Romans 2:1-11
Judging. We all do it. However, it is not something that is ingrained in us (or so I think). As a child, do you remember seeing colors? Knowing whether a person was black/white/fat/skinny? I don't. It wasn't until I slowly made my way through adolescence that this judgement came to pass. I had a crush on a person not of my own race in 3rd grade and thought nothing of it until probably high school. It was not of importance that he had dark skin and I had light skin. I just liked him for him.
How often do you walk into a new situation and immediately feel like you are being looked up and down? What does that make you feel like? Probably not the greatest. This is what I like to keep in mind when meeting new people or seeing someone in an uncomfortable situation. I know how it feels & I try my best to help them feel comfortable.
That does not mean that I am without sin, however. I know I am guilty of placing judgement on others. I've been working on verbally/physically (you know... the "stink eye" or looking someone up and down) not judging, but I have a lot to work on mentally judging others. Once I have accomplished this (if that is even possible), I think I will be even more comfortable in my own skin. There is some quote that says something along the lines of not knowing what battles people are fighting. That really mean girl at work may have been an obese child & was teased so much that she is bitter because of it. You just never know.
"By your stubbornness and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God."
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Ash Wednesday: A New Start
I felt this would be a much more appropriate place for my daily verses than my other blog. Forgive me for it being so incredibly long since posting. I still exercise nearly every day and God is there in my life every day. This season of Lent will hopefully get me back into diving into my relationship with Him more fully.
Tonight at Ash Distribution, there was a great Gospel, which pulling out my Bible afterward, I had actually underlined from past readings. I love it when that happens!
John 6:1-8, 16-18.
The past few days on the Book of Face I've seen all these people posting about what they should give up for Lent or how they're giving up FB. For some reason this didn't sit well with me and upon hearing tonight's Gospel it clicked. "Do not blow a trumpet before you." It makes perfect sense. In today's society, social media outlets are our main source for connecting people. For some reason there is this innate desire to share everything with everyone. I'm not sure that this is what He wants from us. Our church had a session on "What Jesus would have Facebooked" the other day and that does pose an interesting question. There is one thing we know and that is that He would and does love us unconditionally & there is comfort in that thought.
Happy Lent!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Day #1 (364 to go!) Monday, June 1st 2010
Well I was going to start this on Sunday, but time kind of slipped away from me and then I decided the 1st would be a great day to start (and easy to remember).
I haven't really explained what this is/why I'm doing it. I came up with it probably at the beginning of this past outdoor track season. Runs just weren't fun and I was going through the motions and as much as I hate to admit it, I was just ready to be done. I wouldn't describe it as burn out, because I was actually looking forward to running at my own discretion, I'm not really sure what to call it. But I came up with the idea to run for an entire year straight. I did this my sophomore year until I got pretty sick at the beginning of outdoor (so ~10 months straight) and had my best competitive year of running. Although I am done competing collegiately, I just cannot see myself being done competing. I'll be assistant coaching at Rose-Hulman next year, and there will just be too many opportunities to race and continue to challenge myself. Well, the more I got to think about it, the task just seemed selfish more than anything (even though I wanted to compete... I REALLY just didn't want to lose that runner body). At some point I realized that I wanted to add the ability to get close to the Lord into my daunting task. Lately, I have felt my self slip away from Him and I truly regret it. What better way to get close to Him than setting aside at least 12 minutes a day to talk to Him? So I finally decided I would challenge myself to exercising (elliptical, swimming, biking [although rides to and from school do not count!], and of course running) at least 12 minutes a day for an entire year, while choosing a quote, Bible verse, etc. to meditate on. So that's that :)
Today I had some business to take care of with buying a new (used) car. I'm so incredibly excited for all my travels this summer and the fact that I'll have a new car to drive by the end of the week is making it all so much more real :) I've been driving a 1992 Cutlass Sierra Oldsmobile since I got my license (when I was 19) so I've been very limited in my travels (no more than just over an hour outside of the Haute). The thought of getting able to drive to see my sister and her family in Louisville whenever I want makes me so happy! So I told the dealership that I want the car I've been focusing on. Now to apply for the loan, and then it's MINE! :) :) :) God is good!
