HS Bloggers: Kirstin Sandreuter Greely HS #9

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 & the Nation

 

Hi everyone,


Congratulations to all who competed at States on Monday or at the Conference meets the week before! I have loved catching all the results, stats and photos as theyʼre posted :) Hope you enjoy reading this blog post on what Iʼve been thinking about since the end of the Class B meet at Bates.


I have a pretty consistent routine that I follow after almost every meet -- even if itʼs close to midnight by the time I get home(hooray for late nights at the USM field house!), I will more than likely take the time to go through few of my most basic post- race habits : getting in a solid cool-down, “draining” with my legs up on a wall, downing a recovery drink and watching all the videos my mom so faithfully records of every race. ! But most significant to me, I think, is taking the time to update my training journal with my thoughts and reflections on these latest performances. Thereʼs an entire section in the back designated to “Race Reviews,” which I love because it gives a perfect record to look back on at any point throughout the year -- before my next race, I can simply glance over my comments to draw energy from my strongest moments or reflect on those that didnʼt go as well, and grow from them. Itʼs never quite as fun to do the latter, but I truly believe that itʼs valuable for every runner to recall(though not resonate on) their weakest races, each of which are stepping stones to reaching the times when we do break through to new levels and feel invincible.


As I went through my post-race routine after States on Monday, the comments I wrote in my journal were definitely some that I hope to look back on as “constructive feedback” for myself down the road. Itʼs frustrating to feel like I havenʼt been able to make huge improvements in indoor since I was a sophomore in regular season -- after all, stats donʼt lie. Trying to banish some nagging discouragement before it grew out of proportion, I decided to flip to a different part of my journal, the “Goals” section. Scanning the words beneath “Indoor 2014,” I was forced to put “X”s next to certain elusive objectives I hadnʼt achieved. “Sub-5 minute mile” -- not yet. “State record 2-mile” -- not this time. But then two small words, written all in caps at the end of the list, caught my eye -- “HAVE FUN!” I couldnʼt help smiling as I clicked my pen and drew a huge check next to that point, confident it deserved to be thought of as fully accomplished this season.


That said, this is a shout-out my team -- that includes all of the “trackletes” at Greely, but mostly the wonderful, hard-working, spirited, goofy and simply incredible distance girls. When I look back on my senior year indoor track season, I know the most prominent, fantastic memories will involve the quirky little squad -- all seven of us -- that did everything from perform a running-based parody of Ke$haʼs “Tik-Tok” to win a State Championship relay together.


We started off the season just a little bit discouraged at the lack of girls participating on the team. While it would have been great to have more of us out there on the track, I think it actually became all the more special having only seven girls together every day. It made it easier to really get to know each other, and do fun stuff like play a word game while we “planked” in the weight room every day, make awesome t-shirts, hold group dinners, sleepovers and runs, and even complete a science experiment together(thanks again, girls!!). And on Monday, we capped it all off by achieving our goal of winning the Class B State 4 x 8 -- this is the first time I think the whole Greely girls distance team has been listed as part of the full relay roster ;)

So to sum up the point of my writing this blog, a lot was put in perspective for me after ending my post-race routine after States this week, and I wanted to share those reflections with you : Failing does not make you a failure. No matter where you may be in your journey as a runner, always remember what matters most and why you do it. Above all, make it fun. Make it yours. Make it something that fills you up and lights your spirit in a way that nothing else does -- thatʼs something no slow time or missed qualification can take away from you... you have control of your journey, so love every minute and make it a blast! I thank my great team for helping me reach that extremely important goal more than ever this season.

Happy running everyone, Kirstin :)

**Also, best of luck to all those traveling to Boston next weekend to compete at the New England meet -- hope to see you there!