November 14, 2011
Madams and sirs,
I assume this is the last blog of the season, as we had our last meet this weekend. Even if it is not, I will pen it as if it were.
This last week was ok. This last weekend was insane. The following is an explanation.
Those running this weekend were tapering. The top seven raced in the NCCAA Championships here at Cedarville on Saturday, and everyone else on Friday. As mentioned in a previous week, several guys did not run at all this weekend in order to recover and start training for track. Clay Watson also came down with a fever late in the week, so it was decided that he would not run.
However, we still ended up placing second to Malone at the NCCAA Championships. Of course we would have liked to win, but it was not a horrible end to the season. Some of the returners from last year have mentioned that since we were not eligible for any championship meets (NAIA or NCAA) this year, it is hard to have a very focused, highly intense attitude towards being competitive. Whether this is true or not, the season is over, and it is time to clear our minds, rest for a couple weeks, refocus, and start training again.
By the way, congratulations to Jacob Walter, Ben Tuttle, and Matt Cheney on great races! I believe Walters PR'd on a windy day, and Toots n Cheeks both PR'd by 40-50 seconds. How excellent.
Speaking of these guys.....
All their parents were here this weekend. This is where the story gets exciting. It is cool to meet parents. Very cool, especially when they all tell you they read the blog. They all also said everything makes sense after meeting me. Whatever.
Anyhow, at the banquet following the meet on Saturday, a couple teammates and I sat with Jake Walter's family. Conversation was going well, and all members of the conversation seemed to be enjoying everyone else's company, when it came up that my mom went to Maranatha Baptist Bible College in Watertown, Wisconsin, where Mrs. Walter, formerly Marcia Trow, also lived. Well neat. Of course, after asking if I knew the Jaspers and other families (which I did because they started a church I used to go to, and Sharon Caughill brought my mom to church for the first time), Mrs. Walter asked what my mother's maiden name was. I said something similar to, "Peoples, and her first name is Diane". Mrs. Walter's face morphed into something I've no way to describe; a look of ultimate surprise, or something. Upon recovery, she got "She was my roommate!!!" out. How incredibly incredulously increasingly incrementally incredible. I'm sorry about that sentence, but it was pretty crazy.
Um, I also was able to see several other friend's parents, and ate lunch with Hannah Cherry (Elisa's sister). Hannah made sure I knew that my sister is way cooler than I am.
Matthew Brooker and myself give thanks to Deborah Romig for taking us to Skyline for chili and Young's Dairy for ice cream. She is awesome. Thanks also to the Lamos family for driving us, and for letting Matt date Hannah, and inviting me to their house. I WILL visit.
Well, wow, I guess I'm done with college cross country, but either it hasn't sunk in, or I don't care because I can run for the rest of my life (hopefully), and am still around the guys for another five months. Shoot, I better make these last few months worth it.
It has been a mostly pleasure-filled experience being able to blog whatever pops into my mind for you this semester, and I hope you came away with something profitable.
If this is not the last blog, see you soon, otherwise there is no need to say goodbye because I will see you again, or I never met you. I hope to meet you all, although I doubt the inverse is true.
I'm jk, but seriously,
Ethan David Blagg
November 7, 2011
Hey readers!
Hmmm! Another meet-less weekend. It seems like every other weekend is off. This is probably a good thing for those who are actually racing. It gives them a chance to recover for the next 8 kilometer race. This week’s race will finish the team's cross season until next year. At that point, we will be eligible to qualify for NCAA meets.
On Friday, an open race will be run by anyone who is not in the top seven. Saturday will hold the NCCAA Championship race where the top seven from each team run. I am not sure who all is coming at this point, but I do know there will be a few very good teams making the trek to the Elvin R. King Cross Country Course, making team camp in the Joyce King Team Camp area. I don't know who "Joyce King" is. It should be called the Mrs. Coach Team Area. Speaking of Mrs. Coach, I need to play a game of scrabble against her before I graduate. (I did crossword puzzles with her at outdoor track nationals in St. Louis my freshman year. Boy oh boy she is good). Let's go Cedarville!!!
Naturally we could not have a blog without speaking of the week's activities. This week, I can honestly not remember what happened. This is quite frustrating. I do remember the weekend, so let's chat about it. Friday night was AWESOME. Several men from the Man Team gathered in Jacob Walter/Dubie's room. Dubie was on his six-month date with Matt Brooker's cousin AKA Gina Mattes from the Woman Team. Walters decided to have a party (Jake Walter is called Walters by everyone. I am the only one who knows his real name. Sometimes we call him Walt. At least I do. WAAAAALTERZ!). For the party, Greg and Erik Johnson, Matt Cheney, Ben Tuttle, and myself attended the party. We played Super Smash Bros, and watched a movie. I cannot, through words, transfer to you the amazing euphoria we had after the movie. It was amazing. It was awesome. It was.....The Troll Hunter. Pretty sweet. You'd probably hate it though. Anyhow, I don't think we did anything after that.
Saturday evening was markedly changed from Friday night. We watched V for Vendetta with girls from the Woman Team in a classroom. Dubie was there. Dubie, who works for AV Services, could not figure out how to get the sound to work. I continually heckled him in my usual never-ending way, and he finally got it to work when I stopped. We watched the cinema (cool word huh) because it was November 5th. Remember, remember, the 5th of November. At midnight, it was midnight in the movie. It was meant to be.
We could not part ways without bringing up something else that happened this weekend.......I became a Minecraft addict. Half the guys on the Man Team already have it, but I did not until this fated weekend. It's the best. Essentially it is an unlimited Lego Land. Awesome.
This Monday was the day I decided to make my first official day of training for track, so I am excited. It is upsetting to noy have been able to participate in cross country a great deal, that is ok because I still get to cheer my boys from the Man Team on! I've been "kind of" running, but now I am dedicated to running every day again, and lifting etc. I found that when I don't run, or cannot run consistently, it is nigh upon impossible to keep in a competitive mindset, with goals. This is why I picked a day to begin, and am going for it now. I'm excited.
Well, um, that's about it. Be sure to cheer for the Yellow Jackets this weekend! Last meet of the season! As Jud Brooker would say, "Ballin!!!!". Also as Jud Brooker would say, " LET'S GOOOOOOO".
