And the Fall Mania Begins

Whew! I always thought seniors were just whining when they complained about how crazy the fall of their last year was, but now I'm experiencing it and whining just as much. College applications are kind of fun and super time consuming, so along with schoolwork I haven't had a lot of blog time.
Here is an update of the team in the last month:

Mid-August:
We took our annual team trip to Acadia National Park, which is great because we all get to bond and run together before the season really starts. The week included an afternoon at Sandy Beach, a lot of boys talking in Batman voices, and running up a mountain. Shout-out to the Mount Desert Island team for guiding us up and down Dorr Mountain. I asked the MDI girl I was running with "so how many times do you do this...like once or twice a season?" She answered "umm... like a couple times a week in preseason." I'm super impressed.

Once we got back we almost immediately had the Scot Laliberte invitational, which is always a lot of fun and really intimidating because there are so many people there for the first meet of the season. The boys team (which is looking especially strong this year) placed 3 in the top ten varsity and came out second overall. Combined Mt. Blue was 5th overall.

Late-August-September
I wasn't at our home meet unfortunately, but the girls got second to Messalonskee and the boys won their races. Last week was our race at Lawrence, where I discovered the awful experience that is dehydration during a race. The Lawrence trainer was really nice and stayed with me as a drank 3 water bottles in 15 minutes. Friday was our race at Leavitt, which is possibly my favorite course in the state. The girls got 4th (only 4 points away from first, which meant that there was a crazy 3-way tie between the other girls teams) and the boys won.

I'm really impressed with how positive everyone on both teams is being, more than any other year that I've been here. We lost quite a few senior girls last year, but our returning girls are really stepping up to the plate, and I'm excited to see what we can do at the bigger meets.

I'll try to post weekly from now on.

KKNW,

Maryam

BK and Anja

all of the tourists clap when the sun goes down, but I have to admit that the top of Cadillac is beautiful despite all of the people.

Our little family <3 br="br">

And the Season Begins (almost)

XC is one of the few sports where I have no idea when the season actually "starts." I usually begin base mileage two weeks after track has ended while I know some people who can amazingly come in to preseason without any summer mileage and still compete well. This has been a weird summer for me, because instead of going into summer with a "35 miles per week, wooohh!!!" mentality, it was more of me crossing my fingers and hoping that I would stop being injured.

Last track season, I sadly had to stop training due to Plantar Fasciitis (lesson learned, if you go to Disney World, wear supportive shoes at all times) and after taking two months off, I've been slowly building up  my mileage again. This has been my first real running injury, and it has made me realize how much running affects my mood, sleep and time management skills.

That being said, I'm super excited for preseason to start next week. We have some shoes to fill with Addie, Louisa and Emily all graduating last June, but I think that our returning girls have a lot of potential. Between running, college applications and school, it is going to be a busy fall, but I'm determined to continue blogging now that Addie has left us to be with the love of her life, Bates. Once preseason starts I'll have a lot more to write about, but until then....

KKNW,

Maryam

The Final Installment.

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

Playing Catch Up

Oh man, I haven't posted for nearly six months.. I feel like a bad blogger, meh :/ Now that my self-pity is over, I'll give a brief catch up on everything.

Here I am at XC New Englands(in black) with Tory Schuler, Sarah Mattison, Christa Fagone, Claire Stuart, Laura Picard, Erin Miseracordia, Joelle Ross (508) and Caitlin Schaffer (510) of Simsbury HS in CT, as well as Juliette Luchini of Mt. Blue. I've known several of these girls for a few years, and met others this past summer at Green Mountain Running Camp in VT. Caitlin and I will be friendly competitors this fall as she will be attending Bowdoin :D

 I've been doing a lot of cross training this past track season, which involves a strength training program called "lifting Louisa"... eh actually I just get a kick out of this picture and needed an athletic excuse to post it on my running blog :P

In April, I went on a cultural exchange to Costa Rica with a handful of other kids in my AP Spanish class and needless to say it was interesting to run there. I also had the experience to eat a termite crawling on my hand, a huuuge fish eyeball and cow tongue. Here's a picture of some of us from the trip, including my fantastic CR running partner, Steven (the blonde one).

