It's the trees of this day that I do battle with, for the light.

Thanksgiving day (from the R2W log):

Today I worked from noon until a little after seven and didn't make much money. It wasn't too busy. I guess they had a major rush at breakfast, but I obviously missed that. I ended up just walking there and back and on the way back just busted out the phone and wished a few people 'Happy Thanksgiving's'. I finally made it out the door around 9 o'clock at night and wasn't really sure where to run but then decided to head toward this street near TU/American Standard that I hadn't run on for a long time.

My sophomore year, Graber and I were roomates in Miller connected to a quad with Loramie and Yankey. Well, one night (I think it was after my first year of cross had ended) we were trying to sleep but couldn't stop talking to each other and were laughing at the dumbest stuff and decided that we were too hyper to sleep. So a logical idea came to our heads. Why not just run? So, around 1 or 2 a.m., we just headed out and ran around Tiffin aimlessly. I'm pretty sure it was around this time of year (the holidays) because I think I remember the Christmas lights around the brick sidewalk by the Sandusky bridges being up.

At any rate, tonight I just decided it was as good a night as any to run around aimlessly, and as I did I started thinking a lot about my time here at Heidelberg and how many memories I have running around this town. It's literally come to the point where every 10 seconds I run a memory pops up about something that happened at one point during my four and a half years here at that exact spot, or that exact piece of pavement I just ran by. I couldn't stop thinking about how many holidays I've spent here in Tiffin alone...working. And truthfully, it's not necessarily a sad thought--I've never been one to get homesick--it's more of one of those things when you think about how you used to react to certain situations at a certain time in your life and how you react to them now, and then see how much you've changed...or maybe the complete opposite...find that you still handle certain situations exactly the same.

I had a little daydream tonight while I was running about the drive to Georgia. I just imagined listening to a ton of my favorite albums as I headed south on the highway thinking about all of the things I'm leaving behind but at the same time excited about what's to come. And do you know what the best part of the daydream was? At the end of it, I pulled into my new garage at some random apartment (that's not quite real yet), set my keys on the counter, didn't take a SINGLE bag out of the car, laced up my shoes and went out for a run.

It wasn't until I analyzed the daydream that I realized why this sport has been such a blessing in my life. No matter what situation I'm in, as long as I have this, I'll have something familiar with me. In a few weeks I'm going to be in a new neighborhood and I'm going to have no idea where to go...or run. A few years ago, I remember Tiffin's one-way streets confusing the hell out of me. I remember thinking there was no way I was ever going to be able to learn how to get anywhere in this stupid town. Now, I know this whole city like the back of my hand and have so many bread-and-butter routes that leaving them behind is almost as sad as leaving behind a good friend. I can't help but thinking this current situation I'm facing--battling the ghosts of all the runs and memories I've been through in Tiffin--is going to repeat itself throughout my life. It happened when I left Leetonia for Tiffin, it's happening as I leave Tiffin for Augusta (hell, it happened after as I was leaving Golden after running there for only a couple of months this summer) and at some point, I'll most likely leave Augusta and go through the same thing. In a few years, I'll most likely be attached to Augusta in a very similar way to how I'm attached to Tiffin.

"Man it passes right by me,
it's behind me,
...now it's gone."

-Avey Tare

"You're getting your Masters where they hold the Masters!" - Leo Cappabianca

To start, I must say that the sole reason I created an account here on Blogspot/Blogger was so that I could comment on Michael Tkach's fantastic review of Radiohead's In Rainbows. That man should be writing for Pitchfork.

Hmmm. I think I'll use the Georgia script for this, my first entry (that's called foreshadowing).

