Sunday Funday

AM: 60 min. walk with Sanford
PM: 45 mins. ellip.

As I type this two days later, I'm still pretty sore from walking Sanford. Or rather, should I say, from Sanford walking me. That puppy is a bundle of energy, and while she doesn't weigh an ounce over 30 pounds she is deceptively strong. Our walk started at Queens, where I left the car with Jordan so he could accompany the team to McAlpine. From there Sanford dragged me down Wellesley, along the main thoroughfare of Queens Road West, then down Princeton into Freedom Park. Once in the park we made several friends, including an adorable rescue mutt named Murphy and a variety of joggers. After making a big loop in the park we headed back to Chandler's place by way of Jameston, one of us still full of energy and one of us thoroughly exhausted.


My view for most of the walk

My workout in the afternoon was a bit lackluster, but to be honest my legs and feet were pretty tired from the morning walk and from the hour Jordan and I spent on foot at the Festival in the Park. Forty-five minutes was about all I could take on the torture machine before my legs and feet were aching, so at that point I was more than happy to call it quits. Plus, I wanted to watch Jordan and some of the guys on the team play a pickup soccer game on the elementary school fields next door. It was a great time and they were actually much more coordinated than I expected. It was also one of the most diverse sporting events I've ever attended. I counted one Ethiopian (Futsum), one Kenyan (Nelson), one German (Simon), one Norwegian (Marius), one El Salvadorian (Benny), one Mexican (Jordan counts for the purpose of this census-taking exercise), one Jamaican (Oscar) and Devin (who technically is Irish...by way of New Hampshire). A little later in the game I was joined on the sidelines by Holly, then by Chandler and Sanford. If I had the slightest thought that my morning walk had worn Sanford out, it was quickly dispelled by watching her sprint full speed after the boys for the next half hour. What I wouldn't give for that kind of energy.

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"R" is for "Rhodesia"

Day Off
Dog Walking x 2

The workout just didn't happen today, but it was largely unavoidable. Actually if you count dog walking as a workout then I pulled a double. Jordan and I are dogsitting for Chandler's rambunctious pup Sanford this weekend while she watches the Horned Frogs destroy Clemson on their home turf. At any rate, I put in 7 hours non-stop on the feet at work today, which meant that I missed both ends of the 10-5 window at the fitness center. A cold drizzle post-work eliminated any chance of getting in the outdoor pool either, so I was content to drink wine and put my feet up while Jordan got waterlogged on his second run.

Our evening was rounded out with leftover dining hall cuisine and a double feature of Yahtzee and Scattergories at Chandler's while Sanford looked on. Trust me, I'm aware of how lame this sounds, but it was actually a decently fun evening. My personal favorite moment was during the "R" round of Scattergories when we were each supposed to fill in the blank for "State." For some unfathomable reason, Jordan was unable to come up with "Rhode Island," the only state in the entire United States of America that begins with an "R," a state he resided in for four years of his life and as recently as Tuesday was inhabiting. Nope, instead he left his line completely blank. I even had the foresight to fill in my own "R" blank with "Rhodesia," the now-defunct African state, so that we wouldn't both duplicate "Rhode Island" and end up canceling out each other's points.

It's times like this when I wonder why I didn't apply to any Ivy League schools. And, furthermore, how he graduated from one.

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Queens XC At App State

AM: 30 mins. ellip.
15 mins. core
PM: 45 mins. ellip.
20 mins. pool

Nothing of excitement today, so let's recap yesterday afternoon. It was then that I piled into the car with Tanya, Bennie (a new transfer on our team who is still ineligible), Chandler and Chandler's chocolate lab puppy Sanford to take a road trip up to App State for the team's second xc meet of the season. We left Charlotte a few minutes late after Chandler got off work late, and soon the drive became a race against time (and against other stupid people in our way) to make it to the meet before the girls' race started at 5. Once we realized that wasn't possible, we revised our goal to make it there by the time the girls' race finished. We made it to the parking lot at 5:20 and from there induced a mad sprint through the parking lot down to the course. I would imagine it was actually quite comical to watch--Bennie sprinting out of the car because he planned to run in the guys' race in less than 20 minutes; Chandler shouting "Don't run!" at Sanford, who had just been spayed the day before; then realizing it might come down to the wire and revising her command to "Okay you can run but just this one time!" I'm sure the dog grasped the nuances of her intentions perfectly. Meanwhile I too was running/hobbling pretty much the farthest and fastest I had in five weeks. In the end it was all for naught, as we arrived literally moments after our last runner crossed the line.

The good news? When the scores were tallied, the Queens ladies finished 5th place overall and, more importantly, two spots ahead of the perennial champs in our Conference and Region, Lees-Mcrae (we have a really sucky conference and region but that's beside the point). For the girls to do it today, especially when neither Melanie (5th girl) nor I were running, puts us in a pretty prime spot for when things get real in a few months.

After this we had a few minutes' break until the mens' race, which we spent chatting with Simmons and Jenna and trying to keep Sanford from running wild. The fact that Chandler's sole goal was to prevent her pup from running, yet brought her to a place where hundreds of people would be doing just that...may not have been the smartest idea. Oh well. Sanford was a crowd favorite and everyone loved her Queens shirt, even though it quickly become soiled from the damp and muddy terrain.

At 5:45 sharp the boys' race kicked off and, as expected, Mike shot to the front. Turns out that's pretty much where he would stay throughout the race; literally no one would come within 20 meters of him after the first mile, with the gap widening to almost 50 meters at some points. I swear, these guys should be embarrassed. He goes to a D2 school, remember? Aren't D2 runners supposed to be "babies," at least according to LetsRun? At any rate, as per usual Mike destroyed the field, although afterward he was pretty disappointed with his race and said he felt terrible throughout. Must be nice to have a terrible race and still destroy everyone. What I found most exciting was how well the other guys on the team ran together, finishing up with another two in the top 10 (Futsum and Oscar) and 8 in the top 40 (Simon, Matt, Nelson, Alex, Brian). The guys finished 2nd with 41 points behind Ohio State and looked strong doing it.

Overall, I left the meet proud of my team and more determined than ever to be back out there again soon. With over two months left before Nationals, I have no doubt we can continue to improve and see both teams have a fantastic race when it counts.

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