My final excuse for posting prom pictures on a running blog is to celebrate what the running community has to offer- lifelong friendships between people from different teams :D Take my and Jay Lesser's (Falmouth XC Running/Nordic Skiing) example and try dating one of em! The nice thing is that in a relationship where both people run, no one needs to feel self conscious about watch tans and consuming snacks that contain 5000 calories on a daily basis :P

Alright, I swear I'm done with the prom pics. This season has been a good one, and once again Mt. Blue was blessed with the top-of-the-line "Road and Parking Lot" training facility, which offers a beautiful tar (yes that's not an autocorrected word for "turf") infield, as well as randomly dispersed gravel and parked cars to really keep you on your toes. Throughout the season, I dabbled in the 2 mile and went from a 12:48 to a 12:18, and I'd definitely like to see it well under 12 in the near future. In the mile I finally (and just barely) broke 5:30 with a 5:29.80 this past weekend at KVAC's at Morse. After the meet (in which it was 80+ degrees and extremely muggy), my asst. coach for next year introduced me to several athletes from other teams that will be teammates of mine at Bates next year. Then Jasmine Boyle (Brunswick), Maryam Norton (Injured-Mt. Blue), Molly Schassberger (Winslow), Mohammed Barre (Lewiston) and I made our way to the podium where we Bernie-d, Dougie-d and Call-Me-Maybe'd our hearts out, until an unfortunate event happened in which an anonymous kill-joy from EL decided it was time for the dance party to end, see pictures below :P  

Proof: The fun about to be killed

Jasmine and Moi, Movin' Like Bernie

Poop inside the loop :P

Phew, it feels good to be caught up :)
KKNW, Addie

A Note..

Dear running community (nay- family),
I miss you.
KKNW,
Addie

Spandits!™

Greetings greater running community of Maine (and beyond?)! I am posting to enlighten you all on a fantastic idea for a holiday gift this year to anyone athletic on your list. Spandits!™ makes custom-made tights and other athletic apparel, made in Maine. Here's the link, check them out!
http://www.spandits.com/

Below are some pics of the products that me and my sibs have!


I'm wearing "Sea Breeze" while my brother sports the "Jungle Frog"


My little sister, Kahryn

Upcoming runner!

The Bobcat Chronicles?

It doesn't exactly have the same alliterative charm as "The Cougar Chronicles," but I'm guessing that this blog is something that I'll have to leave behind while packing for college next year anyways. Oh, yes! If the title doesn't give it away, I heard back from my ED school, and shall be attending Bates College come fall! When I found out, I went down to the kitchen and began frolicking around my mother, who was baking Christmas cookies. Honestly, I have a lot of maturing to do before college :P Anywho, I finally (rather casually) dropped the news while I was basting some pork for dinner later on that night. "You know, Mom, it sure is a relief knowing that I'm going to be eating just as well as this next year at Bates." She was like "What!!" One of the things I'm especially looking forward to is being able to practice on a track (recall this past track season, where the MB team would warm up in their "Road and Parking Lot" team shirts..yes, there was a reason behind them). Also, as any of my close peers can attest, I am an absolute chai fanatic, and Bates makes some of the most amazing stuff I've ever tasted. Deal breaker right there ;)



Yes, of course I'm fully aware how sickening and obsessive this is :D

KKNW,
Addie

No Excuses (USATF Nationals, Myrtle Beach, SC).

I'll start this post off by saying that I believe this was the first time in the eight different years that I've travelled via plane in the wintertime where none of my flights got delayed or cancelled. Which was a good thing, because by the time my crew reached charming Myrtle Beach Airport, the sun was setting and the opening ceremony would be starting in less than an hour. The course was on Whispering Pines Golf Course, and, admittedly, I was slightly anxious to see what it'd be like, because I had never raced on one before. It proved to be grass the whole way (obviously), and the only "hills" resembled frost heaves on the roads in winter. Perfect. To top it off, there wasn't any mud on the course, which was a real treat considering the cross country season Maine experienced this past fall. The morning of the race, we got up early to walk the course. I was feeling pretty pumped by the time I slipped my Maine singlet on over my head, mostly because wearing that thing makes me feel so damn proud of where I come from.

