Today was my last cross country meet of my junior year. I hate to say it but I was happy it was coming to an end. I like to run but it's nice to take a break after running for so many months. Instead of going to practice after school I'll be able to go home or attend club meetings which I couldn't do all of first term. Tomorrow will be the first day of no running for me and I am very excited. Me and some people are getting together and we are going to make mole day t-shirts for chemistry because October 23rd is mole day.
I felt like I ran okay at my meet. I feel like I could have done better but I usually always feel like that. It was very cold out to say the least. When we got there it was raining on and off and the wind chill made it feel like it was snowing outside. Luckily, I was all wrapped up in my warm clothes but I was dreading the moment I would have to take them off to run. I sat around and froze for a while until the freshman and sophomore race began. Then I decided that despite how cold it was, I needed to get up and cheer for them. After that it was time to warm up. It was terrible at first because I was so cold I didn't even want to move. Luckily though, I warmed up pretty quickly. In no time at all we were at the starting line ready to run. I kept my sweats on as long as possible to try and stay warm. A few minutes before the man shot the gun I quickly took all my sweats off. It was very hard to do because it was so cold outside. All I had on to race in my uniform- shorts and a tank top like shirt. We were allowed to wear under amour but it had to be black and of course I manage to only buy bright colors of under amour so that was a problem for me. It didn't end up mattering that much because once I began running I no longer felt very cold. It was definitely the muddiest course I have ever run on. Before my race some of the freshman and sophomore girls told me that they slipped and fell. This worried me a little but I was wearing spikes so I didn’t think it would matter. I had a little more friction running up and down the hills in my spikes but I still had some pretty close calls. By the time I was finished my legs were covered in mud. I didn’t really mind too much, it was actually kind of fun to get all muddy for a change of pace. It was the third time I had run that specific course and it was the most enjoyable of all the times.
Once I was done I did a cool down with my teammates. It was nice to know that I was done for the season and that I would be able to just relax for a while and sleep in on the weekends. Unfortunately, on Saturday I won’t get to sleep in because I have to take the PSAT but hopefully on the weekends after that I will get to. After the cool down I cheered for the varsity girls and when they were done we immediately headed on the bus to go back to CR. We were so excited to get on the bus because it was so cold outside and we had been freezing for far too long. On the way back we ate subway which was really good and just relaxed.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Monday, October 12, 2009
IC Cross Country Meet Number 2
On Thursday night I had my second to last cross country meet of the season. I enjoy cross country, but I am definitely ready for the season to come to an end. It is always nice just to relax once the season is over and just come home after school instead of having to run. Granted, I will only be able to take a week or two off before I need to start running again for track season but those two weeks off will be very nice. Our coach says we are going to have a 400 club with t-shirts for the people that put in 400 miles between cross country and track season and I definitely would like to be part of that. The meet on Thursday night was in IC. It is a really nice track and I know it very well so I was pumped to run despite the cold conditions. We kept our sweats on up until about a minute before our race was to start. We then stripped down solely to our uniforms, which are shorts and a tank top. Some of the other teams were wearing under amour under their uniforms but our coach said we shouldn’t do that so I listened. It ended up being good advice because once the gun went off I didn’t even think about the cold air. It was very cold out but I just focused on running and before I knew it I actually felt a little warm. The race went very well and I got one of my better times for the season.
After the race, I ate a huge muffin. It was double chocolate chip and it was so good. Everybody on the team received a muffin when they were done running as a snack. After that I went on to cheer for the varsity girls with my teammates and the other fresh/soph runners who had run earlier. Our team did pretty well as a whole and our coach was happy. Once we got back to school, I had to attempt to make it to the Kingston game I had to march in. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I was with two other girls who also do cross country and marching band. They had to go into the band room to retrieve their instruments (I already had mine) but unfortunately the doors were locked to the band room. We spent about 15 minutes trying to find someone to unlock the doors when I finally came across a man. I asked him kindly if he was a janitor, simply because we had been running into a lot of construction workers. He looked at me very funny and I explained the situation about why we needed to get into the band room. As I was doing this I realized he was clearly not a janitor. He agreed to open the doors for us and we thanked him, but I think he was still a little offended that I had at once thought he was a janitor. All the rushing ended up being for nothing because we made it there in plenty of time for half time.
