bit.  Joe was running with two boys from MBA, in positions 8 8 - 10, in the rear of the second group.  As Joe passed me, he was staring straight ahead, focused.  I've seen that look on JP in many races over the years.  

The boys turned right and ran under the bridge, which is the part of the course I call the dark side of the moon.  Few spectators.  Desolate.  No contact.  You wait, and wait, and wait until, at last, the boys emerge, turn right, and run the final quarter mile to the finish, which is in in the middle of the field.  A very anticlimactic finish, at that, due to the course layout.

When Joe rounded the corner, he was in the 10th spot, just behind his MBA teammates.  I could see he was spent.  Really fighting it the point of exhaustion, so much so that I asked him if he was okay.  He nodded his head in response, focused intently on completing the race.  I was exceptionally proud of him in that moment because I saw a side of Joe I don't often get to see but one I want to see more of.  Intense and concentrating on the task at hand.  Laying it all on the line.

I ran to the finish line, past it actually, to get the Styrofoam cooler I had picked up on my way to the race.  I had put some iced down bottled waters and a Gatorade in it, which I knew Joe would need after the race.  When I got to the finish line, JP was with Joe, which was a nice moment.  I poured some ice cold water over Joe's head, gave him the bottle, and congratulated him on a well run race.  

I was happy for him when he learned he ran a 12:44 - a PR - 15 seconds faster than last week.  Progress!  He was proud, too, as he should have been.  

Does Joe love to run cross country, and to race?  I'm curious about that and I don't know the answer.  Not yet, anyway.  Time will tell.  For now, though, I'm proud of him for the work he's putting in, every day, and the courage he is showing in toeing the line every week at a race.

After the race, after Coach Reynolds addressed the boys, he said, "Joe Newman, where are you?  Break us down!"  

Joe pushed through to the middle of the group of the hot, sweaty, exhausted boys and yelled "1, 2, 3 . . . Go Big Red!"

I nodded, smiled, and fought back a quick, unexpected tear as I stood on the periphery of the group of boys.  

JP, with retired USN cross country and track coach, Zaf Ahmed, a legend in the Nashville running community.  

Cecil Field Summer Classic

Where to begin?

Yesterday, I picked Jude up at the airport in Jacksonville shortly after 1 p.m.  I drove her to the house, then I went to Publix to pick up a few things for dinner.  Since the elite high school boys' race didn't run until 7:45 p.m., I figured the restaurants would be closed by the time we got back.  No doubt, we'd be hungry, so it made sense to cook something after the race.

I was nervous about after work traffic, on top of which the Jaguars were playing a preseason football game at home last night, so we decided to leave about 5:00 p.m. for the drive to the Cecil Field golf course.  My concern was that a 30 minute drive, with traffic, could turn into a 1 + hour drive.  I can't imagine anything worse than flying to Jacksonville for a cross country race, then to miss the race because of traffic.  

I'm a nervous traveler in every way.  That's the kind of thing I worry about.  

The problem, of course, was that we got to the race a little early, around 5:40 p.m., roughly two hours before the start.  After picking up JP's race packet and setting up our camping chairs in a shady spot under some trees, we sat in the Jeep Grand Wagoneer for a bit with the air conditioner running full blast.  It was hot and very humid, and the last thing I wanted was for JP to be wandering through the for two hours in the energy sapping heat.  

After a half hour to 45 minutes, JP announced it was time to warm up, and off he went.  As Jude and I got out of the truck, my stomach was in knots.  There were runners, and parents of runners, everywhere.  Two kinds of parents, really.  Their children had finished their races.  Others, like me, who weren't smiling- or weren't smiling too much - were waiting for their son or daughter to run.  

I was really, really worried about the heat.  It was stifling, although not quite as bad as it had been a couple of hours earlier.

At JP's request, I stood behind the elite high school girls as they waited for the start of their race at 7:15 p.m.  When the horn sounded and they were off, I moved up and stood on the starting line, feet spread wide, to save a spot for JP as he and 300 + other boys warmed up in front of me.  Other parents and coaches did the same thing.  I had a very nice chat with a lady from Niceville, FL, whose son was running in the elite high school boys' race, as well.

As it got closer to race time, the boys starting filling in at the staring line and things began to get more and more crowded.  The more crowded it got at the starting line, the hotter it got, too, with so many anxious, keyed up boys crowding in together.  The tension was palpable.  

As JP took the spot I had saved for I'm, I told him good luck and began to walk off the course.  Looking over my shoulder one more time, I could see that he already was being enveloped by teams on both sides of him.  Running alone in a race against teams of 7 - 10 boys put him at a real disadvantage, especially at the starting line.  I also could tell that, really, there were too many boys in the elite race.  350 runners!  Far too many for the course in my my view.

