running this town

#8- Running in General

Dania somehow convinced me to do Cross Country my junior year.  (I continued through my senior year as well) I wonder to this day how on earth she ever convinced me. Well running soon became one of my passions. Improvements were made and I earned the "Most Improved Runner" of the season. It was superb. 

 I ran 2 half marathons while I was in high school. Few things are greater than the feeling of crossing the finish line of a half marathon. I consider it one of my greatest accomplishments. 

I traveled with the team and traveling with the school is the funnest thing ever. Cedar City, California and Idaho were all such different fun trips. I treasure the memories I made on each of those vacations. 

But if you asked any Timpview Cross Country runner, they would say the best thing about running cross country is the people you get to work with and how much you grow as a person through running. It's a tie between the two of them. There's no picking. I honestly loved every single girl I ran with. We bonded together through hard times and laughed at each other and did silly things. Quite frankly, I think it's the cross country kids that I might miss most about high school. They're great kids and I love them. 

"In running, it doesn't matter if you come in first, the middle of the pack or very last. You can say 'I have finished and there is a lot of satisfaction in that."

-Fred Lebow, Co-founder of NYC Marathon

oh the days go by so fast

January Highlights

• Field Trip to SLC
• Hanging with the gang. (KC, Trent, Christian, Sarah, and myself) 
• I wanna say Junior Jazz games (That might have been February?) 
• Basketball games

February Highlights

• More hanging out with the gang 
• bought my first iPhone for Valentines day
• Valentines dance with Trenty 

March Highlights

• Apparently the Color Fest.
• Apparently that's it.

April Highlights

• Getting citations at the Hot Pots with Stuart, Travis, Sarah, Connor and Bryson
• Spring Break with Travis James Tylerand Sarah Louie Thayne
• Karaoke with Nicky Boy Gledhill and the beach resort with wardies 
• Morp with Stuart
• Prom with Jake

May Highlights

• Spontaneous half marathon with Dania
• Les Mis with Nielsen crew and Shazz Matazz Faber
• Field trip with the Madsters 
• All nighter with my girls (hiking the y at 5 am, krispy kremes, senior all night party clean-up)

 June Highlights

• Moving to Maryland
• Watching a billion movies
• Calleva
• DC and Mount Vernon 
• Travis Pastrana's house

July Highlights

• Chilling with Becky Miller and Ashley Barney
• Mountain Biking and HBR 
• Surprising coming home! 
• Wicked

  August Highlights

• Student Gov Camp
• Football Games 
• Making up a bunch of crap about high school traditions at Frosh Orientation with Lyd

 September Highlights

• Cross Country trip to Idaho
• Beginning of Millie
• Volleyball Games
• Hanging out with the E-RIC 
• Football Games

 October Highlights 

• Leadership Conference VIPS! 
• My kick-a assembly for homecoming
• Homecoming with Travis James Tyler
• Halloween adventures
• Going to Eric's family party: games, football, wassel. 

 

November Highlights

• Best birthday ever!  18!!
• Big Booty, yummy food and mafia 
• 11:11 on 11/11/11 with Dania
• Experiencing my first yearbook deadline
• Sadies with Ben 
• Millie, Millie and more Millie  

  

December Highlights

•  Best friend party:dollar store, grey's, things
• Getting Netflix
• Christmas! 
• Awkward moment after awkward moment

A year of change, of hope, of tears, of smiles,  of experiences, of growth. Just another year of life. 

What will 2012 bring?

(Disclaimer, I have been working on this, I was just waiting for December pics, I really didn't just copy Dania. Great minds think alike I suppose) 

run, baby, run

I think it's time I run another half marathon. 

That means, it's training time.

what i want, you got

I just want a hot dog
...or a sandwich
...or both.

Running makes me hungry.

this city is my city and i love it

Mascot: Mr. Potes

Photobooth on the bus, wonderful

troublemakers in the back

don't mess

"oh my stars"--Ali Harrison

We've got a potato

IDAHO

Took this for Lauren

Boise Idaho-- the only place Fred Meyer still exists

Mr. Potes

love my girls

phase'n it

we are winners and we win this awesome trophy

Bob Firman himself

Favorite part of the trip?

Jaimie giving a motivational lecture type thing the night before the race. She compares the story of Moses to our hard work. Moses didn't give up, he worked hard, lalalam you know the story, it's Moses. Here's the dialog. . . 

"So Moses, didn't just get what he wanted when he wanted it. After he parted the red sea he was still in the wilderness for, what? 40 years!"

"Moses never even made it to the promised land!"

"Right"

Then we all just burst out laughing because it was hilarious. I mean, he didn't even get the overall goal and Jaimie totally agreed without realizing it. Oh I love Mormon humor.

One other funny part, we had to stop somewhere on the way home and about 5 minutes driving on the freeway after our stop we realized we were driving the wrong way. (We had to take a car and a bus, so I went home in the car because I was sick) The next stop was like 5 minutes from that. It was classic.

when you try your best

In the scriptures it reads, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heavens" 

So maybe it's not my cross country season. Last year, I gained so much from my season. I learned a lot about myself, and my abilities. Last season, each week I would get consecutively better, I would PR, I would feel great.  Maybe it was my time for that last year.

But here's the thing: I coudn't train this summer like I did last summer, I lost two valuable months. Instead it was my season to go to Maryland, where I also learned about myself and my abilities. I'm busy with student government and yearbook. I will be starting play practice on Tuesday, I have missed XC for some reasons or another.

The point is: it's my season for other things. It's time to grow in other places. I never intended to be the best runner on the team, I only intended to become better. However, comparing times from last year, seeing how much I haven't improved, it only get's me down. I'm becoming someone better by the other things I have been and will continue to do.

Sometimes we're our biggest fear because we don't know ourselves as well as we think. That's where faith and trust in the Lord comes in. We can only learn so much about ourselves in a small amount of time. Believe in his timing.

at the end of the day

Some days you just scream "Bennett" down the hall and no one understands what the heck is going on. Then you need to go into the locker room, put all of your stuff all over the floor, whine a little, cry a little, scream a little. Moments when you can't put your shoes on by yourself, so you just helplessly lay there on the ground until someone comes and puts them on for you. Then you freak out a little more, scare half of your team, and make the other half laugh. Then go on a run, run up some hills, do some abs and maybe a handful of push ups. Some days you just steal someone's water bottle, and grab a huge bag of ice just to eat. Then maybe someone buys you a Jamba Juice and some Great Harvest Bread.

. . . and then you feel all better.

don't stop running.

 

All I can say is that at times I wonder why the heck I joined cross country.  I usually wonder that when I am running. :) But at the end of the day, running laps for 4 hours, PR-ing your mile time, and knowing that you did it-- it's worth it. I get to spend the next two months, every dang day, with these girls, I am so lucky. They are the best. 

and yes, i am exhausted.