I went on an easy mile and a half warm up with Maryam a little bit before her race, and was curious as to what her race strategy was. "The thing I think about the most while racing," she began, "is formulating all kinds of excuses in my head, so that if I finish and am not particularly pleased with my race, I'll be ready with something to blame my bad performance on. I'm going to tell myself to suck it up, that I can't make up any excuses for myself. I'm here, and this is it, no excuses." I nodded and kept running. "You know, after four years of racing and searching for a motto that will stick with me while I'm running, you've just summed up cross country for me. Thanks," I remarked. Maryam took her words to heart. I made sure that when I saw her out on course, I reminded her, no excuses. Possibly because of those two words (oh, and a whole heck of a lot of dedicated training on her part), she not only took nearly a minute off of her previous 5k time (running a 21:21), but also split new mile and two mile PR's. You go girl!

One of the first things that my mom commented on after my race was how she found my attitude right before I entered the starting corral astonishing. She commented on how calm I was, considering that my race was to start less than thirty minutes from then. "I was surprised to see that your hands weren't shaking while you were twisting your racing chips into place." To be honest, I was in the zone, and just thinking those two words to myself. No excuses. During the race, I was more aware of what place I was in (27th by the first mile and 25th by mile two) than what my splits were. I definitely felt like a target that everyone behind me was aiming for while holding the 25th spot. It was quite reassuring when I finally passed the girl ahead of me, as all eyes shifted on her back. Rounding the last corner to the straight away, I was still in 24th. I glanced up at the clock, was completely shocked at the time, and kicked myself up into a higher gear. I clocked in at a 19:44 (my previous LPR was a 20:19 set back in my junior year), and ended up 23rd. Top 25 earn All-American Status. In my last high school cross country race ever, I accomplished my two ultimate high school goals that I'd promised myself I would achieve way back in my freshman year. Break 20, and have my picture join my brother's on the cafeteria wall at school (at Mt. Blue, all of the All-American athletes from every sport have a framed photo on the wall). My next "ultimate goal" is to eventually beat my mom's best 5k time, 18:58. 46 seconds to go. Now that it is less than a minute away, the goal seems a lot more attainable.

Sully Jackson also raced, and ended up besting his previous LPR by two seconds. Whoot! The Awards ceremony was incredibly long, but at the end we were able to get our pictures take with Zola Budd and Amy Yoder Begley, and get them to sign our race numbers. During the free time that we had until our returning flight, we rented a car (my mom surprised us with a red Mustang convertible, she's the coolest) and went cruising around Myrtle Beach. Let it be known that Maryam and I went swimming in the ocean on December 12. And who cares that it was 46 degrees out, it was still in December :P


We said we were going to do it, so we had to..


Loving the car :)

Not that this post needs anything else, but I felt the need to point out that both Maryam and I have battle wounds on our extended legs in our running pictures; she has a bruise shaped like a star, and I have a scar from a ski pole.
KKNW, Addie

MBXC 2011 Season Documentary

I know that I neglected to bring a charged and ready-to-go camcorder to a lot of the races later on in the season, and I apologize for it... but here is the product of a season's worth of dedication and fun that this team was able to enjoy. As the end slide says, I know that this team will carry on to be successful in the coming years, and I look forward to hearing about it.
Apologies for the awful quality, come find me sometime to see the real deal :)
KKNW,
Addie

Just Run.

This car was in my hotel parking lot at New Englands in Rhode Island this past weekend... they know whats up.



I got incredibly excited while my family was traveling to Franklin Park in Boston to watch one of Kelton's college meets this past weekend, and looked out and saw this license plate! I love the running community. (10/05/11)


I suppose I'll just keep adding to this as my "runner license plate" collection :P



KKNW, Addie

STATES 2011 @ Twin Brook

Screw it. This whole week I've been trying to come up with a classy (and cheesy) opener for my final in-season cross country post, but unfortunately, nothing of the type has presented itself. So, this is my blog post regarding my final high school cross country meet! I find it absurd how much we contribute to this lovely sport, while still managing to be, on average, the smartest group of athletes out there. My team was away for a full twelve hours for an average of 20 minutes of racing last weekend at States. I started out running with a pack of six or so girls, including the top four Cheverus runners. I felt very confidant in my performance during the race, and was a consistent 10th for most of it. If you are familiar with the course at Twin Brook, you can imagine the finish in the field, where the trail runs parallel to the cluster of trees and rocks where all the team's bags are congregated. The actual finish chute is on a slight downgrade upon passing the trees. Right around there is where I threw on my last finishing kick, and right about there was where a random spectator walked under the flagging and across the course in the direction of a girl that was on her hands and knees (it states clearly in the MPA rulebook that if anyone has contact with racers during said race that it is considered aid, and the racer will promptly be disqualified, so there were many people on the sidelines screaming "don't touch her!"). The lady was very much oblivious to the fact that racers were approaching her, and I ended up running into her. The action of tightening up my muscles in order to prepare for the crash and lessen the impact triggered something within the memory of my vastus medialis (I strained this quad muscle last year the week leading up to the State meet and was unable to run for a solid month), and started to feel something similar to that of my injury last year during my cool down. Not good. Also, I was a mere four seconds from qualifying for New Englands, so I'm very bummed that my season ended so abruptly. It sucks that I'll never know what the outcome could have been had that lady not been there. Although I was hobbling around a bit in my quad wrap during the week proceeding States, I have finally begun to run again. Justin Tracy (Jr.) ended up qualifying for New Englands by two-tenths of a second, so I'll be heading to Rhode Island with him and some others this coming weekend. As for this season's documentary, it should be posted sometime this coming weekend :D
KKNW, Addie

