EU Running Camp

In August of 2001, I had an idea. Why not start a cross country team at the school where Scott was teaching? The principal thought it was a fine idea, and so Scott became the coach on paper. The kids and I would come up to East Union each afternoon, and we would coach together. We joked that I was the brains behind the operation, and he had the loud voice to carry it through. We started running around the baseball fields and adjoining cotton fields, and before we knew it, we had worked out a little course around the campus. Here are the runners on the famous (or infamous) cotton field road hill...
Now, it is 2010. Scott is going back to teach at East Union, and I am coaching 3 of my former Urchins at Blue Mountain.

Quick aside... for those of you who might not know, East Union's mascot is the SEA URCHIN. No joke about the name... GO URCHINS!!! The joke is, the mascot is not actually a sea urchin; It is a sea HORSE. Very interesting choice for a completely landlocked school in the middle of rural Mississippi! Oh, yes, and did I mention that the colors are brown and gold? That's right, brown and gold, baby, brown and gold.

Breakin' it down before the group run

SO. It came about that I was asked to speak at East Union's running camp last week. It was very special to me to have the opportunity to go back there and speak to several siblings of runners I coached! Tuesday night we talked about training ...

Attitude (It really is everything... well, almost)
Guidelines (training smart and with a plan)
External Factors (nutrition, rest, etc.)

Thursday night we talked about racing strategies. Mostly how to beat Myrtle. Just kidding Coach Greer! :) Really, we discussed issues surrounding racing...

Pre-race preparation
Running Smart
Staying Focused

I think it went well, and I enjoyed the opportunity to speak. Sarah went with me on Tuesday, and did a great job. I had to tell Coach McClellan that he better not be trying to recruit my own kid out from under me... She's a Spartan, not an Urchin, no matter where her daddy works! :)

Guys doing a little hill work to finish off practice

Well, I have made significant progress toward being a real farm wife this week! I got to help Scott fix the tractor,

and we got 50 baby chicks to raise for meat!

I say progress (rather than having officially arrived at being a farm wife), for two reasons.

#1 I didn't actually fix the tractor... I just tightened bolts because my hands are smaller

#2 Because the inevitable question concerning the chicks arises: "So, are you going to wring their necks and pluck them when they are old enough to eat?" When it does, my inevitable answer is "NO!" We will raise them here, and when it is "Chicken Killin' Day," we will take them to a nearby farm where our friends raise all natural meat. On "Chicken Killin' Day," Scott and the kids have agreed to help slaughter chickens together with our friends, and I have volunteered to bring food, prepare food for everyone, and clean house for them while they are out... killin' chickens!

I might end up helping, but I am not wringing any necks... nor do I think I could slit any throats. Maybe I can operate the food saver or something!

They were so cute and tiny when they arrived! Check out our redneck engineering at its finest... they are in kiddie pools for now. We will move them to a pen when they get a little bigger!

Josh

Will

Hannah

Jammin'

This is just a random post with some pictures of summer happenings....

A few weeks ago, Stokes had blueberries and mangoes on sale. Not just any sale... but call all of your friends, b/c this is a fabulous deal kind of sale! I bought 2 cases of mangoes and 6 cases of blueberries. Many of the blueberries went into my freezer, but the girls made several cobblers, and I decided to make some jam!

I spent the day with a friend making several batches of jams. We made blueberry lime, blueberry mango, and raspberry mango. When I got home, I was very pleased! However, I still had a case of mangoes and two cases of blueberries left!

The next day was Saturday, so the girls and I went to work. We ended up with 52 jars of jam!

In other news, Sarah got her point shoes this summer. She has been practicing on point, and doing well. As this milestone has been reached, she has been faced with a decision: Spartans or ballet. It has been very tough for her, but I think that she has chosen to keep running. Although she LOVES ballet, she likes running and wants to be able to see her friends at running practice. It really has not been as simple as this, but we think she has chosen wisely. It is so hard when there are many GOOD things to do... it's just not good to do all of them!
Finally, we got a new puppy. Yes, the poor thing is in a wedding dress. HE (yes, HE is in a wedding dress) got named Darth Vader, because we already had Luke Skywalker. Darth Vader is not the most intimidating creature, is he?

No wonder he looks so forlorn in the next picture!

First Spartan to become a Topper!

I mentioned that I had a signee come out of running camp... I didn't mention that it was one of my Spartans from last year!

Mary Chunn decided to come to running camp, even though she had already graduated from high school. I am not exactly sure why she decided to come, but I think it was providential. As the week went on, the BMC runners steadily talked to her about the possibility of coming to run for Blue Mountain College. She was interested, and agreed to talk to her parents and consider the matter.

The following week, she decided to sign! We are thankful to have Mary joining us at BMC! Mary has a lot of potential, and I know she will make the Toppers (and the Spartans) proud! Hopefully she will be the first in a long line of Chunns to come and run for me there!

Matt and Michael couldn't make it, but here are Steve, Yonnea, and siblings with Mary.