Long Time No See

Well, I’ve finally got round to writing a new instalment at long last. It’s been a long time coming, and too be honest even I’m surprised that I decided to finally get it done. I’d also like to apologize in advance for the sheer length of this – I'm going to try and briefly cover everything that happened last term as well. Here goes.  

One of our Mod photos from the end of last year. 

The Autumn term, which unbelievably was already my second cross country season, was my very poor when compared to my freshman year. I saw some genuine progress in my running, largely I think due to the excellent coaching I was receiving, together with the high mileage that I’d been able to put in throughout the year before. I quickly became one of the best individual distance runners (excluding the St Mary's program) in the conference, and I qualified for the NAIA national championships. I also ran 26 minutes for the 8k which, on the cross country, was really not something that I expected to do in my first year out here. This year's cross-country season has been extremely mediocre by comparison. My injuries throughout the track season meant that I was only really able to get some proper training in over the summer back in England – starting at 40k and building up to 100. I was happy with what I’d done in that time. Nevertheless, the season started poorly and never really got better. The heat of the autumn in Kansas was really unbearable this year, with the temperatures climbing to 35 and 40 degrees, and lasting far longer than they should have. Worse than that was the fact that it never really got cooler as the year progressed. Still, I couldn’t believe how unfit I was, and I just couldn’t seem to make any progress. This was hammered home to me when we returned to the same race that I’d ran 26 minutes in last year. 12 months on and, albeit in 30-degree heat, all I could manage was 29. A massive three-minute gap – and one of the poorest races I’ve ever had in all my years of running. My conference run saw my lodge a time of 27.30, which was a season's best, but about bang average compared to my times in my freshman year. Motivating myself was very difficult as well. I certainly don’t think that I’d downed tools in any way, but I really didn’t enjoy the quality of the training sessions or the atmosphere around the team. My first coach, Kelly Parsley, departed under a cloud at the end of my first year. This was really tough to take, because I’d formed a great friendship with him, and he was a truly excellent coach. His replacement wasn’t as invested in the job or as qualified to perform it. Our mileage wasn’t high enough in my opinion, and the sessions didn’t lend themselves well to the length of our races. I sometimes found myself wondering whether or not I’d be better off just following my mums training programme remotely, though that wasn’t of course a real possibility.  

At the end of our Cross Country Conference Meet. 

At a Kansas State American Football Game. 

In spite of my running woes, I was still having a great deal of fun. My living arrangements between have changed significantly. I’m still rooming with Isaiah, but we’re part of a “Mod” of nine other guys. We’re the only runners there: the others are guys who we met throughout our freshman year. Most of them are Mennonites, which is a denomination that I don’t believe I’ve ever explained, and don’t think I ever will be able to. However, we get on really quite well. They don’t stay up late, and they don’t party, which suits me down to the ground. We have also developed a great interest in pulling pranks. These used to be something of a Bethel College tradition, but it's been on the wane in recent years. We’re seeking to revive it in a small way through our good-natured shenanigans.  

We were particularly proud of this prank, where we rearranged 
the letters of our Mod building, from "Warkentin Court"

My personal favourite of our Mod activities. We invited our choirmaster
to lunch in canteen - little did he know that we'd be fine dining in our tuxedos. 

We went camping during Spring Break this year, and took this cool photo. 

Thus, my third semester ended in disappointing fashion, but I was very glad to get home to Christmas. It was there that a plan for my next two years in America began to take shape. I’d been struggling not only with running, but with health problems during my months away, and it was around October time that Emily had first suggested that I transfer to where she was in Milligan University, Tennessee. I was able to go and visit her there during the Thanksgiving holidays, and I really enjoyed myself. At home over Christmas this plan began to take shape. Milligan’s cross country and athletics programme is of an extremely high standard – both the men and the women’s teams won in the national cross country. I wasn’t really sure whether or not such a move would be feasible for me, given how I’d been performing. I filed an application at the start of this year, too great success as it has transpired. The move has been made possible not hugely because of my running, but because of my academic success, which I have worked equally hard to gain. The top grade at college level is a 4.0 GPA, and mine resides somewhere around 3.95. This placed me in the top bracket for academic funding at Milligan, meaning I’d be receiving a huge scholarship for academics should I choose to transfer there, which is now my intention. It looks as though something of an English contingent is being assembled in that particular corner of Tennessee, and Ellen-Mary committing to Milligan is what really solidified the decision in my mind. The thought of being down there, training with a prestigious team, alongside my sisters, with a significantly better scholarship, at a more reputable university, seems too good to miss. The decision has been an incredibly tough one nonetheless, because I’ve really enjoyed my time at Bethel.  

View of Elizabethton, Tennessee. 

With Emily, right on the mountain border with Tennessee and North Carolina. 

The prospect of transferring to Milligan in the autumn has given me a new lease of life with my running, and I’m determined to be in the best shape possible. I’ve also tried to enjoy my indoor season this year, since I didn’t get one last year owing to my injuries. I focused in the 3000 meters, and ran progressively better, before running a pb of 8.54 at the Conference meet to finish sixth overall, which I was happy with. The weekend was somewhat dampened by our failure to qualify for the 4x800 - we missed the qualifying time by 0.03 of a second. I had hoped that I might be able to qualify for nationals in the 3000, but it wasn’t to be.

At the indoor conference meet, we got 3rd in the Distance Medley Relay. 

I think 8.54 converts to around 8.49 on an outdoor track. Running distance events indoors is a very weird experience, especially if you’re tall. As you come off the bends you get an odd sensation of straightening back up, because you’d been leaning so much on the bends. The air is also extremely dry, which messes up your throat during the race, especially in events like the 800 and 1000. I’m continuing to build my mileage towards outdoor, where I plan to run the 5k. If I can keep myself injury free then I’m hoping I can get to around 110 kilometers a week consistently – maybe even more once I’m home for the summer. We’ll have to see. The weather in the past few weeks has been dreadful. The heat of the autumn lasted almost until Christmas, and then the temperatures completely plummeted. I have been determined not to let my mileage drop too much, but sometimes you have to admit defeat when the temperature is -15 with icy wind and driving snow.

My acceptance letter from the Milligan President. 

I had hoped that I wouldn’t home so much this year, but it's not really something that you ever get used to I’m afraid. I’ve been able to console myself with the fact that my stay out here won’t be as long as it was last year, which was around five months. My mind has been very focused on Europe in recent weeks, with the terrible events that have been occurring in the Ukraine. The Mennonites have also been extremely concerned. Many of their ancestors travelled to America from the Donbas region in the 1880s, and so they have a lot of church and family connections there. Being so far away from home makes one feel helpless at a time like this, hopefully there’ll some good news soon. See you in May!