Andrew Wortham (Grace) - Blog #9

Monday was crazy.  I had my first pineland workout of the year.  Having never worked out at pineland before, I was very unsure of what to expect.  It ended up being just as anyone else who has done a pineland workout knows, inexplicable.  It was something that has to be experienced for one’s self.  It was hard yet fun and was a real bonding experience.  I felt like a member of a true team.  Emotion was high, feet flew and I left pineland a changed man.   

Tuesday rolled along and I amused myself in the usual way by just sitting around.  A simple run sufficed for the day.  Wednesday was like an upgraded Tuesday.  I went on a run and then lifted for the final time this season.  It was sweet. 

Thursday, however, broke the routine.  We had a progressive tempo run.  The first two miles were nice, relaxed and easy.  The third mile was where the work started.  I felt great so I surged up the hill to the end of the third mile.  I did not feel so great during the last mile though.  We ran a 5:05, and it actually turned out to be quite hard.  My arms felt like lead, my legs filled with acid, and my breath hit the air like heavy mallets on a drum.  I finished the workout in stride with the others in the top pack.  It was hard.  I had to poop.  But I wanted more.  It was the first time I felt like myself again after the long, slow process of recovering from my injury.

Friday was an amazing day, the highlight being the time trial.  Beforehand, I ran 8 miles with Devin at the usual 6:50 pace and showered and prepared to watch the spectacle.  Showering took a while, as usual, and I didn’t get out to the track until a lap into the 5k.  When I arrived the pack was still moving as a unit, no one ready to give up any ground.  Predictions had been published earlier in the week, so we were anxious to see how things played out relative to their expectations.  Now we were finally watching it unfold.  Everyone was gathered at the start line taking splits so when the pack ran by they were warmly welcomed by a raucous crowd, cheering and yelling.

The Big Ticket and Eeyore were the two favorites according to the predictions, and as the pack started to thin those two were the trail blazers.  They had company however: mainly Stitch, Elmo and Stagnetti.  Elmo looked impatient throughout the race, taking the lead on several occasions.  Elmo had been angered by his position in the rankings, having been said to have no chance of winning because he simply was not in shape.  With a mile to go Stitch realized he could not win a kicker’s race and attempted a move.  He surged to the lead but fell back quickly and was engulfed by the front runners.

Eeyore and Ticket remained in charge through 4000, but neither was ready for the increase in pace Elmo initiated with 1000 to go.  Elmo however did not win as with 600 to go Stagnetti, who had stuck with Elmo, took the lead with a decisive move and in one giant surge and a bunch of giant bounds, ended the race with a great win and a solid 5k time.  Stagnetti was well aware of all the hype and had shown up wearing T-roy’s Halloween costume.  He was a self-proclaimed dark horse, calling the predictions harsh but laughing about them, hungry for a win.

After the time trial, the team went to Espo’s house for dinner.  We gathered as a team for a delicious pasta dinner, and a meeting.  While we devoured the non-commons pasta which was scrumptious but had to be cut with scissors, we watched the world free-running championships, which was good for a laugh.  When I got back to my room I still had plenty of time before I had to sleep.*  I decided to go to the Ronj to play pool with some friends.  While there however I started to feel sick.  My body got sore and achy and I had to sit down after every shot.  I made it back to my room and went to sleep after taking some Aleve, realizing the poor timing of my sickness but also realizing that I am an iron-man and would be unaffected. 

Saturday morning I woke up just before my alarm, and I instantly analyzed how I felt.  I told myself I felt much better.  I no longer felt feverish.  I did however still feel achy, and it hurt to swallow.  I packed my belongings in the dark trying not to awaken my roommate and once ready embarked for Merrill.  Very unsure of what would be open and who would be there I walked through the dim lit, desolate campus.  9:00 on a Saturday felt real early.  It was eerie, and I had a stuffed backpack on with my race bag slung over my shoulder.  I felt like an explorer of some sort.  But then I got to Merrill and saw that it was open.  I was able to run with Tom and Graham who both conveniently were ready at the same time as me.  It was a nice leisurely 3 mile run.  I went to breakfast and forced some food down, but I felt well enough that there was no way I was missing the race. 