Regionals 2011- Aka Last Time Racing @ Belfast

Yesterday's Regional performance was definitely, after four years of high school running, a mental breakthrough for me. Before the race, the big motivator for my team was to have us live in the moment during the race; that at every point we were to assess our performances and ask ourselves if we were truly giving everything we could in that very second. I was in fifth for a better part of the race, and then with a little over 800m to go, Emma Wood, a good friend that I've gotten to know through running and skiing, made her move, and when she caught up to me, encouraged me to help her pass the girls in front of us. I took a deep breath, told myself it would be all over soon, and adjusted into a much quicker pace with her. We caught up to her teammate Kelly Lynch, and they ended up running stride for stride with me right behind them. On the last rise of the finishing hill, I remember a parent off to the side yelling "Two for one, Addie!" Seconds from the line, I ended up ahead, and finished 3rd. The kick that I threw in was like the moment in the last Harry Potter book (oh yes, I most definitely will relate myself to HP :) where his wand acts of it's own accord and sends a golden stream of spells at where it senses Voldemort is.. well all right, so the only connection is that I'm not sure where that final kick came from; somewhere from deep within. We also closed the gap immensely on the 2nd place finisher, Teresa Murphy (Brunswick), but I didn't realize it until seeing pictures of the race this morning, because I'd been so focused. Mentally, I believe that I won the day. And winning the race mentally is so tremendously important for me in order to expect improvement later on down the road. Also, several other important things to touch on... Maryam actually got her LPR in the MILE yesterday, breaking her mile record (by a second, I believe it was)! And Josh Horne broke his LPR by over two minutes yesterday, going from a low 21, and skipping both the 19's and the 20's to finish in the high 18's. Justin Tracy ended up 4th, and is currently ranked 12th in the state. Awesome job, guys!
KKNW, Addie

Me (Addie Cullenberg), Kelly Lynch and Emma Wood. Thanks so much guys :D

ATTN Maine XC Coaches: I am truly flattered. Thank you! KKNW, Addie

KVAC's 2011

My race was not stellar. In fact, it was my most poorly-run race of the season. It was caused by a mixture of things. In the end, the biggest contributor was my mental state; remembering my awful race here last year, deciding halfway through the race that I felt the same as I did here a year ago.. I cruised by the first mile in a 6:12 nestled within a pack of girls; Abby Mace, Brittany Bowman, Willow Parker, Bethany Brown and Erzsebet Nagy. After that crucial landmark they began to drop me, and I remained only a few short steps behind them, but couldn't catch up. Once girls started to pass me, I completely lost it, saying to myself "It's just another B girl, it doesn't matter." What I should have said was "OK, the next person who makes a move I'm going to go with," because with the passing B girls eventually came the passing A girls. One reason I love the sport of cross country so much is the support you receive out there from girls on other teams. Once you've been running in high school a few years, they're all so familiar; Maine doesn't have a running community, it has a close-knit running family. Katie McMahon (Bruns) caught up to me mid-hill, and encouraged me to pass one of the runners up ahead with her. Molly Schassberger (Winslow) breathed "C'mon, Ad, you got this girl.." as she went by. So I extend my thanks to everyone out there who continued to encourage me. After the race, I was given a nice pep talk by a family friend whose kids go to Maranacook, and by and by my spirits lifted. All that there is left to say, is that I truly, honestly am very thankful that I shall never race on Cony's course again; too many horrid racing memories (my first time racing that course was in 8th grade for USATF; my mom and I didn't know the course and were doing a preview before my race and got lost. I got all worked up because we had to cut through the woods to the start, where my race was on the line almost ready to go. We can joke about it now, at least :). Mt. Blue girls ended up third behind Brunswick and Mt. Ararat, while the boys came in a rather disappointing 8th.. Regionals next weekend @ Belfast, and I'm ready for redemption.
KKNW, Addie