After the race, I ate a huge muffin. It was double chocolate chip and it was so good. Everybody on the team received a muffin when they were done running as a snack. After that I went on to cheer for the varsity girls with my teammates and the other fresh/soph runners who had run earlier. Our team did pretty well as a whole and our coach was happy. Once we got back to school, I had to attempt to make it to the Kingston game I had to march in. It was an interesting experience to say the least. I was with two other girls who also do cross country and marching band. They had to go into the band room to retrieve their instruments (I already had mine) but unfortunately the doors were locked to the band room. We spent about 15 minutes trying to find someone to unlock the doors when I finally came across a man. I asked him kindly if he was a janitor, simply because we had been running into a lot of construction workers. He looked at me very funny and I explained the situation about why we needed to get into the band room. As I was doing this I realized he was clearly not a janitor. He agreed to open the doors for us and we thanked him, but I think he was still a little offended that I had at once thought he was a janitor. All the rushing ended up being for nothing because we made it there in plenty of time for half time.
Valleyfest
This Saturday was one of the biggest days of the season for the marching band. We headed to West Des Moines Valley for Valley fest which is a really big marching band competition with a lot of good bands. There were even bands from South Dakota and Minnesota. Coincidently one of them was Irondale, who we traveled up north to compete with earlier in the year. This is usually the biggest out of all the competitions for us, but this year we traveled up to Irondale which we don’t usually do. Irondale was probably just as big and competitive as this competition if not more.
Earlier in the day, on Saturday, we had the state competition at Kingston. This is always more of a warm up for the competition later on in the day. Usually this is a pretty enjoyable competition, and don’t get me wrong, it was, minus the fact that it was absolutely freezing outside. Earlier in the day we had a practice and it was actually snowing outside! It was still a fun competition but I could have done without the cold weather. We didn’t stay for the awards because we had to get onto our next competition. We later found out we got a Division 1 scoring here, which is really good. After this we ate lunch and packed up for Valley. I was super excited for the competition, even though it was freezing. The bus ride to Valley usually takes forever but this time it seemed really short. It was probably because it was the most fun I had ever had on a bus ride. I don’t know if it is because I am an upperclassmen now or what, but bus rides seem to just get more and more fun over the years.
When we got to Valley we had to get our game faces on because the bus ride there had been rather rowdy. It was kind of disappointing because usually when we get there we all run around, play games, and eat dinner in the grass but this time it was so cold we didn’t even want to get off the bus. Unfortunately though, we had too, so we hesitantly got off the bus and changed into our uniforms. We then walked to our warm up area to prepare. Another disappointing factor of the night was that usually before our show we have about 10 minutes were we get together with our sections and the seniors give inspirational speeches about how our season is coming to an end and we all need to do our best because this is one of our last competitions and its big. This part of the night was left out for some reason, despite my enthusiasm for it. I guess I always have next year though, when me and the other seniors will get to be the motivational speakers. After our warm up we performed. I thought our performance was pretty good and according to our director we only tore once. Ideally we wouldn’t have torn at all but once is better than twice. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that great in the scoring and we were beat by Washington and Jefferson, our biggest rivals. We usually beat Jefferson but I guess they really stepped their game up. We haven’t gotten a chance to listen to any of the judge’s tapes yet which we will probably do on Tuesday. That will bring more insight into where we really need to work at for next weekend when we go to Ankeny.
Earlier in the day, on Saturday, we had the state competition at Kingston. This is always more of a warm up for the competition later on in the day. Usually this is a pretty enjoyable competition, and don’t get me wrong, it was, minus the fact that it was absolutely freezing outside. Earlier in the day we had a practice and it was actually snowing outside! It was still a fun competition but I could have done without the cold weather. We didn’t stay for the awards because we had to get onto our next competition. We later found out we got a Division 1 scoring here, which is really good. After this we ate lunch and packed up for Valley. I was super excited for the competition, even though it was freezing. The bus ride to Valley usually takes forever but this time it seemed really short. It was probably because it was the most fun I had ever had on a bus ride. I don’t know if it is because I am an upperclassmen now or what, but bus rides seem to just get more and more fun over the years.