I went on the 4 hour drive to the course.  Coach Fresh sent us on a 3 mile run over the first 3 miles of the course but no one had any idea where to go.  A bunch of guys with two maps and no sense of direction, we ended up doing a 22 minute scattered run/ walk around the trails we would run over at some point during the race.  Then we finished and went to the hotel.  Once there we sucked on honey while our stomachs growled as we waited for dinner.  When it arrived we ate.  Pumped and satisfied, at 8:00 we had a meeting in coach’s room in which we talked about our need to do better than we have previously this season and how much the race was going to hurt.  Then the traditional glove giving occurred and we scattered.  I went to my room and watched Ocean’s Eleven.  The bed was really soft and sleep came soon after Doug, my roommate, turned off the TV. 

Sunday I woke up and went for a run with Doug.  4 minutes out followed by 4 minutes back made our blood start flowing.  I ate a bagel with peanut butter and jelly on it followed by a very dry scone.  Then I checked out and joined the team in piling onto the bus.  We got to the meet and the race was finally going to happen.  I was so excited.
The gun went off and we ran like mad.  Jag slipped right on the line.  The course was muddy, slimy and full of hills.  This rugged sport of spikes and adrenaline is exactly what we had signed up for at the beginning of the season, and we were finally letting ourselves loose.  I battled along with teammates, as I passed some and get passed by others.  The fight for each spot was fierce.  Duel by duel, I fought my way to finish line. 
The race was the climax of the weekend.  I had fun and on the way back to Bates I watched a movie, stopped for dinner and napped.*  Sunday came to an end and I had to go prepare for another exciting week of Bates XC.

*On both these occaisions, Grace neglects to mention that he played a few thrilling games of cribbage with Sweetums, who is unquestionably the coolest member of the team. Sweetums was victorious in the majority of the games due to his unparalleled cribbage playing ability.

Ryan Rice (Noodles) - Blog #8

    Monday
I woke up to the buzzing of my alarm at 6:45 in the morning, telling me that I had just 15 minutes until our Monday morning swim practice. In a haze, I rolled out of bed, dressed myself and slumbered over to the gym. After a 45 minute long swim practice, which included the tiresome 20 by 2s, I headed over to Commons, where I enjoyed for the first time in my life ‘pumpkin pancakes.’ Classes went by quickly, especially my Inorganic Chemistry class, where we built models of different molecules to see a representation of their structural shapes and holes. At 4, I headed over to the gym, and headed to Pineland with the team, where I enjoyed the most scenic 15 mile run of my life. Running with Devin, Troy, Swayze, Conor, and Todd was quite entertaining (especially when the guys explained to Todd their weekend adventures). I returned back to campus at 7:30pm, showered, and ate a scrumptious meal at Commons. After dinner, I headed back over to my dorm and began homework. At about 11:30pm I began to procrastinate with Ellen, my lady friend on the girls cross country team (aka Shnoodle), by watching the infamous ‘Warcraft Freakout’ and ‘Denis at the Dentist’ YouTube videos. At about 12:15 I decided to call it a day and let my weary eyes drift off into sleep.

Tuesday
I did not sleep well last night. My roommate has been very sick, and I awoke constantly to the sounds of what sounded like a dying farm animal as he snored violently due to this cold. Nevertheless, I rolled out of bed, had a delicious breakfast at commons, and headed to class. My first class was a Physics lab. I partnered with Swayze from the team and we completed the lab 30 minutes ahead of time, because we’re just that cool. No big deal. I then had a Calculus II lab, lunch, and then my first year seminar. I received my first graded college paper back, and was happy to see an A+. Very nice.

Practice was great. Doug, Conor, Devin, Griff and I went on a nine and half mile run through pretty much all of Auburn. From running through trails, through Auburn, crop fields, and then across a train track bridge, the run pretty much had it all. To my dismay though, I developed a throbbing pain in my heel during the run. After the run and talking to the guys, I fear it may be early signs of Plantar Fascitiis, but I think if I am smart, take care of myself, and take it easy for the next two or three days, I can avoid injury.

