Friday we (the SFU Cross-country team) arrived in Olympia, WA (75 min south of Seattle) to a nice sunny day. Saturday was race day, on the same course that is going to be used in one months’ time for NAIA Regionals. We woke up to a wet ground and a light rain falling from the sky with cool temperatures. Far from ideal running weather, but such was the story of my week.

The week began with a strong effort to catch up on the sleep I had missed from the previous week. A calculus midterm on Wednesday hampered these efforts. The mid-term itself was tough, as I had expected. The week also included a couple of assignments which needed to be completed before we left Friday at lunch for our race. It was another packed week with plenty to do. On top of this, I had to make sure I was doing enough contract work to keep my clients pleased, which has been tough as I’m limited to my laptop until my main development computer arrives.

I entered weekend far more stressed and tense than I would’ve liked, and this was compounded by a bit of a nagging foot issue. I tried to put as much of this behind my going into Saturday’s race, one that I had been trying to build up for, as it is our last race until Regionals. The race did not end up providing any solace to my already less-than-ideal week. Within the first (of three) loop of the race I had rolled my ankle twice, and considered dropping out the second time as I jogged with a limp, trying to loosen up the foot. The rest of the race was spent being overly cautious on the rough areas of the course and trying to make up time on the better areas. It was the worst I have raced this year, though I was proud of myself for sticking it out and putting in all the effort I could given the circumstance. The result wasn’t disastrous, and our teams both did really well in winning the meet. I must admit though, I wasn’t in a particularly good mood at this point.

Sunday I made an effort to make my way to church, on yet another rainy morning (not that the rain itself bothers me, it just seemed fitting with my mood at the time). Church did not disappoint this time. It helped me to take a step back and regain a larger perspective. The sun can’t always shine; there are always lessons to be learned and hardships to go through.

Later Sunday afternoon, the sun made a welcomed appearance from beyond the clouds. I enjoyed a light run around the campus, and was able to take a brief moment of time to relax, knowing that I had an extra day off. In addition to having the day off today, it also marked my first Thanksgiving away from home. Luckily, I know I will have the opportunity to see my family in a short while. As well, me and my neighbor, a member of the track team, had organized a Thanksgiving meal for those of us who didn’t have opportunity to make it home. With everyone chipping in, we made and enjoyed a wonderful (and rather large) dinner, showing that University students are capable of having the luxuries away from home. It was a great time, and really helped kick-start a new week.

Sometimes it does rain; but rain is refreshing and invigorating, and helps us to enjoy the pleasure of the sunshine. I’m learning to balance my workload better, and to make sure I take time out for that which really matters. One bad race only re-ignites my passion to train hard and I intend to be ready to go come Regionals. The sun is always there waiting for the rain to end.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 12:23 am and is filed under Running, Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.