When we got to Valley we had to get our game faces on because the bus ride there had been rather rowdy. It was kind of disappointing because usually when we get there we all run around, play games, and eat dinner in the grass but this time it was so cold we didn’t even want to get off the bus. Unfortunately though, we had too, so we hesitantly got off the bus and changed into our uniforms. We then walked to our warm up area to prepare. Another disappointing factor of the night was that usually before our show we have about 10 minutes were we get together with our sections and the seniors give inspirational speeches about how our season is coming to an end and we all need to do our best because this is one of our last competitions and its big. This part of the night was left out for some reason, despite my enthusiasm for it. I guess I always have next year though, when me and the other seniors will get to be the motivational speakers. After our warm up we performed. I thought our performance was pretty good and according to our director we only tore once. Ideally we wouldn’t have torn at all but once is better than twice. Unfortunately, we didn’t do that great in the scoring and we were beat by Washington and Jefferson, our biggest rivals. We usually beat Jefferson but I guess they really stepped their game up. We haven’t gotten a chance to listen to any of the judge’s tapes yet which we will probably do on Tuesday. That will bring more insight into where we really need to work at for next weekend when we go to Ankeny.
Thursday Night Football Game
Sadly enough there was no football game on Friday night at Kingston. There was one on Thursday night but those are never as good because there is always the stress of having to go home to a pile of homework. I played with marching band at the Thursday night game and it wasn’t actually too bad. It’s kind of nice to watch the football games when we actually win. I can’t even remember who we played but I know we beat them. I was a little late getting to the game because I had a cross country meet in IC beforehand so I missed pregame. For pregame the marching band just goes out and plays the Star-Spangled Banner followed by the Fight Song so I didn’t miss much there. It was a pretty cold night but nothing compared to the temperatures that it would be over the weekend. Finally halftime came and we marched our show. Football games are basically just good times for us to run through our shows and practice for our competitions. We put everything we had on the field so our director would know where we were at and what needed to be worked on and cleaned up for the upcoming competition. When we were done our directors gave us feedback on how our performance went and what we needed to work on for the next show. They thought it was overall pretty good, but that we needed to work on little things, like having more confidence in everything you do on the field. I thought it went pretty good despite the cold temperature. When it gets really cold out, it makes it more difficult to play because not only do are your fingers and mouth frozen but the instruments get really out of tune. Occasionally keys will also stick or freeze which is not good either. After our show I was pretty much dreading pep band. I had a ton of homework to get done and on top of that I was really cold. Due to this, I was extremely excited when our director told us we could go home for the night and just forget about pep band. She didn’t want any of us to get sick because the following Saturday we had a big competition at Valley and it would not have been good if half of our band was out sick. So all in all, it ended up being a good night.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Bull Fighting in Spain Part Two
Recently Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the Olympics in 2016. The four original candidates included: Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid, and Rio de Janeiro. Chicago was eliminated first and followed by Tokyo. Then it was between Madrid and Rio de Janeiro. My first chose was obviously Chicago simply because it is practically down the street from where we live. My second chose was Madrid because I absolutely love the country of Spain and thought it would be a good opportunity for me to go back to Spain. Unfortunately, Rio de Janeiro came out victorious, probably because South America has never hosted the Olympics before. I was disappointed when I found out but I guess it won’t be the last Olympics so the United States and Spain still have another shot.
Earlier in my blog writing I talked briefly about my experience with bull fighting in Spain. Even though I thought it was cruel, it is still nonetheless a crucial part of their culture that must be learned about. The first bull fight ever recorded in Spain was during the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. It has become so popular in the country since then, that every year over one million people go to watch bull fights. To start a bull fight, one bull is let into the ring where it is met by an assistant of the matador (the chief bull fighter). The assistant will wave a brightly colored cap in front of the bull to make it charge. This helps the matador determine what type of a bull it is going to be, because many bulls have different personalities. If the bull is determined to be unaggressive during this section they will remove him from the ring and attempt a new bull. Nonaggressive bulls will not put up a good fight and the crowd will not be happy with this. One more thing I need to mention before I move any further is that before the bull enters the bull fighting ring, he has never seen a human walking on two feet. These bulls are raised far out from civilization and are trained by a man riding on a horse to be highly aggressive. When they are young, they are tested to see if they have the potential to be aggressive bulls, if not, they are killed right then and there. The fact that this is the first time a bull has ever seen a human walking on two feet and for that matter a crowd of humans puts him out of his element.