Madsy Schneider: "Darn, I've never made it onto the wood!"
Me: "Quick, step up on here for a second!" :)

Maryam Norton and Alex Luchini... The "onion" was a motivator for our JV girls team


Sam Wood (whom I've always secretly wanted as a little brother.. wow that sounds pretty creepy), a Hampden boy, Sully Jackson and Justin Tracy as Andy R-P hugs someone else during Class A awards.

Mt. Blue Relays 2011

It has recently dawned on me that this is my year of lasts with the Mt. Blue cross country team. It makes sense that it would be a bit sad for any graduating athlete, sure, but I feel like it's a little bit different in my case. If you were to go through my endless drawers of running shirts in my room, you'd be able to find specially ordered child's size shirts from the Mt. Blue Relays dating back to the 90's. Why? Because I've been wrapped up in the Maine running community way back since the days my mom used to push me in my lime green jogger at her track practices as she coached her athletes. I mean, I used to attend the annual Acadian camping trip in diapers and shyly pass out the ribbons at the Mt. Blue Relays awards ceremony. So knowing that this past Friday has been my last Relays ever is.. hard. Ok, enough nostalgia. This year had to be the muddiest Mt. Blue Relays in living memory. On Thursday, most of our practice was spent draining the water off of the muddy spots on the course and then shoveling kitty litter-like gravel onto those areas. But by the time I ran over those affected areas as the first leg of our team, the conditions were no better than before we'd started the previous day. (Oh, on a side note, there were 18 teams present, a MB Relays high). By the time I tagged off to our second runner, I'd literally eaten mud out on the course, because of the boys in front of me kicking it back as they trampled through the mess. Such a good time. I ended up having the second fastest girls time of the day to Bethany Brown of Waterville, and our girl's "A" team placed second to Mt. Ararat, with Waterville rounding up the top three. On the boy's side, Bangor won, Mt. Ararat was second, and our boys ended up third. After we finished, several members of the team decided to hit up the muddy places on the course, and ended up having a bit of a mud fight. Actually, it ended up being a bit more intense than that; at one point my cousin literally tackled me to the ground right in the middle of it all. By the time we left, anyone running over that section would really wonder what had happened there, as it appeared as though people had literally rolled around in the mud.. :D Dancing, as always, was sweet, and the dinner nice and pasta-ey. Once awards were over we quickly got bundled up in warmer clothes to go support the football team (it was homecoming game), which was followed by our homecoming dance. Needless to say, I think we all rested fairly well that night :) The video link is below, which was fantastically created by Brewer!
http://www.youtube.com/user/runsub5#p/u/0/wjV0_D1piGE
KKNW, Addie

A Festival Fit For Champions.

We were all as prepared as we could be for the mud and rain and wet that presented itself to us on Saturday. There's something catchy in the air at a big meet like this that gets everyone excited, regardless of the weather. I love being surrounded by 924 other athletes getting ready to race, or whatever crazy number it was this year. The day started out with the Canadian and American national anthems being sung beautifully by my fellow ARC running camp buddy, Grant Richards of Belfast. Lovely job!! The race order went unseeded, freshman, seeded (girls/boys respectively in each category). Watching the freshmen boy's race was really sad; there was one racer near the end who did not have spikes on, and was slip-and-sliding all over the part before the man-made hills. As the day progressed, it only got muddier (I refrain from saying "worse" because mud is what we live for). When the seeded girls were only a half mile into the race, we must have looked like some splatter-paint art project. Regardless of the conditions, the first mile on Belfast's course always proves to be incredibly fast, and although I was considerably back from the leader, Abbey Leonardi, I still managed to split a sub six first mile. During the race, I remember being a tad bit confused as to why I was running amongst fellow athletes that had previously run low 19 minute 5k's- especially when I clocked in at a 20:31- but had the conditions been a bit more ideal for PR's, I would have most likely crushed my LPR by over a minute. The idea of that is encouraging, but also makes me a bit stressed knowing that I still haven't actually run that time. When I crossed the line 12th, all I felt like doing was sitting down, despite the fact that every inch of grass out there that day was smothered in double the amount of mud. I didn't really care, but my uniform noticeably required a bit of washing after that meet. ARC really represented in terms of the top boys and girls teams overall that day. MDI girls and Falmouth boys won; a lot of those people had been fellow campers with me this summer in Acadia National Park. Also, nice job to Katherine Gunther, who placed in the top ten in the girls freshman race.
KKNW, Addie
Also, check out the videos from the meet, which can be found on the links below:
http://www.youtube.com/user/runsub5#p/u/2/asrrE8WAgzo (Boys seeded)
http://www.youtube.com/user/runsub5#p/u/1/Ixdsk5q8V6c (Girls seeded)