So once I got that all done and over with, I headed to Deming Park. I didn't really have a plan in mind, other than on the drive there I decided on heading to Dobbs. So that's what I did. My new iPod touch was loaded up with new music and I headed through Lincoln/Woodshire to Dobbs. Ugh. I felt good but awkward. I'm not sure if that's even possible. The outer loop at Dobbs was calling my name, so I headed there. I debated in my head whether the bridge over the stream would be fixed (going on 2 or so years of being out). To my surprise, it was finally rebuilt as a memorial to fallen soldier and THSouth alum, Dale Griffin. It was really cool and I'm glad it also had a purpose. I continued on the outer loop and it was extremely muddy. I then headed back to Deming. Added on a little at the park to make it 30min even. Not the greatest first run back, but I was expecting much much worse.
My quote for the day was something I had put up on facebook the other day. I had read it in a book I'm currently finishing (after starting forever ago... urrrg how school gets in the way of my reading!), Rediscovering Catholicism. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XF5BN0KTL._SS500_.jpg It stated that "The depression of our age is not economic, it is spiritual." This summer, with my traveling, I won't have time for any sort of income, so I can relate to normal society with the pains of economic depression. But really, the spiritual depression of today is much more of a problem. I've been reading some great things from this book (thanks so much Brian Joyce for giving it to me!), but a lot of it is Catholic-related. The main thing that has caught my eye in the book thus far, is the fact that a lot of people will call themselves Christian or more specifically Catholic, but they truly aren't. I, unfortunately, definitely have fallen into this category as of late. Not something I'm proud of or happy to admit, but I am thankful that I have come to this realization.
Until next time... how is YOUR relationship with Him?
I haven't really explained what this is/why I'm doing it. I came up with it probably at the beginning of this past outdoor track season. Runs just weren't fun and I was going through the motions and as much as I hate to admit it, I was just ready to be done. I wouldn't describe it as burn out, because I was actually looking forward to running at my own discretion, I'm not really sure what to call it. But I came up with the idea to run for an entire year straight. I did this my sophomore year until I got pretty sick at the beginning of outdoor (so ~10 months straight) and had my best competitive year of running. Although I am done competing collegiately, I just cannot see myself being done competing. I'll be assistant coaching at Rose-Hulman next year, and there will just be too many opportunities to race and continue to challenge myself. Well, the more I got to think about it, the task just seemed selfish more than anything (even though I wanted to compete... I REALLY just didn't want to lose that runner body). At some point I realized that I wanted to add the ability to get close to the Lord into my daunting task. Lately, I have felt my self slip away from Him and I truly regret it. What better way to get close to Him than setting aside at least 12 minutes a day to talk to Him? So I finally decided I would challenge myself to exercising (elliptical, swimming, biking [although rides to and from school do not count!], and of course running) at least 12 minutes a day for an entire year, while choosing a quote, Bible verse, etc. to meditate on. So that's that :)
Today I had some business to take care of with buying a new (used) car. I'm so incredibly excited for all my travels this summer and the fact that I'll have a new car to drive by the end of the week is making it all so much more real :) I've been driving a 1992 Cutlass Sierra Oldsmobile since I got my license (when I was 19) so I've been very limited in my travels (no more than just over an hour outside of the Haute). The thought of getting able to drive to see my sister and her family in Louisville whenever I want makes me so happy! So I told the dealership that I want the car I've been focusing on. Now to apply for the loan, and then it's MINE! :) :) :) God is good!
So once I got that all done and over with, I headed to Deming Park. I didn't really have a plan in mind, other than on the drive there I decided on heading to Dobbs. So that's what I did. My new iPod touch was loaded up with new music and I headed through Lincoln/Woodshire to Dobbs. Ugh. I felt good but awkward. I'm not sure if that's even possible. The outer loop at Dobbs was calling my name, so I headed there. I debated in my head whether the bridge over the stream would be fixed (going on 2 or so years of being out). To my surprise, it was finally rebuilt as a memorial to fallen soldier and THSouth alum, Dale Griffin. It was really cool and I'm glad it also had a purpose. I continued on the outer loop and it was extremely muddy. I then headed back to Deming. Added on a little at the park to make it 30min even. Not the greatest first run back, but I was expecting much much worse.