Enjoy your meal,
Ethan Blagg
October 31, 2011
Ladies and gentlemen, I sit here in the Exercise Testing laboratory, whilst waiting for the next subject to come in for testing, as a part of my senior research project with Dresden Matson (Women’s soccer) and Cam York (formerly Men’s basketball). We are testing students here at Cedarville to discover whether there is a difference in the fitness levels of music majors vs. all other majors. “Well isn’t that interesting?” you say. Quite, quite indeed.
So, on to the happenings of this week. On Saturday, we ran at Walsh University in North Canton, Ohio in the Ohio Independent Championship meet. Because we are not in an official conference until next year, several schools that are in the same position as we are decided to have an unofficial conference meet.
We left for North Canton (heretofore referred to as Walsh) on Friday morning at about 10:30 a.m., following a quick brunch at Chuck’s café. I cannot tell you how long the bus trip was, because I was either A) sleeping B) listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, thus completely zoned out in mindless, thoughtless bliss or C) talking to Matt Brooker. I can tell you that for the first time this year, the men’s team RODE WITH THE WOMEN’S TEAM!!! How very exciting this was! This meant that Hannah Lamos and Matt Brooker were allowed to sit by each other, and that all other couples, both official and unofficial, were sitting next to each other. I sat by myself, as I needed to focus on my cheering the next day. Once we arrived at the course, both teams ran a few easy miles to prepare for the meet the next day. The course was very muddy. Most runners had to change pants before getting back on the bus, due to mud.
Dinner was eaten at Parassons Italian Restaurant after a brief stop at the hotel for showers. The meal was excellent, although I still have half a pizza sitting in my room at home. It has been a tradition during track season to always tell the waiter/waitress that it is someone’s birthday, in order to have them come sing and dance with a cupcake, and embarrass whoever’s birthday we lied about. My freshman year it was the wonderful Marla Rice (whom my friend Michael Lacey and I anointed as team mom). Well cross country is different from track, so to bridge the gap between the two running sports, we have been telling our servers that Coach Orchard is celebrating his birthday at every meet. All the guys on the team get really excited, as if it was each of our birthdays, and Coach O sits there, as if he were turning 100. He’s not. He is bleeeeeeep years old. By the way, my grandma turned 100 on July 4th this year, and I am telling everyone I can, including you, my loyal readers. I have pictures to prove it. Back to the story, coach is probably getting tired of free dessert, but we don’t care. I might also add that Eli Pyles DID have a birthday on Saturday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHE-LI!!!
The next day, after a good night’s sleep, we arose and ate breakfast at our hotel, and bussed over to the course again, which is on Walsh’s campus. The race was muddy, and because of that results were slow. But place was what we were aiming at, over time. In the end, we ended up taking second place to Malone University. Most of the guys were quite disappointed with their races, and didn’t finish where they wanted, with a few exceptions. Roommates Jacob Walter and Jacob Dubie finished 2nd and 5th for us, respectively. If you have been following the results from week to week, you will note that they have been consistently moving higher and higher on the team, exactly in the fashion that is desired. Well done boys!
I can’t remember whether Dubie sat next to his girlfriend Gina Mattes (of the women’s team) on the bus-ride or not, but clearly he did. Ben Tuttle also had a good race, after having some injury troubles at the beginning of the season. It is always nice to see guys do well at the end of the season! Although not everyone had the race they wanted, it seemed to me like everyone is keeping their head up, and either looking forward to NCCAA’s in two weeks, or the amazing and much needed rest that comes for a short two weeks at the end of the season.
The reason some guys are thinking about rest already is because Coach O gives us the choice to not run the NCCAA meet if we feel the extra rest would benefit us, or any other reason really. On every other year, we would have NAIA or NCAA regional/championship meets to end our season, but this year our last is Christian Nationals (NCCAA). It might seem that sitting the last meet out is lazy or weak to the by-standing fan, but trust me and every other runner in the world…..when you are tired, fatigued, burnt out, there is not much you want to do besides rest. A short rest between seasons is a good way to let your body and mind recover, and refuel that bon fire of desire to run faster than everyone else again. Of course not everyone needs that rest at the end of the season, and some may not feel they need it even though they do, and will wish they had rested by the middle of track season. This is a little part of the beauty of running; you get to learn how your body reacts to whooping up on it and pounding your legs for months and months. Or, as I like to say, whompstanking it.
Well, that is that. We will be having the National Christian College Athletic Association Cross Country Championship Meet here on our home course in two weeks, so come out and cheer for us!
Oh no, I forgot to mention that on the way home from our meet this weekend, we stopped for lunch at Das Dutch Kitchen in Dalton, Ohio. It was oh-so-good. We made sure that Coach Orchard got his birthday sundae too! (Eli got one as well). It must also be addenda-ed that I ran about six miles on Saturday during the race and with the guys on a cool-down. I almost threw up from running so much, and being out of shape. But it was totally worth it to cheer for my teammates!!! Not to mention the amazing feeling to run again. Woot woot! Lesson: never, or rather always chase Matt Brooker around to cheer for the team during a race. Enough talk about Brooker.
Good bye for now,
Ethan Blagg
October 24, 2011
May I say, there is not much to say besides this sentence....This was another weekend without a meet. Because of this, we had time for spontaneous aimless activities, travel, and homework. I know of one team member, Joel Dennison, better known by his twitter name Jduino, who traveled home. As far as other activities, I am not aware, as I spent the weekend doing homework, attending immigration conferences, and running for the first time since "the boot".
Yes, you heard it right, I ran. Actually you most likely read it. I ran a 5K in something like 20:30. Oh, and I won. I am not embarrassed of the time, because I was jogging, but I hope I never run a 20:30 again until I am over 50, or at least over 25.
Tabitha Moore had been speaking of having several members of the men's and women's teams over for the weekend, but I bailed at the last second because of class duties. If you cannot tell, several of us live day to day when deciding upcoming activities. This, combined with lot and lots and lots of homework makes for a frantic and busy lifestyle.
After talking a bit with Evan Thayer this weekend, I reached the realization that every university student goes through this. He is a pre-med student, so his lifestyle does not even include a sleep cycle. The rumors are true, Evan Thayer has super-human abilities. In fact, he does homework in a Batman costume.
