I guess the fact that I’ve taken so long to get to writing this is a good reflection of what college has been like. After a couple weeks, I’ve gotten into a daily routine and haven’t been able to factor in writing to NHCC until now. I got to campus two and a half weeks before classes started, and after a three day hiking and rock climbing trip in the beautiful area surrounding Dartmouth, I got to settle in. I’m lucky enough to have a single dorm in a building that burned down last year, so it’s really new and modern. I’ve enjoyed getting to know a really fun new group of guys that love running as much as I do. Among them is New Hampshire’s very own Dom Repucci who I’ve been reunited with.
To get you up to date with where I am now, my first race was just Dartmouth and Umass Lowell on our home course. I went through 5k in the lead and charged up a hill worse than Derryfield, only to be put in the grave over the last 3k by a 4:01 miler on my team. I ended up finishing second and setting my 8k time as 25:10. I was very happy with this race and learned that 8k is quite a bit longer than 5k. At our second race in Boston, I was sick, but suited up to race anyway. The race was more congested through the first mile than anything I’ve ever seen. It was impossible to move around at all at the beginning. As the race began to string out more and more, I realized that I just felt absolutely awful, and was disappointed after crossing the line. You get significantly fewer races in college, so it’s frustrating to be off your game for one of them.
Training has been tough, but it’s nice to have people to run with. After running most of my high school workouts basically alone, it’s actually refreshing to have people that can drop you sometimes. I have all three of my classes three days a week, and have Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday off. With this extra time comes a lot of extra homework to do, mostly reading. In a little over a month, I’ve been here long enough to know Dartmouth is the place for me. Aside from the great campus, there are so many amazing places to run. With quiet roads, nice trails, and beautiful dirt roads, it feels like there are endless great runs to choose from. The team culture is also great. Everyone is really inclusive and fun. A lot of the boys on the team are just starting to round into shape and it’s so exciting to be a part of this and running with such a talented group of guys. I’m looking forward to flying out to Kentucky next Thursday to race at the NCAA Pre-meet. It’s also great to see the boys back home at Oyster River running really well. I still manage to keep up on my results. Go Oyster River! Go Big Green!
Reality Check: Patrick emailed this installment at 1:56AM! Thanks Patrick
