Hello all!
Well what a crazy few weeks it has been! I am sorry for the lack of updates, I am busier now than I have ever been in my college career, and that’s both a good thing and a bad thing!
First and foremost classes are going super well. I have had two tests, one in my Chemistry test (part 1 of 2 (80%) Part 2 of 2 coming Monday) and one in my geology class that I think went fairly well this last Thursday. It’s always hard to judge how to study for the first exams of the quarter and I typically do better after the first one. My final class geographical information systems (GIS from here on out), has gone really well so far. It’s a pretty easy class in that it just walks us through a program to deal with maps. It’s been great so far!
Cross country is what makes my life busier than it has been. The way in which my school schedule is structured is that I can only be with the cross country team on Tuesdays and every other Monday (as well as weekends). I have to get my runs done in the mornings before class. I typically spend all day on campus, getting up to the school between 7 and 8, and not leaving until after 4:30 most days. Cross country has gone extremely well though. The last two weeks have been especially good for me. I have had great workouts and today had a fantastic race. Since I last sent you a message I have had two races, one in Missoula where I ran a 33:30 8k (5 mile race), I felt terrible this day, but it was a good experience, and one that I have learned from. Today we were in Lewiston ID, and I had a fantastic race! I knew coming in that I would run a lot better, my workouts the last two weeks have had great improvements, I felt stronger and better than I had in the first few weeks, this is partially because I was getting back to high mileage and faster paces. I knew that I could get close to 30 minutes for the five miles, I still think going sub 30 minutes is entirely within reach, but I wasn’t sure if I was quite there today. I knew that sub 31 though was possible, but it still would have been almost 2 minutes of improvement over 4 weeks. Entirely possible to do, but I may have been a little skeptical that I could do it. Well my skepticism was proven incorrect. I ran a 30:22 5k today, which over 5 full miles I was 18 seconds faster than a lifetime pr, and a 2:30 minute pr over 8k’s.
Future races include a half marathon tomorrow and in two weeks I will be spending time in the great state of Arizona for my fourth and final 8k race as an Eagle, for the Conference meet!
Something that has been lacking from these messages is the fact that I haven’t updated you since freshmen year about church. The sad truth of this though is that I had rarely been attending church while here at Eastern. I did start attending an Episcopalian group on Monday evenings last year with a couple of friends, I enjoyed the company and still continue to do this, but this was not the church setting for Sunday I typically sought out. I have however, with my friends Megan Larsen and Jacob Helm, started attending First Presbyterian Church of Spokane on Sunday mornings the last two weeks. I am upset that I had not gone prior. I love it there. They’re very welcoming and it reminds me so much of Mountain View. It would definitely have been a place I sought out to go every week had I been willing to put myself on the bus early ever day over the last many years. I can say that I have found a place to attend though frequently on Sundays, which I am happy about.
As for everything else assume it is well! I hope you are all doing well! I cannot wait to see you all again!
Brandon
Brandonnobach.wordpress.com
nobachindown.wordpress.com
Brandonnobach's Blog 