Aside from super-powers, Evan is a human, hardworking, sincere, and kind. I have had several runs with him during which we talked about spiritual matters, and other deeply profound subjects such as girls. He also is an excellent leader for our team, and helps keep us focused on the important things - our relationship with God, academics, and running. For this I am thankful. At this point you may be thinking, "Wow, he really likes Evan". Yes this is true, but really I am trying to make up to him after completely forgetting to meet him for lunch on Friday.
I might also mention that every member of the team excels in traits such as the ones mentioned above.
Jasmin told me that her blog for the women's team would talk about the rain this week, so of you haven't read hers yet, don't worry about it. I have it all covered here. It never stops raining. Realistically, it never rains on the days you stay inside, and never stops raining on the days you have to spend more than three minutes outside. This does not include running time, because running in rain is fun when it is warm. It is not warm however, so...yucky. Let us be thankful for the rain in spite of the hassle of getting wet before class, because.......I have no reason.
So, back to cross country, we have a meet this weekend! Our "conference" meet is this week! Since we are not in a conference, several teams in Ohio are getting together for the "Ohio Independent Championship", which we are treating as we would a conference meet. So wish us luck, and come to Canton this weekend to root us on!!! We are leaving on Friday at 10:30 a.m. if anyone is interested in stalking us.
That is all for now; this may be a record for shortest length I have written in a sitting (joke is on you....it was actually two sittings). My final thought is to ask for more prayer for the team. As I mentioned, a lot of us are busy busy busy and stressed, and it is important that we remember what the Bible says several times....to rely on and trust God. Proverbs 3:5-6 was brought to my attention four different times in the space of about 16 hours during this week, at a time when I needed it a lot. So now I am passing it along to you.
Have a nearly perfect week!
Tata,
Ethan
October 17, 2011
Hey everyone! It’s your favorite guest blogger again (author's note: JJ (Greg) Johnson, English Major), and do I have some things to tell you. For the last four races of our season we have an on-again/off-again every-other-weekend kind-of-a-schedule, and this past weekend was most definitely an “on” weekend. It was so “on” that we needed to take a trip, all the way to Fayetteville, Arkansas, which just so happens to be pretty far away from Cedarville. Good thing this was Fall Break! Before I get into too much detail, let me give you some statistics from this trip:
Total number of people on trip: 26
Total number of seats in our bus: 27
Hours spent traveling: 30
Time of departure: Thursday, 9:00 AM EST
Time of arrival back to campus: Sunday, 5:00 AM EST
Number of movies watched: about 9
Number of times DVD froze from a bump in the road: Too Many
Amount of food eaten: Way Too Much
Distance of the race: 10 kilometers, or 6.2 miles
Number of teams in the college race: 32
Number of people in the college race: 289
Winning time: 29:13
Slowest time: 51:21
Winning team: Oklahoma State, last year’s NCAA DI national champs, ranked #1
Cedarville: 16th out of 32
As I briefly mentioned earlier, this weekend was also Cedarville’s Fall Break, a Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday stretch of time in which most students leave campus to go A) home, B) a friend’s house, or C) some other destination. We chose C, and that brought us to northwest Arkansas for one of the largest Cross Country festivals in the nation. This would probably be a good time to explain what an overnight trip means to a sports team.
For a sports team, overnight trips are the ultimate activity in terms of team bonding. Nothing brings a team closer together than being close together: sitting on a bus, close together, or eating in a restaurant, close together, and even staying in hotel rooms, close together. The physical closeness eventually translates to an emotional/psychological/spiritual/metaphysical closeness, as well as some pretty good inside jokes and memories, if not a deeper understanding of other guys on the team and even the team itself. When else can you storm a restaurant with almost 30 people that you love to be with, take up much of the seating, and then proceed to eat most of the food in the establishment? Or watch movie after movie after movie after movie with some of your best friends?
This was hands-down one of the most prestigious races in terms of competitors that Cedarville Cross Country has ever run in. Many of the schools there, and even some of the runners, were more like theories than actual entities, ideas that are bantered about with nothing concrete about them. But, Saturday morning, there they were, lining up shoulder to shoulder with us, wondering who Cedarville was, what we were doing there, and what WAS that bug-thing printed on their singlets? But that did not deter our determination, suffer our spirits to surrender, nor quail our charismatic characters. In fact, in my opinion, this was the best race Cedarville has run to date, with many guys putting up times that point to a very bright future for our D II hopes next year. And I believe that almost everyone will agree that this was probably our most favorite course that we have ever run on, too.
At this point I need to give a shout-out to two people that may be familiar to those of you who read this blog last year (one of those names had better ring a bell): Alex “S’moores” Moore, Boston Marathon qualifier extraordinaire, and Chris “Country” Vaughn, who was last year’s lead blogger. These two fine young alumni drove all the way out to Lafayette to support us in our enthusiastic endeavor, giving us a fantastic surprise by showing up at our hotel Friday afternoon and staying around for our race Saturday morning.
Things I learned from this trip: You need to have faith in your training; we put the miles in, and now we get to reap the benefits and run fast. Star Wars is still my favorite movie(s); we watched all six of them over the course of the trip. My brother and I know too many old songs; we spent a good part of Sunday morning singing along to the radio as Coach O took his turn driving back to Cedarville. Food ALWAYS tastes good; especially if it’s at a restaurant and you’ve been driving for a long time. Nothing beats a road trip; really, there’s not much else like it.
As with all good things, though, this trip had to come to an end, and after driving through the night (literally, the entire night), we arrived back in Cedarville, bleary-eyed and tired. And as with all good things, we look forward to our next trip, which will be a brief overnight for our conference championship meet at Walsh University, and for which we will adventure alongside the fairer sex in our quest to run faster than everyone else.
October 10, 2011
Dear diary,
This past weekend was sweet. I have three days of school this week, then fall break/a trip to Arkansas.
That is what I would write if I had a diary, or journal, because guys have journals. Once again, there was no meet this week, so I will journal about the exciting weekend.
Thursday 10/6
Today was a workout day for the team (in retrospect, it may have been yesterday, but I am not good at specific dates). The work out was three sets of 3 x 400 meter repeats. The pace has been quickened, as has the intensity of our anticipation for the Chili Pepper Festival meet next week. Some of the team felt tired today, so they did an easy run today and will do the repeats on the morrow.
