Aisling Cuffe's MileSplit.us Journal 10/3/10
Hi again! I am back to fill you guys in on my previous two weeks of life. I left off with me about to go on my first official visit to Duke, so I guess that is where I will begin.
Duke was a lot of fun! I won’t get into too many specifics, but I went from mild, high 60 degrees days, to 90 degrees in a short plane ride! I may be tough and from the Northeast, but when I get the chance to experience great weather, I live it up! The weekend was hot, but a great change from the iffy weather of New York. Sorry to say, but when I got home Monday night, and drove to school the next morning, the car’s thermometer read 43 degrees! And I am not even kidding! (note: not even New York is that bad in September, the high for the day was 70, but the mornings don’t heat up very quickly).
The following week went by very quickly. I had another race coming up on Saturday, and another college visit immediately afterwards! Even though I would love to try to peak for every race that I run, I know that it is not very possible. I had pretty intense workouts, and longer road-runs. It was a tiring week. Not to mention that everyone around me was getting sick! I am sure this phenomenon happens in every school, but about 3 weeks in, everybody starts catching the same “welcome back to school” cold. I hate being sick, so I become almost paranoid about keeping my distance from just about everyone (even my sister and dad!), and using my sleeves to open doors, and keeping far away from the box of tissues in every classroom. I made sure that at practice, if anyone was sick, I ran in front of them during the warm up and cool down, so I wouldn’t breathe the air they coughed on! Trust me, I know all of the tricks. Thankfully, I avoided the cold the entire week, and I was still safe for my race on Saturday.
I was a little disappointed with my race on Saturday, but only because I had really wanted to break the course record at Bowdoin Park, and I missed it by a good deal. It took me a few days to remember that cross country is much different than track. A track is a track, and can throw no surprises your way. A cross country course has character, and unless you truly appreciate the toughness of each course, you can be painfully surprised. To make a long story short, I guess I forgot how tough Bowdoin Park was. I was de-emphasizing the size of the hill in my mind to make myself think I could run a really fast time on a historically challenging course, and my mind games were working beautifully until I got to the hill. Oh well. Guess what mistake I won’t be making at the Federations Championships in November! But enough of the negativity. It had been a relatively hot day compared to the previous week of training (about a 10 to 15 degree jump), and I still broke 18 minutes on a course that only 6 people have ever broken 18 on (including myself from last year). It wasn’t a bad start on Bowdoin, but I know I want that record very badly!
After the race, my dad drove me down to Villanova for my 2nd official college visit. On the drive, guess what I noticed! The beginnings of the dreaded head cold! It caught me at last! At least it held up until after the race. Villanova was another great experience, even though the hurricane weather from down south was beginning to creep up into the northeast, in the form of dreary rain. But ignoring the rain, Villanova was another success. All of these great colleges are making my deciding job very difficult!
Because Villanova is only a 3 hour car ride from my home, the rain made another guest appearance in Cornwall. With the exception of one, very nice, warm, slightly overcast and dry day, the entire week was very wet. I guess that’s when being form the Northeast kicks in. The rain was actually a lot of fun to run in. You get to a certain point where you are running up a very tough hill, and you can barely open your eyes because they are water logged, and your shirt is extremely heavy. It sounds bad, but you actually want to just pause in the moment, and save the memory forever. Runs that take place in hurricane-like downpours are amazingly fun and relaxing. A heavy down pour can make just another day at practice into an enjoyable outing on the school’s cross country course.
My journal is done for now. I am getting on a plane tomorrow morning, and flying down to North Carolina for Great American. This is the first time I have ever been down at the meet, and I am very excited. Great American is one of those nationally-known meets that I have been hearing about from the start of my high school running career, and had left me wondering if I would ever get to race in it. In two days, I will finally be able to experience the meet from my own perspective, and not just the articles from years past.
Talk to you guys soon!
Editor's Note: Aisling shattered the course record at Great American, winning with a time of 16:40! I am sure she will have more to say about the experience in her next journal update.
Me at the finish of the Bowdoin Park Course
A great picture of the grass/playground section of Bowdoin Park, with me way in the distance after running down one of the hills.
