Well, the summer is soon coming to an end here and I am in the process of reevaluating the goals I made out at the beginning of this summer. With most people, summer still has a month left, such as students at Ohio State or OU. But here at Shawnee, we start school early, August 19th, and the Cross Country team reports on the 9th. So, officially I have 3 days left of summer.
Here are the goals I made at the beginning of summer:
- Get into a wicked awesome fitness level.
This goal, I knew would be obtained if I simply stuck to the plan. The plan that coach set out at the beginning of the year for a few of us 'higher-mileage' guys to run 80 miles a week by the end of summer. Well, I have went beyond that mark and will be running my fourth week of 80+ miles, a total of 87, maybe more. I feel that I am in a 'wicked awesome fitness level' just based on that. Plus, a few weeks ago I could actually feel my body transforming. It was telling me I needed more food, a higher level of energy intake, and so on. I even felt like I was entering the fitness level (a feeling that I get when I first begin getting in shape), even though I was already in shape. My runs feel easy and I have ran a dozen or so 15 mile days. That is all a recipe for success and a succeeded goal!
- Complete the bike I am building.
This goal, I knew, would be my most expensive and most hard earned goal. At the beginning of summer I really began getting into biking. I brought the old Western Flyer to school and began riding it to class and such. I knew that is was not road worthy, since it is so old and hardly capable of switching gears. So, I began looking to buying a nice road bike. After research and several attempts at buying a bike, I thought of a nice plan to build up my own bike. From that point, I had the goal of building my own bike. A lot of research was done over the following weeks. I asked question online to professional dealers and started buying the parts. Of course the first part I bought was the frame and fork. Everything then on was based on that. The measurements, the brands, and so on. So, after $930 I finally finished it. It ended up being $230 more than my projected cost but in my opinion it has all been worth it. The few rides I have taken on it has been flawless and smooth and I plan on making a lot more rides this fall!
- Go on a few camping trips.
This goal was not quite as successful but it was steal a success. My major camping trip to the Smoky Mountains was the primary trip taken this summer. That trip was not even a part of this goal, since me and Jon planned it after I set these goals. That trip was a once in a lifetime experience and will never be forgotten. 4 days, 3 nights with my best friend and brother making everlasting memories in a beautiful place. I have only taken two more other trips, both unsuccessful but attempted. The first one was out at Hangover. We had the tents set up and had the fire going, but rain got the best of us. We tried to wait it out but ended up going back home. The next one was at Shanes house. Once again, we were all ready until the rains came. But, that trip was fun, getting to run on some trails and seeing some sites in Hocking Hills.
This goal was a small one. It was mainly to just eat more healthy instead of cheap. I have ate healthy this whole summer. I no longer worry about spending too much money at the store because it is all worth it, healthy food at least. Salmon, chicken, hamburgers, fruits, vegetables, milk, and breads are all a part of my weekly meals. It has been better than last fall and spring for sure.
After all the successful goals, I have Enjoyed Life!
Now that I am entering a new season, I think it is time to make new goals. These will mostly cover this upcoming cross country season and fall semester of school. I think goals are important in life because what else do we have to look forward to without them. Another word for goals could be dream. This reminds me of a quote I heard Ryan Hall once say, "
When your memories are greater than your dreams, you are already beginning to die." That is so true. We can't sit here and reflect on our past, but have to keep setting our new goals (dreams) for for life to continue. So, after some reflecting, here are my fall of 2009 goals:
This is the simple phrase that our team has been saying to keep our minds on November 21st. Our national meet. This goal has been set long ago, so it should have been listed with the summer goals but it still goes on now. We all need to just keep remembering why we are running this summer and what all the hard work leads up to. It is all for one day, finishing high.
- Keep the Wednesday Trail Tradition Alive
Last year, Keegan convinced Erock into letting us go out to the trails on Wednesday. Keegan, Shane, and I went every time with a few people tagging along every so often. These runs were a big part of our success last year.
- Run a Hangover Long Run Every Sunday
This was another reason we were successful last year. Paul even credits this to his PR at the National Meet last year. Many times, Keegan, Blake, and I ran 2+ hour runs out here on Sunday evenings, in the dark mostly. These runs were memory filled on the most challengind course in Ohio.
This will be my only academic goal for this semester since I will be putting the majority of my focus into running. I have maintained a 3.5 GPA my first two years of college, earning me a title of Academic All-American and I would like to keep it that way. That is a nice compliment to any resume and I am proud of that status.
For now, those are my goals. Many goals are also made up in my mind, such as continuing to eat healthy, staying in a wicked awesome fitness level, and enjoying life. Those goals have just continued over into this set of goals. I did not write down my individual running goals, such as goal times, team placement, and stuff like that. I do have an idea of where I would like to be though. These things I will keep to myself. I do know that the first goal, Remember Nomvember, is a team goal and that my individual running goals all go towards achieving that goal.
Summer is ended shortly and cross country camo starts soon. These 10 days will be some really fun days. We will all meet the new freshmen and evaluate where we all stand based on summer training. There will be time trails, easy runs, easy runs turned into hard runs, hard workouts, morning runs, and many many memories. One of the best times to be a Bear. As for me, I am just Running Free!
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