Wednesday
Like every other morning, I woke up, showered, headed to commons, ate a ridiculously tasty breakfast, and then headed off to class. I started today’s classes off with my first college exam ever. It was Physics and it was tolerable. I felt confident throughout the entire exam, but there always seem to be those little mistakes we all make that add up. I checked my work about three hundred and seventy nine times, give or take two, before handing it in, so hopefully that’s not the case. After Physics, I had my Calculus II class, lunch, and then did some homework with Ellen. At 2:40 I headed to Inorganic Chemistry. Although I have an A in that class, due solely to grunt mule work with homework and quizzes, I have very little idea of what is actually going on, and that scares me as much as possibly seeing Sweetums with short hair or some other haircut or something. After class, I went to practice, to which I grudgingly cross trained on the elliptical for an hour, due to the pain in my heel. I was able to walk without much pain today, so that is a good sign. Hopefully the precaution I am putting into preventing a full blown injury pays off. Anyways, after an hour on the elliptical, some weights, and enough stretching to make even a completely bed ridden grandpa flexible, I headed off to commons for some din-din with Stitch. I ate quickly as I had a math review session at 7 – which was a good review, and I feel pretty confident about the material. After the review session, I headed back to Smith, and continued to do homework in Ellen’s room. At about midnight, I went to sleep.

Thursday
There is a god. I woke up this morning to the glee that the shooting pain in my heel has subsided. The fact that it was not throbbing upon waking up is a very good sign. Celebrating my happiness, I sang ‘Hakuna Matata’ obnoxiously loud while showering at 7am in the morning, had a delicious breakfast, and headed off to a 9:30am doctor’s appointment.  The doctor’s appointment went well as did my classes. At practice I was delighted to hear that I would be running today, but only easy 3-5 depending on how I felt. Well, I felt great, and so did the 5 @ a 6min avg, closing with a 5:40, just to make up a little bit for the Pineland workout I missed yesterday. After practice, a great dinner, I worked in the library from 7-11:30pm, making sure to start one of my thesis research papers for Inorganic Chemistry, as well as study for my math exam. I came back to Smith, brushed my teeth, and went to bed.

Friday
Well today was a great day. I received my first graded Physics exam (aka my first college exam ever) and was delighted to see that I got a 100%. As Borat would say – very nice. I felt alright during my math exam. So hopefully I can keep these good grades coming. Classes went smoothly, practice was good, as I ran again and felt strong, and I went to dinner.  It being parents’ weekend, after dinner I had the pleasure of meeting Shnoodle’s parents. They seemed very nice.  After that, my father arrived, and we went out to Ruby Tuesday’s for a second dinner, where I enjoyed a very nice piece of salmon with rice.  Muy Delicioso. After dinner, I came back, hung out with Shnoodle a bit, played some Mario Kart with my roommates and fellow smithsonians, and went to bed at around midnight.

Saturday
I awoke bright and early at 7:40am for the infamous eight eights at eight workout. The 8 800’s at 8am morning were awesome. I felt strong the entire way through, was consistent, and my heel pain has improved a lot; so I was in a good mood the entire day. My mom arrived on campus at 11am for Parents’ Weekend. I showed her around campus, went to the bookstore and bought my little brother a Bates hat for his birthday, and then went to the football game. At 6:30 I went out to dinner with my dad, and again had salmon and rice, which was pure ecstasy in my mouth to say the least. Returning to campus I went to JB where I had a good time with the rest of the team. It ended up being a really late night, but it was worth it.

Sunday
As like any other Sunday, the day was pretty uneventful. I woke up at 8am to do laundry, some homework, and clean my room. At 10:30 I went to brunch with my friend Liz and then proceeded to do some homework in the library until 3pm where I headed over to the gym to go for a run with Ken on the team. We ran 12, and it felt awesome. It was perfect weather out and there were times when we both would just comment on how perfect it was outside. The leaves are beautiful, the temperature is just right for running, and the sun isn’t too strong. After our run we headed to commons and enjoyed dinner with the rest of the team. The rest of the night consisted of homework, editing my paper for my first year seminar and hanging out with Ellen and her roommates. Tomorrow starts a new week and I am very hopeful for our race this Saturday at Franklin Park. I’m hungry.

