Boston

Well it's been quite a while since the last post. I thought about writing a day or two ago, but I was waiting for Andrea to get her pics from the weekend up, so go ahead and blame her. This past weekend was October break, which was mahvelous, but, like any other break, far too short. To start it off the XC team made our way down to Boston to race at Franklin Park.

I had a terrible race last year, so I wasn't really looking forward to racing there again. Thankfully I had a really good race this time. I went 50 seconds faster than at Middlebury last weekend, which was really exciting. It was a gorgeous day and the JV woman's race was first. Perfect. After our race we got to just hang out and watch the 7 varsity girls and all of the boys. And eat lots and lots of food brought by some wonderful parents.

Other than the race I just hung out and did nearly nothing. It was just perfect. It's nice to not have a lot of work after the exams and whatnot last week. It's looking like things are going to be pretty relaxed until at least next week. Finally!

Fall Has Arrived!

View from about half way up Madonna at Smuggler's Notch

It finally really feels like fall in VT. It's the time of year when girls are pulling out the boots and sweaters and putting away summery dresses and the time of year when you actually have to remember to wear a jacket when you walk out of your building. There's nothing worse than rushing off to class and realizing half way there that wearing just a cardigan is not going to do it for the day. It's also the time of year when VT is absolutely gorgeous.
When thinking back and trying to decide what to write about today it seems that the past week was filled with the usual math work and Ben & Jerry's consumption. (The flavor of the week was Dublin Mudslide)


One thing that I'm really excited about is the first ski team workout. There were only three of us there, but we were all really happy to get things going. I was really glad to hear that the other two girls there, Katlyn and Larissa, have been working out on their own and are both serious about getting things moving in the fall. Ahhh, I love fall, but I love winter even more. I can't wait to ski!

Me, Katlyn, and Larissa chillin' at the top

We did a hike up Madonna, which is one of the mountains at Smuggler's Notch. My dad had a "creative way" to go up the mountain. This sounded terrifying, but it wasn't all too bad. At first we did some 6-6 1/2 min bounding/ski walk intervals with a couple min rest. After doing a handful of those we just hiked the rest of the way to the top. It was a good workout, especially after racing the day before.

Fave pic of the day

As far as XC goes this week we had a couple of crazy muddy, rainy runs. We also had the VT State Meet at Middlebury on Saturday where the boys came in 3rd and we came in 2nd! We were obviously pretty happy with our finish as a team. As far as my race goes, I was really surprised to find out that my time was faster than last time. Before I even hit the first mile mark I started feeling pretty sick. It's the absolute worst when you've got yourself ready to work really hard in a race and your stomach just doesn't want to go there. I felt like I wasn't running as well as last time, but I still kept my head in the race and worked the flats and the uphills. I think it's a really good sign that even though I felt much worse and thought I was going much slower that I actually came out with a faster time. Getting faster every race definitely helps the motivation during the week. We head for Boston on Friday and race Saturday. Wish us luck! It's a HUGE race.


This week should be a fairly easy one. I have an exam in Abstract Algebra, but I'm not overly worried about it. Because I had a Prob/Stats exam Friday and have the Abstract one coming up I have no math homework for the week, which is pretty much unheard of. I'm not sure what to do with myself. I should probably start with cleaning this room. It's completely absurd.


Check out the slide show for more XC pickies! Ah, what a beautiful weekend.

XC LOVE

The Founder's Society Meeting gave me the kick in the butt I needed to write another blog post. It's been incredibly busy this week. Like painfully busy. I won't bore you with any nitty gritty details. A lot of math. Like a lot. I also started my placement in a 7/8th grade math class at Williston Central School for my education class on Tuesday, but I'll save that for another blog post. But I do absolutely love it and it's been the highlight of my week so far. For now let's focus on the past weekend. I don't want to think about schoolwork right now...

Before our race this weekend we had a team dinner at Julie's house who lives in Burlington. It was absolutely gorgeous. We felt like we were on vacation.

XC LOVE

Us lovely juniors (Brookie, me, Erin, Andrea, Mili, Elyse)

The meet this weekend was at Middlebury. I didn't get to run this race last year because I was sick, so it was my first real time on the course. I was really happy with my race. Instead of taking off in the first mile and trying to hold on (and failing) I ran smart and felt good. I worked hard up the hills and put in some surges on the flats. Even with the biggest blister known to man on my heel I was jumping all over at the finish. I was so excited to not feel like complete garbage the entire race. My time was still pretty slow, but I feel like I'll get there.

Erin and I chatting it up as usual.

Away we go...take note of the mountains. Ah, Vermont

We all ran in packs which was really helpful.

