Year One as a bee is complete!! That is so wild to say as this year went by both so quickly and took so long. What do they say? "The days are long and the years are short", or something like that.
This first year at SCAD challenged me in innumerable new ways, some of the biggest being in running on a college team. I've absolutely loved having a real team and it's been truly the biggest blessing of this year. It's given me not only teammates that have become my closest friends, but also opportunities to travel to new parts of the country and compete on a large collegiate stage. I've said this after every season thus far, but truly, this season challenged me like none other.
I started outdoor track frankly a bit exhausted, having gotten back from indoor nationals in South Dakota just two weeks before my first outdoor meet and subsequently jumping straight into 10k training. I knew my biggest challenge of the season would be debuting in the 10k: the longest race in track and field and one of the most grueling. I was excited, knowing my personal strength comes in longer distances, but I also knew it would be wildly different from any races I'd ever done before. Sure enough, both of the two times I raced the 10k had me finishing promising myself that I'd never do one again, but having had a few weeks to reflect on it I can now say I'm so glad I tried this new challenge! My main focus this season was the 5k and 10k, both of which I raced multiple times and with mixed results. I also had a ton of fun racing the 1500 meters for the first time along with an 800 meter race at a meet in the middle of the season. While I'm not a middle distance gal, I really enjoyed it! I finished out the season with PRs of 38:44 (10k), 18:07 (5k), 5:02 (1500m) and 2:33.2 (800m). I was also blessed to compete in many new places, mostly southern (figures), which were Jacksonville, FL, Daytona, FL, Statesboro, GA, and Miami, FL. Lots of Florida, lol!
As usual, my goals for this season were to PR in all or most events, keep a healthy competitive mindset around training and racing, and if possible, qualify for outdoor nationals. Unfortunately, I fell short on a few of these goals, but I learned so much along the way. This indoor track season I made a big jump in my 5k time and that progress enabled me to set new, bigger goals for myself and my running career. While I haven't yet PRed since that big 5k jump to 18:07, I feel that since then I've solidified to myself that I was worthy and capable of that time and the confidence it gave me. Sure, I didn't PR in the 5k this outdoor season, but I did complete the infamous 5k/10k double at our conference meet in Miami, FL and placed second in both events against competitive fields. I ran 39:02 and 18:57 on back to back days - a feat I never believed myself capable of. Luckily I have a coach who believes me to be both capable and worthy of those challenges and trains me to believe in myself.
Courtesy of sweat, tears, and the Calvary Day School cement 377 meter-long track, this outdoor season I took my training to new heights of volume and quality. Starting training under Coach Knapp has showed me that I'm capable of so much more and harder training than I ever did in high school (and rightly so... 20x400?!), and this year I'm so thankful for the teammates who I've gotten to train with nearly every day. Those women and men who I run the streets of Savannah with have seen me through the hardest physical experiences yet, and experiencing it together is so beautiful.
I know how cliche it is to come from an independent high school running career without a team, to now being on a college team and saying it's the best thing ever, but I really am so thankful for the SCAD bees. I'm glad I experienced high school running the way I did, as it taught me how to grind out the hard miles alone (or with my dad!), pace myself very precisely, and also just how to love running for the pure sport of it. That means that the transition onto SCAD's team was tough and beautiful, as it's showed me how to love running with other people instead of against them.
Suffice to say, I can't wait for three more years with the bees and to grind out miles across the country together. Below you'll see some photos of a few meets from this year and photos from our SCAD Athletic Awards Ceremony at the end of spring quarter! It was so fun and cool to gather all the artist-athletes together along the river in Savannah for a celebration of our hard work. Enjoy, and thanks for following along!!
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