Follow Greely HS distance star Kirstin Sandreuter as she blogs about her senior xc season. Sandreuter was the Class B state runner-up last fall, and is the top returner in 2013. See what it takes to be one of the top distance runners in New England.
Hi everyone! After many seasons of reading about my fellow athletesʼ experiences on Milesplit, I thought Iʼd give blogging a shot for myself :)
Ah, summer... two glorious months filled with sunshine, lazy beach days and of course, if youʼre a high-school cross-country runner, plenty of mileage to prepare for an epic return to the trails come mid-August! After a long school year of weekly races, I tend to relish the transition to summer training --- for the first time in several months, we have the opportunity to just “run free,” develop newfound levels of motivation, and return feeling ready to shatter our stats of years past!
This summer in particular has begun with a whirlwind of adventure for me, which has added an extra dose of excitement to the start of this seasonʼs training!
After finishing the last of my final exams, I headed down to North Carolina to run in the 2 mile at the New Balance Outdoor Nationals. Though I fell slightly short of the PR I was working for, the race was an awesome experience and a great way to cap off the outdoor track season. Iʼm so happy to have had the opportunity to compete against tons of incredible athletes and watch some truly impressive performances by Mainers as well!
Next came a couple weeks off from running. We drove right from North Carolina to Tennessee for a week spent with family, then headed back North to JFK airport so I could catch my flight to France! Once there, I spent two weeks with a host family, whoʼs daughter Héloïse stayed at my house last summer. Among plenty of shopping, some exciting new culinary experiences and even a paragliding flight off a volcano called the Puy de Dôme, I was thrilled to begin my summer training in a very cool spot! Thereʼs nothing quite like the smell of fresh baked goods wafting out the front door of the “boulangerie” as you lace up your sneakers each morning :)
After my second week in France, the rest of my family arrived in Europe for a trip to the Alps along the border of Austria and Germany. All I can say about the training I did there is that I pretty much felt like each outing deserved to be featured in the “Rave Run” section of Runnersʼ World Magazine :) I also happened to notice a track with an incredible view of Neuschwanstein castle en route to an afternoon tour there(and yes, I hunted down the entrance so I could take a lap... hey, itʼs not every day you can round the back corner and marvel at a beautiful feat of medieval architecture!).
After a month filled with travels, Iʼm finally home. Itʼs great to be back on the familiar trails of Twin Brook and roads of North Yarmouth, as well as catch up with the many old running buddies I havenʼt seen since school got out!
Hope everyone is staying healthy and enjoying the summer so far! And if youʼre headed away from home, be it a weekend at your grandparentsʼ lake house or a month in a foreign country, hereʼs a suggestion based on my recent experiences -- wherever youʼre traveling, just get out and run! You never know what you might come across when you deviate from the local routes you know so well. Chances are, those miles spent
discovering the beauty of a new place will create vibrant, lasting memories that will remind you what it is that draws you to running for many years to come :)
Happy exploring!
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