I could not be looking forward to the weekend more, but with the hardest part of my week behind me I'll just be coasting through the rest of it.

Catmount

First of all, please excuse my post name. I was trying to come up with something more creative, but I'm cutting into my nap time and that's just not ok. Now that we're two weeks into school it feels like we've been here forever. It's no longer syllabus week and I actually have a full workload. I've been working every night since Wednesday on an excessively long Prob/Stats homework assignment. Thus the desperate need for a nap. Tonight will be no exception now that he's extended the due date to Wednesday (THANK YOU!!!). It's going to be a busy week.

As usual, the weekend flew by. I wish it wouldn't do that. It was pretty relaxed, though, since our race was on Sunday. Friday and Saturday nights were all about watching movies and eating Ben & Jerry's. (A Knights Tale and Hercules, Neapolitan Dynamite and S'Mores...in case you were wondering) Saturday was an absolutely GORGEOUS day and I got to spend a good chunk of it on Church Street with my family. It was my dad's birthday and my brother came home for the weekend, so we all went out to lunch at The Three Tomatoes. Always delicious.

A view of Church St. from in front of Borders on Saturday

Sunday was the first race of the XC season. It was at Catamount, which is where we run our intervals on Tuesdays. We were the only Division II school out of the four teams there, so it was kind of more like a team time trial than a real race against the other teams (UVM, Columbia, and a team from Tennessee that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of). I'm not at all a fan of the course, which for the first two miles is mostly in a field loop that we repeated after running smaller bits and pieces of other sections. The best part of the whole thing is the third mile, which is mostly uphill for the first half and all down for the second. But at least it did something other than looping around that field.

I felt good at first, running a good first mile split, but somewhere between being excited because thought I felt great and could hold the pace and the end of the race where I felt slightly like death, I slowed down. A lot. In the end I wasn't all too excited about my race, but I have to keep reminding myself that I've only been running for two weeks. But still. Yuck. Hopefully Middlebury on Saturday will be better.

I have a bunch of pictures from yesterday since a couple of the girls weren't able to race and one of them borrowed my camera. Check out the slide show for some SMC XC action!

Back in Action

The first week of school has come and gone. It actually kind of flew by. It was nice for the weekend to come so fast. I wasn't around last weekend and it was really nice to be able to hang out with everyone I missed over the summer.

XC girls - Andrea, me, Erin, Kate

Erika, Maria, and I

This semester I'm completely working on my major, which makes all of my classes super enjoyable. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I have two math classes. I head to Prob/Stats bright and early at 8:15. I'm not completely in love with the class since I'm not really a fan of stats, but as it's a requirement for the major and the professor seems to be pretty good I'm not really complaining. At 1 i have Abstract Algebra. This class is interesting for me because I am one of four students in the class. It's an upper level math class only taken by majors, so, as most people find the idea of being a math major to be the absolute grossest, not many people sign up. It makes the class really relaxed. I really enjoy the itty bitty class size.

Tuesday and Thursday I have the Secondary Ed Block. I have one class a day from 12-2:15. They are separate from each other, though the professors work together to mesh the two. We only have one syllabus, for example. Starting in a week or two we'll be getting placements in local high schools where we'll be observing, helping, and teaching from 8-11 Tuesday and Thursday mornings until just before Thanksgiving. These classes seem like they'd be super long, but they go by quickly.

All in all, I'm pretty much in love with my schedule. While I do like LSRs and think it's good to have the Liberal Arts education it's nice to be focused on the two things I'm really interested in. Plus, I'm done by 2:30 every day, which leaves plenty of time for a nap before XC practice at 4:15. YES.

Speaking of XC, I'm bouncing back from my ridiculously long illness fairly quickly. We did a tempo run Friday than nearly killed me, but if that won't get me back into shape I don't know what will. I love being with the girls and getting to know all of the first years. With a team of 24 we've been having a good time.

SMC XC girls on a hike during pre-season (I'm MIA)

Another reason I'm enjoying XC season so much right now is that I've talked with my coach, Molly, about focusing on skiing. This means that she's really flexible with my schedule and I'm able to be more ski-specific. On Wednesday when we do strength I do my own strength afterward. On Saturday I went home with Juli, who's also on the ski team, and we did a long double pole rollerski with my dad. Sunday I was able to substitute a hike with Juli and my crazy athletic parents for the long run the rest of the girls were doing. It's so nice to know that I'm getting a head start on skiing compared to last year when I did almost nothing. I'm crossing my fingers for some better results. There's really nowhere to go but up at this point.

Juli and I on our cold, rainy hike

Juli and my dad heading back down