Seriously? (The Race)

Knock knock knock!

Guys do not plan well.  The attention to detail is somewhat lacking in their personalities.  So this was how my weekend in Arizona ended, with three of my coaches banging on my door at 6:49 in the morning.  Yes, I remember the exact time.  Things like that stick in my mind when I am oh-so rudely awakened from my peaceful sleep.

Anyway.  Onto the interesting parts of my short-lived vacation...

As I have mentioned previously, I was going to attend the Nike Regional Championship cross country race in Arizona.  This trip came the week before Thanksgiving break and I was stoked because I did not have to go to school on Friday and it was gonna be warm!

Unluckily enough, we had to meet at the park-and-ride at 5:50 in the morning.  For reals?  If I'm not going to school can I at least sleep in?  Ha-ha-ha, funny one Camille.

So our journey started.  As I mentioned before, men don't think about details, so the idea that the airport might be busy did not cross their minds.  This left us running to the other security line so that we would make our flight.

Once we arrived in sunny Arizona, it began.  Being runners, we went to a delicious buffet for lunch then off to the movie theater to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part Two.  It was horrible (well, not as exciting as it could be).  After we ran the course to get a feel for it, we waited in line to buy swag.  This took at least forty-five minutes.  It got dark and dropped TWENTY (not really) degrees while we were waiting in line.  That is how long it took!  The thousands of people coming to this race all wanted shirts.  Every single one of them and it seemed like they were all in front of us.  It is quite difficult for me to understand what takes so long to buy a single shirt.  Pick it out, try it on, exchange it, pay for it.  That can all take under a minute, definitely under five, but no.  The freaking people were probably paying with pennies and spelling out their words.  And then some people would have one girl get in line before her WHOLE team hopped right in.  Hell no, get your booty to the back of the line.

Thank you, Mrs. Obama.  Photo Courtesy of: Towns County Tourism

Team Spirit

Being on a team has taught me many things.  Before I joined cross country I had never really been a part of a team atmosphere.  Yes, when I did dance there were other people in the class, but that's different.  We only met a couple times a week and didn't compete or have the same bond.  I don't know, it's difficult to explain.  Joining a team made me nervous though.  I had a desire to be accepted, make friends, and belong, but what if those things didn't happen?

In the summertime it was different.  Although we did train as a team, it didn't really feel like we were all a team yet.  The older girls would run together and the freshman would run together.  That's just how it was.  It took awhile for me to connect with the other girls.  I had become friends with some of the older girls, but not the majority of them.  When we went away to camp I became closer with a few of them, but I still felt kinda isolated.

Eventually, I was able to keep up with them on easy days and I became friends with them.  I learned so much from being a part of the team, things that I could not have learned any other way.  At the end of the day, we were a family.  Each on of us was there to support the other people, regardless of who they were or what they needed.

One way that we were all solidified together as a team was through our buddies.  Each underclassman was assigned an upperclassman buddy on the team.  This helped to bridge the gaps between the different ages and grades.  My buddy was Haley, a junior who was also on the Varsity team.  Haley and I quickly became friends.  She always knew what to say to me when I was feeling down or didn't have the best race or workout.  I could comfort her when things weren't going well, too.  She was my person on the team that I knew would always be there for me.

Julia, me, and Lauren.  Aren't we a happy bunch?  Photo Courtesy of: Savannah N.

Woo Region

Well, I had my last race today.  The season went by extremely fast and I have made a lot of new friends, found something I am passionate about, and I have had a lot of fun.

Me and Haley before our last race. Photo Courtesy of: Claire Breiholz

Today we were back at Cottonwood.  This course I have mentioned multiple times if you've been paying attention.  I took the previous race off for reasons I have also previously mentioned, so this was my first race since Bob Firman.  The last race that the team went to was our very own Park City Invite.  All the girls rocked it at this race.  The people I run with in workouts and at practice ran two minutes faster than the previous race and some girls cut off even more time.  It was awesome...but I was scared because I did not know if I could run that fast and I didn't want to be behind that many people.

Boise Bound (Part Two)

As I explained at length in my last blog post, I really wanted to go to Bob Firman.  So, when the week of the race rolled around I was quite excited.  Another plus about going to this race was that I didn't have to drive down to Roosevelt on a school bus to race with the other JV peeps.

Anyway, we drove to the high school and sat around in Steve's room until our Le Bus arrived.    Three of our four coaches came, and our team brought six boys and fourteen girls to race.  As you can imagine, the bus was quite the party.  Just kidding.  We watched movies, played cards, and tried to sleep.  The sleeping part was difficult because of a loud buzzing noise that would not go away.

We stopped for lunch in some town in Idaho.  While driving to the parking lot, a group of us spotted a Noodles and Company.  Yes!  Who does not love pasta?  Once off the bus, the majority of us walked toward the noodles that were awaiting us and we actually started running.  We ran into the restaurant and realized that it was under construction and would not be serving us noodles anytime soon.  Dang it!  Don't get too worried, we did find other food to eat after much ado.

Before going to get dinner, we swung by the race course at Eagle Island State Park.  The purpose of this visit was to pre-run the course so we knew what to expect and the coaches could give us tips.  However, it was ninety-four degrees!  That's HOT.  Needless to say we all struggled.

After changing on the bus, we drove to the Olive Garden.  The cross country team is super classy.  This was actually a lot of fun.  It is a tradition for the team to pretend that it is someone's birthday.  This year we picked Alec, one of the twins on our team.  He doesn't talk a whole lot, so when everyone pulled out their party hats and horns then started to sing, he was very confused and a little bit embarrassed.  It was great!

At our quaint little hotel, we got our room assignments, I roomed with Haley and Daisy, then went swimming.  We neglected to bring swimsuits, so we went in our running garments (that word was for you, Hannah).  These two little girls were very intuitive and told us that we must like the boys that we were with.  Hahaha, we definitely don't.

Bedtime.

The next morning, we got dressed, ate breakfast, and shuffled onto the bus.  My race was the last one, so we sat around and cheered on our teammates for a couple hours.  Let me tell you something, this race was huge.  The lines for the portapotties was insane!

After we warmed up, laced up our spikes, and grabbed water, we made the trek to the start.  I was not necessarily nervous because this was a fast-paced race and a new, interesting course.  Of course, our start was delayed so that the previous race could finish.  Our teammates had taken our waters back to the tent, so I could not drink anymore water.  Luckily enough for me, the coach for the team next to us brought his team a few water bottles.  Naturally, I asked the Davis girls if I could have some water.  They gave me a weird look, but kindly shared.  Thanks!

The Bob Firman race course
Photo Courtesy of: RunnerSpace