Since I'm lazy, here's the first half of my Running2Win log entry from last night:

What a great day today. First of all, my future (at least the next two years or so) is no longer a mystery. Today, just before practice, Coach Ward from Augusta State University in Georgia (right by the Augusta National golf course, home of the Master's...awesome) offered me the job as GA and I accepted (it was really a no-brainer). This really helps since I'm currently paying my own way through undergrad and have surely accumulated a nasty amount of debt by now. There was really no way for me to realistically earn my Master's without somehow finding a way to get it for free. Not only is there a tuition waiver though, there's a stipend that will help my living situation (you know, so that I might find food and nourishment). It's an all girls cross country team there, but they're very competitive within their conference (the Peach Belt) and in NCAA DII. I can't wait to start hitting the phones for them in January, hopefully lock up a few recruits and just learn a lot about myself, the sport and my future. It should be a great experience and I'm thankful for the opportunity.

I found out moments before practice (miles @ threshold in 'the Boyer') so I tried to calm down and stay focused on the task at hand, but once I got back from Hoernemann I phoned more people than I typically do in a month. That list included my Mother (naturally), my Faja, my Seester, Dan Graber (but that was futile since he's lost his cell phone), the afformentioned Michael T, T-Money (currently residing in WV), Sean Williams (the brotha I stayed with in Colorado this summer...who is, ironically enough, considering coming back to Ohio to do the same thing I'm doing...except hopefully under former Olympian Mark Croghan at Kent State), Brendon Moody (who better to receive advice from than someone who has gone through the entire situation himself), Eric "Ham-Bone" Hamner (see Brendon Moody), Jus10 Dickman (we had other issues to discuss, but he understands and appreciates news like this as much as anyone) and probably a few more people that I'm forgetting at the moment.

I really am blessed to get this position and if I'm ever in a situation later in life to mentor an athlete who is looking to do the same thing I would tell them to go about in a completely different manner than I did. My sophomore year of college I e-mailed former Mount Union harrier Joe Eby--who found tremendous success gaining a GA position at DePauw and followed that with a full-time Assistant spot at Allegheny--and asked him what his advice would be to a young runner aspiring to someday acquire a GA position. Joe replied that I should obviously find the schools that offered the degree I was seeking and then to send out an incredible mass of letters (one to each of the schools). I believe he said he sent out nearly 30 letters while he was an undergrad and only received a single response--that being from DePauw, which ended up being a great situation.

Since I received that advice I had always "meant" to fight for an assistanship in that manner but really never "got around to it." Basically I had let myself down, got distracted, lost focus and instead of 30 options, realistically had about four. The first was to stay at Heidelberg. Lucas was kind enough to offer me a position here, but I knew that wouldn't be ideal for several reasons. First, I would be coaching former teammates. I just can't see that realistically working to their benefit. My past experiences with them would bring about too much bias, even if I worked hard at ignoring those feelings. Plus, that would mean that by the time I earned my Master's, I would have lived in Tiffin for the past 6 and a half years, and that just wasn't appealing to me. I love it here and have no regrets on coming here, but life is short and I truly believe that I need exposure elsewhere...especially considering that fact that I'm not engaged (or close to it) or anything. It's just me right now, so I can be a little more selfish than most.

The second option was to wait until the fall of '08 and to coach at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. This seemed very realistic after talking to the coach, and I would receive the all-important tuition waiver, but that would mean I would be working a dead-end job for over half-a-year (from January until September) in preparation for school. I would much prefer the situation I find myself in now...and that is: I graduate in December and then a couple weeks later, begin classes at Augusta in January. This way, I don't miss a beat. I'm not just floating around for a signficant period of time.

The third option was to earn my M.A.T. at Colorado College in Colorado, Springs near where I stayed this summer. However, I would have to pay for my education there in full as they do not need any G.A.'s right now, only volunteer assistants. It's beautiful there, and I'm definitely going to miss that state (I truthfully think I might settle down there someday) but financially that wouldn't be a realistic option.

Well, last night the best-case scenario came true and in about two and a half months I'll be living in Georgia. It will really be a completely new chapter in my life and is something I'm looking forward to.

PS: I'm honored to be featured in Brendon Moody's latest blog entry.

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