Day One
Flew to Trinidad with a layover in Houston. The trip took all day.
Day Two
I woke up and hit a wall of heat and humidity as soon as I
left my room with my roommate Ariana Fisher.
After breakfast, the team walked about 1k to the large grassy park where
the cross country race will be held. We
got familiar with the course, run a few miles with some pick-ups and strides,
met some kids on a local track team, and headed home.
After lunch, the coaches organized a bus to bring us to the
beach. We drove along a curving road up
and down a mountain to get to the beach.
We stopped at a couple points along the way, and at one of the stops,
there was a food stand. Although I
promised myself I’d stay away from street vending until after the meet, I tried
mango chow (mango slices covered in cilantro, garlic, pepper, and lime) and
tamarind balls (some kind of fruit covered with pepper flakes and sugar). I loved the mango chow, but I (and the other
runners on the trip who tasted it) would not recommend tamarind balls high on
the list of Trinidadian foods you should try.
It was raining when we got to the beach, so we all huddled
for a while in a Shark and Bake stand.
Eventually, I explored the ocean, and it felt so warm, I put on my
bathing suit and jumped in. The waves
had a really strong undertow, and while most the time I was having fun trying
to body serf, I was reminded of the power of Mother Nature when I was slammed
to the ground on more than one occasion.
Day Three
Hanging out.
Reading. Listening to the
ipod. Eating chicken, rice and steamed
veggies.
Day Four – Race Day!
Our race did not start until 4:00 in the afternoon, so we
had a long morning of waiting around, until we go onto the bus at 2:00 to take
us over to the course. When we got to
the course, we were greeted by a hot and humid afternoon with full sun and,
thankfully, a bit of a breeze. The
course had a festive atmosphere with coconut vendors selling from the street,
loud music playing, and athletes hanging out in their countries’ tent. The announcer completed the package of making
the race seem like a fun day in the sun on “the most beautiful island in the
world”. He encouraged us to drink the
coconuts because, “they are guaranteed to be refreshing and revitalizing. And they are also an aphrodisiac” (It turns
out that the other two items being sold by vendors, icees and a Trinidadian
drink, were also aphrodisiacs, according to the announcer). He encouraged visitors to ask Trinidadians
about their culture, and entreated us to look at the exquisite mansion of Brian
Lara, world record holder in Cricket, which over-looked the course. I never got the chance to ask anyone how he
was a world record holder. I don’t know
much about cricket, but I thought it was a team sport…
The race went out at a solid pace. The course was flat, except for one dramatic
downhill and a very steep uphill once each lap.
A woman from Guatemala took the race out hard, and there was some
excitement as she seemed to get confused by the course and cut across our pack
of Americans to go outside the course. I
tucked in behind Americans Liz Costello and Laura Thweatt for the first two
laps. At the end of our second lap we
felt the presence of a Trinidadian woman.
With one 2k lap to go, the three of them picked up the pace a bit, and I
wasn’t able to respond. Liz won the
race, followed by the Trinidadian woman.
Laura was third, and I held onto fourth place. Hillary Orf, our American teammate was
fifth. Since they scored the top four finishers,
we easily won the race as a team!
To celebrate, the senior women’s team was able to get a ride
over to the 5-star Hyatt hotel, where boyfriends, family, and coaches, who were
able to make the trip, were staying. I
sat on a patio overlooking the ocean, listening to live reggae music, drinking
a guava daiquiri and mango mojito, and relaxing with the other women and Liz
Costello’s parents. What a perfect way
to end the trip!
Day Five
Woke up at 4:00 am to fly home. Another long day of traveling!
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