What I later learned, and this is from JP, is that right before the race started, Richard Fannin (the race director), slotted an entire team next to JP, which was unfortunate.  They surrounded him, more or less, and he didn't have a straight line to the front of the pack when the race started.  As a result, in the full out spring the first 200 yards of the race to get to where the course narrowed, he got squeezed out of the front group.  Which, of course, meant he had to expend a lot of energy to get back up front.  That's the way he saw it, anyway.  

I figured that was what had happened because when the lead groups of boys passed by me before the first mile, I couldn't find JP anywhere.  I sprinted across the course - it's two loops - to just before the halfway point.  I waited, and waited, and waited.  Every course seems to have the "dark side of the moon," the place where you wait for what seems an interminable amount of time to get a glimpse of your son.  Those minutes seem to take forever.

When the boys passed me, JP was in the top 10.  He was staring straight ahead, intensely focused.  There was a group of three up from, including Armando Cruz from Belen Jesuit who ultimately won the race in the second fastest time ever at 15:06, and it was clear JP wasn't going to catch those guys.  Still, I wanted him to hold his spot and finish strongly, and that's exactly what he did. 

I ran to the finish, which is slightly uphill, and waited.  When he rounded the final turn, 200 yards or so from the finish line, he was second in a pack of four runners.  He held off the two guys behind him and tried to catch the runner in front of him, who crossed the line a whisker ahead of him.  I loved, and I meant LOVED, his finish.  He kept his foot on the gas the entire race, which was huge.  It would have been easy to slack off just a tad when he realized he wasn't going to win, or set a PR, and he didn't do that.  Far from it.  He pushed through to the very end of the race and finished strong. 

In the end, JP ran a 15:44.  Initially, I think he was a little disappointed with his time.  He quickly became philosophical about it, though, recognizing that getting an early race in against such tough competition would help him get ready for the season back home.  Moreover, finishing 6th our of 351 runners is impressive, no matter how you look at it. 

After the race, while we waited for the awards ceremony, JP talked to his coach, Roderick Russ.  Listening to him talk to Coach Russ and debrief about the race is, in many ways, what it's all about.  Coach Russ has been so supportive of JP over the past four years.  

Later, as we walked back to the truck, JP mentioned how glad he was he had run the race.  While the time wasn't as fast as he had hoped, he felt like the race prepared him for the season ahead.  I agree.  

Keep going.

Cecil Field Summer Classic

Before the season, JP and I decided it would be good for him to run an early race, in August, before MBA's cross country season officials starts in mid-September at the Chickasaw Trails Invitational.  After poking around a bit, I found the Cecil Field Summer Classic in Jacksonville, Florida.

Flat, fast course.  A very fast field, with the best teams from Florida, South Carolina, and Georgia.  Belen Jesuit (Miami, FL), my pick or the best cross country program in the south, year in and year out, is running.  Perfect for JP to try to put a fast time up on the board early in the season.  

The race director, Richard Fannin, has been tremendously helpful to us.  He worked with JP's coach, Roderick Russ, to enter MBA as a team, although only JP is running.  It's cool, though, that JP gets to represent the Big Red at the meet.  As the only runner from Tennessee, he's carrying the banner for the Volunteer State.  

This morning, we left the Airbnb and drove to Cecil Field.  At one time before President Clinton decommissioned it, Cecil Field was the largest Naval Air Base in the United States.  The boys are running on the old golf course at the base, which should be perfect for fast times.  Flat.  Mowed low.  Two laps.  

Richard greeted JP and I when we arrived at the course this morning.  He was gracious enough to drive us all the way around the course, so JP could get a feel for it.  Such hospitality, which we really appreciated. 

It will be interesting to see how JP runs tonight.  Race time is 7:45 p.m. for the elite high school boys.  It's hot now, in the high '80's.  I'm hoping in the next three hours, the temperature drops into the '70's.  That would be ideal.

I'm proud of JP for toeing the line, yet again, and running run such a strong field.  I hope he runs well but it's early and there is a long season ahead.  That's what we're hoping for, anyway.

MBA Cross Country Breakfast and Run

Yesterday, Jude and I hosted the 49th annual MBA Cross Country Breakfast and Run at our house.  Truth be told, I'd had my eye on hosting this event since JP was a freshman.  Part of the reason we wanted a screened in porch was to be able to comfortable host events like this one.

Traditionally, it's an event that officially kicks off MBA's cross country season and the start of school, which for JP and Joe, is tomorrow.  For the past week or two, we've been been working to get the house cleaned up and decluttered, no small task for us.  Friday night, all of us were up until past 11 p.m. taking care of a few final chores in anticipation of the 50 or so people that would be arriving early the next morning.

