So, the other day I was trying to figure out what run I should go on-- I could do a 10 mile run on the Robert Frost trails or do a pretty road run around some farms on Leonard's eggs-- and then I thought, eh, I'll just start running around some smaller trails which connect to one another-- like Misty to the KC trail.  I didn't want to have a structured run-- I more just wanted to just do some randomly quilted trails.  I realized that I often decide what runs I want to go on based on my mood.  I don't really know what moods make me go on certain runs, but definitely, there is a definitive mood I need to be in to go on one distinctive run over another.  Running at Amherst certainly caters to my running indecision, but in a very good way.   I had this discussion with other girls on the team and they definitely agree that the infinite trails and road runs that are available at Amherst make running here just that much more enjoyable.  The routine of classes and coursework on top of a scheduled commitment to a sports team and other activities can sometimes lead to a monotony in which you feel like you are just going through the motions.  The variety of running we do at Amherst pleasantly offsets, rather than contributes to this routine.  Every run is a break from the sometimes monotonous routine of college life.  I never walk to the gym and go, "Great, I guess I'll go on run X for yet the tenth time this season." Rather, every run is different and never gets old.  After all, how can you compare the Emily Dickinson trail to Robert Frost-- I think they would be insulted.

So, yesterday the team helped out with a charity run which was held on our course.  It was organized by Amherst soccer Coach Justin Serpone and the soccer team, but the cross team decided to help out with directing runners around the course, timing, and other race details  that may be overlooked by a soccer coach, however adept he is (which surely Coach Serpone is).  Our help in the race follows another team service event from last week in which we helped the survival center by working at a furniture sale.  In a few weeks, the team will be running in a community-based run/walk for the ABC tutoring house.  Although service is important and certainly enjoyable, our team gets together for other fun activities, apple picking and team dinners over valentine fare.  It definitely makes you feel like more of a fully formed person when your athletic identity goes beyond the sport itself.  It sounds so weird, but It's so much more fun when you can be with your team and do things together that do not explicitly entail any elevation of your heartrate, any running intervals.  Although I may be deaf from moronically shooting the race gun at yesterday's race (without closing an ear), I am so appreciative of the fact that our team makes sure to do these different things together.  Maybe it's a function of DIII running or running at Amherst, but it's important that doing service and team activities is not regarded as entirely secondary.  And, who doesn't love some crunchy New England apples?       

Sorry I haven't blogged in a while.  The last couple of weeks have been kind of hectic in terms of figuring out classes, schedules, and also trying to get an afterschool program I help run up and going.  I'll try to blog more regularly because I know there are so many people reading this blog (sarcasm emphasized).  So, what I've been thinking about lately is the subtle (or perhaps not so subtle) length of the cross country season relative to other seasons and the strong urging to really start racing a bit too early into the season.  Cross is deceiving.  Like indoor and outdoor track, cross country begins after coming back from an academic break.  Indoor track starts following a winter break and outdoor track gets going (for the most part) once coming back from spring break.  However, the difference between cross and the other two track seasons is that you get back from summer break and still have about three months to go before the important championship races (especially national's).  Whereas for indoor and outdoor track, the amount of time that lies between the beginning of the season and the end is much more reduced.  Comparatively, the team would be just starting their track seasons at this time (after we've had three weeks or so of cross country training under our belts).  However, after having three or more weeks of workouts (I've lost count), I think the team just wants to race but this is when you have to probably keep the larger picture in mind and remind yourself that there is still a long way to go.  This is probably the most difficult part of the season because everything is sort of in limbo.  You have some solid workouts under your belt so you just want to race and see where you're at-- get a baseline gauge at least.  But, then you realize-- oh, that's right-- we have so much time left and you just have to hold back, be patient and train with prudence.  I won't even try to lie-- I wish national's were in just a few weeks.  But then you have to smack yourself and say, no Elise, just calm down and be patient.  Use the extra time to be smart, make sure you're lifting,icing, taking iron supplements, and overall nurturing your body to ensure it will make it through and be in top form until the end.  That's all for now.   

After a few tough workouts under our belts, the team is gradually getting back into the swing of things and for some, it is just beginning.  This week's workouts were tough already.  We had longer efforts on both steep and rolling hills, but to make things tougher, we worked out in no cooler than 88-90 degree weather and in humidity that was less than pleasant.  But, when you think about it, doing workouts in these conditions can be just as constructive as those workouts that cover the obvious basics like grinding hills, different types of terrain, different lengths and speed, etc.  Certainly, I would have preferred to do workouts sans an uncomfortably beating sun and repulsively humid air.  However, getting used to running with certain extenuating factors present, whether it be heat, humidity, time delays (any other external factors), adds just one more factor that you can add to your running experience library.  So, if it reemerges in the future, you are prepared.  No sweat-- you've been there before, gotten through it, and are prepared to handle it again.  Think of last year's open new england championships.  It was hot, surprisingly hot for a mid-october meet.  But, it was fine-- we had done several workouts prior to that meet (more during pre-season) in the heat and were prepared to run smart.  The most prominent example of using running experiences to enhance future performance comes from our 2006 cross country experience-- the epic NESCAC's race (which followed with some attractively red and itchy rashes).  I think running in those conditions, as crazy as they were that day, prepared the team for the marshy, strength-demanding conditions that we saw at National's just a few weeks later.  If not resisting the itchiness of the consequent rashes, running in those tough hurricane conditions prepared us and gave us confidence for what was to follow later.  So, when I think about the workouts we did this week, they were uncomfortable in that sweltering heat.  However,  our team will be able to give meaning to these tough, hot workouts if we have to overcome similar racing conditions in the future.  Overall, it's giving meaning to our workouts and giving justice to the pain we feel on that very last interval, in that very last 10 meters when all you want to do is stop but you keep going and finish.  

  It has been only a couple of days and the team has already put in a good amount of work full of tempos, cross training and circuit drills, strength-building long runs, aqua jogging, and even special exercises imported from Kenya (care of Assistant Coach Alison Wade).  Although it is early in the season, our team's work ethic emanates a diligence and toughness that will be with us throughout the season. 
  We only have a couple who are coming back from injuries and they will fully return to the team's training soon enough.  The largely healthy and prepared state of our team has made everyone quite excited for what the season will bring.  With the release of the USTFCCCA DIII Cross Country National Poll, the bar has been set at number one and the Amherst Women are eager to maintain their status.