This week was really fun. On Saturday we went to Hartford invitational which was a great experience (7 of us went to Hartford on Saturday and 6 went to Fryeburg on Friday). Our race had 36 girls and 6 teams from 5 schools (Glastonbury had two teams in the race.). Going into it, I knew the other teams were really fast so I wasn’t sure how well we would place. But we were really competitive with the other teams and ended up getting third! Glastonbury was in fist place with 35 points, followed by Newton South with 42, Cape with 55, La Salle with 99, and then Glastonbury B with 151 points. Emily had a great race and came in 5th place with 19:16; I came after her in 6th with 19:39, then Kelsey in 12th with 20:15, Hannah in19th with 20:52, and Catherine in 20th with 20:52. Rachel didn’t feel well but still finished the race impressively in 26th, followed by Paige in 27th. I had an ok race but I think I held back too much in the beginning (I go out too fast a lot). So it wasn’t the best, but I’ll just have to work on that for next time. Overall we were really happy with our performances and looking at the online result list thing, our added up times were 1:40:58, which isn’t too far behind Glastonbury’s 1:38:45. Hopefully we’ll narrow that gap when we race them in two weeks at Ocean State Invitational in Rhode Island. On Friday, there were some great races in Fryeburg. Caitlin Pomeroy came in 3rd with 21:43, and Lindsay Rand came in 6th with 22:13. We also had a new addition to our team, Emma Kast, who ran her first race there and did great. We ended up coming in second to Fryeburg and the boys (minus Matt) won. Yay!
The terrain at Hartford invitational was probably the most interesting we’ve run on in a while. It was really flat, which was nice, but it was also really muddy and wet. That was kind of cool though, because it looked like we had war paint on when we were done. Although the best part about the course was the woods because it kind of looked like a jungle. It was dark and there were really tall trees and interesting plants and stuff. Then there was also a river along a lot of the course. Basically it felt like we were in the Amazon. Especially since our coach saw a giant woodchuck thing while she was on the course, and then Emily and I went through some really weird bushes that made our legs itch and feel like they were on fire. That was really annoying during the time because we were freaking out thinking we had poison ivy. But looking back on it, it was pretty hilarious (and we didn’t end up getting poison ivy.). Oh yeah, and the course was marked super well, which was great for those of us who have a horrible sense of direction.
Practice this week was good and we got some solid training in. The most entertaining run was probably on Friday (even though it was the shortest lol.). We ran in the pouring rain outside of our hotel at Hartford. At first we just ran back and forth but then we ended up in this little park area. That was nice.. until we went under this sketchy bridge and then got yelled at by some guy. Then we all freaked out (you should have seen Emily’s face) and booked it back to the hotel where we all took showers and then went out to dinner.
After the meet I went to my first overnight college visit at Tufts, which was really fun. I went there Sunday morning and came back today (Monday afternoon.). On Sunday I ran with the team into Boston, which was awesome. We ran down Newbury Street (it was really tempting to go into the stores lol) and then through a really pretty park. Then we came back on the T, which was funny because I didn’t realize that you had to hold on to the pole when it starts (if you don’t you fall over.). Afterwards I ate lunch with the team and stayed with a girl from the team. She was really nice and funny and her and her friend took me to two of their classes the next day. Basically, it was really fun and I really like the college. Next weekend I’m visiting BU, which I’m really pumped for.
This Friday we are running at Falmouth against Yarmouth, Freeport, and Waynflete. It should be a great race, and there are some nice hills there. Those will definitely make the race exciting and will give us some good hill experience for future races. Yay!