After this a picador on a horse will go and stick a spear into the neck of the bull. This is where the crucial muscles for a bull are, making him very angry. Next the matador, which is the most skilled bull fighter, will come onto the arena. This is the most anticipated part of the show because the bull fighter will show his strength and courage. He will run around the bull making him angry while placing several spears in the bulls back. The more dangerous the stunt the matador performs, the more the crowd will cheer. This is very dangerous because one wrong move and the bull fighter could be impaled with the horns of the bull. In Spain, Matadors are celebrities, the more accomplished they become and the higher up in the rankings of celebrity status they go. After the matador has shown his courage, he will prepare to kill the bull by fatally stabbing it through the heart. This is a difficult task to complete because often times the matador will hit bone and if the matador is successful on the first try he is usually awarded. At this point, the crowd begins to feel sorry for the bull and wants it to die as quickly as possible. If the crowd is pleased with the bull fight, they will waive their handkerchiefs in the air. The president of the bull fighting ring, present at every bull fight, will determine whether the bull fighter will receive one ear, two ears, the tail, or the hoof of the bull. Most often times the bull fighter will receive nothing because these awards are very difficult to receive. At the bull fight I went to there were a total of 6 bulls killed and although the bull fighters were good, none of them received any part of the bulls.
Earlier in my blog writing I talked briefly about my experience with bull fighting in Spain. Even though I thought it was cruel, it is still nonetheless a crucial part of their culture that must be learned about. The first bull fight ever recorded in Spain was during the crowning of King Alfonso VIII. It has become so popular in the country since then, that every year over one million people go to watch bull fights. To start a bull fight, one bull is let into the ring where it is met by an assistant of the matador (the chief bull fighter). The assistant will wave a brightly colored cap in front of the bull to make it charge. This helps the matador determine what type of a bull it is going to be, because many bulls have different personalities. If the bull is determined to be unaggressive during this section they will remove him from the ring and attempt a new bull. Nonaggressive bulls will not put up a good fight and the crowd will not be happy with this. One more thing I need to mention before I move any further is that before the bull enters the bull fighting ring, he has never seen a human walking on two feet. These bulls are raised far out from civilization and are trained by a man riding on a horse to be highly aggressive. When they are young, they are tested to see if they have the potential to be aggressive bulls, if not, they are killed right then and there. The fact that this is the first time a bull has ever seen a human walking on two feet and for that matter a crowd of humans puts him out of his element.
After this a picador on a horse will go and stick a spear into the neck of the bull. This is where the crucial muscles for a bull are, making him very angry. Next the matador, which is the most skilled bull fighter, will come onto the arena. This is the most anticipated part of the show because the bull fighter will show his strength and courage. He will run around the bull making him angry while placing several spears in the bulls back. The more dangerous the stunt the matador performs, the more the crowd will cheer. This is very dangerous because one wrong move and the bull fighter could be impaled with the horns of the bull. In Spain, Matadors are celebrities, the more accomplished they become and the higher up in the rankings of celebrity status they go. After the matador has shown his courage, he will prepare to kill the bull by fatally stabbing it through the heart. This is a difficult task to complete because often times the matador will hit bone and if the matador is successful on the first try he is usually awarded. At this point, the crowd begins to feel sorry for the bull and wants it to die as quickly as possible. If the crowd is pleased with the bull fight, they will waive their handkerchiefs in the air. The president of the bull fighting ring, present at every bull fight, will determine whether the bull fighter will receive one ear, two ears, the tail, or the hoof of the bull. Most often times the bull fighter will receive nothing because these awards are very difficult to receive. At the bull fight I went to there were a total of 6 bulls killed and although the bull fighters were good, none of them received any part of the bulls.
IC Cross Country Meet
At the same time that other school activities seem to be wrapping up, cross country is as well. Even though it is getting to the end for most activities the amount of stress, effort, and time that is put into these events is only increasing. As our marching band director says, we can see the finish line, and in a race when you see the finish line instead of stopping, you push harder than you ever have before. I run cross country and I only have 2 meets left. On one hand I was sad that marching band was coming to an end, but I am not really disappointed that cross country is coming to an end because I don’t find it as fun. I don’t remember exactly where our last two meets are but I know that one of them is in IC, which I am partially excited for because I know the course really well. When I go into a race knowing a course it is much less stressful and more enjoyable because the worry about getting lost or coming across an unexpected hill isn’t there, you know everything you possibly can about the course.
This past week we had a cross country meet at IC and it went pretty well. I don’t know how we placed but I did knock some time off my running so I was happy. Since it seems to be a good course, hopefully when I run there again this season I will be able to knock some more time off of my run. Even though I only have 2 meets left, the varsity girls have at least 3 meets left. Next week is a regular meet and the meet after that is the divisional meet, which the whole team runs in also. That race will be the end of my season, but the varsity girls will run at districts the next week. If they are able to place in the top 3 at districts, which we of course are all hoping for, then they will get to run in the state meet. My freshmen year our team did really good and managed to get 3rd place which qualified them for the big state meet. Unfortunately, last year we didn’t qualify but hopefully that won’t happen again. Part of our chances of qualifying will be determined when we find out what teams we run against at districts. This being said, I think we have really good chances of qualifying for state due to our strong varsity team this year.