My quote for the day was something I had put up on facebook the other day. I had read it in a book I'm currently finishing (after starting forever ago... urrrg how school gets in the way of my reading!), Rediscovering Catholicism. http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41XF5BN0KTL._SS500_.jpg It stated that "The depression of our age is not economic, it is spiritual." This summer, with my traveling, I won't have time for any sort of income, so I can relate to normal society with the pains of economic depression. But really, the spiritual depression of today is much more of a problem. I've been reading some great things from this book (thanks so much Brian Joyce for giving it to me!), but a lot of it is Catholic-related. The main thing that has caught my eye in the book thus far, is the fact that a lot of people will call themselves Christian or more specifically Catholic, but they truly aren't. I, unfortunately, definitely have fallen into this category as of late. Not something I'm proud of or happy to admit, but I am thankful that I have come to this realization.
Until next time... how is YOUR relationship with Him?
Friday, May 28, 2010
8th Grade (2001-2002)
Wow... adding the dates to the title make this seem like forever ago. And looking back, it truly was.
Well, going into 8th grade, someone (probably my dad…) had worked out a deal that I could run with THSouth’s girl’s cross-country team that summer. My mom drove me pretty much every morning to meet up with the girls and I fit right in with their abilities. Well, at some point I had to leave two weeks in a row. One week for dance camp (first ever in 10 years of taking dance classes…) and another for cheer camp with my 8th grade squad. Yes, that’s right, I was a cheerleader. I wish I had some of those pictures scanned onto the computer, because wow that was definitely part of my awkward years! Well anyway, I came back from those 2 weeks of basically no running and had lost any fitness I’d built up. I remember my first run back with South’s team was at Deming, and it was just pitiful. I think at this point I stopped coming to their conditioning, haha. If my memory serves me well, I believe each summer, two weeks before school started, we would have "conditioning" each weekday morning. Thinking back on it, my first experience with this before 6th grade, we just ran to Deming and back via Ohio Blvd (~2 miles) and I ended up sitting in the grass talking to a girl for a long while. A mile and a half can really kill an 11-year old! Man had I made improvements in those few short years. So anyway... getting along with things. I hadn't ran much faster my 7th grade year in cross, so I remember setting my goal time for something under 13 minutes (3k...). I don't really remember the races throughout the year, other than Amy Hamilton came on the scene as a 6th grader and they changed the system from 7th/8th grade & 6th grade races to Varsity/JV. At county I ended up 5th once again (as I had in 6th grade), behind Amy, Kayla, and my future HS teammates Ariel Hall and Kate Goeller. I didn't end up breaking that 13min. mark though. (I'm thinking 13:02).
Winter came which meant cheerleading season. I didn't really fit in with those girls, but I really enjoyed doing it. I was also on year #10 of dance lessons with Marge the Sarge. By this point, however, I had stopped playing soccer. It really was NOT my niche. At some point leading up to winter, I got this "walkman" with a band on it that I could run with. Man this was so cool! I recorded songs from the radio onto some cassettes (that's probably illegal come to think of it...) and was good to go. I remember having some sort of route set up in the neighborhood next door that I ran every once in awhile. I would come back and tell my dad how I had improved my time by X amount as compared to the last time. Wow was I cool. I bawled my eyes out at the end of cheer season because I’d made up my mind that I wasn’t going to do that in high school (goodness what a loser!), but then it was onto the fun part – track season!
Really, all of track season is a blur. I do remember making a rival out of Nicole Athey when we went to Honey Creek for our dual meet though. She beat me in the 400m going, I believe, 65. I remember having to look at her legs the final 100m. So this sparked a little somethin’ somethin’ in me. I have no recollection if I ran the 800 that year or not. I’m guessing I had to have at least once. But mainly, I did the 400m and the mile. Oh, and high jump (huge PR of 4’6” whoop whoop!). Well, for the county meet (this year at South), Chiado had a little trick up his sleeve. He had entered me in the 400m at a faster time than I had actually ever been, so as to get me that first seed & lane 1. Not sure if he told me this before or after the race. Well, Nicole started out in blocks, which was a little intimidating for me (even though at that level… man it does not matter). But as the race unfolded, we got to about 150 to go and I had already made up the stagger. I knew as long as I held on, I would win. Sure enough, I won in 64.xx. Now I’m not sure if this was before or after the mile, but as I write this, I’m pretty sure I had already HJ’ed as well as run the mile. For that race, I had been pretty close to breaking 6 all season, so my goal was to get under 6. Future South teammate (then, Honey Creek Bee), Brittany Fuhrmeister, was my only real competition. I remember constantly looking behind me to where she was. Had I not done that, I probably would have broken 6. Instead… 6:00.07. Dang. But I got the win, so oh well.
