First XC Meet

Yesterday's cross country meet was held in the state of New York, at Bowdoin State Park. It's a beautiful park with open fields and hilly forests.

The trip from school to Bowdoin took approximately two hours. I slept so deeply during the ride that I didn't even wake up until people started getting off the van.

Everybody felt a little groggy prepping for the race. We only had about half an hour to warm up and get dressed before the race started at 09:00. The weather was perfect with temperatures around 22 Celsius. The sky, as you can see, was blue as ever.

The girls raced first, followed by the guys at 09:45. It's probably the toughest course we are going to run all cross country season. The reason being that the first two miles of the Bowdoin course keeps going uphill; as compared to other courses where it alternates evenly between uphills and downhills. Downhills afford you an opportunity to recover after the uphills. But the course at Bowdoin doesn't let your legs stretch and recover because as soon as you complete a steep hill, you have to tackle another hill- and this goes on for the first two thirds of the race.

Pure pain.


Yet I really enjoy running this difficult course at the beginning of the season because it prepares your mind for hill running. The trick is not to ever walk up a hill because if you walk up the first hill, chances are you won't want to run up the other hills further on in the race.


So glad when the race was over. I didn't do as well as I wanted to, but there was still a feeling of satisfaction because I beat my personal record on this course.



Everybody's feeling those endorphins.

Shona fueling up after the race.

Natalia hydrating. It's funny because in the running world, you don't call it drinking water. You call it "hydrating", which sounds so much more scientific and professional.

Coach Mark who used to run on the St. Peter's team.

Melody eating peanut butter right out of the container!

Whee!

After each race, I'd promptly remove my running shoes and put flipflops back on because my feet desperately need to breathe.

Then it was time to leave...

There was a bittersweet pang in my heart as the van left the park. I know this is the last time I'll be wearing the St. Peter's uniform, running this course with the team. I might forget that competitive feeling in years to come, as we fought the temptation to walk up those hills. But I won't forget the runners' high that carries my heart further than the hills, than the killing pain in every muscle and fiber.

I will keep these memories in a little place at the corner of my mind, a memory I can revisit when in need of motivation to run.