Friday 10/7
Today I attended classes, had a jam session during which we streamed video on Google, so anyone could watch us play our un-music. I had lunch with my excellent friend Jud Brooker. We went to Colonial Pizza here in town, and talked about all sorts of stuff. I was reminded of how much fun I have had with him, and how much I am going to miss him, until I visit him. He has been a great pal, and a place I often turn to to complain, or talk to when something goes ill-ly or I am sad and upset.
At 4:30 p.m. EST, Abby Wong, Rachel Wong, Tabby Moore, Hannah Lamos, Carolyn "Karen" Case, Elisa Cherry, Kate Stover, Clay Watson, and I departed for the great city of Chicago. Chicago is the greatest city in the list of cities I have been to, thus making it the greatest city in the world. I quite literally love it. Karen, Hannah, Clay, Tabby, and I had some excellent conversation while traveling. For some reason, whenever I have a conversation in a car, it always ends up as a discussion of girls. Of course, with three girls in the car, Clay and I spent much time giving our opinions on every little aspect of relationships. I LOVE GIVING MY OPINION.
Whence we arrived at the Cherry household in New Lenox (Joliet), supper was served, dessert was served, laughter was served, and the family dog was petted. Hannah Cherry (Elisa's little sis) and I trash talked each other in fun as usual, and my self confidence was destroyed as she became very confident, as is also wont. At, oh, around midnight (CST), several of us embarked on a "black as pitch" run of 12 miles on a bike path surrounded by trees and the occasional group of smoking teens. Elisa and I biked. (I because of my foot. Hopefully I will get my boot off on Tuesday. If not, I don't know what I will do, because I forgot to bring it back from my brother's dorm room.) End of today's journal.
Saturday 10/8 & Sunday 10/9
Clay and myself woke up, caught a train to downtown, caught a train to Deerfield, walked three miles to Trinity International University, and arrived on campus the exact moment my parents and cute little sister Rachel did, who drove from Iowa. We watched my brother (Ben) play right tackle (that is a football position for you runners out there) and pancake a couple fellows from Iowa Wesleyan. My bro is nothing like me, physically, but everything like me, in every other area. I squat what he benches, and I squat over 300 pounds (except not right now).
Following the game (unfortunately a loss) we ate with several of his teammate's families, and made sure we had the waiters sing Happy Bbirthday to Ben. Then my parents left, and Clay and I hung out with Ben's friends. Clay went to bed. At 5 a.m., while still chatting with Ben and his friends (there is no curfew, Cedarville grads) two girls walked past, and told us they could give us a ride to the train station for the special marathon early train. We arrived downtown at about 6 a.m. Clay and several of the girls hopped in for a few miles, while others of us went to different points to cheer. I cannot explain how sweet the marathon is. It's sweet. Last year I was able to hang out in the same tent as Ryan and Sara Hall and make a bit of conversation with them. This year Ryan was running, and finished as the first American at 2 hours, 8 minutes. So sweet. I also saw alum Justin Herbert run, and heard (but did not see) that Coach Bo's wife Sharie ran.
After the marathon and late lunch at the Cherry's, we rode home, and I slept most the way. By the way, my brother is the coolest brother ever. Since he acts like me, and I act like he does, our friends cross over perfectly.
Monday 10/10
I am caught up on sleep, and resolved to live in Chicago.
Josiah Bragg and JJ Johnson, apparently missed the marathon for a camping trip for a class, but all campsites were sold out. This is what I gather from Twitter. Clearly this is disappointing, and this proves that Twitter is good.
An extremely special and gratuitous amount of gratitude is hereby being paid to the Cherry family. You guys are awesome possum.
Before I go: I loved seeing my family! It was great to get to talk to Clay a lot over the weekend! Pray for the underclassmen as often as possible; it is an exciting time when you get to college, and if the freshmen are normal, they will make a lot of changes and decisions. Now I get to try to share some wisdom, or knowledge at the very least.
You all have an amazing week, and remember that even if you can't choose your circumstances, you always choose your attitude. Get Better Not Bitter. Stick that in your brain and digest it.
With a mild amount of sincerity,
Ethan Blagg
October 3, 2011
POWERS IS MARRIED!!!!!!
So much happened this week, and that is by far the most important and interesting. Steve Powers, our long time manager and buddy, got married on Saturday. Several guys on the team went, as well as Hannah Lamos from the ladies team. We arrived to the wedding moments before it began, after following Ryan Gustafson, who has no idea how to drive the easy, fast route. It was a classy wedding, starring "The Godfather" Steve Powers & "The Godmother" Sharie Powers neé Trennepohl.
I think I can accurately say that all who know Powers are quite literally insane with excitement for him! The reverent reverend talked about his big heart, but we just see him as our buddy who will do anything to help anyone. My words cannot suffice to explain our love for him, even though my brain can. Now Sharie is part of the club too. Congrats Powers!!!!!
Oh, by the way, the reception was SWEET. Both of them. During the second, we ate, talked with alumni, danced to popular music from the last few decades, and tweeted a lot. Jud Brooker broke the record for most tweets in a day.
In my mind, meeting alumni and chatting with them is one of the most exciting and stimulating things my mind can handle.
Among many others, Justin and Jen Gerber were at the reception. I dined with them, and in-awkwardly discovered that I had met them at last years NCCAA track championships. I was impressed at how much they remembered about me. Of course I recalled who they were after they reminded me. Anyhow, Justin is from Iowa, which is AWESOME, and Jen apparently used to skip chapel a lot.
I also met the famed Bryan Pittman. It is so cool to meet these legends who were in the same shoes we are. Figuratively, of course. Justin Herbert left his shoes here after he graduated, but we threw them away...after leaving them for another year. We try to keep the "wearing of alum's shoes figurative, not literal.
In other cross country news, we had the huge All-Ohio Cross Country Championship at our home course this past weekend. Oh, how the weather was moody. It rained, drizzled, blew, calmed, and repeated. Despite this, and a very wet and slow course, the meet went on. Our team ran decently, but overall, I think we are a bit dissatisfied. It is hard to be happy no matter what on a slow course, even though we are focused on place over time. We placed 10th as a team, which was about the lowest (worst) we hoped for without having disaster strike. These feelings are beneficial, we hope, and will inspire inspired racing from here on out. (On a side note, it is hard to judge how exactly the team feels when you are not able to run in the race. Either way, I'm proud of my boys!)