So that was all of middle school & running. I’m pretty sure at this point I still hadn’t run the July 4th mile or any sort of 5k road race. I was excited about running in high school though, because I’d watched the Engle’s progress in the paper and their dad had told my dad that they were excited to have me be on the team next year. We’ll see how much I can remember about high school next…
Until then: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
Well, going into 8th grade, someone (probably my dad…) had worked out a deal that I could run with THSouth’s girl’s cross-country team that summer. My mom drove me pretty much every morning to meet up with the girls and I fit right in with their abilities. Well, at some point I had to leave two weeks in a row. One week for dance camp (first ever in 10 years of taking dance classes…) and another for cheer camp with my 8th grade squad. Yes, that’s right, I was a cheerleader. I wish I had some of those pictures scanned onto the computer, because wow that was definitely part of my awkward years! Well anyway, I came back from those 2 weeks of basically no running and had lost any fitness I’d built up. I remember my first run back with South’s team was at Deming, and it was just pitiful. I think at this point I stopped coming to their conditioning, haha. If my memory serves me well, I believe each summer, two weeks before school started, we would have "conditioning" each weekday morning. Thinking back on it, my first experience with this before 6th grade, we just ran to Deming and back via Ohio Blvd (~2 miles) and I ended up sitting in the grass talking to a girl for a long while. A mile and a half can really kill an 11-year old! Man had I made improvements in those few short years. So anyway... getting along with things. I hadn't ran much faster my 7th grade year in cross, so I remember setting my goal time for something under 13 minutes (3k...). I don't really remember the races throughout the year, other than Amy Hamilton came on the scene as a 6th grader and they changed the system from 7th/8th grade & 6th grade races to Varsity/JV. At county I ended up 5th once again (as I had in 6th grade), behind Amy, Kayla, and my future HS teammates Ariel Hall and Kate Goeller. I didn't end up breaking that 13min. mark though. (I'm thinking 13:02).
Winter came which meant cheerleading season. I didn't really fit in with those girls, but I really enjoyed doing it. I was also on year #10 of dance lessons with Marge the Sarge. By this point, however, I had stopped playing soccer. It really was NOT my niche. At some point leading up to winter, I got this "walkman" with a band on it that I could run with. Man this was so cool! I recorded songs from the radio onto some cassettes (that's probably illegal come to think of it...) and was good to go. I remember having some sort of route set up in the neighborhood next door that I ran every once in awhile. I would come back and tell my dad how I had improved my time by X amount as compared to the last time. Wow was I cool. I bawled my eyes out at the end of cheer season because I’d made up my mind that I wasn’t going to do that in high school (goodness what a loser!), but then it was onto the fun part – track season!
Really, all of track season is a blur. I do remember making a rival out of Nicole Athey when we went to Honey Creek for our dual meet though. She beat me in the 400m going, I believe, 65. I remember having to look at her legs the final 100m. So this sparked a little somethin’ somethin’ in me. I have no recollection if I ran the 800 that year or not. I’m guessing I had to have at least once. But mainly, I did the 400m and the mile. Oh, and high jump (huge PR of 4’6” whoop whoop!). Well, for the county meet (this year at South), Chiado had a little trick up his sleeve. He had entered me in the 400m at a faster time than I had actually ever been, so as to get me that first seed & lane 1. Not sure if he told me this before or after the race. Well, Nicole started out in blocks, which was a little intimidating for me (even though at that level… man it does not matter). But as the race unfolded, we got to about 150 to go and I had already made up the stagger. I knew as long as I held on, I would win. Sure enough, I won in 64.xx. Now I’m not sure if this was before or after the mile, but as I write this, I’m pretty sure I had already HJ’ed as well as run the mile. For that race, I had been pretty close to breaking 6 all season, so my goal was to get under 6. Future South teammate (then, Honey Creek Bee), Brittany Fuhrmeister, was my only real competition. I remember constantly looking behind me to where she was. Had I not done that, I probably would have broken 6. Instead… 6:00.07. Dang. But I got the win, so oh well.
So that was all of middle school & running. I’m pretty sure at this point I still hadn’t run the July 4th mile or any sort of 5k road race. I was excited about running in high school though, because I’d watched the Engle’s progress in the paper and their dad had told my dad that they were excited to have me be on the team next year. We’ll see how much I can remember about high school next…
Until then: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
This is not the end... But just the beginning!
