Beautiful October

It is October. The month in which the Portland weather slowly changes from sunny and 30 degrees, to rainy and cold. The leaves turn red, yellow, orange and brown, and start to cover the trails. The rain makes the trails muddy, and our runs a playing ground. It is also the month of Fall Break, which makes me think of the great days I spent with my parents in the Fall Break of my Freshman Year, when we traveled together through all of Oregon. I did not have my parents here for this Fall Break, but going up to Port Angeles, where Nick lives, running on beautiful trails and hiking through the rainforest, was also a pretty good way to spend my break. October is also the month of pumkin-spiced everything (Coffee, icecream, you name it!), and the month of the obligatory visit to the famous pumkin patch (see pictures). But the most exciting thing is that it is the month of Conference, the race that marks the beginning of the end of the XC-season here in the States. I might only have two races left, Conference & Regionals, but I am very much hoping that we could write history, and qualify for Nationals. But let's not step ahead to far, and first look back to my last race. The 6km at the UW Invitational did not go as expected. I was very disappointed with how I ran, because I fell in the same trap that I have been falling into every single season at UP so far: I train too hard, get tired, and cannot perform well. When I told my parents about this, my dad said he saw it coming because I had talked about how much I was enjoying my weekly day off, while normally, I hate my day off because I get grumpy when I do not have my daily endorphin shot (Yes I admit, I am addicted). But instead of seeing a bad race as a reason to train even harder, as my former stubborn self used to do, I decided after a good evaluation with my coach to take a couple days off. The first day of doing nothing at all was fun, the second one too. On the third day, I just really, really, really wanted to go out there and run. It was scary to take days off in the middle of the season, but I think it is going to pay off. It felt awesome to feel like my normal self again on Friday, when I did speedy 400 repeats, side by side with my teammates, feeling strong and fast. No better feeling than that! With two more weeks in preparation for Conference, our team will be ready to do something special!