Throughout the course of the 2010 season, MVNU
junior runner Caitlin Campbell will write a weekly blog about what is
happening with the team.
"Off to a
Good Pace" (posted on August 31, 2010)
Our MVNU Women's Cross
Country team has had an awesome start to our
season. It has been a time of bonding for
all of us girls. We have grown stronger in
our running, but even more then that we have
grown stronger together as a team.
The first day that we were
at school Coach had us do a 2-mile time
trial. The time trial was a challenging way
to start out our practices, but it was also
a great way to see what our team is going to
look like this year. It was very encouraging
to see how our team has become closer
together as a running pack over the last
year, and I think that should make a big
difference in our racing.
After bonding as a team by
running our hearts out, we got to have some
other experiences that also helped us to
grow closer to each other. One day, we went
boating out at Apple Valley. That was
definitely a bonding experience as we were
all trying to hang on for dear life, while
Coach's father-in-law tried just as hard to
knock us off our tubes.
On Monday, we left for camp
at Mohican. We did some pretty hard running
workouts in the morning, but in the
afternoon we did pool workouts. We would
tread water, and we would also have swimming
and kick-boarding races. "Team Awesome” was
always the winner and would get to eat first
at dinner or get an extra helping of
dessert- which is a huge deal to runners!
Besides running, we also spent lots of time
at camp just bonding as a team. We spent one
evening playing tag on a playground, we went
on a run to Dollar General, we fit 15 people
into a 5-person hot tub, and of course spent
time around the campfire at our "team time”.
When we came back from camp,
we had a few more bonding experiences. One
of the most unforgettable things our cross
country team did so far this season was when
we baked cookies for the returning
upperclassmen. We all went into the kitchens
in Jennie K Moore building and baked
cookies. While the cookies baked, we played
cards and ate some of the cookies that Coach
had made for our team. Then, later that
night after we had finished baking the
cookies, we had a dance party. It started
with Sebastian showing us how to do some
dance moves and then we all ended up dancing
to songs that included the Cha-Cha Slide,
the Cupid Shuffle, and Cotton-Eyed Joe. It
was very entertaining to watch everyone
dance to all the songs and pretty funny that
we were all sweating more when we left from
baking cookies then when we had run earlier
that morning. (Here's
a link to some video.)
The last bonding experience
that we have had so far as a team was the
Race for the Heart that we ran on Saturday.
It was nice to be able to do a charity run
together as a team. The race was a really
good workout for everyone, and it was also a
good way to better tell how our team is
going to race this year. Even though it was
a 4-mile race and not a 5k, the run showed
how our hard work and bonding are helping to
make a difference in our racing.
"Keeping Pace with Caitlin Campbell" Complete
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