Back at school and two days away from our first CC meet of the season. It's a low-keyed affair, about a 3.5 hour bus ride away (don't you hate those?)
I put down a nice summer base and I was glad our coach doesn't use a "camp" to start to our August training. They are a waste of time. I'd rather stay home an extra week and be ready to roll when I get to campus. I was running within an hour of arriving at my university.
We are not that good this --2014-- year. That statement is relative. We were quite good last year (2013). Now in my final season, I began as recruited walk-on and ran mostly in the #8,9 position on a deep team (success!)
I was a former CC All-Stater who did winter swimming and no spring track. However, my coach was interested in me enough to offer a place on the team and give me a books and meals deal. Other than that --plus a few perks-- I'm a paying student just like everyone else here, who is a "civilian."
We are ranked. I don't know where exactly because I don't care. A lot will depend on health, a few freshmen, and how hard some of our veterans compete. If we are weak it's because of a lazy Junior class who aren't living up to their talent and are only concerned about their social lives. They've been part of team success alright, only because of who came before them. They were along for the ride.
It's quite aggravating to beat teammates who are getting very generous grants-in-aid, when you are getting very little. I'm not well-to-do like many of the girls. They will leave school debt free: I won't and have contributed more to the teams' strong record.
That said I'm really look forward to competing and I'm optimistic we can make the NCAA. For the first time in my athletic life I've put in a full 18 months of uninterrupted training as a runner.
But where there were few unknowns last season, this year question marks abound. This is a solid team that needs a bit of luck. My personal goal is a sub-18.00 season --all races-- with a peak of maybe 17:30 (5k). I've done summer's hard work. Now we'll see where real training takes me?
Next edition (#2): My teammates/college life.