So, I hit the big 21. It was a pretty relaxing birthday... I know, non-typical of such a momentus day. I got up and did a nice 80 min run with the girls in the sun and then Chris took me out to breakfast at this AMAZING place in town. It's called Wildwood and for $8 you can get your self a sweet little set up of a 3 egg omlette (sausage, olives, green peppers, and onions), home fried potatoes, homebaked bread, fresh raspberry jam, and a side of salsa known as a Calamity Jane. We split one and with a hot cup of coffee the day had already lived up to all that I could have wished for. I did homework for most of the day with chris and my friend Arian. Then hit the pool for a second workout before a group of 9 of us went out for a big dinner at thai country including pineapple fried rice, pad thai, curry with beef, and cashew nut chicken. Frances had also baked me a delicious carrot cake. I went to bed early so I could get up and do my workout this morning at 6:00. So nothing to exciting but my Dad will be up next weekend to take me out for my first drink. Any good suggestions? I am thinking I would like to try either an Tom Collins or if I am feeling real frisky maybe a long island iced tea? Or maybe one of those trendy mint drinks? Or one of the ba-zillion flavored martinis? Maybe I will just drink whatever my dad buys me. :)

We raced on Friday so on Saturday it was one of the girls from the team, Shanna's 19th birthday! We had a suprise birthday party for her over at our house with a big cake (pictured above) and Nelly bought her a twister board! That was SOOOO funny to see big college kids trying to play on a twister board built for 12 and under! I had to include a picture of it it was so funny!

The meet went well last weekend. There was a very small turn out. Only 20 people in each race, but Frances made a successful come back which is essential to our teams success come the end of season. I am SO EXCITED about the Willamette meet next weekend! 300 people or more in our race alone! It is going to be a big test for the team and i. The conference is looking to be very close this year with 4 teams shuffling amongst ourselves. Willamette, Whitworth, Whitman, and Linfield are all in the running for a women's team title... but we want it more!

I made my first sale at my internship today. A 3'' by 2.5'' full color placement in the november issue to The Midsummers Night Bed & Breakfast in good 'ol Ashland Oregon. I was really excited to have made one, and I have 3 other B&Bs I have been talking to that are looking like they have strong potential. My Internship Mentor was really excited for me. Again, they little things right?

My Cousin Alan and wife Shanna have 3 kids Ashlee, Robby, and Hunter. Recently Ashlee has taken up cross country and is doing really well. Finished 4th on the team at the last race! I am so excited that she has taken up running. You have to be a little crazy to give running a try and I am so proud of her for trying it and I really hope that she continues to enjoy it. It's nice to watch others be involved in something you feel really passionately about. It was so nice to see some of the recent pictures of the kids that Shanna sent to me in an email for my birthday so I thought I would share them on here too because I liked them so much! Above is a picture of Ashlee, Robby, and Hunter and below is a picture of Ashlee running in a recent mud run in Klamath Falls!

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes, the cards, the emails, the calls i missed and the calls i recieved. I wish I had more time to catch up, but I can barely stay on top of my life as is. I love you all and miss you very much!

CAN'T WAIT TO POST AFTER WILLAMETTE AND LET YOU ALL KNOW JUST HOW IT GOES! Only 5 days!

We had this weekend off, so new running news other than I was voted Northwest conference athlete of the week for last week and the second week in a row, and my roommate and teammate Shawn Fisher was nominated as male athlete of the week. Here is the press release;



Women’s Cross Country – Marci Klimek (Linfield, Jr. Phoenix, Ore./Phoenix) continued her fine start to the 2008 season, winning her third consecutive competition, this time by the widest margin of 25 seconds.
Honorable Mention – Kristen Balleninger (Whitman, So.)


Men’s Cross Country - Shawn Fisher (Linfield, Jr. Boring, Ore./Barlow) finished tenth with time of 26:13.40 in a race that featured competitors from Portland State and Concordia.


Also, on Friday we have our first home meet since I have been in the program at Joe Dancer Park here in McMinnville! OSU is going to be there, so it will be interesting to run against some of the DI girls... even if they are one of the worst DI programs around. Also, Chris is scheaduled to make his season debut at the meet this Friday and is really pretty anxious to get those spikes on an do battle! I just keep hearing "I Can't Wait Til Friday!"

Classes and everything have been going good around here. We found a 7th roommate finally so that rent is down another $50 a month and re get a refund of $50 on the first months rent! It finally is starting to look like rain and cool off... just in time for the first day of fall!