Well, since I last wrote, I finished up my collegiate career as a runner. Bittersweet to say the least. My body has been pretty broken down since about halfway through last summer in Colorado. I stepped down wrong from a bluff and popped something in my knee and never fully recovered from that. I had to start taking Glucosamine these last few weeks because the knee started flaring up again. Not to mention my hamstring problem that's been sticking around since mid-cross country season as well as my recent quad strain. I've scheduled my first ever massage for tomorrow morning and needless to say... my body is READY for it!
My last race a collegiate athlete did not go exactly as planned. All four years at ISU I have somehow made my way into the finals of the 800 at the MVC championships (indoor and out) except outdoor my freshman year. Especially after my miraculous entrance into the final this indoor season, the pressure was on to make it this year. Somehow the meet got behind 30 or so minutes and my warm-up and everything pre-race was completely thrown off. Normally it'd be easy to adjust, but with the unusually cold weather and looking back now, I didn't adjust. I had a good starting position and going off the heat sheet, I knew I'd be leading at least that first lap. Sure enough, after cut-in I was leading. About 300m in the Drake girl got gutsy and threw in a surge and cut me off. Goldcamp (Bradley) got around her so mentally I told myself "good. now just stick on them and let them do the work." Next thing I know, I'm on the backstretch being swallowed up by the entire pack of girls. My legs locked up on me and I couldn't do anything else but watch them run away from me. Something wouldn't let me give up and I got one of those girls back the last 20 or so meters. About 150m to the finish though, I was pretty down about this being how I was closing out my career.
I fought back tears as I walked back to my stuff. I watched the next two heats go and saw how FAST they were. 2:11 winning heat #2 (Brunk, you're ridic) and 2:10 #3. My dad must have seen me playing with my phone because all of a sudden I got a text from him saying "we're leaving." Not exactly the kind words I was in need of in this moment. So, I walked over to he and my mom and dad gave me a hug. I started to weep and he continued to hug me. I actually pushed him away because I just did not want to be there, I wanted my secluded pity party. Invite list: 1. He started talking about my race, asking if I had gotten hurt or something with the sudden shift in my racing taking place on the backstretch. I just pushed him and my mom away and said I didn't want to talk about it right now. He got mad with my reaction and left the meet to drive back home. I'm not happy with the way I had reacted, but figured he of all people would respect my space in that precious time, realizing that was the end. ((My dad was a gymnast at ISU back in the day and finished out his career 1 spot out of All-American in the vault)).
So then I headed to our tent for that much needed pity party. I sat there watching the 400H races and may have let a tear or two loose. A couple friends were texting me at the time, offering some kind words and what not. All of a sudden I saw Dustin Betz's mom approaching me and was kind of mad about it, because clearly I was throwing myself that party for 1. She hadn't seen my race though, and didn't know what was up. Just talking to her smoothed everything over. I'm not even sure at this point what we talked about. Something about my future plans and whatnot, but it's kind of fuzzy. Then Gartland came over to us and told me he was sorry he had to miss my race, but he was dealing with a jump off in high jump where CoCo ended up WINNING! I told him clearly that was okay and filled him in on the race. Then the ever upbeat Kyle Walsh came over with a big hug for me. I joined him on the alumni list at this point. So by this time I was just so over everything. Talking to Kyle and my friends via text, I came to realize a couple things:
1. Even if I'd had a solid race, similar to what I'd run a few weeks ago (2:14 as opposed to... blehh ashamed to admit my time... 2:20), I still wouldn't have made the finals. My outdoor PR is 2:13.54 and THAT would not have made the finals! TWO girls ran 2:13s and didn't make the finals! It was just an extremely fast year in the 800.
2. This last race of mine leaves an extremely bitter taste in my mouth. God is telling me I cannot get lazy and just plain forget about racing. I need to continue to train and race while I still have access to do so. I had talked about still racing here and there next year, but pretty much just to do it. Now I see that I need to do it not out of spite (keeping that runner body...), but for a greater purpose.
