Cross country

Patrick is running for Edgren High School's cross country team again this year. After a rough start--all of us were affected at least a little bit by the rotten cold that became Matthew's pneumonia--he is feeling better about his running. New running shoes probably didn't hurt--I think his old ones were completely worn out, and I didn't even think of new shoes before the season started.

He was running hurt (shin splints in addition to the family illness) early in the season, but this week was feeling better. Today, he ran the mile in 5:54. A personal best. So please keep him in your prayers for safe travel on the weekends and for success as he works his way through the season. He would really like to make the Far East team, which means staying in the top 6 or 7 for most of the season. For fun, you can check his stats online.

He will travel to Tokyo again this weekend for a meet. It's a rough schedule. They leave here on the bus around 9 p.m. on Thursday nights and arrive in Tokyo between 9 and 10 the next morning. They check in to the hotel, take a morning run, eat lunch with the team, have about 2 hours of study time, check out the race course, eat dinner with the team and get to bed early Friday night. On Saturday, they leave the hotel at 6 a.m. for the races, which start around 9 a.m. It takes that long to get to the race because of Tokyo's horrendous traffic. After the races (girls race first at 9, then boys after the g irls' race is over), they head back to the hotel, shower, get some food and try to leave Tokyo by around 3 p.m. They try to get back to Misawa by 2 or 3 a.m. on Sunday. Exhausting!

This weekend, because of the coming typhoon, they may not be able to leave Tokyo as scheduled and may be stuck down there until Sunday afternoon, arriving back in Misawa sometime in the wee hours on Monday. The up-side is that they have the bus to themselves. The tennis team doesn't play in the rain, so they aren't going along tonight. Cross country runs in all weather except lightening. So Patrick's new running shoes are going to get soggy. Not to mention Patrick himself.

We're discovering that this is a sport that requires mental toughness, resilience, and determination unlike anything John or I have ever participated in. I have to pay attention to what I'm serving for dinner to be sure I'm giving Patrick the needed energy to run well every day--he runs 3-4 miles every afternoon. Patrick has to pay attention to keep himself hydrated early in the day so he can practice well. He has to rest well, too, which isn't a bad thing, but requires a lot of planning in order to get school work done. He can't just stay up till all hours to finish his work when he gets behind if he wants to run well the next day.

It takes a lot of responsibility on Patrick's part to do this and maintain his grades. He's in 6 honors level classes this year (Pre-Calc, Physics, History, Literature, English, & Theology). For fun, he's taking Architectural Drawing at Edgren. This gives him a chance to study in the quiet at the library on class days between his class and practice. It's a great challenge to do all of this, but Patrick is working on figuring out the balance. Some days and weeks are better than others, but he keeps plugging away.

Can you tell how proud I am of him for taking this on and working his way through it? There's a popular new book out there that says teenagers should do hard things for the glory of God. It encourages them to accomplish much and posits that our cultural expectations of teens are way too low. Patrick has not read the book, but I certainly do see him continuing to choose to do challenging things and succeeding at them--Eagle Scout, Philmont, climbing Mt. Fuji, running cross country. I can't wait to see how God uses these experiences as preparation for whatever He has planned for our son.

In the end, my greatest hope is that he will say, with St. Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:6-7).