Jeff Roeser (Doogie) - Blog #7

          I reach out my hand to hit the snooze button. It’s 6:30 on a Monday morning and way too early for a pool workout. Strangely enough I volunteered for this time, can you think of a better way to start the week? I mean 20 x 2’s and 100 meter repeats in Merrill Pool--can’t think of a place I’d rather be! Next, I take that first painful step away from the cozy warm bed and toward the frigid Maine air and icy pool water. This reminds of one of Bates’ oldest traditions---The Puddle Jump, where much of the campus gathers around lake Andrews and leaps through a hole in the ice into the water, chilled by the mid-January wind and sub-zero temperatures. Oh Bobcats are tough. Some may say we’re crazy, but I say we’re just having fun. On the way over to Merrill, I meet up with Eight-ball and a freshman girl on the team, we discuss last weekend’s race, Ace’s heroic finish (this will be important later), and mutually agree that we are all very battered from Colby’s hilly, windy, rocky course. We also talked about how most of the guy’s team got lost on our Sunday long run.  It was just a typical Sunday run and we were following our captain, on what looked like a faint animal trail through the woods. But soon enough the friendly familiar woods of Thorn Crag Bird Sanctuary surrounded us looking like something out of Jurassic Park. As we ran deeper into the woods on a long, muddy trial, past piles of junk and enormous bushes and swamps, Joe asked if anyone saw the pterodactyl swoop down and get Ace with its talons.  Some of us may have believed him.  It was all we needed to keep our spirits up while covered up to our necks in mud and trudging through swamps in the jungle. An hour and a half later…. we sighted a manufacturing plant in the distance and an off-roading vehicle nearby. We were saved. Next, I’m jumping into that cold pool water in the same lane as Silver and starting the dreaded pool workout. As soon as that’s through, I’ll fast forward through classes and get straight to the weekly episode of Gossip Girl that evening. Although this is the first time that I have seen gossip girl, the show has a large following on the team. My immediate reaction is that there is way too much random hooking up for one episode of a sitcom going on. I have never seen a women subpoena a guy with a restraining order only to fall like a domino to his charms hours later. Nonetheless, I am now addicted to the show and in the process of watching season 1 to catch up on what’s going on now. I mean as in Gossip girl, when you invite a Christian youth group to someone else’s party to embarrass them in front of their guests, how much more subversive can you get? Alison brought snacks and the first episode of Gossip girl is a major success. That’s it just another day in the Bobcat Nation.

Ken Whitney (Elmo) - Blog #6

    So as a freshman entering the first week of classes and the regular schedule I had no clue what to expect, but I can safely say it exceeded my expectations. Starting off Monday morning with a pool workout was annoying, especially since I am far from a good swimmer, but the workout will definitely help my running. Classes were great, and it is amazing how much of a difference it makes to be around people who actually want to learn. My first year seminar seems like it will be an awesome class, and, in an icebreaking activity, we learned that the professor’s favorite food is beer. Continuing the discussion of professors, my calc II teacher is insane, and literally had a story for every single place the students were from. The only disappointing class was econ, as I am considering being an econ major but the first class basically put me to sleep, so I might be changing what I major in… but that’s the beauty of going to a liberal arts school.
                Now on to running. The Alumni race was okay, I ran a decent race and it felt good to get one under my belt. From there the week was a lot of speed and maybe slightly low on the mileage side. Tuesday was a Twin Brook workout, repeat 800s, and it went well. Coach had the great idea to run us in groups, which helped everyone get into a good rhythm and complete it effectively. Then Saturday we had the Colby wave race, so an early 8 am departure got us to Colby in plenty of time. After watching Doug and Devin run great and win easily, the freshman sophomore race began. The team ran well, placing 8 runners in front of Colby’s first, and props to Graham who ran almost a minute pr on a very difficult course. Unfortunately I did not run as well as I wanted to, I would have liked to have been 20-30 seconds faster, but the poor performance will motivate me to work harder and train to ensure I make the NESCAC team, since that race is ten minutes from my house.
                As I finish writing this I am sitting in the Parker common room watching football with Eric and Graham, two freshmen on the team, and several other people.  I am attempting to recover from the crazy long run this morning, as Devin lead us through ATV trails that were swamped with several feet of mud and water, bushwhacking through what once may have been trails.  Once we finally got back to the road, the whole team got freaked out by the friendly bark of a dog trying to attack us. Thus ends my blog, and now I need to go do all my actual homework. First week of school and I am already swamped…