So sure, I'm done being a collegiate athlete, but I will NEVER be done being a runner (God-willing of course... this body is extremely expendable). That's the joy of our sport. With football, volleyball, etc., when you're done, you're done. We can continue doing our sport for the rest of our lives at our own discretion. And there are ALWAYS races to jump into! So I'm giving myself 2 weeks to hang out, forget about training, probably add on some pounds and what not. And then it's right back to the 'ol grindstone. I traded in my last pair of team issued Brooks shoes for the latest Mizuno Inspires, and they're just burning in their box, ready to be used :)
Until next time... "In his heart a man plans his course,but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
ISUT&F Seniors 2010
My last race a collegiate athlete did not go exactly as planned. All four years at ISU I have somehow made my way into the finals of the 800 at the MVC championships (indoor and out) except outdoor my freshman year. Especially after my miraculous entrance into the final this indoor season, the pressure was on to make it this year. Somehow the meet got behind 30 or so minutes and my warm-up and everything pre-race was completely thrown off. Normally it'd be easy to adjust, but with the unusually cold weather and looking back now, I didn't adjust. I had a good starting position and going off the heat sheet, I knew I'd be leading at least that first lap. Sure enough, after cut-in I was leading. About 300m in the Drake girl got gutsy and threw in a surge and cut me off. Goldcamp (Bradley) got around her so mentally I told myself "good. now just stick on them and let them do the work." Next thing I know, I'm on the backstretch being swallowed up by the entire pack of girls. My legs locked up on me and I couldn't do anything else but watch them run away from me. Something wouldn't let me give up and I got one of those girls back the last 20 or so meters. About 150m to the finish though, I was pretty down about this being how I was closing out my career.
I fought back tears as I walked back to my stuff. I watched the next two heats go and saw how FAST they were. 2:11 winning heat #2 (Brunk, you're ridic) and 2:10 #3. My dad must have seen me playing with my phone because all of a sudden I got a text from him saying "we're leaving." Not exactly the kind words I was in need of in this moment. So, I walked over to he and my mom and dad gave me a hug. I started to weep and he continued to hug me. I actually pushed him away because I just did not want to be there, I wanted my secluded pity party. Invite list: 1. He started talking about my race, asking if I had gotten hurt or something with the sudden shift in my racing taking place on the backstretch. I just pushed him and my mom away and said I didn't want to talk about it right now. He got mad with my reaction and left the meet to drive back home. I'm not happy with the way I had reacted, but figured he of all people would respect my space in that precious time, realizing that was the end. ((My dad was a gymnast at ISU back in the day and finished out his career 1 spot out of All-American in the vault)).
So then I headed to our tent for that much needed pity party. I sat there watching the 400H races and may have let a tear or two loose. A couple friends were texting me at the time, offering some kind words and what not. All of a sudden I saw Dustin Betz's mom approaching me and was kind of mad about it, because clearly I was throwing myself that party for 1. She hadn't seen my race though, and didn't know what was up. Just talking to her smoothed everything over. I'm not even sure at this point what we talked about. Something about my future plans and whatnot, but it's kind of fuzzy. Then Gartland came over to us and told me he was sorry he had to miss my race, but he was dealing with a jump off in high jump where CoCo ended up WINNING! I told him clearly that was okay and filled him in on the race. Then the ever upbeat Kyle Walsh came over with a big hug for me. I joined him on the alumni list at this point. So by this time I was just so over everything. Talking to Kyle and my friends via text, I came to realize a couple things:
1. Even if I'd had a solid race, similar to what I'd run a few weeks ago (2:14 as opposed to... blehh ashamed to admit my time... 2:20), I still wouldn't have made the finals. My outdoor PR is 2:13.54 and THAT would not have made the finals! TWO girls ran 2:13s and didn't make the finals! It was just an extremely fast year in the 800.
2. This last race of mine leaves an extremely bitter taste in my mouth. God is telling me I cannot get lazy and just plain forget about racing. I need to continue to train and race while I still have access to do so. I had talked about still racing here and there next year, but pretty much just to do it. Now I see that I need to do it not out of spite (keeping that runner body...), but for a greater purpose.
So sure, I'm done being a collegiate athlete, but I will NEVER be done being a runner (God-willing of course... this body is extremely expendable). That's the joy of our sport. With football, volleyball, etc., when you're done, you're done. We can continue doing our sport for the rest of our lives at our own discretion. And there are ALWAYS races to jump into! So I'm giving myself 2 weeks to hang out, forget about training, probably add on some pounds and what not. And then it's right back to the 'ol grindstone. I traded in my last pair of team issued Brooks shoes for the latest Mizuno Inspires, and they're just burning in their box, ready to be used :)
Until next time... "In his heart a man plans his course,but the LORD determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9
ISUT&F Seniors 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Getting Antsy....
So I still have awhile until I actually start this count... but I decided many months ago about this "project" if you will and started to get antsy. So, I figured I would slowly unfold my running background story.
