End of 2011

Welp, since 2011 is soooooo yesterday (literally) and 2012 is the new "in," I feel like I should sum up the end of the year.

So Club Cross; it was a good time and Seattle is pretty sweet (I mean, maybe a touch more sun would make it better, but still it was a fun trip). Highlights include but aren't limited to:

1) The Race. I reeeeeeally like cross country. This year was even better given that the course was NOT a collassal bottleneck fiasco in the first 200 meters. Awesome.
2) Amanda driving the team van the wrong way up the street en route to the race.
3) Jay driving the team van the wrong way up the street en route to the airport. Hey, whatever it takes to attain that necessary end result.
4) Ali challenging McMillan to some sort of basketball duel, I didn't stay around long enough to know the outcome of this.
5) Ali earning another USA singlet. BOOM. Scotland baby.
6) Ali wearing a headlamp through the mall. Because why not?
7) A sweet post-race run on the waterfront the morning after the race with Dan, Sarah and Adrian.
8) The cinnamon roll the approximate size and density of my head the morning after the race. Yes I ate that.
9) Loren explaining that he is "60 percent woman." I may have caught the wrong end of this conversation.
10) Poor Bananahands, who will never, EVER live down his namesake.
11) Hanging out with the whole team--this only happens once a year!

Lowlights include and are pretty limited to:

1) Cassie's post-race foot.
2) Team Rogue Elite.
3) Lack of mechanical bull.

All in all, a great trip! Thanks of course to Cody for keeping us all in line, and Lori and Sydney for putting up with all of us, and of course Amanda, Jay, and Scott for shuttling all of us around town. Thanks Adidas for another year of keeping us all shodden and clothed.

I will say that 2011 was a year of epic highs and epic lows and LOTS of blessings in disguise. I will also say that despite my initial exuberence to migrate to Boulder, and despite all the great friends I now have there, and the beautiful trails (humble little South Boulder Creek trail I will miss you!) and the lively town, it was nonetheless a happy sight in my rearview mirror and it is wonderful to be back down south. Although I did abruptly abort my mission, Project Pretend To Be A Boulderite, I'm still choosing to see it as a success in spite of a failure to adapt to the strange culture and peoples inhabiting that land. I would rather study it from afar. Yeah yeah, everyone can point and laugh and say they told me so.

Thankful for another year in the books and grateful for another few thousand miles on the legs--more to come! Thanks of course to all of you who have been in my "cheering section" (because we ALL need one) and have taught me a lot and shown the way. You may or may not know who you are, but I'll say thanks anyway. Best of luck to EVERYONE preparing for the Olympic trials--I might be the only girl I know not logging triple digits in weekly mileage right now. On to 2012.