Optimist Middle School meet

Ever since I told Joel that he could race at the Optimist meet (which I'd heard from Coach a couple of weeks ago), he's been counting down the days. The night before, he was beside himself with excitement. He had gotten 8:02 for his mile during the time trial a few weeks ago, so he said his goal for the Optimist mile-long course was going to be 7:45. He also said he hoped to get a t-shirt (you have to place top five in your gender/grade), but he wasn't sure he'd be able to do that. When we showed up on Thursday afternoon, however, Coach informed us that he wasn't able to race after all- she'd forgotten to tell me that it was only 4th grade and up (He is in 3rd). I knew hit would break his little heart, and I hugged him close as I told him I was sorry. There were tears.

Soon after that, though, another middle schooler on our team showed up and said that his 4th grade brother would not be there to run. Th other assisitant coach looked at me and mouthed, "Could Joel run in his place?" I answered "I hope so!" as that had also been my first thought. Coach said she thought that would be fine, so we gave Joel little Jack's bib with chip, and he was again all smiles, joining the team for their course walk.

Warming up at the starting line- he was the only one running in the 4th grade race.

And he did AWESOME! I thought he may have gone out too fast, as he was in the front of the pack, but when he came out of the woods here (they disappear in the woods for most of the second half of the race), he was still toward the front, in fifth place. And apparently he passed someone in the final kick (the shoot is long, and I couldn't get there in time to see his finish), because he ended up placing 4th overall for 4th grade boys- in 7:06! He blew his goal right out of the water!

My cheer buddy, waiting for Toby to come out of the woods during the 6th grade race.

He stuck right with Jeremiah the whole race. The two of them placed 3rd and 4th and both got PRs- 6:25 and Toby 6:27! Fantastic job, boys!

7th grade girls raring to go.

Opal, almost to the 1/2 mile, in 2nd place, behind her friend Lilac (She ran with her on the Eagles team during track)

We waited for her out of the woods, and she had gained 1st place. I know she sometimes has the disadvantage of being smaller in that final kick, but she managed to hold on to 1st and get 6:11! Not a PR (She got 6:04 during track season), but it is a cross country PR.

Our Middle School team waiting for awards.

Joel got 4th place for 4th grade boys.

Toby got 4th place for 6th grade boys.

And Opal got 1st place for 7th grade girls (as well as 8th grade girls, according to her time). And Ella nabbed 4th for our team.

Sixteen teams raced, and Holy Family Warriors placed fifth overall. Six members of our team got shirts (top five).

And half of them were Ryans! Way to go, fam!

I just love watching all these kids run and being able to help coach this year. Such a gift!

Darlington Invite

We left our house at 6:15 on Saturday morning, the temp up to a brisk 43 degrees! The day was gorgeous- perfect running conditions (especailly after a course-walk and warm-up run). By the time Iris ran at 8:45, it was about 52 degrees.

Trying to figure out the course map

Iris's breathing was better than at Brodhead, but she still struggled a lot with it the last half-mile or so, causing her to drop back a lot then. She said her jaw locked open, trying to get air. It's heartbreaking to witness. I made an appointment for her to see someone who specializes in airways and breathing. I am hopeful we can get her the help she needs!

This was our Middle Schoolers' first meet of the season. They were stoked!

Soon after the start of the race, the top girls with Opal gaining the inside curve.

She held on to that fifth place spot for pretty much the whole race- a 1.37 mile course.

#6 girl passed her at the VERY end- some of those eighth (and seventh!) grade girls are tall, and she just can't compete with those long legs for a finishing kick. But 1-10 Middle School finishers got ribbons. She got 9:10 for the 1.37 mile course, in contrast with 9:26 for the slightly shorter 1.3 miles last year. Good job, Opal!

Besides being the Middle Schoolers first race of the season, it was Joel's first XC meet EVER (besides a peewee race or two)! He's been training with the team and has been doing an awesome job, so coach entered him to run with the middle schoolers. He was beyond ecstatic!

Toby had a great race, too, taking a whole minute off his time on a longer course! He finished in 9:52 compared to last year's 10:52.

Look at that smile! He was super pleased with his 11:25- awesome job, Joel!

Go Warriors!

Brodhead Invite ~ breathing trouble

Coaches Russow and Ryan! Missing the third 'R' and middle school coach, Coach Resch.

Pre-race face painting

Pre-race prayer

Poor Iris had been struggling a bit with breathing duiring her summer training runs and had a few spells of swollen tonsils over the past few months, to the point where she could hardly swallow. I worried she might have enlarged tonsils that would need to be removed, but she said she wanted to wait until after the season to do anything that would take her out for weeks on end. So she kept up with the training and just took her inhaler frequently.

We had our first high school meet of the season last Thursday. The weather wasa little cooler for this time of year- low 70s. She ran with her inhaler and took it a few times during the race, but she said it didn't do much good. She was clearly having trouble breathing, arching her head back to try to open her airway, gasping for breath, trying to breathe through her nose, as breathing exercises suggest. She powered through and managed to finish in 28:13, a couple of minutes slower than her race there last year, despite not getting enough oxygen. At the end of the race, she kept gasping for air, which she said she felt she just couldn't get. Her tongue was white.

The next day, Friday morning, she said her throat still felt very constricted, making it difficult to breathe. I took her to urgent care, but they sent us to the ER after hearing that this- swollen tonsils and difficulty breathing- had been an ongoing issue. At the hospital, she had swabs for Covid and strep, which I really didn't think the cause, as she had no other symptoms besides trouble getting enough breath. She did not feel sick at all. Bt they also took an x-ray of her chest. And while after we'd been there, they came back to report that her strep test was positive! We were kind of shocked, but apparently, this is sometimes the case with strep- red, swollen tonsils with no other symptoms. Strnage. So she was able to get started on antibiotics and head home.

Unfortuntealy, it has been a few days since she started on the antibiotics, and she is still having trouble breathing. She didn't participate in Tuesday's high school race and will skip practices until her breathing improves. Hopefully, soon!

Early season cross country

We held a few unofficial practices over the summer, but another season of Warriors cross country officially started two weeks ago. It's our first season with Coach Russow as our head coach and Coach Resch and I as assistant coaches. I think it's been going well so far. We again have a huge middle school team. The high school team is small this year, and already they are nursing a few injuries and breathing issues, but it's still early...

I am looking forward to getting to know the runners better and am hopeful it's going to be a great season!