I have been graced with the opportunity to depict the juicy details of a week in the life of Sweetums.  Never before has one written such a blunt account of the true lifestyle of a Bates runner.  The week began when I woke up on Monday morning, as is my custom.  Unfortunately, the past night’s disappointing Sox game left me with less sleep than usual, which made me a bit less enthusiastic than I typically am about trudging over to our last swim workout of the season.  It was a good workout though, and left me feeling enlivened for the day of studies.  Little of mention transpired in either of my classes, but my weekly dog walking job was pleasurable, as always.  The team went out to Pineland for a long run that evening, which was notable for the eerie wailing of cows that was present throughout.  The day culminated with a viewing of Gossip Girl, which Kevin and Jag got me hooked on over break.  This week’s episode was especially riveting, as it shed light on some of the intricacies of Chuck’s character.  Serena, of course, was a foxy as it gets, and single handedly kept me glued to the screen with her oh so attractive calm but confident voice.
Most of Tuesday was spent in class or doing homework, interspersed with highly relished trips to commons.  Scout, Jag and I went on a relaxed run, on which manly discussion was had by all.  Topics of conversation included weight lifting, girl trouble, and manual labor.  That night we had a couple of prospective runners, D and G, up, so a few of us put off our duties as students to make them feel welcome.  The evening seemed quite successful to me, as D and G were shown most of the campus, and experienced the joys of late night Milt’s, the marvels of the fourth floor of Pettengill, and large amounts of Mario Kart.
Composition class was fairly interesting on Wednesday, as we continued to look at the kinetic form in Sibelius’s Symphony #5.  The class was also privileged  enough to be given my explanation of the compound lines in the song “Teddy Bears’ Picnic.”   After class, I went to the Coram computer lab for the first time and accidentally got the keyboard all messy after applying too much force to pull the skin back on my banana.  Other highlights from Wednesday included my psychotherapy appointment, a letter from my grandma, and crispitos at commons.  We had a daunting workout that afternoon, but most all of us surprised ourselves and had performances that bode well for the upcoming postseason meets.  That night on South Park I was informed of the benefits of Peruvian flute bands in staving off giant furry man eating guinea pigs.
I woke up on Thursday determined to look super fly, so I zipped up my purple cords and strutted on over to commons.  I’m not sure I achieved the desired look, but I felt mad confident as I ate my oatmeal.  The rest of the day was fairly uneventful.  I went on an easy run and coaxed some bawdy remarks from a few townies with my slender, yet muscular physique.  The evening broke the day’s monotony with a blessing from commons in the form of Bavarian apple squares.  While a relatively new item, they have quickly become perhaps my favorite dessert at commons, rivaling the likes of glazed almond cookies, carrot cake, and oreo brownies.  The evening continued to please with a new episode of the office and the rare opportunity to see up Daisy’s skirt in Mario Kart.
Friday morning I went to theory class with satisfaction of the fact that it was my last of the week.  With the entire weekend to do homework, I was left with the remainder of the day to catch up on reading Lord of the Rings.  Unfortunately, I also had to meet with coach about misdeeds of the previous weekend, but it was to my benefit anyway so I didn’t let it put a hamper on the day.  I took it fairly easy during practice in anticipation of Saturday’s workout, and afterward got some much needed work on my throwing arm with some tennis balls that were lying around.  After dinner, I went to the ceramics room and ended up working on my sculpting skills with Swayze while Silver, Ace, Jag, and Catnip threw some bowls.  Afterward, a bunch of us went to watch the South Park movie in V3.
We had a workout Saturday morning at Pineland, which went fairly well.  It was especially beneficial since we ran mile repeats along the course that we’re running next week at NESCACs.  The rest of the day was spent relaxing and watching TV, with some uncharacteristic intermittent watching of the Bates football game, in which we actually pulled off a victory.   I was ecstatic when I found out that commons had corned beef at dinner, it being one of my favorite foods and the first time they had it this year.  A bunch of guys hung out at Howard house after dinner, where song and dance was enjoyed by all, and as if we hadn’t played enough earlier in the week, some Mario Kart was thrown in for good measure.  While trekking across the quad later that night, the leaves on the ground were unusually thick, so we stopped to roll around for a while.  Before turning it in for the night, I made sure to polish my chess set so as to unwind from the exciting day.
I began my Sunday with an easy run, followed by a leisurely brunch.  My afternoon was spent doing work in Pettengill with Ace, Jag, and Silver.  At dinner, commons delivered its first negative blow of the week by shocking us all with the absence of Sunday’s usual ice cream novelties.  While equally unexpected, the lack of chicken parmesan was not grieved at all on my part.  We had another prefrosh up that night, Tully, who did some work with a few of us after dinner, after which we went to V3 and watched Poltergeist while playing Mario Kart.  I turned in a little early so I could read some Lord of the Rings, and thus concluded a reasonably good week.

