This morning we woke up at about 6:15am, ate breakfast, and then loaded onto the bus for the race. I noticed a significant change in everyone's mood. The bus was completely silent as all the athletes got in the zone, and listened to their music. This was very different than the previous days, where all of the athletes were loud and distracted by our various activities. But, the day had finally come, and it was time to get focused.
Once we arrived at the course, it was cold and raining. We went inside the athlete village, where we changed out our spikes and stretched quietly. After about 30 minutes, the Southeast girls and I went for a warm up around the course. With all of the activities the days before, it was easy to get distracted and keep our minds off the race, but now you could tell that all of us were nervous. After we warmed up, we went back to the tent, did some drills, and then headed outside for introductions. I had never experienced this before, and it was very exciting hearing them announce all of my accomplishments as I ran between the crowd at the finish line. We then circled back to the athlete village, spiked up, and headed to the starting line.
Right about now, I was extremely nervous. It was crazy to think that I was toeing the line with 59 other individual state champions. It was different than anything I had ever done before. Once the gun went off, it was utter chaos, and being that I was in the second row on the starting line, I didn't get out in as great of a position as I wanted to. After about 400 meters, we hung a sharp left, and as people were pushing and shoving through the crowd, I watched as one girl whacked one of the poles on the inside of the course, and flew backward, falling to the ground. It was horrifying. I tried to move up as best as I could, but didn't seem to have it in me today, which was unfortunate being that I was at such a high caliber meet. I crossed the line in a time of 18:26, not super pleased with my effort, but proud that I had made it this far.
The Southeast girls and I immediately went back to the athlete village to get warm, and change out of our spikes. We then cooled down, ate some VooDoo Donuts, and watched Casey Clinger destroy the boys race. We again got to talk to some professional athletes, which was awesome. Later, we went back to the hotel, ate lunch, and relaxed as much as we could. We left for the Nike Headquarters one last time, and attended the closing ceremonies, where we got to see the All American and team awards be presented by Galen Rupp.
Lastly, there was the celebratory dance, which was our last fun activity before departing in the morning, and going back to reality. Despite not having my ideal race, this was one of the best experiences I've ever had, and I am so fortunate to have raced with such talented athletes. This trip has blessed me with new friends from all over the country, and truly inspired me for training in the future. Hopefully I can come back next year!
Signing off, Serena Tripodi...
