Friday, August 31, 2007

On Your Mark

In less than 24 hours I will have stood on the starting line of my first college cross country meet. I will have taken out too fast with the pack. I will have died in the middle of the race. I will have crossed the finish line with my stomach inching up my throat. Last but not least, I will have realized that it's just another race and my nerves will be gone.
Until that moment, I will continue to feel a queasy swirl in my stomach. I have reason to believe that butterflies have gone on a spawning frenzie and found shelter in my tum. My weekend doesn't start until the race is over tomorrow morning. Even with classes out of the way, no homework, and a three day weekend, the race is the lingering obstacle in front of a few days of freedom.
I'm not just nervous about my debut as a college runner. I am excited as well. There are no expectiations of the first meet, especially as a freshman. The team should do well, and I know we will have fun with the meet.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Brushin the Dust Off

When I was told that these blogs were supposed to be a "fun and entertaining" insight to Baker Cross Country, I thought, "How in God's great world am I supposed to make running sweat-soaked, sun-burnt mile after mile seem "fun and entertaining?" Well, it's a good thing I'm a person up for a challenge.
The first week on campus seemed rather surreal to me. Being a freshman in college comes with a lot of change and transition. Add 50 miles a week on top of that transition and BOOM! that "dream-like" quality becomes a quick reality.
I had run - what I considered - a decent amount of miles this summer, so when the first week of practice started I knew that I'd be brushing some dust off those slow, steady strides. After having experienced those first two weeks of practice I would like to change to word "brush" to "power-washing" the dust off. The workouts are still tough and the mileage is still high, but I believe it's safe to say that I'm a lot more comfortable with weight of practice than I was the first week.
Throughout the past 17 days, the team has spent a lot of time together, including not just hours in practice, but eating meals together, going camping, and just hanging out in the spare time we have. The upperclassmen girls on the team have been amazing in welcoming the new freshmen and encouraging us to keep with the hard work even when it is on tired legs.
We have our first meet this Saturday at the golf course here in town. We would love to have your support. The girls race at 10:00 and the guys at 10:45.