if you want a look at some stuff...

So here is our 'swag'. I swiped this picture from a teammate's Facebook (thanks Sean) but it is essentially the same stuff that i got. The shoes are bright blue and green instead of black and green though. Here is a picture...

exciting yes? 

we leave for mammoth tomorrow morning for a week of fun and training in high altitude. should be fun. :) 

a short update

today was the time trial. i woke up at 4 am so i can eat and hydrate before the sun rises. but i couldn't fall back to sleep because i was so nervous. all that nervous energy translated into the fastest beginning of a race i've ever done. in other words...much too fast. even though i was tired and went out too fast, i still pulled a 17:04 for the 2.5 mile course. i came in 11th out of 23 (right smack dab in the middle) and was the 6th freshman overall (out of 8). not too shabby. later today the final roster comes out, and although i am assured a spot, i still can't wait for it to be posted so all the stress and worrying on the team can subside. tomorrow is 'gear day'...where we get flats, shorts, shirts, warmups, sports bras, and a $200 gift certificate for (much needed) new shoes. the rostered kids also get $150 for food. the life of a collegiate athlete! i am so excited. and bear in mind...we are DII. okay my short update was longer than expected. so over and out...and just keep running

Goodbyes and Hellos

The day before I moved happened to be Katie and Anna's 18th birthday. And my idea of a great birthday surprise was to make the half hour drive to their house to wake them up at 7:30 for a last final run together. The plan worked flawlessly (save for a slight delay in my arrival time because I missed a turn and the next turn around point was 2.5 miles away. And yes I did have the GPS. It's sad really). They then spent the day with me, helping me and my mom babysit an adorable 6 month old baby and watching half of Disturbia. The Johnsons also broke fast with us (since I am and Muslim and practice Ramadan). The birthday girls also went with me to my semi-surprise goodbye party thrown on by a few friends who wanted to see me off before my big college journey. It was a great day, albeit incredibly sad as I was hit with stress and fear in waves. Saying bye was tough but it wasn't forever. I'm stealing this quote from a wall post one of my friends made today... "‎"Don’t be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again." -Richard Bach"".

Saturday commenced with a final run with my high school team where the twins bestowed upon me the gift of music in the form of a carefully picked out CD. Thanks guys.

My family helped me move up to La Jolla and settle into my dorm. My roommate, Sarah, is incredibly sweet and I am so excited to be her teammate for the next four years. Everyone else is really great too, making a point to make us freshman feel included. And the final cuts haven't even been made yet. We are all hoping that no one gets cut at all. That the 20 girls on the female roster can be stretched to 23 and the 16 boys on the male roster can include 2 more.

Right now we are in evaluation week (aka tryout week) which included a easy run, strength test and time trial, which combined with our previous personal records are taken in account. Nate (my coach) said he's not only evaluating our physical fitness but how well we interact with the team and the amount of effort we are putting into everything.  Now that I have completed the strength test,  I know upper body strength is my weakness (luckily it seems everyone else save a few incredible individuals are in the same boat).  But the strength circuit he put us through today is the first step in remedying that problem. ;)

Wish me luck tomorrow for my time trial. It is a hilly, twisty course through "The Trees", essentially the eucalyptus grove that extends throughout the campus. I am excited and nervous, and I hope I can prove the coaches and team that I deserve to be there.

I guess that's my update for now. Thanks to whoever is reading!

IT'S SUMMERTIME!

Yesterday, my sister officially became a Freshman at GOHS. And, truth be told, I am sad. Sad that my sister is growing up, sad that I'm no longer part of that great campus, sad that I'm not part of the wonderful cross country team that was once my family. I know this nostalgia is brought upon by my impending move (yikes...2 days!!!!) I keep remembering all those wonderful times, and find myself running by the school, or  picking up my sister from practice just because I seem to have a problem letting go. I feel better when I see other alumni there too (shout out to Katie, Anna, Shannon, and Katie B.) 

But back to my sister. Her name is Summer, and she is a beautiful, intelligent, athletic and talented in too many ways to count. I'm going to miss her like crazy when I head out to UCSD, but I'm close enough to visit whenever I miss her too much. Freshman year is always so much fun, and I hope her's (as well as mine) is memorable. It's Day 2 of school for her, and already she has homework (her fault for being a brainiac and taking Algebra 2 and Chemistry at only 13). I'm not envious of that homework. And I'm glad she is finally officially part of the Wolfpack.  So here is to my Summertime (I haven't called her that in a while, but it was the inspiration for this blog and it's title), and the rest of my summer in La Jolla. 

Good Luck to all!

what you will do to keep in shape...

So far, I have written a lot about my feelings about college and very little about running.  So I guess I should talk about running a bit. Since my blog IS entitled "just keep running".

I move into preseason housing on Saturday. So I guess what I have been doing is pre-preseason athletics. And it is so different from high school that for a while I think my body went into shock. I was running faster, but for only around a half hour. Big change from the relaxed two hour runs I was accustomed to. So my stomach was hurting but at the same time I was feeling like I wasn't getting enough from my runs. What a dilemma? Right? But after a while, the symptoms seemed to reverse. The slower I ran, the more my legs hurt. The faster I ran, the better I felt. I guess what I'm getting from all this, is that your body adapts. It's amazing really. I'm still going through some adjustments. But I guess all that's left to see is if I perform with lower milage as well as I did with higher milage. Me? I'm hoping for better.

So even though the milage was lower, it did grow to a bit over an hour. And running solo is awful, day after day, no matter how long you are running. But with all my Great Oak High School teammates (alumni or otherwise) running much different workouts, that is what I had to do. Until my friend, future teammate and former teammate, Kaity, texted me asking me to run with her. But there was a catch. She needed to run at 5 am. So that is what we did. Kaity was running then heading off to a really long workday helping run a day camp for kids; I admire her dedication. Me? I ran, then came home and then conked out. Friends, I learned how to take a nap! (for those that know me, this is a seriously big deal). This has definitely been a summer for sleeping.

Tryout week starts on Monday. Time trials, strength test, VO2 test. Luckily, I signed with the team. I am guaranteed a spot. But it is still time for me to show that my dedication and training this summer paid off.

And that's all I have to say about that. :)

sweatpants, goodbyes, catchphrases and beginnings

what i think i fear the most about all this change is that i'll wake up tomorrow and not know anyone anymore. that i will be so far removed from everyone's life that i lose touch and lose wonderful friends. i think that is what makes the goodbyes so hard. that a tiny part of your brain quietly goes "this could be the last time". which is completely unreasonable, but still that little voice continues to whisper.

i move to La Jolla, california in t-5 days. saturday afternoon i pack up my car (my beautiful little honda civic that i really have to wash) and drive to my new home, new team, and new life. (talk about all that newness again). i don't really have that much of a traumatic move...being only an hour away from sunny little Temecula...but the 'being on your own' concept is very much in play. i'm just incredibly thankful that i was blessed enough to have a team to welcome me in (trust me, it was UCSD's number one selling point).

i'm not the first of my friends to move. jessie, one of my greatest friends packed up her shiny 'new' car and drove hours and hours to get to Utah. and her move, in my opinion, seemed so dramatic that saying goodbye was an absolutly horrible experience. because we cried. a lot. so we devised a plan, me, katie, anna, and jessie (you'll hear about those three a lot). we bought a pair of medium black men's sweatpants (they were all out of smalls. go figure. it's summertime), silver fabric paint, and a catchphrase. ""Together forever, never apart, maybe in distance but never in heart."


We hope it will be a reminder to keep in touch. And if all else fails there will always be Skype. 


it's a new beginning. and to keep myself sane...i just gotta keep running.