Miles and Mashed Potatoes

The days here are strangely difficult to keep track of. I've been here just seven days, but it already feels like weeks. Our days are stuffed to the brim with training and activities and minimal sleep, so they all run together.
We did the first baseline fitness test on Saturday. I'm still sore. It consisted of some warm up stretching, two minutes each of sit-ups and pushups ( I did 24 and 17) the 1.5 mile run, and a stretch test. The sit-ups and pushups could have been better, but with how many of both I've had to do in the past few days, I'm sure I'll get there.
The thing I really wanted to focus on, though, was the run! When I first found out about it, the idea of running that much scared me to death. It was the thing that made me most worried about this whole experience. But with even the small amount of running that I did at home, I felt like I was moderately prepared for the run. Not only was my time a 17:08 (which would mean about an 11:05 minute mile), I ran every step of the way. That's right. Not a single walking break.
When I started, I was about in the middle of the pack chatting with Ryan. But as soon as the time started, I could tell I wouldn't last the whole way at that pace, so I fell behind. A little while in I ended up running next to a girl going about the same pace, and we stuck together for the rest of the run. It was so good to have her there! Every time that I thought about walking, she would happen to say something like "Wow, look how far we are!" Or "We're setting such a good pace!" and then I would get a new burst of motivation. When it was over I felt so good! I exceeded the expectations I had for myself by a long shot.

The first week of food was catered by an outside company, but the teams are now taking charge of their own meals. My team, Blue 1, teamed up with Blue 2 to make dinner on alternating days. Within each team, people rotate the cooking responsibility. That means that usually two or three people take charge of making dinner for 22 people. I ended up volunteering to make the very first dinner with my teammate Kevin. We decided to make fajitas! Our whole team went to the store the night before to grab food, so Kevin and I wandered around the store with a cart and picked out everything we needed.
We started cooking at 5:30, cutting up our our ten bell peppers, three onions, and two huge packages of chicken. Kevin and I worked really well together as a team, which bodes well for the next ten months. We worked a solid two hours chopping and seasoning and stirring and problem-solving. It was wonderful. Not to mention that those fajitas turned out FANTASTIC, and I wasn't the only one who thought so. Jake walked up to me halfway through dinner and said "I actually like these peppers! My mom can never get me to eat peppers but these are really good!" Success.
I also helped out two members of my team by making mashed potatoes last night. We used a whole bag of potatoes, and I'm amazed I didn't get blisters from peeling them. I dumped chunks of the potatoes in water, let them boil for a bit, then mashed them and added milk and butter and salt. They were probably the best mashed potatoes I have ever made.
There must be something about cooking for a large group, or maybe just for other people in general, that makes it taste so good. It is incredibly satisfying to put something on the table that you know people are going to enjoy. I'm looking forward to future cooking experiences here!