NICA 2022 - Race 1 - Tangle in Troy - 1/23/2022

TLDR: This was my first race, and it was everything I had hoped for and more.

Place: 1st/16
Time: 24:54
Beat field by: 4:50

Story: On the ride up to Troy, I had absolutely no idea what to expect. After all, this was my first race. When we got there, I was surprised. The whole event looked nothing like I thought it would have. We found a good campsite, on the very top of the hill. It was pretty cold. After that was the preride at 10:00 AM. I was not feeling confident during the preride at all - It felt like I got dropped by the group I was trying to stay with, Caroline, Keelan, Tatiana, and my dad. I didn't want to waste my energy for the race during the preride, so it felt like I was going extra slow. Well, that did wonders for my confidence. *sigh*. I liked the course, though. It was really flowy and fast and had some nice bermy sections near the front and the back. Once we finished, I happily obeyed the orders that the coaches had given before the preride, saying that our only job was to get into comfortable clothes and relax. Well, I mostly obeyed. There was some running around and playing tag. For team dinner, we had boiled hot dogs, with chips and cookies. It was hard restraining myself to only one bag of chips and one cookie. Since it was my first race, I had no idea if loading myself with junk food would have any effect on the outcome of the race, and I didn't want to find out the hard way. Then, all the other lady bulldogs, some coaches, some others, and I went to cheer on all the coaches doing the coaches race. Once we saw all of the coaches off, I went back to camp and goofed off until it was time for the team movie. By then it was really cold, and I shared a blanket with my friends so that I wouldn't freeze to death before the race, because that's sub-optimal. The movie, 'Rocky', was about 2 hours, and by the time it was finished it was 10:00 PM. Laying in bed, my dad and I discussed race strategies, such as what to do during the start and other techniques. He reassured me that I would do well, but I didn't believe him. I have a bit of self-doubt, but I probably should've listened to him. I finally fell asleep at 11:00 PM.  

That morning, I woke up at 8:08 AM, and I got 8 hours and 37 minutes of sleep. For breakfast, I had oatmeal. That was when my nerves kinda started to act up. I kind of wandered around all morning, then went to see Reese start. She took off in front of everyone, even though she was racing several grade levels up. After I saw her start I worried that I was missing warm-ups, so I hurried back. For warmup, I didn't wear my gloves or glasses. That would prove to be a mistake later on. During the warmup, though, I was super confused. Why were we going at zone 5, or race pace, right before the race and not during it? Turns out it really helps the results of the race. After the warmup, we gathered at the top of the hill, and that's where I realized that I didn't have my glasses. I ran to the campsite, grabbed them as fast as I could, and ran back. We took the trail down to staging and when we were at the bottom was when I realized that I forgot something else - my gloves! I asked my dad to go grab them. He asked if anyone else forgot anything - a TV remote, maybe? No? He climbed the hill back to the campsite, and to me, it seemed he was going so slow. I could picture exactly where they were at our campsite, on the table outside our car. I had thoughts of them calling me up when my dad hadn't returned yet, and I had to race gloveless. Then, my dad returned with my gloves in time. Phew! They started calling the seventh-grade girls up, and it occurred to me - we were really doing this. I was about to find out how fast I was compared to other girls in texas. I know what you're thinking - "Oh, really Ellie? That just occurred to you now?" Yeah, sometimes I have trouble processing when things are going too fast. Don't judge, OK? 

Start line...

At the start line, I was so nervous I thought that I would barf. Apparently, though, on the outside, I looked cool, calm, and collected. The picture above is not what I thought I looked like. Anyways, I was in callup position eleventh, and surprisingly it was one of the best 6th-grade callups in the Bulldogs.  When the guy explained how he was sending us off, my stomach dropped. He would say 1 minute, 30 seconds, and then 15 seconds, and anywhere within those 15 seconds he could blow the whistle. That meant that we weren't getting a clear countdown, and the whistle could come at any moment. That was just great. 🙁 Anyway, when he called 15 seconds, instead of feeling nervous x 10 like I was expecting, a cool wave washed over me. It was everything I had been training for, and I was ready. When the whistle was blown, I got caught behind another girl's wheel for a second, then I sprinted off. I was the first one across the timing chip, and already breathing hard. After that, I felt great in the swoopy sections and passed my first seventh-grader not long after that.

 Right after that was a bridge that went over another trail. I was trying to get around two more seventh-grade girls right there. I passed one of them, then, while trying to pass the other one, she stopped on the bridge and made me have to stop and run it. I passed her almost immediately after, though. The rest of the race went pretty smoothly.

When I rounded the turn to the finish line, I stood up and sprinted with everything I had left in my tank. Sadly, I sat down too early and what would've been a strong finish was made a little less strong with the fact that I sat down before the finish line. Looking back on the video of my finish, I swear never to sit down before the finish again. Having completed the race, I promptly collapsed on the ground. I know for sure that I left it all out there on the course. I managed to catch 15 seventh-grade bunnies and around 8 eighth-grade bunnies.  I felt great about how I did. My whole family, including my grandparents, were there. I received a grey leader's jersey and a first-place medal, both of which I wore onto the podium. To my right, in second place, is Amanda Hamsa. To my left, in third place, is Juna Ward. In fourth place is Susie Burslem, and the (absent) Chloe Harrell is in fifth place.

Podium Picture :)

My dad, my little sister and I!

Brand new LEADERS JERSEY!!!

A leader's jersey, if you don't already know what it is, is a jersey they hand out if you have the most points. As long as you have the most points, you are allowed to keep the leader's jersey and wear it to the races. However, if someone beats you points-wise, you are not allowed to wear it to the races anymore. Whoever wins the first race gets a leader's jersey, and if they keep it is determined by how the next couple of races go. I spent the car ride home replaying the whole weekend in my head, and marveling over how well it went. Now all that has to be determined is whether or not I get to keep this leader's jersey. 

Ellie Out!