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November 1, 2009
Penn State Rocks The House
We had a great weekend.
Started things off with some training on Saturday (of course). Swim and then home for my long ride on the trainer. I had hoped to make it all the way through Clearwater without any long rides on the trainer but on Saturday it was raining and cold(ish) and certainly not weather to get a good ride in. It was fine though because I rode for 3:15 in my aerobars, good practice for the flat, fast Clearwater race where you really can ride all 56 miles down in your bars. When I ride outside, at home, I ride a fair amount out of my bars between lots of climbing and stopped at lights, signs, etc... My neck muscles are now ready. :)
When I was finally done training and icing and stretching and packing and... (whew, I take forever to do everything) O and I left for Penn State.
Now in case you didn't know, O and I both graduated from Penn State and that's where we met. I LOVED Penn State. I loved college in general. I would live in State College for the rest of my life in a heartbeat. It's a beautiful campus in a beautiful setting with lots of great places to train. Needless to say, I was excited to get back there.
We were going to watch the Big Ten cross country championships. FUN. So on Saturday night once we got into town we went to a little alumni get together where I got to see my college coach (who I adored).
First of all, Coach Sullivan's name is Beth too so that makes her really cool. :) She started at Penn State the fall of my junior year so I was on her first team. She came from Stanford. We had some fun times that first year. Anyway, my first two years as a runner at PSU were tough - my first coach was very tough and I struggled with injury after injury but Coach Sully made my final two years a much bigger success (for me, don't get me wrong, I was never All-American or anything even remotely close).
This morning O and I woke up and did our long runs (his much longer than mine) on the cross country course. LOVE! The course is a tad bit different now and we did get lost (despite the fact that there is a painted line to guide you) but still, it brought back a lot of memories. I haven't run on the course for years but through my 4 years of college I was obviously on the course a lot. I think parts of me are still out on that course. :)
After our runs we cleaned up, ate breakfast and headed back to the course to watch THE races of the day! First up was the men's race. Wisco absolutely dominated with all 5 of their scorers in the top 10. They have now won 11 conference titles in a row!
And then the women's race. I couldn't wait for this one because I knew PSU had a shot to win their first ever Big 10 title. When I ran I think the highest we ever finished was 4th. Also, Penn State's top runner, Bridget Franek, had a shot to win the individual title. She had a race on her hands though - the girl from Illinois is a multiple time All American too.
Of course I was totally inspired by the fact that Bridget just *broke* the Illinois girl in the final 1/2 mile going uphill. It was such a race - Bridget surged, Illinois answered and actually gapped Bridget some but then Bridget surged back and pulled away. You have to understand - these women are running under 17 minute pace for 5K (they race 6K but it's easier to appreciate 5K times for most people) on a muddy, grass, uneven (read SLOW) course and they just make it look so easy!
I think the best part of the whole weekend was the fact that O and I were standing by Bridget's mom on the final (very long) stretch and her mom was just beside herself, almost in tears with excitement/pride/pure happiness! Racing is certainly an emotional experience.
So yes, Bridget won and Penn State won and everyone was really happy. :)
I had so much fun! It was a beautiful day. We ate lunch on campus afterwards and of course got Creamery ice cream.
I'm proud to be a Nittany Lion today! :) (and will be trying to channel some of that fast running energy in Clearwater... :)
Posted by beth at November 1, 2009 7:41 PM
Comments
That looks like SOOO much fun! I'm actually going to my first xc race on Saturday. We are sponsoring the HS
State XC Championships and I get to watch all
day. My boss's daughter is running so it should be really cool. Sometimes I wish I grew up running and racing so I could understand it a bit better. I LOVE that you support your old team!!! Oh and YAY Clearwater is just around the corner :) WOOHOOOOO!
Posted by: Elizabeth at November 1, 2009 9:26 PM
I'm sure you know this, but getting a good college coach is like winning the lottery... there are SO few out there. You lucked out big time!
Posted by: Deirdre at November 1, 2009 10:03 PM
I LOVED playing tennis at PSU. That campus is beautiful!
Glad you had a good weekend and your team came out on top!!
Ps sorry bout' beating Sid, I know you'll win when it counts:)
Posted by: Julia at November 1, 2009 10:29 PM
We don't have collegiate sports system in the UK so I LOVE the American college sports. Well done Penn State.
Posted by: Angelina at November 2, 2009 6:56 AM
What a nice pic of you, two. :)
Beth, that's a long time on a trainer - for clearwater you'll be mentally primed (and physically, obviously... 1:23 1/2M, geez).
Posted by: Lindsey Jerdonek at November 2, 2009 7:55 AM
Beth, is the ice cream made at Penn State? We used to have a creamery at UVM but it's gone now. When I was a grad student, alums would stop me all the time and ask where the Creamery had moved to---I hated having to be the one to tell them it was gone!!!
Sounds like a wonderful weekend.
Posted by: Danielle "Pedergraham" at November 2, 2009 8:29 AM
Oh that looks like a fun weekend! I love returning to my college town too. FAST running too! Wow!
Posted by: Ange at November 2, 2009 10:40 AM
Looks like a great time. My husband will be disappointed by the Illini's loss. Glad to know they are good at women's cross county cause they sure suck at football.
And that's great you love your college coach. If I saw my college volleyball coach I'd kick her in the shins.
Posted by: Angela Kidd at November 2, 2009 2:09 PM
yay for college running! i always regret going DIII for undergrad. College running days were the best! Glad it was a productive and fun weekend :)
Posted by: Heidi at November 2, 2009 4:01 PM
1. Glad Your team won.
2. Did I say have fun at track Championships? (dumb soccer player) We were more interested in making sure our mullets were just so.
3. Ugly uniforms. I think that is probably what kept me from joining woman's cross country... well maybe a few other reasons too. Ha ha!!
4. Glad you had fun!! :-)
Posted by: Steve at November 2, 2009 6:16 PM
I love watching cross country races, always so exciting and fun. It sounds like you had a great time and glad your team won!
Posted by: maija at November 3, 2009 6:52 PM
Cross country is awesome! Looks fun :)
Posted by: Charisa at November 4, 2009 12:00 PM