[Archives 6]

Halfsies. Again. April 18th, 2008

This week has been full… busy but wonderful. Saturday night coach had asked me to share devotions with the team this week and Monday I had the opportunity to do so. I’ve been praying to have the chance to do that for quite some time, but since the coaches usually take turns I wasn’t counting on anything. I was thankful to be able to share my heart with the team in that manner and just hope that the Holy Spirit put the right words in my mouth to work in their lives.

Tuesday night I had an Advanced Calc test (eww) and as soon as I finished Erin, Amy, and I drove down to Erin’s house in Indy for the night. The next morning the three of us attended the Teacher Candidate Interview Day [all day Wednesday]. I was able to hand out a number of resumes and had 7 interviews throughout the course of the fair. It was quite the beneficial experience, although I’m fairly certain I don’t want to have to sell myself again anytime soon.
Today was catch-up day after missing all my classes yesterday due to the fair. Thankfully I only had one class to worry about- Coaching Track and Field. Speaking of which, we learned about the discus today. It went a bit better than the hammer on Tuesday. By that I mean I didn’t almost kill coach with my implement. Oops.

And, speaking of coach, that man has a sense of humor. He entered me in the open 200m dash for Saturday. The 200! First he halved my 800 and entered me in the 400, which I loved. But now he halved my 400 to bring me down to the 200. I’ve managed to run the 400 without starting blocks, which is quite acceptable considering that I’m not blazing fast. But to run the 200 without blocks is insane. So guess what I’m learning for the first time in my life tomorrow. If you said “starting blocks” you are 100% correct. Ten years into my career and I leave it up to the last two weeks to learn something new. Go figure.

But I think it’s a good reminder that there’s always time to learn; I can’t settle into a groove and putz along forever.


Vanna Discovers Meaning… April 11th, 2008

After being utterly discouraged and out of sync last week, Vanna walks up behind me during my warm-ups this afternoon and wraps me in a big hug.

“I think I figured out the meaning of track.”
Oh really? Do share.
“It’s a training ground for how I want to handle challenges and difficulties in larger life.”
Well said, my dear, well said.
It is a wonderful environment in which we learn to deal with inevitable disappointments and failures.

But there are also those shining moments when success peeps through and we are allow to enjoy that experience as well. Like tonight. Another second cut off the 400. Season PR. Coaches were proud. T.Bow: “Did your buddy tell you she PR’ed today?”… “Did she tell you she PR’ed?”…. “Another great coaching decision… made in someones 4th year.” Haha!

Somehow having someone else believe so much in you makes in near impossible to doubt yourself.I hope someday I’ll be half the coach that T.Bow and D.Bow are. They’re incredible.


36 days April 11th, 2008

“That is, technically, the best I’ve ever seen you run.” -Coach

Sometimes I get caught up in the details of school and fail to realize that the time I thought was creeping by is actually flying past me at a break-neck speed. It seems I can’t turn a corner around here anymore without thinking about how quickly my time is slipping away. Thirty-six days. Four track meets. Then my college career is over. My years as a competitive athlete have run their course. Tomorrow is my final Little State Invitational. Oh boy.

Yesterday I had the chance to lounge in the grass for a good 30-45 minutes while my relay members were hurdling and doing field events. As I waited on them to practice hand-offs, I laid down in the soft cool grass and had the time to take in my surroundings. The birds were constantly singing. There was the occasional sound of a ball meeting the baseball bat. Then there was the steady and rapid approach of footsteps. As they came closer I’d hear one forceful exhale for every two steps. It was a consistent and steady rhythm. “Stick.” Another set of footsteps would join in, metal would hit the hand, and a few paces later the strides would slow down to a stop while the audible breathing continued. It was beautiful. Thank you, Lord, for providing an opportunity for me to simply stop.


Potluck #2 April 7th, 2008

Today was quite possibly one of the best days of the semester. It seems that Voss potlucks tend to do that. Rach and I worked the nursery during first service this morning and has an absolute blast with Tristan, our sole visitor. I hadn’t realized how much I missed church over the past two weekends. Granted, we attended a service on Easter as a track team (which was wonderful), and held several services of our own, but as incredible as it was, it’s a far cry from being back with the church body. After second service we drove over to the Voss household to join in the church-wide dinner. Plans to leave at 2 were quickly thwarted and soon Rach, Deb, Mark, Mitch, and I found ourselves packing away leftovers, cleaning dishes, and sitting outside on the porch. I finally left around 7:45 to make it back to campus for a meeting. Ashley, Sarah, Rach, and I had apartment dessert at 9 and Mark and Deb came over afterwards to watch “Enchanted”. The price of procrastination is steep, but when considering the activities and interactions of today, it was more than worth it.


DePauw April 6th, 2008

This weekend’s meet was a fairly good way to come back from spring break and compete on legs that are, perhaps, slightly less exhausted. Highlights of the day include three very successful hand-offs in our 4×100 (thus meaning the baton made it the entire way around the track- a very big accomplishment for our first time), my first collegiate open 400, watching a guy high jump 7′4″ and eating pizza in the stands with the team after the 4×400.

Okay, so rewind to that part about the 7′4″ high jumper. He’s in his later twenties and sponsored by Nike. To give you an idea of his caliber, the world record (I believe) is 8′1″. He’s in the top 5 or 6 high jumpers in the country and definitely Olympic quality. It was an impressive show of pure talent, let me tell you.

Another side-note, our guys qualified provisionally for nationals in both their 4×100 and 4×400 relays. Huge accomplishment. Congratulations!

And so the countdown to Little State meet begins…. festivities begin Friday!