BRUNSWICK (my Birthright)!

From left to right: Emily G., Molly, Alexaiya, Louise, Casey, Chenoa

Emily Ro., Katherine, Maryam

Today was a rainy day. How beautiful is that? Rain on the day of the Brunswick meet means no horrible "desert" part of the course (cue angels singing Hallelujah). For those of you who have never run on Brunswick's course, you can find it at a farm -Crystal Springs Farm (or something along those lines)- mere minutes away from the school. The course narrows to about a person and a half width within 200 meters or so, and throughout the race, one must negotiate where to step, as footing can be rough with the awkward slanted hills and abundant amount of white roots. I'm just taking a guess that whoever spray-painted all of those roots is probably in the hospital for life due to back problems.. every root bigger than a pencil is highlighted. Which, don't get me wrong, is really wonderful, but jeesh! In the beginning, I felt the need to pick up the pace a little bit, expecting others to follow suit, but when they didn't, I kept going. I passed the first mile in a 6:20, and wondered why I was still alone. Midway through the race, Teresa Murphy (Bruns) caught up with me, and held a little bit of distance on me to the end.. I'm not sure how much it was exactly, because no other team got times (the timing system malfunctioned, but our coach always times Mt. Blue athletes just in case). Unfortunately, I ended up with a 21:02. It would have been a relief to break 21 on that course, but it has made me all the more excited for FOC next weekend. Louisa Stancioff ended up 5th after a stellar kick in the end, and on the boy's side, we had several in the top ten. The girls finished 3rd behind Mt. Ararat and Brunswick (which was only 1 point ahead of us!!)
KKNW, Addie

Highlights:
-Subway
-Cosmo
-The bonding moment I experienced with fellow captain and blogger, Maryam, prior to the race ;)

Small World of Running

So something has been happening to me a lot recently, I see someone who looks vaguely familiar in another town and think all day about where I've seen them before. About 80% of the time I eventually realize that I know them from xc, indoor or outdoor track.
Today I went to an college open house and continuously had this happen to me, I saw a guy asking a question to the head of admissions and thought "I bet he's a runner" and then two seconds later heard him talking about track. The same thing happened with a girl who I was absolutely positive I had seen before, but couldn't place where (outdoor track). Runners seem to have a sixth sense about when other runners are around, and seeing each other usually starts with a "Do I know you?" look and ends with a "Hey, I think we raced together!"
The point of all this is that I am always finding new members of the big running family. Those of you planning on running in college will probably end up having some of your rivals become your room-mates and having high school teammates running at rival colleges. Running is a pretty tight-knit community, and it makes me happy to know that wherever I end up I'll have a familiar face to run with.

KKNW,
Maryam

USATF NATIONALS

Here's my schpeal. Contact me either at a meet or by facebook (whether you are a guy or girl, really, I'll help any of you) if you are interested. The location where Regionals will be held has not been announced yet, but States are always at Cony and Nat's this year are in Myrtle Beach. Teams can carry eight people, and the top three teams at Regionals qualify for Nationals (or you can qualify individually). DO IT, It is SUPER FUN :D
KKNW, Addie

Zucchini Toss 2011

This year was the second annual (if we can call it "annual" already) Mt. Blue cross country Zucchini Toss. Everyone on the team draws a slip of paper with a number on it, and then trades it in for that number zuke. The catch is that you don't know what shape of size your vegetable is going to be. The number zucchini is assigned to an elite running athlete, which the MB athletes then have to find three facts about, so the competition has a learning piece to it as well. I drew #10, Alan Webb. On the girl's side, the farthest throw was by Emily Gardner, and the boy's (and overall) champion was Dustin Staples.
KKNW, Addie