On the topic of un-running....ugh. I saw the track team running this week, and the desire to be back was not only lit, but quite nearly exploded. HOPEFULLY the boot will be allllll gone this week, time will tell. But let us not dwell here at this place of despair.
This coming weekend has no meet, so several runners from the ladies team are following my advice and heading to the Chicago Marathon. I have not yet found out if they have room for me, after six weeks of asking, but if they so not, I am buying a bus ticket and going. My brother Ben, who plays football at Trinity International University in Chicago has a game, and my parents and youngest sister will be there. How could I pass that up? Plus I've been to the marathon the last couple years, and it is totally wicked sweet. The expo is pretty fantastic as well.
So that is that. Honestly, my dear readers, I must confess that this semester is still taking it's toll on myself. But once again I keep seeing that God has a way of whippin' me into what he wants. I am really beginning to see how much more fulfilling life is when you start to value the idea of letting go of what you value and letting God replace it. Of course I'm still pretty blessed and have loads and loads going for me, but you get the idea. In chapel last week, Taryn Hofert, an alum, gave a little speech thingy.....
Students of Cedarville …
May your plans be interrupted, disrupted, rearranged.
May you find yourselves far outside your comfort zones.
May your waters be stirred and your weaknesses laid bare so that the beauty of God could be made more visible.
May all you lack be used by Him as well as all you have.
May your vulnerability be an act of worship.
May your Christ-centered minds be sharpened, hearts softened, eyes widened, hands opened and wills daily relinquished to Your King.
May you realize the seemingly serendipitous moments in your life have been orchestrated by an all-knowing, plan-having, loving Father.
May your own agendas not get in the way of God’s.
May these cornfields surrounding you be a constant reminder of a the beautiful, sometimes confusing, truth-unearthing and life-altering season in which God has placed you to grow, become, thrive and catapult you into changing the world.
May your devotion to Jesus be unwavering.
If the moment your own dream dies and God’s dream for your life taking root has not yet arrived, may it soon.
May you with all boldness wave the white flag over your life and offer it to God as His loving channel meeting human needs to His glory.
May you not choose the path of least resistance but of greatest submission to Your Creator.
May every step you take across this campus, every credit hour accrued, every movement you make towards that moment your diploma is placed in your hands be another layer of your surrender to God.
May your cap thrown in the air your last day on this campus be your symbol of a life offered up, a lifetime of servanthood to the SERVANT OF ALL.
AMEN.
That conveys my thought fairly spot on.
Anyhow, that added 300+ words, so I shall end with thanks for Mr. and Mrs. Brooker for dinner and hanging out. I always always always love talking to the Brookers (they snuck me into a business alumni meal aside from the other dinner....). Same goes for the Moore family. They are the bomb, yo.
Ok well salutations and peace out brethren and sisters;
Tata,
Ethan
September 26, 2011
Hi mom!
In last weeks edition of this publication, I mentioned that I learned a lot that week. Let me clarify - I learn a lot EVERY week, and it wasn't just a one week thing. I re-read the blog, and felt the need to clarify that. Life is a big ol' process, which gives me a reason to ask you all to pray for us.
Although I know you probably don't see it, and we don't always see it among our own teammates, something is ALWAYS happening in everyone's life, and we are all being changed through the college experience. So pray for us, please.
Once again, I have brought real life into the blog. Whaaaat?!?!
Hmmm. There are two options for this little blog right now. The first is to write a closing sentence and say tata, stemming from no meet this weekend (unless I missed something). Second option: nonsense.
Nonsense it is. For the mature readers, I will not write 100% nonsense, so keep reading. Interestingly, non-nonsense is an ambiguous and unclear and nebulous and easily mis-interpreted word. Yay!
Updates sound good. We had two workouts this week in preparation for the large All-Ohio meet this coming Friday. The first was 400's on the track, and the second was mile repeats on the course. They both seemed to go well, and this weekend is a nice time to let tired legs and the rest of the body reclaim some bounce. Although I was not able to participate, (no) thanks to my boot, I was cheering for my boys! They are looking great during workouts! Not to apply any expectations, but I would anticipate (but not expect. Remember - no expectations) Ryan Gustafdaughter...er Gustafson (dumb?) to see some very very nice race results over the next few weeks. Oh, I forgot to mention that I anticipate this out of everyone.
Right now is the time that we start to see injuries from wearing our bodies out, so it is important that we put in the extra time to stretch, do core work, eat properly, and sleep. Speaking of injuries and the boot mentioned above, it has been determined that my third and fourth metatarsals have stress reactions. This is lesser than a fracture, but still requires rest until there is no pain. I already can tell I can apply more pressure on my foot with less pain, which is good news. Hopefully it will resolve itself quickly - for healing/strength, I'm picking up hundreds of rocks with my toes per day, doing towel scrunches, and propriocetive exercises. Proprioception is just a synonym for fun.
Friday was marked by babysitting for Coach Orchard. Date night had been long awaited and delayed. The children required constant care, and the dishes took all spare time. Endless noise eked from the drums and guitar in the basement, and the dog needed to be let out. Erik Johnson and myself to the rescue. We even got the kids to bed within 45 minutes of when we were supposed to! I must say I am quite a celebrity when it comes to bedtime stories. I would miss being a kid if I had ever grown up. Believe it or not, "babysitting" is fun; but only with a guitar amp and multiple video games running at once.
On the opposite end of being a kid, I am starting to understand why every senior says they are going to miss being on this team, and how time puts on jet burners and flies by, and how you really start to appreciate enjoying running, teammates, and coaches. Not that I ever disregarded the long talks from Rob Trennepohl, though. Life moves on, and we will love it no matter what. Oh no! I just remembered a paper I must needs write tonight. Ah man, life sucks.
Last week's blog was just over 1100 words. We are at 654.
Quick thoughts:
Stephanie Rogers, the women's volleyball blogger, said she would read my blog. If she does, she might want to mention this little part where I test her honesty. Liar!
Pray for Evan Thayer's ankle, and any other little injuries that may be bothering fellows on the team.
