Chuffed

Coach had been bigging up the race last Saturday for quite some time – and I understand why in hindsight. The Mid – States classic course is very quick – probably about as quick as a cross country course can be. I’m not entirely sure why this is the case. There are certainly more hills in it than there are at my Bethel course, and the competition wasn’t as stacked as it has been at some of my previous races this season. All I know is that I improved on my personal best for the 8k by nearly a minute. I have to give a lot of credit to coach for working me hard over the past few months, though I think that even he was a little surprised by how well I performed. I ran out hard – the first mile was 4.57 – and I just kept going. I didn’t feel sick, as I have in quite a few races this season, and my legs felt incredibly strong. I also felt very focused throughout the race: after about two miles I realized that I didn’t have to worry about anyone passing me, since I was moving faster than almost everyone else in the field in the second half of the race. I kept on catching runners – guys who I hadn’t been close too even the previous week at Bethels Home Meet. I finished the race in 9^th, but if I’d had another hundred meters then it would probably have been 7^th. My official time is 26.06 which, maybe a year ago, I would have been pretty pleased with if I’d ran it in a road race. Most important of all, this was a new College record.

Absolute Scenes. 

I feel like I’ve properly announced myself to Bethel College with this run, in fact I’ve become something of a minor celebrity overnight – people who I’ve never seen before have been congratulating me. I doubt it will last very long, so I’ll enjoy it while I can! As happy as I am, I know that I have to refocus on the Conference Meet, which is only three weeks away. I only have one race left in my cross-country season – one race! In England things would only just be getting going right about now. I can understand the accelerated schedule; the winter is fast closing in. Saturday was really very cold, though thankfully the wind wasn’t strong. Today (Monday) I awoke to snow. Snow in October! Not only this, but the temperatures has plummeted. Last Tuesday I was walking round in shorts and T-Shirts, and a week later it’s -3 degrees. -3 is actually a little generous; the weather forecast estimated that the wind chill lowered the actual temperature to about -6. Such weather is very rare on the Wirral and, though Isaiah clearly revelled in my moaning, he did admit that such low temperatures were also unusual for Kansas in October. So, in my first term here, the weather has stayed far too hot for far too long, and now all of a sudden it’s far too cold, far too early. What a joke.

Halloween is fast approaching, and the Americans take it very seriously, perhaps even too seriously. There are loads of houses in Newton that are decked out with blow – up Ghosts and pumpkins, which is pretty standard. Some home owners seem to be attempting to actually scare trick – or – treaters away with their garden ornaments. There’s a house just off main street that has witches hanging from nooses on their trees, I was genuinely disturbed. I was, however, more disturbed when I found out that a large number of students at Bethel are planning on engaging in the trick – or – treating themselves. I think the fresh-hold for such a thing in England is about 12, anyone older than that trying to get free candy is rather suspect in my opinion. And yes, I just called sweets ‘candy’, and I apologize for that unreservedly.

Second Dub of the Weekend - this time in Poker. My first time
playing, and I had Isaiah in tears as I stripped him of all his chips - 
he's been moody with me for the last day. I collected my winnings 
(0 dollars and 0 cents) to the sound of Kenny Rogers's 'The Gambler'
playing in the background. Magical. 

Most scary of all is the Presidential Election, which is taking place in a weeks time. Kansas is solidly Republican, so I’m hoping that we’ll escape most of the storm that’s gathering. I watched the second Presidential debate the other night, and it seemed pretty evenly balanced. In fact, in the states that matter in this election, things seems pretty evenly balanced as well. I feel very privileged to be in the States when such a historic election is taking place, though it is all a bit over the top. I wouldn’t expect anything else from these Americans.