Ash Wednesday

It's Ash Wednesday and I have a cold.  Somehow it seems to fit.  Jesus starts his time in the desert, his long walk to the cross, and I fit a low grade fever, an achy body, and managing my sinuses.  My burden is far from his, but it reminds me to turn into Lent.  Let the disciplines that come today and in the next 40 days be somehow a part of Christ's journey to the Cross.

As I crested MLK early this morning about to turn right on Fayetteville and then right into Solite Park, my mind and heart were silent ready to observe Ash Wednesday and put ashes on my forehead and the foreheads of others.  Yet, there in the East the sun was coming up with all it's pinks, yellows, and oranges.  Resurrection, an Easter reminder, was what I took into my time at Solite Park.  I wanted to be solemn and thoughtful about sin, and I tried, but God had me hopeful.

Also, thankful for this article http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-nn-selling-ashes-20120221,0,1285521.story.

No matter whether a church purchases ashes or prepares them in house, it is good to participate in Ash Wednesday.  I am thankful that our ashes used today come from the labor within our community.  Palm fronds from this years' triumphal entry will be the ashes of next's years start to Lent.  A good way to tell time.

Uwharrie from 12/29/11 to 2/4/12

 

I wrote the following poem on the date in the title.

12/29/11

I wish I had run at Uwharrie

between Christmas and the 31st

but I will

in the 2nd month

on the 4th day

and it will be swift

less than an hour

I have tried twice before

in 64 and 61

It is easier said than done

the minutes pass so quickly

Over the first hill

not as much trouble

as all the fuss

critical not to be overdressed

when you summit

and the sun is at your left

that's when you know who is fit

either

you are

or you are not

Then start dodging trees

and planting feet on tops of leaves

hopping and hoping

searching

for good and powerful ground

much unseen

just trusted

It's breakneck for a while

I'm sure it is the uphills

for me

which must be faster

if I hope to achieve

Perhaps I will run Uwharrie

again

early in the first month

it is worth the trouble

to prepare and get set

to go

________________________

On the 4th of February I ran the race and on the 5th I wrote this:

Uwharrie was kind of expected and kind of shocking.  I've never felt anything in this special eight mile race except blow-up-red-line-city from mid-way up the first mountain goat hill.  This year was different.

Weather was perfect. Creeks were low. 
I started out hard, but kind of reserved.  I really didn't know if my legs would be there after a lot of hard efforts in the last few weeks, so while I knew I had to keep the pace honest to have a shot at my one and only goal for the race (break an hour), I also remembered all too well how I have almost fallen backwards on the hills in the second half of the race.  I wanted to hold it together better than other years.  When I ran 61 minutes in 2008 I was so discouraged.  I just didn't think I could go any faster or try any harder.

I pulled up to Brendan about three minutes into the race and from there on we played out the perfect team strategy.  I'd lead for about 10 minutes, then Brendan, back and forth, back and forth.  I made sure not to red-line, and when I did, I eased back and recovered.  I can't speak for Brendan, but I sensed the same sort of measured effort.  My breathing wasn't out of control until about a mile to go.  My footing was sure rather than the sort of delirious "hope I get lucky and hit the ground rather than all the rocks because I'm in total oxygen debt."

As we got past the aid station and well into the second half of the race, I felt more confident about sub-60 rather than less.  You could feel it, we both wanted to win, but we both wanted to break an hour even more.  I didn't let the thought of winning force me into any bad decisions.  If I had made a move at five miles I think my finishing time would have been slower and I bet I would have finished in a different place.  I knew we would be formally racing one another somewhere up the trail, but we held out trying to break each other until well up the last hill.  Brendan was a little stronger on the ascents and when he got about 10 meters on me with another hundred meters of climbing, I thought: That's it. I don't think I'm going to be able to cover that last move. I think I'm done. Good race, I hope we both break an hour.

Then we got to the top of the hill, and I could feel my feet get underneath me just a bit more and I was able to lean forward powerfully.  I was just a bit more on the ball of my foot.  The mile on the track and the indoor 3K in the last few weeks seemed like they were paying off.  I sprinted as hard as I could and hoped I didn't die before we landed in the parking lot.

Brendan and I thundered into the parking lot in a flurry.  It was hard to slow down before hitting HWY 108.

ADDED THOUGHTS NOT IN SOME REPORTS:

I like winning for sure and I'm glad I did.  I don't win much.  Probably a community 5K last spring and I've raced about 15 times since.  Still, it was weird.  After all that work together, one of us was going to win and one of us was not.  I knew Brendan would try to beat me and he's done it before and will likely do it again.  I don't have what it takes to finish right together or to let someone finish in front of me that I might just beat.  To be honest, I don't really admire such traits in others.  Races demand our best effort and nothing less.