For American lit we just wrapped up The Great Gatsby, which I didn't particularly enjoy, and now we are on to The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, which is much better... more matter-of-fact and much easier to relate to. I also got to write an analysis of an Robert Frost poem (Something like a Star) which I really enjoyed. I had a presentation in Business Law on a case and got a good score as well.

I have been having fun hanging out with the team this weekend since we didn't have a meet and got a lot of homework done. I have started analyzing Nike Inc for my HUGE managerial account project which will take all semester. It has a long way to go... all this talk about inventory turnover and return on dividends... Little by little...I will figure it out.

This morning Chris and I went grocery shopping and came home and made orange zest/current/cashew/dried cherry scones and then touched them up with yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola straight from the oven... I love having my own kitchen... we are eating a million times better this year than from the cafateria. I feel much better.

I am very excited about my big 21st birthday on SUNDAY! I feel so old, and all the freshman love to tell me so. Such Brats! They think I am pretty elderly with my 10:30 bed time and my pre-race baked sweet potatoe... they just need to wait... they will be old and responsible when the freshman bliss runs out and the midterms start to settle in....



Well, I better finish up some stuff and get ready for the week. In case you don't have my address and would like to send me a letter or some chocolate chip cookies at any time I have posted it below. I was reminded that I haven't posted that info yet... so here it is.

I hope you are all well and that I will continue to recieve little updates from everyone on there doings, it's nice to feel connected to my family back home even when i'm all wrapped up in work and study and play up here.

Love and Miss you All!



Marci Klimek
Linfield College
SW Brumback St Unit #4822
McMinnville, OR 97128

So this was only the first full week of school with all my classes and my workstudy job and my internship. It was deffinately an eye opener about just how focused I am going to have to be this semester to do all the things I want to do.

We had a hard week of training and I was feeling a little nervous about the Lewis and Clark invite this weekend. We had really hard workouts on both Tuesday and Thursday and also a long run last Sunday. So I was feeling pretty beat up as far as my legs were concerned and I had a little bit of a heat issue during the workout on Thursday since I only had time to do my workout at 4:00 in the afternoon.



but the race went really well yesterday there were 12 teams there. We finished 4th but were only 10 points of so out of first or second so it was really close. They only score the top 5 finishers and our 5th girl was 27th. All the ladies were really excited and packed up togeter and supported eachother through out the race. It was exctra exciting since that was the freshmans first time running a 6k, and our longest race of the season. As they run more they will figure out the distance better and better. I finished 1st and ran the 7th fastest time ran by a female on the course. The race went thru the first mile really slow (6:15 or so) which i didn't mind because my legs were fatigued... so the slower the better for me. After 2 miles or so I got a good break and then pushed it in and won by a pretty good distance. Now we have next weekend off and will just be working hard all through the week. I took my run easy today and look forward to refreshing in the pool later this afternoon.



I also had my first couple days with the Oregon Wine Press. I have my own desk and computer and company email and phone. It's the little things that sometimes seem like a big deal, isn't it?
This was the first week of my actual internship even though I have been in communication with Jeb, the publisher of the news register, as well as Holly Goodman, the director of advertising for the Oregon Wine Press and also my internship advisor, for a good deal of the summer. It was really fun to actually get the internship going and do some hands on work after talking about it and planning it for such a long time now.

On Monday I got some introductions and found that many of the employees were Linfield College Grads. One of which, Chris, actually was on the track team with me a couple years ago. Holly had me work on updating the master list that the Oregon Wine Press uses for all it's contacts about advertising and distribution and events and related info. Some of the e-mails weren't functioning so I got to call various wineries and businesses that were potentially, formerly, or currently associated with the Wine Press and update there info as well as try and pitch them as distribution points or a media kit or more info about advertising.I was assigned later in the week, on Wednesday, to start sourcing festivals for a large section that the Wine Press will be doing starting next year.

I am really excited about being responsible for the souring for the list of festivals and as my list grows what I will be able to do with all those contacts. I already made a pitch to MarshAnne Winery in Oakland and sent them some info about advertising and becoming a distribution point.


The Anatomy lab went well too...it was funny to see how uncomfortable people were with the idea of dealing with the cadavers and disecting the cats and thinking about how I was just like that a year ago. I really feel like I have changed and grown a lot in the last year. My coach actually mentioned the same thing to me the other day at practice as well.

