PART THREE: Racing Smart for Dummies

…I could see the finish line ahead of me as I rounded the last corner. It wasn’t until the final 100m that I realized I was going to have that OFSAA sweater. I distinctly remember thinking “I made it!” as I rolled through the finish line. I placed 8^th at OFSAA that June.

I’ve loved the spotlight since I was a little girl. So I was surprised at how I hid my face with my hands every time my school’s announcements would describe how I had finished at the previous day’s race. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks every time my class clapped and congratulated me. I have a difficult last name to pronounce. So naturally I don’t expect perfect pronunciation of my name every week of a cross country or track season. However, my high school butchers my name. I’ve probably heard a good dozen different pronunciations, some even beginning with the wrong letter! Regardless, I’ve gotten used to it. Grade nine may have been a jump in my training and racing performance, but in grade ten I heard my name on my school’s announcements more and more. That year I qualified for both cross country and track OFSAA. Now I had to change my strategy. Coach Steve began to explain what running a “smart race” was. I had watched a fellow team member compete in the Senior Women 3000m race at OFSAA in 2008, and he had told me to watch how she raced very closely. I cheered her on as she pulled up from back of the pack to second place; all within the last few laps!

 I learned that I might be able to have a kick at the end of my races too if I conserved my energy towards the beginning. I struggled with the transformation, however. I would be reminded of running a “smart race”, but would resume my bad habits of sprinting ahead at the sound of the gun. It seemed to be working, but I knew when grade eleven rolled around I would have to break my bad habits.

I can remember my Junior Women (grade 10) cross country race of fall 2008. I was neck and neck with a friend of mine (who attends a different high school), and she knows as well as every other girl in my races that I don’t have the best sense of direction. She had to yell and remind me of where to turn and how the route went if I ever took the wrong turn (what a good friend!). As the race was coming to a close however, I congratulated her on winning; we hadn’t crossed the finish line yet. 300m to go, and I knew she would out kick me. She did, and even thought I was quite happy with a blue ribbon for second I didn’t like how I could predict the outcome. So as I became a senior and began racing with older girls I decided I had to change because reality was they could all out kick me. It was hard to hold back at the start of a race when I wanted to jump ahead of other girls more than anything. But I trusted my coach, and I gradually increased in speed of the course of the race. I didn’t do as well I normally did, but it would take some getting used to. It got easier, and even though my races still weren’t perfect I was happier with my performances.

I also added something onto my acting résumé that October that sparked how I truly felt about acting. I am an academic student, so even though I had dreamed as a kid of being an actress I also took an interest in English and biology and had planned to attend a university such as Guelph to become a veterinarian or a writer or a marine biologist- I didn’t have it perfectly figured out yet. I usually take my cell phone to a workout in case of emergencies. After a Wednesday night workout (I want to say it was the 23^rd?) I noticed I had many missed calls from home and several texts from my brother asking me to call asap. I assumed the worst- fire, car troubles, ect. However, I calmed down when I found out what exactly was going on. Stay tuned!