PR in South Carolina & The Halloween Hustle

 

Superwoman and Batwoman, ready to run.

 

Coach brought down the Halloween Hustle tradition from when he coached at Roberts - all runners dress up in the most creative costumes they can think of and keep them on for a hard speed work out.  The funniest part was warming up by running through the middle of campus in costume. People were videotaping the eccentric herd of xc runners as we ran through the dorm courtyard, past the library, past the cafeteria, and down El Prado. I couldn't stop laughing.

 

Last weekend we rode for 6 hours to South Carolina, where we had our team dinner at an Italian restaurant. Hello carbo loading.

 

Team devotions :)

 

 

My shins were absolutely killing me, so I filled up my adidas gym bag with ice from the ice machine and hauled it on over to the bath tub. I decided against melting the ice with my own body heat and ran some warm water to raise the temperature to a cheery 39 degrees. It felt totally hardcore - like I was a pro or something. I freaked out when Rachael went in for her turn because Chels turned on the blow dryer in an attempt to warm up Rachael's shivering upper body - I was like "Electrocution! Have you not seen the warning labels?! Blow dryers and water are not friends!" So yeah, I save lives.

As the title of this blog indicates, I set a PR for this race, cutting my time down from 23:10 to 21:23. I listened to coach's advice and focused on nailing a solid 2 mile and hanging on for dear life during the last mile. During the race I told my mind to shut up about the pain and made my legs keep up with Katye's swishing ponytail. We eventually caught up with Beth and made an intimidating pack before I fell behind them at 2.5 miles. I know I can PR again if I stay with my girls the entire race.

 

Gorgeous course! We made friends with a team from Columbia International University during our cooldown (the girls in the bright yellow tanks). I love how running inspires such a sense of community. That and everyone is much friendlier with endorphins flowing through their bloodstream.