Running in Circles

At times college life feels to me like I'm a hamster on a running wheel, working very hard but not really getting anywhere. I get into this routine of eating, sleeping, studying, running that just repeats each day. It's a bit overwhelming when I finally get one major assignment done and feel a sense of accomplishment, and then another professor assigns something big. Oh the rigors of college classes!

Ultimately I know that I am gaining knowledge, that all of my hard work will pay off, and that I will get it all done. It's important to take a deep breath, realize that many other students have gone through these exact same feelings before, and that they've succeeded. If they can do it, I can do it.

Better than just feeling like I'm running in circles with homework, I actually have been running in circles for track! We have now completed two of our four indoor track meets. Our first one was held here at Luther two weekends ago, and it was a small field: us, our Alumni, and Iowa Central Community College. I was really excited for that meet because I got to run the 2000 steeplechase for the first time ever. It was definitely a fun race and I hurdled over all of the barriers. Success!

This past Saturday we traveled to UW-Platteville for a much larger meet that was an all-day event. We left Luther at 7:45 so that we could make it there for the first events at 10 and we didn't end up getting back until 10:45PM. It was a long day but very much worth.

We started off the meet in an awesome fashion with one of our senior ladies winning her heat of the 5k. There were more exciting races as the day went on and I got to learn a lot more of my teammates as I spent a lot of time cheering. My 3k race was originally scheduled for 6:15 PM but I didn't actually race until 7:15 due to us getting behind schedule. It was really difficult waiting for 9 hours to race. I was pumped and raring to go at about 11 AM!

When the gun went off for my race, another freshman and I hung together toward the back before moving making our move. We ran really well together and were able to push and support each other for all 15 laps. I felt great and the results were better than I expected. It was so neat racing at that time because most of my teammates were done with their races and therefore spread out along the whole track cheering as loudly as possible. Along the homestretch it was just a sea of blue cheering us on, giving us the "WHOOSH!" as we went by. That is the beauty of Luther sports: constant support.



Now I can't wait to see what's in store for the next races, and I've learned that running in circles can be very rewarding.