Rosie Lawson RT World Juniors Blog

On the 8^th of July, the Australian Spark gathered at Sydney airport in our vibrant green and gold uniform, with destination Vancouver in our sights.  We boarded the plane decked out in our 2xU compression gear to ensure that we could walk off the plane with regular sized ankles.  The flight included many laps of the cabin so that our bodies remained intact, because the whole team was bound to compete just three days after we landed in sunny Vancouver! 

We arrived in Vancouver at 9am which was difficult, because we should have been preparing for bed in Australia.  After a good night’s sleep, we went out to train the next day at one of many tracks, this one located in the University of British Columbia.  The majority of us felt quite at home in Vancouver with thirty degree heat and beautiful blue skies. 

Most of the members of the team competed at Kajacks International Track Classic two days after landing.  Going into this meet, I looked at the start lists.  This was quite unnerving, as I had only run a sub 14 once and the majority of the runners had sub 14 and 13sec PB’s.  I came 3^rd in this race, regardless of having the slowest start time.  This particular meet taught me something which I valued, and took into the actual competition in Moncton with me.  It doesn’t matter about your PB on paper, it matters what you can do on the day.  This proved to be true throughout the whole competition in every race that I competed in.  I ran a relatively unimpressive 14.3 at Kajacks International Track Classic, however conditions were not great.  I was also due to compete the next day at another track meet, so I aimed to run a faster time, which I thought would give me more confidence going into the World Junior championships in Moncton.  We arrived at Swangard stadium the next day which was surrounded with serenity.  To the left we could see snow capped mountains, and to the right, rainforests.  When we arrived, I was told the news that I would be racing by myself.  I had to prepare myself mentally, because I wanted to run a good time and without a competitive edge, I knew this would be difficult.  At the last moment I was placed into a race with a bunch of 15 year old boys which was a much better competitive atmosphere!  I ended up running a 14.08 a week and a half out from my World Juniors heat, which gave me great confidence going into the competition. 

Later on that day at Swangard stadium, we also had our first proper hit out of the Womens 4x100 relay.  This team was comprised of members already in the team including myself (100 hurdles), Ella Nelson (200m), Karlie Morton (200m) and Caitlin Sargent (100m) to whom the baton was passed respectively.  Our relay team was coached by Jodi Lambert, a very experienced 4x100 runner who set an Australian record in the 4x100 herself during her running career.  Jodi was a fantastic mentor for our 4x100 relay and showed us many techniques and activities which brought us together as a relay team. 

Recovery played a very important role leading into the competition.  It was important that I trained every training session with high quality and accuracy, but also to recover each day so that I could perform well the next day in training.  Recovery included stretching and also ice baths after each training session or competition.  Ice baths were quite agonising to begin with, however I quickly became accustomed to them with manager Brent Valance watching over, ensuring they were done properly with our whole bodies under the 9 degree water. 

After spending close to a week in Vancouver, we all boarded a plane to Moncton.  When we arrived in Moncton, there was a definite sense of excitement seeing other teams at the airport.  The people in Moncton were extremely welcoming and seemed genuinely excited to be hosting the event.  We arrived at the Universite de Moncton and booked into our accommodation which was University dorms, only a short walk from the track.  Our dorms held many other teams including USA, Italy and Ireland, just to name a few.  My heat was on the second day of competition, so it was important to adjust to the new time zone in Moncton.  The first few days were spent training, and becoming familiar with the track.  Before competition, we got a chance to go out and listen to one of the official starters of the competition.  This was beneficial, as the starter gun sound was completely different to what we were used to in Australia.  In my last training session, I was able to use the warm-up track which was the same surface as the actual track.  I felt incredibly confident going into the competition because my last training session felt very sharp.  The first day of competition also included the opening ceremony.  Some team members attended this, however I did not because I was trying to stay off my feet.  We were able to watch this on the live streaming on the computer back at the accommodation though. 

The day of competition came, and I wasn’t due to compete until 7:30 that night so I spent most of the day in my room, relaxing, watching movies and listening to music.  The warm up track was very crowded and it was very difficult to get a lane!  I completed my normal warm up and headed to the call room.  The day was extremely hot and sunny (even though it was 7:30 at night) and there was a small tail wind – perfect conditions for a PB.  I had one of the fastest heats, and had the slowest PB in my heat, but I knew I was in personal best form.  I had absolutely nothing to lose. It was so exciting to finally step out on the track.  It was different to anything I had ever experienced.  There were TV cameras right up in everyone’s faces but I was trying to stay incredibly focussed.  I came 3^rd in my heat and ran a PB of 13.83, compared to my previous time of 13.99.  I was very happy with this result, but it still wasn’t over.  I progressed to the semi-finals the next day and wanted to run another PB!  

I found it very difficult to sleep that night because I still had a lot of adrenalin from that day.  I woke up the next day and didn’t feel as brilliant as I had the day before, but still was determined to run well again.  I went through the whole process of warming up and call room again, and didn’t feel as nervous.  The race definitely didn’t go as I had hoped.  I didn’t actually finish the race, after ploughing through the first hurdle.  This was definitely a disappointment, because I would like to have known my potential result, had I finished the race.  The next day was spent resting and recovering because I still had two more races to go!

On day four of competition, I approached the track, but this time as a member of a team.  I was to start the first leg of the relay.  Our relay also went into the race with the slowest PB by two seconds!  We were changing well to each other in the warm up.  The heat of the relay produced a very exciting result, when we came third in the heat.  The first two teams went through to the final automatically.  We had to wait for all the relay heats to be run, to figure out if we were to go through to the final.  Our two second PB in the heat was enough to get us into the top 8, which meant two bags of red frogs (a tradition of Australian teams for a number of years). 

We came 7^th in the final of the relay the next day.  It was great to achieve this result together as a team, so we could all share the experience.  After competition, we all let our hair down and spent the rest of the trip relaxing at the majestic Niagara Falls and enjoying the company of new and old friends on the team.