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Oatlands (first xc race!!)

September 14, 2019 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Run

Weather: Warm but cool overall very nice racing weather

Comments:
Wow my first XC race, i wasn’t really nervous that morning which I was not expecting. At least before track races I get super nervous morning of, but I was lucky yesterday I guess. I had a slice of toast with peanut butter and banana which is what I eat the morning of every race that I’ve run basically. But I mixed it up with a piece of chicken that was in my fridge. I made my lunch for the meet and put a Gatorade in a cooler by itself, yes that is what was in the mysterious cooler I was carrying around with me. Then I left the house and headed to school. I got to the bus and sat with Annie, who halfway through the bus ride decided she needed to “stretch her legs” which apparently meant she had to lean onto me and horizontally lay across the isle onto Ella and Camilla’s seat. But only an hour later and a dangerously close call to the pee break I took once I got there, we were at Oatlands.

It was a while before my race which was second to last. So we had a bunch of time to eat, cheer, buy shirts, and of course take probably 20 bathroom breaks, hydrate or die-drate. I still wasn’t super nervous watching everyone race, I was definitely more excited. As it got closer to my race I got more and more excited watching all of my teammates run amazing races and finishing so strong. I saw Lyra sprint down that last hill passing a ton of people while doing my warmups which was super inspiring. I also saw a bunch of people fight super hard at the ends of their races like Barbara who had her first race!! and EJ fighting super hard on her hills. There were so many amazing races to watch which just made me more excited.

As we were warming up though I felt kind of tight and sore which was slightly stressful since I wasn’t sure how that would impact my race. I just felt kind of physically tired. But Abby told me that it’s really normal and when I take off my long pants I would feel better which was very accurate. When I was doing my last striders that I did without pants, just long shirt, I felt much much better. Now the race.

On the line it was pretty spread out since there weren’t that many teams around us I guess so we were able to fit basically 5 of us on the line. I stood next to Ana Sophia who I was planning to run with because she is a good pacer and she helped to calm me down by telling me some racing strategies during warm ups too. Right before the gun went off we of course gave a run good and a flick of the bra strap to everyone running. And we started running.

I started off the first part of the race with Ana Sophia before I lost her in a pack. Then I realized I should be running with a teammate since that was the race strategy and I wasn’t really sure the spread I should be going. So I ran watching Abby’s back a few packs in front of me before I made the move to run with her. Until the downhill when I guess I ran ahead a little bit. But a few minutes later i saw another GDS uniform and it was none other than Annie rosenman. I trailed about 20 meters behind her for like half a mile before Matt Simonson told me I should go for it and run up to her. As I was running up to her I yelled “Annie I’m right behind you!!” And she put her hand back to high five me. We ran with each other which was super nice because we helped push each other and when it came to the big hill we may have gone too fast because after I was pretty tired but I don’t know if there is a way to run that hill and not feel tired. So after the hill we cruised together until around our tents when I heard Oliver say “Annie stay with her!” I didn’t realize but another runner had come in between us and separated us a little bit. But that was the last downhill so I let go and tried to focus on moving my arms. Then I think the hardest part of the race was the highway hill part because I tried to pick the speed up a little bit but I was also doubting myself because I wasn’t sure how far I was from the finish line. But a girl was right in front of me so I told myself that I had to pass her. As I was passing her, I guess her teammate from the side yelled “she weak don’t let her pass you!” And I was like, well we’ll see about that and I could see the finish by then so I just ran. I passed her and I guess there was another girl pretty far in front of me as I turned the corner towards the finish and someone from gds yelled to me that I should catch her so i thought to myself I guess I may as well try. So I don’t really know where it came from but I felt like I sprinted as fast as I have ever sprinted. I’m sure it wasn’t as fast as it felt but I just wanted to empty the tank. I didn’t think I caught her but then I looked at the finishing times and we both ran the exact same time, so I guess I did? Anyway it was a super fun race, and contrary to what Ella was telling me I’m pretty sure it is harder than a 400.

Then after the race I got to see everyone else finish sooo strong. And we all hugged and it was super fun. Then we cooled down and got back just in time to hear Anthony’s speech while we stretched. And I got to eat one of the amazing banana bread muffins Leah made!!

The bus ride back was very fun, we sang songs and Ella sat across Annie and my lap, which was slightly uncomfortable. And that was my Oatlands experience.

Today (Sunday) I went on a 25ish minute run which was very nice because I went at 5:30 pm so it was really nice weather.