Hello again everyone!
It's been a busy couple of days as the Green Knights prepare to run our absolute best at the Midwest Conference Indoor Track Championships this weekend at Monmouth College! We leave tomorrow morning - bright and early at 6 a.m. As I've said previously in some of my other posts, I really think both our women's and men's teams are ready for a breakout year. Monmouth is really deep - they have twice the number of individuals on their team as we do - but we have quality, and while that may not be enough to overtake them, I know it's enough to compete with them and at least come in a close second.
First off, we had 2 school records broken last weekend. Our DMR (consisting of Kelsey Timm, Emily Schudrowitz, Ashley Graybill, and myself) ran a 12:36 which erased the previous record of o12:42. We couldn't help but be disappointed in our performance, however, since we were attempting to run a sub 12:18 to get on the NCAA provisional qualifying list. It wasn't our best day, but at least we did get that school record finally. Our men's DMR (consisting of Aaron Roden, Jordan Gobert, John Barrett, & Mackenzie Laska) also ran a 10:38, eclipsing the previous record of 10:39! All in all, It probably wasn't our most solid meet of the year, but we had some PR's and solid races... and after all, it's really this upcoming weekend that matters most...
As I was running this morning (in the pouring rain, I might add!), I started thinking about why I love running so much. I realized that of course a big part of it is having wonderful teammates that I have so much in common with and support me through thick and thin, but that the biggest single reason why I can't get enough of running is my love of competing. I don't think there's a much better feeling than getting up to that starting line waiting for that gun to go off. My love of competition is definitely at an all time high on a weekend such as this, when Conference rolls around. Conference truly brings out the best in everyone...so much so that nearly every race is a close one. This is when I strive to thrive - in those close races where the person with the most guts wins. I know I'll be in a couple of very close races this weekend - and it's my love of competition that will hopefully help me cross that finish line first.
There's a couple of great quotes from Steve Prefontaine, who obviously loved to compete and talked often about "guts." I've definitely taken to some of his philosophies about racing:
"I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I'm the only one who can win it..."
"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then, at the end, punish himself even more..."
And perhaps his most famous quote...
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift..."
So, this weekend, we'll see who has the most guts - who is willing to sacrifice for a Conference title or to get that last point for our team. I know we have plenty of people, myself included, who are ready to run/jump/throw the fastest and furthest that they ever have this weekend. We'll hope for PR's galore... which will lead to a happy ride back to Green Bay come Saturday evening!
I'll have a full plate this weekend as I'm running 4 events, and we have several other people - Ash, Marisa, Dann, Nikki - who will be doing a lot - but I know we wouldn't have it any other way! We're ready to help St. Norbert to its highest finish ever at the Conference meet.
So, to any of you reading this that also have Conference this weekend - best of luck to you! Results of our Conference meet will be on the website come Saturday evening, so check out how we did if you get a chance. I'll be back next week to share how things went, hopefully with a couple of good stories along the way as well!
Oh, and this week's site to check out is definitely the most comprehensive and well-known running website out there: Runner's World. There's plenty of new stuff posted every single day, so check it out! :)
Here's to the Green Knights - Ashley, Marisa, Katie, Emily, Melissa, Kelsey T, Kelsey M, Meg, Anne, Hope, Nikki, Danielle, Kayla, Kim, Dann, John, Jon, Aaron, Dustin, Paul, Brent, Bret, Tony G, Tony D, Steve, Benji, Connor, Alex, Jordan, & Mack... we've put in so much work so far this season... it's time to leave it all on the track...Determined to Dominate this weekend! :)
Till next week...
~Jenny
Here's a link to a pic of our DMR in action! :) :
View image
It's been a busy couple of days as the Green Knights prepare to run our absolute best at the Midwest Conference Indoor Track Championships this weekend at Monmouth College! We leave tomorrow morning - bright and early at 6 a.m. As I've said previously in some of my other posts, I really think both our women's and men's teams are ready for a breakout year. Monmouth is really deep - they have twice the number of individuals on their team as we do - but we have quality, and while that may not be enough to overtake them, I know it's enough to compete with them and at least come in a close second.
First off, we had 2 school records broken last weekend. Our DMR (consisting of Kelsey Timm, Emily Schudrowitz, Ashley Graybill, and myself) ran a 12:36 which erased the previous record of o12:42. We couldn't help but be disappointed in our performance, however, since we were attempting to run a sub 12:18 to get on the NCAA provisional qualifying list. It wasn't our best day, but at least we did get that school record finally. Our men's DMR (consisting of Aaron Roden, Jordan Gobert, John Barrett, & Mackenzie Laska) also ran a 10:38, eclipsing the previous record of 10:39! All in all, It probably wasn't our most solid meet of the year, but we had some PR's and solid races... and after all, it's really this upcoming weekend that matters most...
As I was running this morning (in the pouring rain, I might add!), I started thinking about why I love running so much. I realized that of course a big part of it is having wonderful teammates that I have so much in common with and support me through thick and thin, but that the biggest single reason why I can't get enough of running is my love of competing. I don't think there's a much better feeling than getting up to that starting line waiting for that gun to go off. My love of competition is definitely at an all time high on a weekend such as this, when Conference rolls around. Conference truly brings out the best in everyone...so much so that nearly every race is a close one. This is when I strive to thrive - in those close races where the person with the most guts wins. I know I'll be in a couple of very close races this weekend - and it's my love of competition that will hopefully help me cross that finish line first.
There's a couple of great quotes from Steve Prefontaine, who obviously loved to compete and talked often about "guts." I've definitely taken to some of his philosophies about racing:
"I'm going to work so that it's a pure guts race at the end, and if it is, I'm the only one who can win it..."
"A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then, at the end, punish himself even more..."
And perhaps his most famous quote...
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift..."
So, this weekend, we'll see who has the most guts - who is willing to sacrifice for a Conference title or to get that last point for our team. I know we have plenty of people, myself included, who are ready to run/jump/throw the fastest and furthest that they ever have this weekend. We'll hope for PR's galore... which will lead to a happy ride back to Green Bay come Saturday evening!
I'll have a full plate this weekend as I'm running 4 events, and we have several other people - Ash, Marisa, Dann, Nikki - who will be doing a lot - but I know we wouldn't have it any other way! We're ready to help St. Norbert to its highest finish ever at the Conference meet.
So, to any of you reading this that also have Conference this weekend - best of luck to you! Results of our Conference meet will be on the website come Saturday evening, so check out how we did if you get a chance. I'll be back next week to share how things went, hopefully with a couple of good stories along the way as well!
Oh, and this week's site to check out is definitely the most comprehensive and well-known running website out there: Runner's World. There's plenty of new stuff posted every single day, so check it out! :)
Here's to the Green Knights - Ashley, Marisa, Katie, Emily, Melissa, Kelsey T, Kelsey M, Meg, Anne, Hope, Nikki, Danielle, Kayla, Kim, Dann, John, Jon, Aaron, Dustin, Paul, Brent, Bret, Tony G, Tony D, Steve, Benji, Connor, Alex, Jordan, & Mack... we've put in so much work so far this season... it's time to leave it all on the track...Determined to Dominate this weekend! :)
Till next week...
~Jenny
Here's a link to a pic of our DMR in action! :) :
View image
Good luck, Jenny! Your determination and "guts" are so inspirational!