Matthew Brooker and I have began campaigning for our Presidential candidacy run in 2028, when we are old enough. This is not a political forum, but our politics are based in running.
Dusty Dalton has gone on two dates with the same girl. We are not sure if his mom knows.
I am sorry that this was an uneventful week for our team. Next week should pump out some entertainment. OH MY GOODNESS I ALMOST FORGOT. (I did forget, but then I remembered). Jud Brooker was hired as head cross country coach for Columbia International University in South Carolina. Without a functional knowledge of Jud, and how much he has been wanting a job like this, you cannot comprehend how exciting this is. My emotions: YEAH!!!!! x 99. The melancholy part is that Jud will be leaving us for SC in October. We are going to miss him, a lot, but this is awesome and we will get over it.
Ok I have an all-athlete meeting to attend, homework to finish/start, and cookies to eat after I find a freshman to make them for me.
Hours later......
I have gone to the meeting and completed my homework. Joseph Cathey stood up in front of hundreds of athletes and asked what all cross country athletes have been wondering for three years - Why do cross country and track and field have a combined two representatives? We believe cross country is autonomous from track (we love track, and have best friends on the team, but we are multi-sport athletes). States' Rights. Now I will stop talking and sit down upon the very top portion of my soap box.
Tata with love,
Ethan B
P.S. - This is what part of the alphabet would look like if there were no Q or R.
September 19, 2011
H-h-h-hhhheyyy everybawdy! How are ya? Hopefully yippity yip-yappin well! One goal I have not set for this blog, but am trying to attain nevertheless / nonetheless/ anyways is to reduce the opacity between the reader and the team, and to make the barrier transparent, and to abet belief of ersatz semblance of coruscation per dint of exercising a voluminous cantic lexicon, in reference to our team, of course. Asking questions is a great way to so this. We would love to hear from you!
Send any letters with questions or describing how you are doing to:
CUXC Fan Mail
251 N. Main St #2242
Cedarville, Ohio 45314
I love fan mail and love notes. Joe Cathey always has girls with him, so don't give him any love, ladies. Alternately, Neil Klinger (AKA Nigel), Ben Tuttle (ONLY-KA Toots), Evan Thayer (Slayer), Mike Robinson (Saxman. He plays the sax), JJ Johnson, and I. Matt Brooker has recently entered a courting relationship. Congratulate him, and send your condolences to.....Jasmin's blog will tell you).
This past weekend....we won! Yay. Champs of the 21st Annual Friendship Invitational. To see complete results, I have been guided to guide you to the schedule/results part of this site, however, a quick run down is always handy.
Our home meet days usually begin with an early breakfast at Chuck's cafeteria (at which Dylan McKevitt, Clay Watson, and I are employed). Agenda item number two is: we make our way over to the course. Once the clock strikes exactly about one hour before race time, or so, approximately, we begin our warm-up (usually 2-3 miles followed by your preference of stretching, strides, and nervous jumping). When the gun finally goes off for the race, we are all jumbled up in our box at the start line, and go running out like crazy “insert politically correct words”. Of course then there are five miles of strangeness that I will spare you from for now. It will do for now to say something like, "Hey! Way to go, Cathey, Joe!!!" and, "Nice way, Clay!". Don't try to make sense out of it; it is poetry. I will mention that Matt Brooker and I attempted to tag-team the team announcements for a high school race after the college race. It would have been sweet, but whilst we were practicing, we were kindly reminded that we have a bit of growing up to do.
This week has been an odd week for me. I will attempt to summarize it quickly. It began with myself recovering from nine days of sickness. Those nine days were rough, between having zip energy, not running much or at all, the anti-histamine and decongestant I was prescribed sucking the life out of me, and way too much time to think about what I am going to do after graduation. By Tuesday I felt well enough to run, and started the workout - feeling physically and mentally refreshed. Then boom, my foot started hurting after completing exactly 5/6ths of our workout. It ends up I have a foot injury. Um, obvious? For now I will only call it injury, as we do not know exactly what it is. Hannah Haynes, our trainer athletico (athletic trainer for n00bs) believes it is most likely a stress reaction (which is not a fracture, but can lead to one). I am hoping it is something lesser, but I have given my life to optimism, and am probably wrong. I will update you all when I find out more.
Regularly I attempt to keep emotion out of my blogging, as I am a male, and its just not my speed. This week is an exception. Two things I have learned this week:
1 of 2: God truly is in control, and we can do nothing without him. Why did I learn this? Glad you didn't ask, but I'll tell you. The week of sickness I had was...not fun. To be transparently honest, I did not have a good attitude about being held back from running due to sickness. It was miserable. By the weekend, I decided it was time to truly hand running (and everything in life....which is a large category) to God. Then I found out I have to wear a boot for the time being because of my foot. But somehow, for some reason, I am feeling very bubbly and excited about life. It is very frustrating to not be able to run, but it is a good opportunity to learn patience, and to appreciate, well, everything.
2 of 2: Friends are quite important. As I said, last weekend was an icky-acky one. But on Monday, when I went to chapel and saw my teammates for the first time in three days, a huge smile was uncontrollably slapped my on my face. Trust me, there is no atmosphere like the atmosphere of cross country.
3 of 2: Clever, ain't I? Bad grammar, is it not?
What a success story! All that could have been summed up as, when life is tough, all I have to do is remember I have friends and God who care, and are there to help. WOW. You better be crying.
I am sick of emotion and about myself. When left unchecked, I begin to talk about what I think about what I think. It is never ending. Let's talk about fun things for a bit before I say goodbye. A cross country band was hastily thrown together after little to no thought. So far it consists of Matt Brooker on the drums, Jacob Walt(erzzz) on the trumpet, and this Ethan Blagg kid on bass. More members to be added. Genre = cross core.
Freshmen Clay Watson of Georgia and his roommate Dylan McKevitt of the U.P. of Michigan began working at Chuck's cafeteria. The two greatest sentences ever are, “Buffalo buffalo, Buffalo buffalo buffalo, buffalo Buffalo buffalo.” and “James, whilst John had had “had had” had had “had”; “had had” had had a better effect on the teacher. Google them, they are syntactically and semantically correct. All encompassingly awesome! Oh, and we partook with the girls team via a li'l cookout on Saturday evening. It was fun fun fun. So.....