This past week we had a cross country meet at IC and it went pretty well. I don’t know how we placed but I did knock some time off my running so I was happy. Since it seems to be a good course, hopefully when I run there again this season I will be able to knock some more time off of my run. Even though I only have 2 meets left, the varsity girls have at least 3 meets left. Next week is a regular meet and the meet after that is the divisional meet, which the whole team runs in also. That race will be the end of my season, but the varsity girls will run at districts the next week. If they are able to place in the top 3 at districts, which we of course are all hoping for, then they will get to run in the state meet. My freshmen year our team did really good and managed to get 3rd place which qualified them for the big state meet. Unfortunately, last year we didn’t qualify but hopefully that won’t happen again. Part of our chances of qualifying will be determined when we find out what teams we run against at districts. This being said, I think we have really good chances of qualifying for state due to our strong varsity team this year.
Kingston Five Seasons Marching Band Competition
It’s hard to believe that already it is midterm. One minute it is the first day of my junior year and the next minute I’m halfway through the first term of my junior year. They always say it goes by fast but those nights I’m cramming for tests or just trying to finish a lab report it seems that my high school career is never ending. I was recently looking at my schedule for marching band and realized that after this weekend we only had 3 competitions left! Sadly, I soon realized that the fun of marching band couldn’t last forever. Granted, I still have next year but that is far off.
This weekend we had a competition at Kingston stadium. It was hosted by the CR Community School District which means that we were scored but didn’t get a placing, in other words we were exhibition. Nevertheless, we were still excited for our performance. It wouldn’t be the most important performance, but it still did carry some weight because we performed right after the Jefferson Band and right before the Washington Band. These are two of our biggest competitors not only in marching band but in just about every other sport. Unfortunately, some people in band don’t take it as serious simply because we aren’t being judged but most of us knew we needed to do well. We don’t know our scoring until Monday when we get back to school but I think we did okay.
Before we competed at the competition we had to march out onto the field with the little middle school students. Every year before this competition starts Jefferson, Washington, and Kennedy march onto the field with middle school students from the CR Community School District and we play the Star Spangled Banner, America, and another fun song that the band directors select. It is usually pretty funny because the middle school students have never done any kind of marching in their lives and some of them find it difficult to simply walk on the field when directed, put their horns up when directed and play their music correctly when directed. This exercise is simple for us because we are used to practically running around the field in step while playing music a lot more difficult. We usually rehearse it a few times before the actual performance, just to make sure that everyone will stay together as we play it. Of course, it proceeded to rain as we were practicing and even harder later when we were performing it. It had been pretty cold out all day but the rain was just icing on top of the cake. It was worse for the middle school students though because we were suited in our full uniforms and they just had t-shirts and jeans. Luckily the rain didn’t stop the rest of the competition from going off without a hitch.
This weekend we had a competition at Kingston stadium. It was hosted by the CR Community School District which means that we were scored but didn’t get a placing, in other words we were exhibition. Nevertheless, we were still excited for our performance. It wouldn’t be the most important performance, but it still did carry some weight because we performed right after the Jefferson Band and right before the Washington Band. These are two of our biggest competitors not only in marching band but in just about every other sport. Unfortunately, some people in band don’t take it as serious simply because we aren’t being judged but most of us knew we needed to do well. We don’t know our scoring until Monday when we get back to school but I think we did okay.
Before we competed at the competition we had to march out onto the field with the little middle school students. Every year before this competition starts Jefferson, Washington, and Kennedy march onto the field with middle school students from the CR Community School District and we play the Star Spangled Banner, America, and another fun song that the band directors select. It is usually pretty funny because the middle school students have never done any kind of marching in their lives and some of them find it difficult to simply walk on the field when directed, put their horns up when directed and play their music correctly when directed. This exercise is simple for us because we are used to practically running around the field in step while playing music a lot more difficult. We usually rehearse it a few times before the actual performance, just to make sure that everyone will stay together as we play it. Of course, it proceeded to rain as we were practicing and even harder later when we were performing it. It had been pretty cold out all day but the rain was just icing on top of the cake. It was worse for the middle school students though because we were suited in our full uniforms and they just had t-shirts and jeans. Luckily the rain didn’t stop the rest of the competition from going off without a hitch.
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