Yesterday morning, I got up at 6 a.m. and went for a quick walk.  After grabbing coffee to go at 8th & Roast, I went to Publix to pick up a few last minute items for the party.  More bags of ice, paper towels, etc.  Just before 8 a.m., Roderick Russ and Win Bassett arrived.  The boys began trickling in shortly thereafter.  They walked around back and set up shop in the seating area under the deck.  The boys dropped off their water, cell phones, and for a few who were driving, their keys.  

After they stretched, they ran in two groups.  JP, Gabe, and the older, stronger runners were in one group.  Joe ran with the underclassmen a junior varsity runners, who weren't going to run as long as JP's group.  Coach Russ and Coach Bassett - both in tip top shape - ran with the boys, as well.  They left about 8:30 a.m, which gave us a little extra time before the parents began arriving.

MBA Cross Country 2026

In my mind, I had hoped to be in good enough shape to run with JP and the guys a few times this summer and, maybe, on the breakfast run.  That didn't really happen, though, as I've not had the most consistent running year to date and, by far, most of my runs have been three, or may be four, milers.  On top of that, I don't want to get in JP's business.  Running with his teammates is special and something that belongs to him alone.  He needs that outlet, I think.

Parents began arriving a little after 9 a.m., bringing the food and drinks they had signed up for one the Sign Up Genius that Jude had created for the event.  Friday night, she had covered the ping pong table on the deck, and it worked perfectly as a spot for all of the food.  And it was a ton of food!  Sausage and egg casserole, 111 sausage balls (courtesy of Jane White), fruit, tater tot casserole, Chick-fil-A, donuts, bagels and cream cheese, and on and on.  

As the younger boys, including Joe, began trickling in, they grabbed a Gatorade or bottled water from the cooler I set out front on the driveway.  Orange slices and bananas, too.  All needed because it was damn hot with the temperature set to hit 100 degrees (again) later in the afternoon.  In the backyard, the boys began to play corn hold and toss the frisbee.  A few of the boys found the blitz balls and bat JP has set out the night before.  And, boys being boys, the back yard was quickly filled with shouting and laughing as the boys played together, seemingly without a care in the world (even though the start of school was two days away).

Coach Russ suggested the adults start eating as the older boys began to return to their house from their longer run.  Soon enough, the adults were standing in groups on the screened in porch, eating breakfast and chatting amiably.  The boys got their food and went downstairs where they could sit, eat, and talk about . . . well, whatever it is that boys talk about.

At one point, as all of the other boys played in the backyard, I saw JP, Gabe, Calhoun, and Win sitting together in the shade under the screened in porch.  All seniors.  Cool in the way that you can only be at the beginning of you senior year of high school, when the best of year of your life is staring you in the face.  It's a once in a lifetime feeling, in a way, at the very beginning of a once in a lifetime year. 

JP, Win, Gabe and Calhoun ('27)

About 10:30 a.m. or so, the party wound down as families departed to enjoy the last weekend of the summer.  It was a wonderful event that I'm so glad we got to host.

What I'll remember most, though, is a moment I shared with JP at the end of our driveway before the party, as we waited for his teammates to begin to arrive.  As he stool there, shirtless, in the best shape of his life, I told him I was proud of him.  Not only for his accomplishments but for the hard work, the practices, the dedication, the discipline, the leadership.  All of it.  

"Enjoy this year, JP," I said.  It's going to fly by.

"I will," he replied.  "I will."

  

Feeling 60

Thursday morning, after Jude got up, I rolled over in bed as I was waking up and as I turned my head, I heard a crunching sound in the right side of my neck.  Kind of like one of those plastic toys toddlers play with that they stretch and pull to hear the noise it makes.  I felt it, too, and worse still, my neck immediately began throbbing painfully.

My first thought was that I'd herniated a disc in my cervical spine.  That's still my fear, sine I'm still in quite a bit of pain, three days later.  If I want to look to the right - for example, when I'm driving - I have to turn my entire torso to the right.  I've been taking ibuprofen like they's candy, which has helped a bit with the pain.  Yesterday for most of the day, I wore a Salonpas patch on the part of my neck that hurts the most.  It loosened up some but, this morning, as I drink my coffee at 8th & Roast, there is a dull, aching pain in the right side of my neck.

So far, there is no numbness or tingling in my arms, hands, or fingers, which is a good sign, I guess.  Still, my right shoulder is a bit sore, which I guess is somehow related to whatever it is that I did with my neck.

I think what scares me is immediately after I felt, and heard, the cracking in my neck, it felt tired.  It's hard to explain but that's the way it feels when my low back issues flare up.  My back feels tired, then extremely sore, which can last for weeks.  I have low back pain every day, which I've learned to live with, because it's not been debilitating pain since the flareup I had a decade ago.  It's just something I live with.  I'm not sure I could live with pain in my neck, every day, like I have now.  

