University of Richmond Athletics
Inside the Loop with Conor Phelan
10/04/2011 | Cross Country
Oct. 4, 2011
Editor's Note: Cross country junior Conor Phelan will take some time over the course of the 2011 season to share his thoughts and experiences in an ongoing blog that offers readers an inside look into life as a Spider both on and off the course. Below is his fifth entry of the season.
This past weekend at the Brooks Paul Short Invitational we as a team did not perform as we have in the past, as we know we can right now and as we will in the future. I know that we are not a team of excuses and that every one of the 450 runners in the race had to face the same muddy course and the same hectic starting line. We are not going to sit back and lick our wounds because I know that each and every individual on our squad knows that dwelling on this weekend's race will not enable us to excel in the coming weeks.
We men have learned our lesson from the past to enable a stronger future. With two weeks until we head out to U.Va. to race on the hallowed fields of Panorama Farms, we have all fully turned our attention to training. If for some reason there was something that we were neglecting, I can assure you we are working to fix it. At this point in the season what we are eating for breakfast, lunch and dinner; how late we go to bed; and how we mentally and physically adjust to our training are all more meaningful than ever.
Upon returning to Richmond on Friday night, the temperatures plummeted and we found ourselves running our long runs wearing shirts for the first time in months. I myself absolutely love this weather. If I could design a perfect day, each morning would start in the 50s for my run. It is days like these that seem to be quintessential fall running days. Waking up in the morning gets tougher with the cold air outside your blanket, but once we step out the front doors the chilly air helps invigorate us for the run.
In our fall and Thanksgiving frame of mind, my girlfriend Sarah, my apartment mates and a few other friends gathered together one night this week and made a wonderful meal of chicken and artichoke pasta, fresh cut sweet potato fries and homemade Nutella-banana crepes for dessert (Sarah obtained a real French recipe from her travels abroad this summer).
With yet another wave of exams headed our way to mark the mid-semester point (time feels to have passed in a blink of the eye) we all making our way back to the books. This upcoming weekend offers us all a much-needed break from schoolwork, as we have a four-day weekend for fall break. Many other students head home or elsewhere during this time of the semester, making it easy for our team to enjoy the ghost town like campus as we look forward to some solid days of training and perhaps our yearly team scavenger hunt!
For all of our parents out there, we appreciate you traveling from near and far to watch us compete. Hopefully you will be able to watch us race again sometime soon whether it is at U.Va., the A-10 Championship or the NCAA Regional meet. I look forward to writing to you all again in a week to update you all on our fall break adventures.
