Well, this was the first week of practice and school. I am a K-12 Physical Education major and Health minor, which keeps me quite busy with my course work. I am excited though as I had space in my schedule this year to take an elective...Swahili no less. I have wanted to try to learn Swahili since before high school, though I never though I would gain the opportunity. However, after my Freshman year at Calvin, the school decided to include in its already fairly large selection of courses Swahili. It may end up being one of my more difficult courses however because I never seemed to learn languages quite as quickly as my peers in high school. But with my excitement to learn it, coupled with hard work and a willingness to look foolish in class by asking "obvious" questions, I should be fine.

First day of practice we had our signature workout which we'll do a few more times throughout the season. I know guys were really looking forward to it because they realize what it will do for them and they haven't been able to do it since last fall. There were some nice surprises within the workout as to where guys ran, although I was not able to see where everyone was, which disappointed me...I love seeing where my boys are at after a lot of hard work this summer. It is so encouraging to see them with grimaces of pain going through the training because they want it so much. The next major point in our training that I was going to be able to get a good sense at where my team was at would be the time trial Friday.

With Friday came seemingly never ending clouds full of rain.  Although it did take a break from pouring on us for the race, the course was wet and the air thick.  Some of the 180 degree turns on the course were slick and going down Lumkes Hill I ended up having to dig my spikes in just to stay on my feet.  Looking around before hand I could see all kinds uneasiness on the Freshmen and first-year runners faces as they had little idea what to expect in their first collegiate "race", and so much seemingly depended on how they performed.     

As I had hoped, I got to see where guys were at at least at the end of the race, which was cool because not knowing where someone is at and then seeing them way ahead of exceptions is exciting.  For some guys to not know whether or not they would be able to make the team and then come out and run how they did was real good for them.  I talked to one of my teammates afterwards and he said just a huge wave of relief had washed over him now that it was over.  He had been worrying about his training because he had just stepped up to cross country from track mid-distance, hoping that all of his work would not just be washed away in the matter of 25 minutes.  For him to know that he had given a solid effort and had earned his spot on this team, it meant a lot to him and the millstone of stress that had hung around his neck had been cut away.  We learned a lot about ourselves and where we are at and what kind of character this team has.  

Afterwards, the entire men's and women's teams went to our favorite pizza place and hung out and talked for several hours, the last time all of us were going to be together before cuts.  The next morning the Varsity and JV lists were sent out. Those Knights campaigning on Quest 2008 have now been selected.