On Your Mark…Get Set….False Start

If I were to write this post in a way that most accurately conveyed how Brent and I are feeling this week as we prepare for XTERRA Miami and the start – finally! – of XTERRA Across America, Iwouldwritewithnospacesandnopunctuationbecauseeverythingfeelsjustalittlebitfranticrightnow.  Instead, let’s just all take a big….deep…..breath.  Much better.

  Wait!  Nooooo! 

  Was that really the race director from XTERRA Miami calling to say that the race was going to be postponed a week?  Really?  Really. 

  Can we call the screen printer and have them stop the presses on the shirts?  No – but we can probably find a Sharpie and just scratch out line one of the schedule.

  Crazy!  Who cancels a race three days prior?  Uhhh…well…other than the New York Marathon.  (OK – but a hurricane is a pretty good excuse)  

  Let’s just all take a big….deep…..breath.

  So – despite the shock of having our plans so abruptly changed – Brent has done an amazing job of un-doing our plans for Miami.  His abilities as a triathlete pale in comparison to his prowess with travel reservations. (Shhh – you probably shouldn’t tell him I said that). 

  The biggest disappointment is the fact that I wanted to be with him for the first race of the season.  Week 2 in South Carolina has not been in my travel plans, so a result of the cancellation is Brent having to kick off the season alone. (Have you looked at airfare for travel less than two weeks out?!!)  
  But then...after considering everyone we know who lives even remotely close to McCormick, South Carolina (uh – that would be no one closer than 5 hours away), and the possibility of flying someone geographically-closer-than-Denver out there (it’s not cheaper), we finally decided that this is just too important for me to miss.  Mr. Frontier Airlines Summit Member managed to wrangle half of the trip for points, leaving us to pay a manageable amount for the other half.  (I think the staff at the Frontier Airlines call center has put a block on future calls from his phone number)

  Looking back on the last 12 hours, it is only fitting that XTERRA Across America is getting off to such a crazy start…well, non-start, as the case may be.  As people have learned of Brent’s plans, “crazy” is probably the word we’ve heard the most. (this is a family blog – so we’ll stick with “crazy”).  In all seriousness, I reminded Brent of something this afternoon:  There are so many people out there – friends, family, people we don’t even know – who are praying for him, for his protection and for the success of his journey, that I have no doubt that this little hiccup in the plan is actually part of the plan.  We are all exactly where we are supposed to be.  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28