Since the torch of the Bobcat blog has been passed to me, I guess I’ll give it my best shot.

This week was a little different than most since we were on October recess and didn’t have classes Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.  Of course, most of us had midterms the week before and Monday and Tuesday so the break was well deserved.

Monday I had my only real midterm, most of my other classes were papers and such.  I thought it went pretty well, all things considered, so I’m not too worried.  We did a run over the NESCAC course at Pineland on Monday, not really a long run, just a little longer than usual, which was good because I had a paper due Tuesday which I hadn’t exactly started yet, so I needed to get back ASAP.

Tuesday I dragged myself out of bed in the morning after a late night paper writing session and got a couple miles in before class.  I went through the day in a zombie like trance because of lack of sleep and almost broke down in tears when Coach Fresh said that Tuesday’s run was a steady state.  The run turned out not to be too bad, I went with Sean and Troy and Doug and we somehow managed to keep our spirits up.

Wednesday was the day I had been dreading for weeks in advance because we had an intense Pineland workout (two medium loops-1.81 miles I think, and one short loop 1.4 miles I think).  The only saving grace was that it was the first day of vacation so I got to sleep in a little and get lots of rest before the big day.  The workout went well, I ran with Doug and we missed our first two loops pace by 2 seconds, so right about perfect, and then closed the last short loop significantly under pace.  Props to Catnip on the last loop, he led it about halfway before Doug and I took over, and we all ran under pace.

Thursday was just a recovery day because we were pretty beat up from the Pineland workout.  Team practice in the morning where we did an easy 5 and then I ran again that night.  Felt terrible in the morning but pretty good on the afternoon run. 

Friday was the day before the State of Maine meet, so the anticipation was starting to build.  I ran an easy couple miles by myself in the morning so I wouldn’t be tempted to run faster with someone.  I rounded out the rest of the day by playing Mario Kart with Doug, Sauce, Jag, and Silver I think, and then Meat showed up with crackers and Nutella, which was pretty epic.  We had a pasta dinner at Espo’s house right in Auburn, which was fun and it got everyone psyched up about the meet the next day.

Saturday was the big day, the one we’d all been waiting for:  the State of Maine meet, about an hour away at our old home course at Twinbrook.  The team ran really well and really stepped it up from last week.  It was also nice to have Doug back for a race so that I wasn’t surrounded by angry Polar Bears the whole time.  We ended up placing 3rd out of 10 teams I think.  Didn’t do much the rest of the day, just hung out with the team that night, it was really nice not having homework because of break.

