It"s That Time Of Year Again...Preseason!

If anyone out there has ever played a sport - especially a college sport - you know that preseason is the time where your team reunites to practice and bond before the school year starts. Depending on what sport you play, it can be really fun! Contrary to popular belief, the Cross Country team does not just run all day. Believe it or not, we do a lot of pretty fun stuff. For example, today -less than twelve hours of being with each other - we lost a frog in the house. That's right, not a dorm but a house. One of the boys decided it would be a good idea to catch a frog - a seemingly innocent idea. But then with that frog they decided it would be a good idea to throw it into the lap of an unsuspecting member of the girl's team. Needless to say, the girl freaked out and the frog hopped away. That was when we lost the frog. On the plus side, the frog now has a nice, new home and the girl's team has a funny story to tell.

Brotherly Love

Cross country boys -where to start, where to start? Being on a team, I naturally spend a lot of time with them. As Coach says, they're our brothers and we need to take care of them --sometimes this works but sometimes it doesn't. However, at the end of the day, we're all our own little family. Just tonight I was hanging out with one of my "brothers" along with several of my "sisters". One minute he was teasing us, his "sisters", and making us laugh. The next minute he was telling us that we deserve better guys then the ones we have our eyes set on. He was saying that we could do way better; there are people out there for us. Of course this sweet moment was interrupted by him making more jokes and saying random things. But when it came to be the end of the night, he said goodnight and hugged us goodbye. Perhaps Coach has it backwards, perhaps it's the brothers who need to take care of their sisters.

Run to the Cross

Another day, another struggle. We all face them just some days are harder than others. Things get mucked up and sometimes you just don't know where to go or what to do. Thinking of this stuff can get me into a tizzy. What to do, what to do, I think to myself. And then I realize I don't have all the answers - not even close. In this moment you might say I should drop to my knees and start praying. This is a splendid idea; however, I've had to find another form of prayer to work through these tizzies. For me it is running. Now I know, I know, you're probably thinking -why the heck running, doesn't it hurt and cause more pain then good. In truth, it helps me. It is a physical and mental release. When I slip on my shoes and tie the laces tight, I know I am ready to go. I run. I run fast. I run slow. I run long. It doesn't matter as long as I am running. I drop all my problems along my route and leave them there. I know God will collect them and deal with them as He wishes. Whatever He wishes to do with them is better than anything I could ever plan. By the end of the run, I feel free again. I am at peace with myself and Jesus.

Spilt Milk

Dinner with the team is always itneresting, sometimes it mightseem like we're just a bunch of children lacking an adult. For instance, tonight at dinner the boys were stealing each other's desserts while the girls were giggling over boys. Sometimes someone even spills milk -then it really feels like a family dinner. It might be crazy at times but at the end of dinner we always depart smiling from ear to ear. We're a team but, in an odd way, we've bonded into a family.

Six Years, Three Coaches

Personally, cross country had brought me several different types of coaches. Middle school brought me the coach who did't say much during practice but would be smiling away at the finish line waiting patiently to emphatically tell me "nice job!". High school brought me the jolly, rotund coach who was encouraging and supportive of all. He would laugh with us and empathize with us, but most importantly he would be joyful with us. College has brought me the most interesting coach of them all. He is utmost dedicated to the team. Whenever we need something, whether it be advice or material needs, he is there. He is my current coach, the man who tells me what work outs to do, how many miles to run, when to be at practice, and so on and so forth. He is the guy who pulls me over at a meet to give me advice, then five minutes later has me laughing and sharing a peppermint patty with him. It's been six year with three different coaches but only one has ever taken the time to sit down and split a peppermint patty with me.

One Mile & I'm Done

I was spending Saturday night with my closest friends who, surprise, are my college teammates. While we were together a girl came up to us and started talking about random stuff. In the middle of her chatter she looks at us and says "how much do you guys run?” This question is routine to us by now so we just laughed and sarcastically replied "not enough". Her eyes got wide and she began to say "is it because you guys can't get enough of it? Because I run one mile and I'm like WOAH. I. AM. DONE." My teammates and I just smiled. Why we run will always be a mystery to non-runners and a treasured secret to all runners.

Insanity

Running -it makes me happy and crazy at the same time but I love it. One of the things that I love most about it is how close it can bring me to other people, especially my family. When you run, at least when I run, I lose my filter. I say strange things. I sweat all over. I laugh. I gasp for breath. Pretty much the only thing that stays the same is the motion of running. My sister knows this for sure. There may be a six year age difference between us but she is one of my best friends. She will gladly go for a run with me and watch me, her sister, slowly become insane during our run then somehow gain sanity by the time we arrive back home. On the surface we're just a pair of running sisters. But in reality we're having our own unique version of sisterly bonding. On our most recent run together she said "my face is frozen into a smile". I think that describes us. We love our time spent together and don't mind being a little crazy once and a while, especially on a run.