I am back from Albuquerque, New Mexico where I competed in the USATF Junior Olympic Cross Country Championships. What a weekend! My family drove from California on Thursday. It took us 13 hours including all of our stops for food and gas. My sister and I enjoyed the ride- we always have fun stuff to do.

On Friday morning I went out to Balloon Fiesta Park where the race course was. I did a course run-through and noticed right away that I had a bit of trouble breathing. Albuquerque is about 5500 feet above sea level. I had heard a lot about the altitude being something to be aware of, but I had no idea what it would feel like until then. I had to breathe a lot harder which I wasn’t used to. After doing the course run-through, I did some drills and hard strides at the start. For some reason I felt like I needed to run the full course again. I wanted to be really familiar with every turn and all of the terrain. So I did it again.

My family and I had a really nice lunch, rested up for a bit, and then attended the Opening Ceremonies at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The Governor of Albuquerque welcomed us and US Olympic Silver medalist, Leo Manzano spoke. He specializes in the 1500m distance, something I am very familiar with, so I enjoyed watching his highlight video and hearing him talk about how he got to the Olympic podium.

I noticed that after the Opening Ceremonies, I was feeling really exhausted and my throat was starting to bother me. It felt really dry and it hurt when I swallowed. I asked if we could skip going out for dinner and go straight to the hotel. We ordered room service and I got in bed right away. During the night I woke up constantly because I was coughing and sniffling a lot. I didn’t get much sleep but I tried not to worry about it.

The next morning, I knew I must have caught something because I was congested and my throat still felt horrible. What could I do? Nothing, so I just ignored it and drank a lot of water. We went to Starbucks for breakfast where I had a bagel and some hot water with honey. I knew that my race was in a couple hours and all I had to do was get through it somehow.

When we got to the course, I immediately started moving to stay warm. The temperature outside was very cold, about 33 degrees. Even though my cough was bad, it was hard not to get excited with all the people and athletes there. When it was time to check-in for my race, I felt like I was as ready as I ever would be. I said goodbye to my family and headed to the staging tent.

At the start line, I practiced a few starts and strides. I could see my family up ahead and I just tried to stay calm and focused. Once the race began my mind emptied. I controlled my start, ran the pace I knew, and pumped my arms. About a mile into the course my arms really started to hurt like never before. I don’t know why, but they were killing me! I felt like I was carrying bricks. I was also feeling tired and winded. I think it was the altitude. I never looked behind me so I had no idea where anyone else was- I just kept running.

When I crossed the finish line first, I felt so amazing. My family was there to greet me which made me really happy.

Here is a video of the race. Happy Holidays everyone and see you next year!