So, here I am, CJ Murray, slightly injured but recovering co-captain, kicking off Bobcat-Blog number three. I think all and all it was a good week. Monday was pretty standard with a pool workout in the morning and a recovery run at our beautiful home course, Pineland Farms, in New Gloucester. In the pool I enjoyed the distinct pleasure of deep-water-running with NESCAC champion javelin thrower, and all-around stud Chris Murtagh who is recovering from knee surgery he had over the summer. As anyone who has done it knows, pool running isn’t even a little bit fun when you’re doing it alone, so it was really nice to have Murtagh there with me.
Tuesday we were on the track. The workout was designed to simulate the Open New England race at Franklin Park: it was 5 x 1 mile, with the first mile fast, the middle three steady, and the last hard. I was planning on running with three of our freshman phenoms, Catnip, Jag, and Swayze, but coach decided to hold me out because of my knee. While I would have much rather been running than watching, it was exciting to see everyone do well out there. Our front-runners Doug and Devin looked strong, both Swayze and Naoki, as usual, shined on the track, and a lot of the other guys looked great too.
After the workout, we had two recovery runs on Wednesday, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, a steady-state run on Thursday, and another recovery run on Friday.
Saturday we were down in Boston at the Open New England Meet at Franklin Park. I love this race for a number of reasons. First of all, its at Franklin Park, which is a gorgeous course and somewhere I’ve been running since high school. I know all the other bay-staters on the team were equally psyched to be there. Second of all, its Open New England’s, which means that teams from all divisions from all across New England compete. The races are huge, there are millions of spectators (exaggeration) – it’s just an exciting meet to be in. I was particularly excited to be there this year, since it was my first meet back after being out due to injury for about a year.
Despite  being without Doug, the team did well. A lot of guys had big PR’s out there, which is exactly what we were hoping to see. Some highlights that come to mind are the step-up performances had by sophomore Joe Musso in the open race, and classmate Tom Esponette in the varsity race. Probably the most exciting performance of the day though came from freshman Catnip “Troy” Calandra, who was the third freshman finisher for Division III. Catnip ran 26:11, which I think is the third best time ever posted by a Bates freshman at Franklin Park – way to go big guy!
I ran in the open race and was really happy with the way things went, not so much because of my time, but because I didn’t feel held back by my knee at all. I can’t tell you how good it feels to be able to run without hindrance again.
Today is Sunday which means football (let go Pats!), a long recovery run, and a whole lot of schoolwork. Also, we’ve got a number of recruits up, some xc runners and some track guys, who are spending the night. I’m looking forward to meeting them all.
Everyone on the team is looking forward to next weekend, where we’ll get the chance to run against all our in-state rivals at the State of Maine Championships. I’m going to pass the Bobcat-Blog torch off to sophomore Devin Dilts. Devin has been running  great for us all season, and I’m excited to hear his perspective on his first State of Maine meet, which, in my opinion, is one of the best meets of the season.

Since Sean picked me to write this week’s Bobcat Blog, here goes.  My week started out early Monday morning with a tough swim workout.  I was pressed on every interval because I wasn’t left with much resting time.  My classes throughout the day went well although I was very tired all day.  The whole team headed out to Pineland, where our home course is, for a long run.  I ran for 60 minutes and I felt pretty good except for my ankle that hurt a bit.  It was perfect weather even though it was a little wet from the weekend’s rain.

                On Tuesday, I got to sleep in and catch up on some much needed rest.  In my Intro to Psychology  class, we finished up the material and got in any final questions before our first exam on Thursday.  I went for an easy run over the Bridges loop with Tom and Sam.  We lifted and did an agility set which went really well.  I had to stay up pretty late again to study for my two exams later in the week.

                Wednesday was one of the hardest days of running that we’ve had all season.  Out at Pineland, the whole team ran 4 x 1.4 mile loops in a driving rain storm.  The trails began to deteriorate with every interval and people almost fell with just about every step.  Despite the poor weather almost everybody had a very good work out.  Because we had to run in spikes, many people’s calves were bothering them for the rest of the week, especially on Thursday’s steady state run.  For the steady state run we warmed up with a mile easy followed by 5 miles at pace (6:30 per mile for me) and then another mile easy.  This run was exceptional tough because my legs were so sore, but, nevertheless I was able to run right on pace with Al’s help. 

                Sean and I take the same psych class and our test on Thursday afternoon went well.  I had another test in Macroeconomics on Friday.  This test was considerably harder, but it still went okay.  For another easy run on Friday we ran Bridges again as a team.  This run was slow and easy but my legs were still extremely sore from the two tough runs the days before.  After this run I went and at dinner with my parents who were up for parent’s weekend.  It was nice to see them for the weekend and it was hard to say good-bye again on Saturday. 