Hopefully it is for the best.

Hello All!

We made it back safe and sound last night from Walla Walla, Washington after the meet at Whitman college. It was a fun meet since it was only a 4k rather than our usual 6k and it went by quickly and we got to run a little faster than usual. The girls team came in 4th again over all and the freshman are coming right along. Our guys team did great too with my roommate Shawn being the top male finisher on out team and getting 4th place! Go Wildcats! Below is a copy of the bit on the homepage for Linfield athletics. Every couple days or so they pick an standout athlete to be the Wildcat Spotlight and get that little big posted first thing on the athletics homepage. I have never been picked before so I was excited to see that I was picked... minus the picture.... which isn't too cute. I also put a picture that my assistant coach took from the first meet at Western Oregon University in Monmouth, OR. The picture was taken at around the one mile mark.


WILDCAT SPOTLIGHT

Marci Klimek
Cross Country
Marci, a junior from Phoenix, Ore., won her
second cross country race of the young season
at the Whitman Invitational. Her time of 14:30.49
outdistanced the runner-up by nearly 10 seconds.



So besides racing the homework has already began. I had to finish my first book for my American Lit class by tomorrow so I quickly read the 250 pagge "O Pioneers" by Willa Cather in the van, as well as 40 pages for history of world civ, and 30 pages for business law, and 20 pages for managerial accounting. I am not very used to having this much assigned reading and more used to all the note taking and studying figures for the science classes i used to be taking before I switched my major... BUT... I am actually really enjoying it. Especially the material for the American Lit class since it is such an interesting era to look back on. "O Pioneers" was written in 1913 by Willa Cather and is about a family struggling in Nebraska to make some fortune or atleast some stability by way of their land. It is interesting to hear about how the French and the Bohemians and the Swedish and even the Czechs all had there communities and customes and lifestyles and how the differed and interacted. It makes me wish I had a time machine and could experience things that are so real and so eye opening as the hardships they faced.

Besides all the homework and running there really hasn't been much time for anything... I experience little social time in my college experience. I feel lucky I have practice to get me out of the house and my head out of the books! I get to go grocery shopping too now... which is another excuse/opportunity to take a break from the studying. Chris and I are going to back a big chicken tonight and we have stuffing and cranberry sauce planned as well... nothing like a home-cooked meal just like my Dad makes at home!! I just love the comfort foods that I have gotten so used to at home. Hopefully I will do a good enough job I can trick myself into thinking I am at home for the night.

One Meet Down

Western Oregon Summer's End Invite Article


We had our first meet last Friday and it went pretty well. We didn't have a real strong showing as a team, but, the team we fielded was entirely freshman minus myself and one senior who had taken the last year off running to live in Germany for a study abroad. I had a pretty good individual race with an 18:39 which was a pretty good time in the wind and since I was pretty much on my own for the last half of the race. I did end up winning a large marion berry pie... which was tasty and i shared with my room-mates, team-mates, and coaches.

That was Friday and then Saturday morning the team minus the freshman (who had required orientation on campus) left for our annual team camp in Warrenton on the coast. Warrenton is about 10 minutes south of Astoria (if I have my directions correct). The sun was out although it was kinda chilly. We got to run on some really nice trails and on the beach, as well as jump in the duck-weed filled pond in camp and do some deep-water running to help recover from the soreness of the race the day before. That's me in the pic below loving the ice cold pond and above is some of the team on the beach. Frances is next to me on the far right and she was my roommate last year. Down below the 3 handsome men are from left to right my roommate Shawn, my coach Dr. Garry L Killgore, and my long time running partner and friend/senior high school prom date Tyler Davis. It's very strange to think that I only have one more cross country camp left and a reminder that you got to enjoy things while you can because very soon I will be working full time and a real adult... crazy how that happens.

Class starts tomorrow and so everyone is finally moving back in and filling up campus. There is a free welcome back BBQ this afternoon after practice and then our assistand coach is having the team over to watch the golden league meet that he recorded from friday and his wife stephanie is going to make her amazing chocolate chip cookies. It will be a good send off to summer one last time.

Then class Weds and Thurs, as well as a brief work study session Thursday night and we leave Friday morning for our next meet in Walla Walla, Washington and I will allready be missing class. Hopefully I will be ready for the 4k on Saturday, which is 2k shorter than our normal race and most likely a lot quickier... better strap on those spikes and get ready to roll!