Tata for now! Don't forget to write!
Navan Blagg
P.S. Gracias a JJ Johnson for last week's Grade A+ writing!
September 12, 2011
Due to an unforeseen, unavoidable, and certainly unfortunate series of events, your weekly Blogger (insert name here) ETHAN BLAGG will not be able to delight you with a colorful and certainly unique narrative of this week’s race. Instead, we have asked a million monkeys with a million typewriters to bang away in hopes that they can reproduce the works of Shakespeare, or at the very least a weekly blog entry. This is what they produced: ae;q4358teo;uh eq824f4o;ruer g24gbr 24424 83bovqvo;8g h2b2 ufowrwrguhrgwrgro.
Since that didn’t work, a sophomore by the name of Greg “JJ” (who has been writing this whole time and will stop referring to himself in third-person) has been given the dubious honor of writing this week’s entry.
Really though, Ethan, along with many others, seemed to have developed a case of one of the few incurable sicknesses still around: one of the thousands of variants of the common cold. This is due in part to the dramatic change in weather we have experienced this past week. Last time Ethan regaled you with tales of the brutal heat; this week I would like to tell a tale of cold, rain, and the most perfect racing conditions known to man. Last Saturday it was, in some reports, recorded to have reached a high of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. On Sunday, and for most of the week, we experienced a cold front and the temperature dropped to about 60 degrees. A cold front also means rain (I learned that in Principles of Earth Science). As a result of this deadly combination, sickness spread like a virus throughout the campus, really making its mark on the members of our team. I can attest that this week Joe “Nemo”, Scott “Scootsie”, Jacob “Walters”, Neil “Schniggel”, and Ethan Blagg “random-cool-name-ending” suffered. Scootsie and Blagg both did not race this weekend, Blagg being bedridden and Scootsie having a heart-rate more alarming than the national deficit.
On a side note, this past Monday was Labor Day. For those of you who do not know this, the man who created Labor Day and whose name escapes me was born in Cedarville, leading Cedarville to call itself “The Birthplace of Labor Day.” In honor of this honor, Cedarville held its annual Cedarfest, a weekend-long series of town-wide events, culminating in a parade Monday afternoon and some spectacular fireworks Monday night. It’s pretty cool. Almost as good as Farmer’s Fair back home in Dillsburg, PA.
Anyway, even with all of the sickness going around, we tirelessly trained, prepared to perform, to run a race. Not just any race, but our first 8K of the season, at Miami (Ohio, not Florida) University. And what a race it was. After a heartfelt and powerful morning talk from captain Evan “Slayer”, we embarked on the fateful trip to Miami.
We warmed up: Team warm up, and perhaps the fastest-paced warmup I have ever done. No one ever explained to me why it was that fast. I assumed it was because we couldn’t wait to race.
We ran the race: There is nothing that can compare to toeing the line, waiting for the starter’s instructions and for the gun to go off. For a moment the whole world stops, and then everything around you explodes in a silent cacophony of motion and color. I cannot even begin to describe the range of thoughts and emotions experienced in an 8K race. A quick shoutout to some of our top finishers: Evan “Slayer” was our top guys, with Josiah “Josie” and Clay “Cwat (swat)” (a freshman, no less) rounding out our top three. I assumed it was because they just wanted to be done with the race as soon as possible. I, on the other, decided to enjoy my race and take my time in finishing it. Out of the four teams there, we took second overall. Props to all of our freshman who completed their first 8K. You can now call yourselves a college cross-country runner.
We cooled down: After the race, Coach O joined us for the fastest-paced cool down I have ever run, leading us over the river and through the woods until my group got lost and we had to find our way back....where we celebrated the 19th anniversary of “Dusty” Dalton’s birth. Yay!
We went home: As per our most important post-race tradition, we went out for a great meal at Chipotle Mexican Grill. I can’t think of anything that sits as uneasily in the stomach after a race as a one, two, three, and in some cases four-pound burrito stuffed to bursting, but that deterred no one. And perhaps even more importantly than that, we stopped at a Red-Box to pick out a movie to watch on the way home. Suffice to say, it had Liam Neeson in it, and when we arrived back at Cedarville we found an empty classroom that we quickly overran for the purposes of finishing the movie. It was that good.
I have so much more to say, but I simply don’t have room for in this week’s entry; I could probably write a whole book with everything I want to say running-related, especially in terms of my faith, what God has been teaching me and working in my life, as well as little insights and funny anecdotes. But I will end with this: God IS GOOD and He loves each and every one of us, regardless of how fast we were, are, and will be. That should be evident not only in our running, but also in the way that we conduct ourselves on a daily basis. I for one constantly need to be reminded of that simple fact. Run with joy. Not someone named Joy, (unless you really want to), but with an inexplicable peace and happiness.
September 6, 2011
PROBLOGUE:
To begin this week's blog, I will talk about our pre-race. I am doing so because I am lying in bed the night before our meet (which is over when you read this) and, well I feel like it.
It has been a good week of practice. A lot of us have been somewhat tired this week, after a week of good hard running from a fortnight to half a fortnight ago. But all is well. For this meet, our plan is to keep "training through" it without a big taper (which, for non-XC fans means to back down on running length and intensity so we are fresh). Of course we want to run well, so we rested up, but not like we would be for a big meet. Oh, and this is a 5K. Normally we run 8K's, although we have a 10K at the Chili Pepper Festival in Arkansas later. Although we are not able to qualify for national championships this year (our first official year in the NCAA), NCAA nationals is a 10K. Confuzzing, I realize. Try not to think about it (thinking kills brain cells right?)
Summarily, we are all mildly to severely excited for our first race. I will not tell you how I think anyone is going to do, because I do not want to be wrong. However, today we talked about goal setting. It was good information, and a good reminder on how to keep goals to make sure we are doing our best.
Go to bed now I will (I saw Yoda on TV today), first though I now something say will.
A) Our roster is up, check it out.
B) We created an unofficial Facebook page for the Cedarville University Men's XC squad (per requests). We are hoping to have many extra stuffs from all CUXC teammates posted to it (long rambling blogs by JJ (Greg John Johnson. Cruel parents. Funny parents) and extended prose from myself or anyone who desires to write. Matt Brooker may post humorous things every day as well.) Please check it out, but don't consider it to be a replacement for this. You can't replace this.