Saturday morning we had our classic 8 8s at 8 workout, which means that we run 8 x 800m at 8 am.  For me this was a very hard workout.  I was very sore and wasn’t able to run at the times I was supposed to.  Late Saturday afternoon I took a nap that helped me recover a little bit from the weeks work.  On Sunday I had a relaxing day, getting some homework done and getting an easy bike ride and lift in during the middle of the day.  Sean, Fudge, and I went for a recovery run after dinner which felt great.  To close out the tough week of running and exams, I’m sitting in V3 watching the Red Sox game with Watson, Sauce, Sean, Al, and Sweetums.

C.J. will be running in his first meet of the season so I’m handing off the baton to him to write the blog for next week.

Luke “Silver” Harmeling

            So I’m kicking off our weekly “Bobcat Blog” for this tricked out website Joe just made.  I think the goal is to sum up the week’s events (running, academic, social) of the XC team so that’s what I’m going to try to do.  My week started with an 8am pool workout which was tough, but they are really helpful for our training.  I got out of class at noon which is wonderful since I have four hours until practice starts.  I spent the free time doing my first load of laundry since I got to Bates.  It was a pretty difficult process… Anyway, Monday’s run was an extremely slow 7 miles with Bogs, Fudge, Ceej, and Watson on the river trails. It was possibly the most enjoyable run of the season because it came the day after a rough 15 miler to coach’s house in Turner. We discussed the complex entity that is the mind of Bogs.  We also saw the entire women’s team go flying by us on the same trail at a speed unfathomable to us in our exhaustion.  Monday nights are Gossip Girl nights for me, but Kevin blew me off for our weekly date.  I watched in V1 with Katie, Jessie, and Allison.  It was a fantastically riveting episode, as Dan and Serena’s breakup turned into an all out war.  I feel like the show really gives a realistic portrayal of high school life.
            Tuesday I had class from one to four, and then our run was a track flow workout for us, consisting of 1600/2400/2400/1600 at race pace.  I ran with Catnip, Swayze, and Prof. Danahy, and we hit our times pretty much right on which was awesome. I spent Tuesday night studying in a random classroom in Olin with Kevin while Fudge designed the shirts for NESCAC’s.  I don’t want to give away the design, but it is pretty fantastic.  We also made a Milt’s stop at night for some delicious Bates burgers.
            Wednesday I again got out of class at noon. Our run was supposed to be a short recovery, but I made the mistake of letting Fudge pick where we ran.  He told me it would be a seven miler, but then halfway through he revealed that it was actually 9.5, and of course he pushed the pace too.  I think his goal is to make me spontaneously combust on a run this season.  I also had a meeting with coach to discuss the weekend’s meet and my training plan.  I spent that night writing a lab report for chem and my first paper for my seminar.
            Thursday’s run was 9 miles including 6 at a good steady state pace, from Greene back to campus.  That night, a bunch of us watched the first episode of the new season of the office in V3 (Watson, CJ, Sauce and Fudge’s room).  Then I spent the rest of the night studying for my chem exam with Silver in a classroom and Pgill.  We made Meat rap for us to break up the monotony of studying.  I destroyed the exam on Friday, which is my roughest day with 5 and a half hours of class including a three hour chem lab.  I ran bridges in the rain after I got out of class, and then ate dinner with the team before heading out for Wesleyan.
            It was a four and a half hour bus ride, which was spent watching Ratatouille instead of Muppet Treasure Island because the girls are lame.  I got to room with Bogs in the hotel and we had a crazy good time reading and sleeping.  The meet was pretty awesome even in monsoon-like weather and muddy trails.  Our team did pretty well considering the elements.  On the ride back home, we compromised with the girls and watched Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, a classic flick.  Saturday night was the Girl Talk concert, which was an incredible show.
            Sunday started with a captains run at 10.  We ran through the knee-deep puddles of spill.  Our spill total was a very respectable 8 for the run.  I spent the rest of the day studying/watching movies in Pgill with Silver, Sweetums, and Meat.  I will end this rambling now at 9:39 on Sunday night as I’m sitting here in V3 watching Donnie Darko with Sauce, Kevin, Silver, and Watson.  I’m pretty sure the deal is that I get to pick who writes next week’s blog entry, so I’m picking Silver.
            Love, Sean “Jag” Colligan