The Start of a Great Skiing and Boarding Season

This past Christmas break my family took a skiing/snowboarding trip to Taos, New Mexico! Although it wasn't home (Big Sky), It was still great fun. My family went with the Serbin Family who takes a trip to Taos every year. A few years ago we shared Big Sky with the Serbins, and this year they shared Taos with us.

There was definitely tough terrain. The first three days we had sunshine, and mid vacati

on it snowed 18 inches one night. The next day was a sick powder day. We all spent the afternoon together one the slopes. That afternoon was some of the best boa

rding I've ever done.

Today my family is headed up to Boyne Highlands, Michigan two spend the long weekend there. We are going with two other families. The families both have daughters that are friends of mine. One of the girls, Haley, is coming to Big Sky with me in March!

This ski season has already started out great and is only going to get better! I'm looking forward to spending a lot more time on the slopes with my family and friends!

Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon

A week and a half ago my friend Haley and I ran the Indianapolis Monumental Half Marathon together. Haley and I met through the Lady Irish XC team. This was my third half, and it was Haley's first half.

After running the two races in the spring, I became addicted to them! I love the feeling of accomplishment when you cross the finish line! It is like, "Wow! Did I just kick butt or what?" Haha.

I started my XC season late due to a stress fracture. My season was short, but still quite successful. Because it was so short I decided to continue my training when the XC season was finished and run a half to end my season!

Haley and I became close when we were the only two freshman running on the sectional team. I asked her to run the Indy Monumental with me. She had never run this distance before, but she was willing to try it!

We didn't get much training in together. We relied on each to get our long runs in on our own. I did three long runs (8+ miles) before the race.

I had a hard week prior to the race. My heart was hurt by a silly boy, and the next day I came down with strep. Even though I was feeling weak, I fought through that week determined to run the half.

Morning of the race, I woke up at my worst. I didn't even know if I would make it four miles into the race. Woke up, picked up my packet, and met Haley downtown. It came time for the race and we headed to the start line.

The race went by quick. We ran at a fairly fast pace. I had no expectations though. When Haley and I reached mile nine, I knew we could beat my time from Nashville. Both of us cramping up, we talked each other through it and fought for a new PR!!!

As we ran around the circle, we could hear the crowd at the finish! We were almost there! As we crossed the finish line, side by side, the clock read 1 hour and 53 minutes!! We had beaten my previous time! I was so happy for Haley! She had finished her first half marathon! It was a great time together and I was extremely happy with our time! Great race over all!!

Today we didn't have school! I hung out with my best friend, Alex. We took a walk, hung out at the local coffee shope, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and baked banana bread! It was a great day!

Tommorrow my eighth grade class is leaving for Washington, D.C.! We are all very excited! We have to meet at the school at 4 a.m. to get on the bus. The bus is taking our eighth grade class to the airport! Its going to be an early start to a long day! We are going to be visiting D.C. for four days. We have many exciting stops and activities planned!

My friends and I are going to take a lot of pictures while we are there because these are our last four weeks together. Most of us have been going to school together since kindergarden and some even pre-school! We are all very sad to be splitting up for high school!

Our trip to Washington, D.C. will be a great time for us to relax and enjoy our time together. When we return to school we are going to have two really hard and intense weeks of preparing for finals. We also have CYO track finals, graduation, and the middle school picnic planned for the last week or so of school! These last few weeks of school are going to be really exciting!

When I return from D.C., I'm looking foward to posting some pictures and writing about our trip!
Enjoy the beautiful spring weather!!!

Nashville Country Music Half-Marathon

Last weekend I ran my second half-marathon. I ran the Nashville Country Music Half-Marathon. My mom and a family friend race the race too. My mom and I left on Friday, April 23, at noon to drive to Nashville. I missed half of a day of school. We suspected the drive to be about 4.5 hours.

The week before the race my mom and I had been keeping an eye on Saturday's forcast. The forcast said that everyday except Saturday was supposed to be gorgeous in Nashville. The weather didn't look good for the race. As it came closer to Friday, my mom began to wander if it would be safe to make the trip because there were tornado warnings for Nashville already! I prayed the weather would turn out.

My mom decided it was safe for us to make the trip to Nashville. When we arrived in Nashville on Friday, we met our friends at their home. Later, we went to the expo to pick up our t-shirts, numbers, and bags. It was very busy downtown. There was also a Hank Williams Jr. concert downtown that night. The convention center was packed with people, and everyone was excited for the race.

After the expo, we went out to dinner. We went to a delicious resturant called Brick's. After dinner, we went home and watched TV. When we turned to The Weather Channel, it looked as if there were going to be three hours the morning of the race that the sun would shine. We went to bed soon after we got home so that we would be well rested for the early morning we had ahead of us. When I got into bed, I could hear it start to rain.

We woke up the morning of the race at 4:45 A.M. to get ready. The race was supposed to start at 7 A.M. So far the race wasn't cancelled. It was very cloudy when we drove to Cenntinial Park. As we were walking to the start line the sun came out from behind the clouds. This was going to be a great race!

The race began fifteen minutes early to avoid any bad weather on its way. This course was very hilly. It was very hot. There were many bands playing along the streets of the race. The bands were very good.

I had previously ran my first half-marathon four weeks before this one. I finished it in two hours and thirteen minutes. My goal for this race was to finish it in two hours. I knew I had two stay ahead of the two hour and fifteen minute pacer.

I felt awesome until I reached the eleven mile mark. That is when my hip began to hurt and I began to feel tired. Many people started to faint because of the heat. I knew I couln't give up because I was starting to be able to see the finish line, and I knew I was close. Just after I can over the bridge, I saw two of our family friends. They were cheering. At that point I was about one tenth of a mile away from crossing the finish line. Finally, I crossed the FINISH line! I felt like I did well. I quickly took a water and a medal and I kept walking. I went to meet up with my friends. They told me they had heard from my mom, and she was on her way in.

When the three of us finished, I began to rain. We were so lucky! It was a great race! I was excited to figure out what my time was. We all went to breakfast at Noshville. It was delicious. My mom and I split a well deserved pancake and omlet.

Later the evening the results were posted online. I finshed with a time of one hour and fifty-seven minutes. It was my new PR (personal record)! I placed third in my age division. I was very pleased with my results. It was a great race and weekend!

Wednesday, April 21, 2001, was our second track meet! St. Charles did greet! There were deffinately some records broken and personal records made. Our first track meet against Brown County was very successful. Congratulations to the girls for their win against Brown Country, and great efforts given out by the boys!

In the first meet I ran the 1600 meter (1 mile) race and the 800 meter (1/2 mile) race. I place second in both events! I came in with a 6:41 on the 1600. I am not for sure what my time was for the eight hundred, but I do remember it was 3 mins and some seconds. So far 6:41 was my PR (personal record) on the 1600!

When I run on my own I usually run four or more miles. Running 1 mile is new to me. I have not fully figured out how to run the race as far as my pace. I would like to get my time down to a 6 min/mile by the CYO meet.

In the second meet I ran the 1600 in 6:20, a new PR! I also ran the 4 by 800 meter relay. This is a relay of four teammates who each run an 800 meter leg. My team was a great group of friends who also love to run! We came close to beating the school record, but we were about 20 seconds off. Some off us weren't feeling our best. This was a great race. We placed first!


GO HAWKS!!