EPIBLOGUE:
It is the Monday after. The meet is through. The weather is cool, and tomorrow, we've school. Matt Cheney's smile gleams like a jewel, etc.
So, in essence - we ran our race on Saturday and today is Labor Day. The weather was fueled by the sun on Saturday, but it is now fueled by....the sun. I was trying to say it is cool now, but was very very very warm during our meet. Enough weather.
Jud Brooker is our assistant coach. He was a four-year runner (an excellent one at that) who graduated my freshman year. So he should know the area. Especially when we run a meet around the corner from a huge mall he has been to over 1,153,928 times. Literally?! Literally. He doesn't. On our way to the meet, he passed Coach O, and took a wrong turn to head south instead of north. Two vehicles in our caravan followed. Joseph Cathey followed the peer pressure toward the tempting broad exit. I used my batman awareness to keep my van on the narrow track, however. Jud's excuse was something akin to, "You could see the wreck so much better on the other ramp." We all believe you Jud!
It ends up that we earned the third-best team spot in our division, with times which we wished to have run better than. Rationally though, we must remember that the heat definitely slowed us all down. I don't think anyone on the team is disappointed, because we all know that it is the first race of the season, it was hot, and our training has been going well. I don't mean to make it sound like we are upset...it all straightens out to this: first race of the season: done. Now we have an idea of where we are at, and we are excited for our first 8K next week! It will be at Miami University in Oxford, OH (abbreviation for Ohio). Last year we opened at Miami, and several people had good races. Perhaps we can one-up ourselves.
In closing, if you want to know about the effects of the heat, I would recommend reading Jasmin Banachowski’s women's XC blog, as she has some personal insight I am sure she will share. By the way, the guy's team replenished our vitamins and minerals with fruity smoothies after the race. Later in the evening, many of the guys (and three of the girls) came over to my apartment to watch the tele and play Settlers of Catan. I hate settlers, but I love my teammates.
So we had a good time. Dusty Dalton and Dylan McKevitt will soon be masters of video games. Because currently there is no non-awkward transition to say goodbye and see you next week, "tata for now my dear citizens."
August 30, 2011
Welcome and hello to the masses of cross country fans reading this blog. We are hoping the rush to read this does not crash any servers. The Cedarville men's cross country team have (or has, if you are abiding by American linguistic traditions instead of British) missed you over the summer. We, as a mobile unit, have been running all winter, spring, and summer in order to return and run some more, but more splendidly.
So, on to the blog, which is the commonly used yet incorrect term for blagg. This fall I will be the official head figure for the CUXC men's squad, until I am impeached.....on to the team.
This spring, several seniors were lost to graduation. These were Hollis Troxel, TJ Badertscher, Jordan Davies, Chris Vaughn, Alex Moore, and Joshua Wiseman. These fellows were all basically my older brothers, and have been mourned for. In an effort to make up for these excellent runners, teammates, and leaders, Coach Orchard decided to recruit freshmen to replace the void. Between the incoming freshmen and the returning runners, I would dare say we are going to have another pretty good team.
When we came in for camp week last two weeks ago, it was an exciting time for everyone. The upperclassmen saw each other and swapped hugs, and the freshmen were immediately welcomed with the lack of a morning run on Monday, followed by new NCAA concussion videos. I don't remember any of it because I tripped and fell on my head on the way. The dusk hours of Monday were spent at Coach Orchard's house, where we got to see our chaplain Bud May.
Adjectives and phrases I would use to describe Bud: Retired Colonel, awesome, down to earth, trusted, respected, entirely enthusiastic about cross country and track, resilient. The last couple years, we have not seen Bud as often as desired due to various health issues, but we have seen him twice in one week so far! I think he is in better shape relative to age than anyone in Ohio. There is a lot more I want to say about him, but it would take an entire page (single spaced, ugh), and he is best described by a meeting in person. That said, I know that I have appreciated him more than he probably knows, and we have all been encouraged and pumped up by his "I hate pep talks" speech. Thanks Bud!
On Tuesday we went to Young's Dairy for mini golf and ice cream after our first mile repeats workout of the year at John Bryan State Park. Wednesday was spent at Josh Wiseman's house with dinner, bean bag toss (not cornhole, you Ohioans). Thursday evening was dominated by a spontaneous team activity on the lakeside porch in front of the University's "Bible Building". We had a time of song worship led by Scootsie (Scott Gardner), and a devotional by Judy (Asst. Coach Jud Brooker). That was not spontaneous, but the next hour and a half of bonding over AA-style horror stories of relationships with girls was. To sum it up, most of us are either not so good with our "smoothness", or have been crushed. It sounds silly (and is clearly), but it was probably the best bonding activity available. Following this fun, we slept in until 7 a.m. on Friday and had our annual official team bonding activity and prayer time. I won't tell you what we do, because I am too lazy. After our Friday morning run following this activity, the freshmen are typically on their own for the rest of the weekend to attend Getting Started weekend with the rest of the incoming freshmen. The same happened this year, though slightly delayed by an AWOL van of runners driving around campus singing screaming a popular Adele song to students and parents.
How wonderful camp week was. Now we have half of a week of school under our belts, and have once again started to act like adults again. Although this is no fun, it is for our future, and it must be enjoyed as we continue to grow as young men.
Before I end I will tell you that our first week of post camp week practice also went well. We had three workouts, which is a fairly hard week. Coach Orchard told us that as a group, the workouts are going very well. We have been having groups of several guys run together and push each other, and are seeing some good results in practice so far. Oh, and by the way, if you think of runners as skinny, you are right. However, we are doing a lot of core work, so.....um.....well I guess we are still skinny. But I think we eat more than most people. What is going on? I can't imagine where all our calories are going?!
Well, this has been an unabridged length introductory blog, but thank you for reading! If I thought I could get away with it, I would write every little detail of what has happened in the first two weeks we have been back in Cedarville. If you ask any of my lovely teammates, they will assuredly assure you that I could dictate a blog of considerable length (think Tolstoy and Tolkien). Anywhoooo, We love our supporters, so come say hi at a meet sometime!
Ethan Blagg is a senior exercise science major from Marshalltown, Iowa.
