Driving Home

I often drive up and down Interstate Highway Route 81 by myself for various reasons, like when I visited VT, Roanoke, or like today I came home by myself. I notice what when I drive by myself for long periods of time, I change into a different person almost. I become more emotional in a way. I might get really mad at some stupid driver and start yelling and cursing. Or I will be listening to my podcasts of Car Talk (hilarious NPR radio show) and just laugh at all of there little jokes so easily. Or I start getting into deep thought and a certain topic came up, my life.

So there I was doing 90 miles an hour, nah just kidding, more like 70 (the speed limit). I am on the way home for my third time, but its the first time alone since I have been at college. I get to thinking about how I am doing in school, then that leads to what I want to major in, then that leads to "what I really want to do in life", then that leads to self doubt. I think the main question I asked myself is "Am I heading in the right direction?"

I always come up with what I want to say on this darn thing, when I am not at my computer. It is kinda of frustrating. So your gonna have to wait for the rest of this post, cuz I cant think.

Roanoke Bball

Just saw my first Roanoke mens basketball game, I look forward to this season. People say they suck, but they played pretty good today I believe. I also wanna watch the lady maroons play too. Most people do not like to watch women's ball, but I do, mainly college though.

http://www.sidearmstats.com/roanoke/mbball/index.htm

Pain of the day: my foot hurts

About to go running. Can't wait to get home on Monday. I wish my School had a shorter fall break and made Thanksgiving break a full week. I would be home right now. I mean at least my class on Tuesday got cancelled.

Oh almost forgot (actually i still forget a lot of stuff that I want to post here tal). So we had our second essay exam in my History of Africa class. The first one I received a good bit of guidance from the professor. She looked over my draft and outline. This time around though I just saw her for a very brief outline that I had and got a better grade. Fist pump. first grade was 90 this last one was 91.

peace

VHSL State Cross Country Meet

So I came home this weekend to see my high school team run at their state meet. I was expecting a lot from them. The have had some good races this year. They have run really well.

They went into this meet after winning the tenth district title in Potomac Falls High School's XC history. Potomac falls is the only school ever to win the Dulles District championship title. Then they went into the VHSL Region II meet with high hopes. Region II is the most competitive region there is in VA this year and it has been in the past. There were teams from region II who were ranked in the top ten of teams in the state and were not able to go the state meet, because they only allow the top four(?) teams from each region no matter how you are ranked. PF earned 2nd place behind a very strong team who actually almost (in a mid season race) beat the top team in the state (Blacksburg High School) for the last several years. Western Albemarle High School are the Region II champs this year, they won by a fairly large margin (~30 points). The team was bummed, because PF has won it the past two years.

They put the race behind them and focused on the coming state meet. They went in as the favorite for top three spot on the podium. I was very confident in them and wanted them to succeed. Fourth. A fourth place finish. PF got second two years ago and third last year, then fourth. A team from our own district who had beat them in a dual meet in the late regular season, but PF had beat them in districts and regionals. Loudoun County HS came out and performed and I congratulate them. Seriously I am very happy that not only is our region the top region in the state, but our district is one of the best districts in the state with two teams in the top 5.

It went

1. Blacksburg

2. Western Albemarle

3. Loudoun County

4. Potomac Falls

5. Grafton

I was sad. I was sad, because I feel attached to the team and when they don't reach what they were reaching for, it hurts. There are guys on the team that are like my brothers. I wanted them to succeed so bad. And I still believed they did. They have been top five past three years, when most schools are just itching to be able to go the state meet. Good job. I am still sad, but still happy. Love you guys.

There is something that many people that look at our team don't know what they have gone through these past two weeks. My coach, Coach Dolph Null was in the hospital a few days before the region meet. He had a heart problem, where his heart muscles weren't in sync properly and they had to shock him back into sync. He also had high blood pressure. First of all this man was the most important person in my life through high school and I was quite worried. So Potomac falls not only did not have their coach at regionals, but he wasn't really even there for practice for a lot of the period between regionals and states. This team didn't have a head coach in a very important part of the season and I know it affected their performance. How much? IDK, no one will ever know.

peace

judging people

I'm pretty bad at judging people. Sometimes I can't recognize sarcasm. Sometimes I can't tell when someone is being a jerk. Sometimes I seem to get a long with someone who I hear from other people that this person is real bastard. I have also been led on by girls before and thats kind of annoying. People say it is bad to judge, but I believe to some degree it is useful to be able to tell what someone really means or their true intentions after properly judging them from what they say and how they act. Its like I talk to a person and I try to get an impression from them and I am like ok ok I think this is what is going on with them, then I go to someone I trust, talk to them, and they tell me "dude your wrong". I need people to be more straight forward I guess. When I try to follow my feelings to get that "impression" I am told by a good friend of mine that I am being "mellow dramatic". w/e IDK.............brough

lookin ahead a little

Met with my coach today. Finn and I decided that I will start running next week on Wednesday. Starting with 1 day on, 1 day off x3

2 on, 1 off x3

4 on, 1 off x2

6 on, 1 off

Planning out my winter training right now. I'll show him what I come up with then make something official. My goal is to have 2x sixty mile weeks right before I come back from break.

I just found out my RA, Nick Guendal, will not be my RA next semester. In a way I am sad but its really ok. He is a good RA. I just hope we continue to stay friends.

