Cross-Country @ Aviano

Well this weekend our family traveled to the American base located in Aviano, which is about a 3 hour drive from Milan. It is a little further than Venice. I (Andy) had yet another 5K challenge there, which I would currently like to give a play-by-play account of what happens and what goes through my mind while running for 19 minutes. haha :)
Many things go through one's mind while running 5K (roughly 3.1 miles), and in this particular race, I had three large 1 Mile laps to think about. At the beginning of the race, you're pumped up and ready to go. All I want to do is get the race over with, and do as well as I can. The first straightaway is probably the most exciting, surrounded by a whole bunch of boys who have idiotically decided to RUN, of all things, everyday as their sport, all of which are wearing extremely short shorts (just like myself and teammates). The first lap passes by rather quickly, and before I know it, I'm on to the second lap. As I pass the lap marking, where Mom and Dad are cheering me on, I get the usual, "Good job Andy, keep up the good pace!" from Dad, and the "You've got a huge lead Andy! Go!" from Mom. Haha, I always get the coaching from Dad, and the support/worrying from Mom. The second lap passes uneventfully, and it is about the third lap I start to wonder to myself, "Why on earth am I pushing myself this hard? I'm so freaking tired! Why the heck did I even join cross-country?" Its when I pass the finish line that I understand why. I placed 3rd behind two of my teammates, with a time of 19:04. Not too bad for the first race of the season. After passing the finish line, it feels SOOOO good to stop running and let your body cool down, while drinking water and cheering on the rest of the team. As soon as I can get some photos, I'll see what I can do about posting'em. Anyway, thats my little bit on how I feel during a 5K. Here's Mom and Dad.

Well.... Mom and Dad are too tired to write anything they say, so they'll make a new posting tomorrow. See ya'll later.