I suppose I'll make an appointment with a neurosurgeon next week to get my neck looked at, although I'd rather not.  I don't really have time and I sure as hell don't want to hear that I've herniated a disc and I'm looking at surgery.  A cervical discectomy and fusion at C-2/C-3 or C-3/C-4 is not something I want to deal with.  Not now, not ever, if I'm lucky.

I've been 60 years old for one month today.  Let's hope this is not a preview of what my 60's are going to be like.

The Firsts Shall Be Lasts

Yesterday, JP left for his fourth and final cross country camp in Alabama.  It's the first of so many lasts for him, and for me, this year.  

I vividly remember when he went to his first cross country camp - led by seniors, Mitchell Chaffin and Samuel Trumble - and ran well in the two mile time trial.  His performance surprised many - head coach, Roderick Russ, and his older, upperclassman teammates - but it didn't surprise me, not one bit.  Having taken a look at high school race times from the previous year, I knew JP (and Gabe Guillamondegui) would run with the varsity as freshman, and run well.  And that's exactly what happened.

JP's performance in the time trial, at camp, as a freshman, announced his arrival on the cross county landscape at MBA.  That's the way I see it, anyway.  I hope he runs well in the time trial this week, too.  I want JP's final cross country season to be everything he wants it to be, particularly after he was injured last spring during a large part of the track season.  

JP met his MBA little brother last week, a seventh grader from Brentwood Middle School.  When I went to junior high (7th - 9th grades) there in the late '70's, it was called Northside Junior High.  Still the Vikings.  Still green and gold.  A full circle moment to be sure.  JP, a senior, meets his little brother for the first time, much as he meet his big brother at MBA for the first time five years ago.

For every season, turn, turn, turn . . . 

JP's school books arrived in the mail the other day.  Even now, they're sitting, boxed up, on the dining room table.  I eye them suspiciously every time I walk by the dining room, knowing those damn books are doing to dominate his attention soon enough.  He's got, roughly, two more weeks before he begins the last year on the Hill.  It's all so hard to believe.

     

Down From the Mountain

Still processing the tragic death of Glen Hansard in a motorcycle accident two days ago, I'm sitting on the back porch of the house on Florida Avenue in Sewanee, Saturday afternoon, postponing my departure.  Jude and the boys left yesterday and, actually, I have the house until tomorrow, but I need to get home.  Reality awaits.

Our family needed this weeklong getaway to the Mountain, as the summer winds down.  I know Jude would have rather gone to Santa Rosa Beach but Sewanee made more sense.  Shorter distance to travel and the need for the boys - especially JP - to have a place to train for cross country made Sewanee a better choice, I think.  

We had a great week together, one I will remember for a long time.  I had to work more than I would have liked, especially yesterday, but we had plenty of down time.  We played hearts almost every day.  We played bananagrams (a first for me).  We watched movies - Good Will Hunting and The Town.  We all read, a lot.  The boys finished their summer reading for MBA, while Jude and I read for pleasure.  I finished The Topeka School (Ben Lerner) and Guide Me Home (Attica Locke),  both good novels.

Every morning, JP went for a solo run and Joe and I ran together.  What a joy for me, as a father and an avid runner, to see my boys up early and running every morning while we were on vacation.  Really, for me, it doesn't get any better than that.  Running with my boys in my favorite place in the world.    

Joe's cross country coach set a goal for the boys to run 100 miles this summer.  Joe left the Mountain, yesterday, with 94 miles in his pocket.  After his three mile run at home this morning, he's sitting on 97 miles.  Tomorrow, he will hit 100, and hopefully I will get to run the last three miles with him.  Quite an accomplishment for Joe.  

Joe's body has begun to transform this summer, as he's gotten taller, something he's been waiting to happen forever.  He's thinned out, probably due to the running.  On top of that, I can see him being more careful about what he eats, which is a sign of his growing maturity.  My youngest boy is growing up.

We ate at our favorite restaurants.  High Point, Shenanigan's (twice), Papa Ron's, Judith Tavern, and Shakerag.  The Mountain Goat Market was closed for two weeks of summer vacation, so that's the only one we missed, as it turns out.

As always, I can't get enough of the Mountain and Sewanee.  I would move up there tomorrow if I could.  This house on Florida Avenue is my favorite.  It's my third time staying here and it feels like, well, home.  It's around the corner from the football field, which was cool since MBA's football team was at Sewanee for camp this week.  It was nice to sit on the back porch and listen to the practicing in the mornings and evenings. 

If I could figure out a way to take a year off work and live her, on the Mountain, I would do it.  I really would.  

For now, though, time to pack up and head down the Mountain.