the 8 mile race that was actually nine miles

Last Thursday I went to pick up my race packet at the running store. I asked the lady at the counter, "May I get my race packet?" She replied, "Which race?"
I answered, "The eight mile."
She raised her eyebrow, "The nine-mile race?"
"Sure, the nine-mile race."

This misunderstanding foreshadowed the entire course of the race. Ye gods, I even got lost going to the site... and it's on my way to work! I went the wrong direction on 485. It was very cold, which was fine. We all know the weather is no one's pet monkey. However, what was not fine is that I didn't wear enough clothes. The bagels and the cookies they that were out at the end of the race were crunchy... it was that cold. But my fellow racers were chipper and encouraging, which was much needed. The best part of the race: the sweatshirt!


Despite the adverse conditions, Saturday reminded me I do like trail running-- it's a lot of fun! Even if I completely suck at it! I always in a Lord of the Rings kind of a mood. I kind of expect to happen upon a hobbit or some other woodling creature. I bought a parking pass so that I can come back and practice.

After the race I went to my cousin's basketball game which she played the last period in which she told off a player on the other team. I was proud of her because the ref wasn't calling the foul. She wasn't rude but very straight forward. She's got some spunk in her. Then my uncle and I went to see The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, which I thoroughly enjoyed. We also were complete goobers and tried all the samples at Dean & Deluca then proceeded to go out and get burgers.

Later I filled out a survey that a Regent friend sent out about singles and church. It stirred up a lot of emotion that I normally avoid. Church and Christian circles are definitely the hardest places to be single. I'm not self-conscious at work or around my high school or college friends. But, around Christians, singleness feels like affliction. She's writing several articles at her blog: The Purse. She might even use some of my experiences but she'll cloak them with a pseudonym. But I think the frankness I treated her questions took a toll on me.

This afternoon I went to lunch with four people after church. It was both lovely and awkward. Small talk isn't my strong suit. Large talk, silly talk, and self talk are my specialties. I came home exhausted and thoroughly disheartened (I can't pinpoint why). I burrowed in my bed to no avail. Finally I got up and started writing my cover letter for a teaching position I'd really enjoy. I'm getting ready to cook my sister's vegan recipe for sweet potato and barley chili, spaghetti sauce and eggs and sausage. I'm gearing up for the week. The icky emotions are dissipating with the application of the good ol' Protestant work ethic. Busy does function as anesthesia.

Recently I've been engaging in activities that are excellent lessons in self-knowledge: the running, church, bible study, teaching. I'm getting schooled in my emotional, psychological and moral weaknesses. Before Randy's sermon on Sodom and Gomorrah this morning, he said the point of the this story and sermon was to highlight the profundity and necessity of the cross-- to combat what Bonhoeffer called cheap grace and Willard renamed costly faithlessness. My practical atheism is definitely under attack.