How do you simply end a routine that has been consistent in your life for years? I'm at a loss of a better introduction for my final blog post, because not only am I finishing with this blog and handing it off to Junior Maryam Norton for the fall of 2012, but I am also officially done with high school. Today (which happens to be my half birthday- yes, my family celebrates half birthdays so I'm 18.5 :) was states at Windham High School.. in 60 degree weather and pouring rain. I'm not sure if I prefer that kind of racing condition over the 85 we experienced for KVAC's last weekend. Anywho, we arrived and got settled down, setting up the tents and wiping off the bleachers. As we all flooded (heh water pun) onto the track for the team warm up, I made everybody huddle up and declared that we would not be starting our run until everyone was smiling. Bad moods put such a damper (wow, I'm chuckling right now at my tired self finding humor in my lame puns) on meets, so by the time Mt. Blue started their team warmup laps around the track, we were a somewhat cheerful crew. I competed in both the mile and the two mile, and I have to say it was sad watching one of my favorite events, the 4x8, happen without a MB team contending this year. In the mile my LPR is a 5:29.80, and today I think I ran a 5:30-placing 10th which was my seed. After the mile my stomach wasn't feeling too good, and soon enough the strawberries that I'd eaten a little earlier were in a splashy puddle on the wet bleachers at my feet. And for the record, throwing up is probably one of the things that scares me most. I was ever so happy to not be doing the 800 but instead having a little more recovery time until the 2. I ended up wearing patriotic arm sleeves (
http://www.spandits.com/apps/webstore/products/show/2873433) because of the cold, and every time I was running around the backstretch kids from other teams would yell things like "USA! USA!" and "Goooo Team AMERICA!" It kept my spirits up :) I clocked in at a 12:15, my new LPR by 3 seconds, and was able to keep all of my remaining meal in my stomach. Also a highlight of the day was running into a dear friend from Girl's State, Natalie Dionne who jumps for Sanfod HS. This has been an incredible experience and I only hope to keep improving during my years at Bates with my new running family <3
As ever,
KKNW,
Addie
