“It’s autumn, cross country season, two days since I hit my book deadline, and now the return of an old friend.”
Up at 4:40 this morning. Cross country practice scheduled for 6 in Huntington Beach, a solid 30-minute drive, so I needed the early start. Sadie wanted to go out, so I let her into the backyard and looked up into the southern sky, searching for an old friend.
There he was. Orion and his belt is missing during summer but reappears in the early morning just in time for cross country season. I’ll track its march across the sky into late-November and the end of the season, the warrior constellation a timeless reminder that this is autumn.
I cannot believe I still have the same passion for coaching cross country as I did when I began twenty years ago. That “Hollywood” line about dogfighting from Top Gun still hits me when I hear the first crack of the starter’s pistol.
Our first race last Friday gave me even more reason to celebrate because I finished Taking Midway and hit “send” to the publisher just an hour before driving to Trabuco. Then there was Ballpark Pizza afterward, a worthy post-meet tradition if ever one existed. I’m a little more pragmatic than I used to be, not getting too euphoric about a great first meet. It’s the first week of September, after all. We need to build on that performance with careful layers of strength and speed. Twelve weeks of training in the books but it’s twelve more to State and thirteen more to Nationals.
I’m going to take a couple days off from writing to enjoy the start of the season. I have about twenty projects around the house I’ve ignored for months. Going to take care of those, too. Been a lot of comfort food in the past month, so it will be nice to have more workout time in my days — nothing beats watching yourself on C-SPAN to suggest the shirts are fitting a little tight. There will be revisions on Taking Midway, which is actually the most exciting part of the process. But I want to think carefully about the next book and get my head back to normal for awhile before taking the deep dive again.
This past weekend was amazing: cross country, college football, Italian Grand Prix (way to go, Ferrari), some golf, US Open tennis. Thursday starts the NFL season — and fantasy football. I’ve got Derrick Henry and Travis Kelce in that opener. Very excited about my draft.
A new season of cross country. A new football season. A new season of life. I’m excited to be writing completely solo again, controlling my own schedule, writing the words that make me happiest. I feel like I’m coaching at a high level. I took a whole lot of chances with Taking Midway — so many that in the middle of it all I wondered how I was going to land the plane, so to speak — and feel like the book is at a very high level.
OK. I’m just rambling at this point. Life is good. The best days are to come. Party on.
Good to see you, Orion.
Martin Dugard is a best-selling author, a board member of the USA Track & Field Foundation and a high school cross country and track coach.