Half of my life has been consumed by running. 4th-6th grade I played Rec soccer because I grew up watching my brothers play on Flyers/HS & wanted to try it out myself. It was NOT my thing! My best move was the handstands I would do in the backfield when they'd put me at defender. Midfield was my best position, because it involved a lot of running, which I slowly realized I loved.
I decided to give cross-country a try when the middle school coaches came in to my 5th grade class trying to recruit. My brother, Aaron, had done it, and since I had a tendency to do what my brothers did, I figured I'd give it a try. I ended up loving it and did pretty well for myself in 6th grade. If my memory serves me correctly, I was 7th overall and the best 6th grader on the team. I got my first taste of the Lavern Gibson Championship Course at our county meet (3k) running a 13:43 (going off memory here...) and getting 5th in the 6th grade race.
Track wasn't offered for 6th graders, so I tried my hand at tennis. It turned out hand-eye coordination didn't happen to be my thing. Thankfully the next year I was able to go out for the track team. My coach, Mr. Chiado, wasn't really sure event-wise where to put me. One day at practice, he had myself and Lizz Seigel do an 800m time trial. If my memory serves me correctly, I went about 2:56, and Chiado was thrilled. That's what I was going to run for our first meet. Throughout the season I continued to drop time and at our meet at Otter Creek, I ran against a girl who would be my rival for the next 5 years and then become my teammate, Kayla Alexander. She got a huge lead on me and then my last 100m was insane and I beat her by a step at the line. Mrs. Newton got a picture of that finish, and I can't remember if I ever told Kayla this... but that picture was on my locker for the next year + as motivation. The big county meet came up at Terre Haute North and I remember not wanting to let that same situation happen again so I took off in the beginning like crazy. At the 600m mark, I remember looking behind me because there was literally no one around me. Chiado yelled at me for looking behind and to just finish the race. 2:38.
So this was my introduction to the 800m, forever my niche. Most people start out in an event and then find out they're better at something else. A lot of the times, they'll move up in distance. I, however, have forever been an 800m runner. I tried the 400, the mile, 1500 (college), steeple (college), but have always gone back to the 8.
Well that's it for now. Next up: 8th grade :)& remember, "if God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it."
Half of my life has been consumed by running. 4th-6th grade I played Rec soccer because I grew up watching my brothers play on Flyers/HS & wanted to try it out myself. It was NOT my thing! My best move was the handstands I would do in the backfield when they'd put me at defender. Midfield was my best position, because it involved a lot of running, which I slowly realized I loved.
I decided to give cross-country a try when the middle school coaches came in to my 5th grade class trying to recruit. My brother, Aaron, had done it, and since I had a tendency to do what my brothers did, I figured I'd give it a try. I ended up loving it and did pretty well for myself in 6th grade. If my memory serves me correctly, I was 7th overall and the best 6th grader on the team. I got my first taste of the Lavern Gibson Championship Course at our county meet (3k) running a 13:43 (going off memory here...) and getting 5th in the 6th grade race.
Track wasn't offered for 6th graders, so I tried my hand at tennis. It turned out hand-eye coordination didn't happen to be my thing. Thankfully the next year I was able to go out for the track team. My coach, Mr. Chiado, wasn't really sure event-wise where to put me. One day at practice, he had myself and Lizz Seigel do an 800m time trial. If my memory serves me correctly, I went about 2:56, and Chiado was thrilled. That's what I was going to run for our first meet. Throughout the season I continued to drop time and at our meet at Otter Creek, I ran against a girl who would be my rival for the next 5 years and then become my teammate, Kayla Alexander. She got a huge lead on me and then my last 100m was insane and I beat her by a step at the line. Mrs. Newton got a picture of that finish, and I can't remember if I ever told Kayla this... but that picture was on my locker for the next year + as motivation. The big county meet came up at Terre Haute North and I remember not wanting to let that same situation happen again so I took off in the beginning like crazy. At the 600m mark, I remember looking behind me because there was literally no one around me. Chiado yelled at me for looking behind and to just finish the race. 2:38.
So this was my introduction to the 800m, forever my niche. Most people start out in an event and then find out they're better at something else. A lot of the times, they'll move up in distance. I, however, have forever been an 800m runner. I tried the 400, the mile, 1500 (college), steeple (college), but have always gone back to the 8.
Well that's it for now. Next up: 8th grade :)& remember, "if God brings you to it, He'll bring you through it."
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