Pre Registration for spring classes is coming up. I think I will go ahead and take the two athletic training classes and then an econ course and then either an easy course or a political science course.

The thing is Im probably not going to major in AT. I realized that if I am an AT then I wont be able to coach XC and Track. So I looked to my interests: Econ, Gov/Politics, and history. Econ and Pol Sci would be a good double major possibly. They relate to each other so much. And I enjoy them. I do not know if I would enjoy a career in those fields though. I do like working outside though, and I don't think I would work outside with those, but if I can retire early and spend a lot of time outside then I don't think I care if I work outside or not. I still want to go into the military and I will spend plenty of times outdoors there.

Coach Null, my high school coach, was in the hospital yesterday and today. He had a problem with his heart and had high blood pressure. I heard from someone that it could be stress caused by coaching the team. I can def see how that could be. He cares so much about the team and it can get to him in a negative way. He did a lot for me and I want to know him for a long time. It is an important relationship in my life. I do not want him to be hurtin. I will call him tomorrow.

ah im done

good night

New kind of season

This is me at the 2010 Old Dominion Athletic Conference Cross Country Championships at Randolph College's new home course at a Presbyterian home in Lynchburg, VA. 30:19. Pretty happy considering I was injured for almost 3 weeks in the beginning of the season, it was my second 8k, and it was the hilliest course I ever ran in my life. 36 sec PR as well from my first 8k at a much flatter course up in Maryland

I am currently in my (about) two week break before I begin training for indoor track. Our first meet is in mid January, so that that gives me about two months of training after my break.

I have never ran indoor track, it sounds fun. I hear a lot of people set good PRs, but I also hear that the air quality sucks. I believe I will just try and focus on the good things, like NO WIND. Thats gonna be great. There will also be something else that is new to me, like the 5k on the track. I'm pretty pumped. I really don't care that it is a bunch of circles, that doesn't phase me. What does phase me is that its flat and has great traction. No reason not to PR. No heat, hills, sharp turns, other forms of weather to blame, just myself.

My goal for winter training is 2 weeks of 60 miles before I come back to school at the end of my break at home. I need to talk to coach and discuss. But if I hit 35 my first week or about 260 mins (7.5/mile-underestimate of speed), I could easily hit my first 60 week late December. I might actually do 35,40,45,50,55,50(Christmas),60,60, and then comeback and hopefully stay at 60 for a few weeks. That sounds good to me. Like I said, I am gonna talk to Pincus (coach) and see what he has in mind. So Pumped.

peace

Been a while eh?

So I haven't posted anything in a while. Last post was the beginning of Spring Track of Senior year of high school. Now I am a student at Roanoke College in SW VA and just finished my first cross season as a college athlete. In between these to moments in my life I had my last high school season, as summer filled with running, partying, and no working (it was great).

My last track season was not really what I wanted, but I definitely consider it a successful season for me as an individual. My 3200 meter times went something like this.....10: 44,22,22,23,20,34, then finally ran a 3000 meter in 9:31 which equals to a 10:13 3200 meter. Made it to districts and that was it. I was ninth in the district, when in other districts I would have easily been top six and had gone on to regionals and would have probably beat 10 of the 26 runners there. Kind of ridiculous how slow runners can run at regionals when they just qualified out of place in there district to make it there. I mean I think that they should have people who qualified with time and then added the rest of the top runners from across the region based on times from the district meets. I know this may sound like me just ranting how the system did not benefit me at all, but I actually do believe this would be better. Just because someone was in the top 6 in their district doesnt make them competitive at the region meet. This also goes for the state meet. Its like I would have even been possibly faster than the slowest five guys at the state meet. There were 8 guys that were seeded slower than what I would have been seeded as at the state meet. I am not saying that I should have run at states, but I am saying I believe It would have been reasonable for me to race at regionals considering the people who did run at regionals. And there needs to be more regulation on who makes it to states and regionals.

This last summer, I ran in preparation for cross at Roanoke College. I had pretty good summer, except for three weeks that were pretty blah. One was a sick week, one was beach week, and the other was lack of motivation (i think). So those weeks pissed me off. So my volume wasn't where I wanted to be, but the miles were high in quality, a lot of faster running. I hit like two 50 mile weeks, I intentionally estimate my pace slower than what it may be, so therefore my mileage estimates may be low. Coach Pincus said to hit 50-60 and I did.

Cross season wasn't great. I was here for a week, then got injured. My ankle got stressed out. I believe it was a result of running in Asics which I do not like and from all these hills which I was not used to at all. So that put me out for about 2.5-3 weeks. Got back into running slowly. Didn't race until Oct 9th. I ran a 5k road race. I hit 17:36. I overestimated myself and wanted sub 17. I put that behind me and ran my first XC 8k the next weekend up in MD at Hood College, did not go great, but it was fine with me. I hit 30:55, pretty damn slow, but that was in my flat (bad traction) and it was not a well groomed course. Two weeks after that I ran in the ODAC Championships. I place 61st out of only 85 runners, ran a PR of 30:19 and this was a much hillier course in Lynchburg, VA. It was the hilliest course that I have ever run. I am fairly happy with my season considering my circumstances. I think I could have run like 29:30 possibly and that it is being conservative with my guessing. I want to ask what coach thinks. Null says to think positively, and I do.

Peace