It was a dark early morning, and I only say dark because the sun hadn’t quite graced the sky with its presence. I met up with Alexis at the departure gate at DIA. She was toting along two things that she’s famous for, a starbucks coffee cup and a smile. At that moment all I could think of is what an amazing year for an amazing athlete. Last season she was unable to compete due to an injury and this season she’s been turning heads left and right. And now she has one more, well hopefully two more, big races on the horizon. One would expect to find a nervous jittery person. But she is calm and composed. I’ve found myself having to be careful because I sometimes forget she is only a freshman.
She competes like she’s been doing this all her life and she only expects to be successful. What excites me the most is that she has started to grow into a role as being a leader on the team. Alexis isn’t going to have to say much to take on that role. Her work ethic speaks volumes. She has always got another set in her, she can always do the last rep and you can all but bet that it will be done exactly in the time we’ve asked of her. Usually if she is saying something, it’s some silly joke that she made up. For example “what do you call trees full of cats?” I can honestly say that my name has never been the answer to a joke before, but it is hands down my favorite joke now. When she does choose to speak about racing you’ll find her passion runs strong.
Whether or not she realizes it, she said a few things that will most likely be my favorite thing an athlete could ever say. At indoor nationals she made a decision that most people may think is completely crazy. That she was going to race to win. She knew that she was in a tough race with an amazing field of athletes and she said “I’m just going to go run with her because nobody else will.” Sure enough, as the gun sounded the freshmen was on the heels of the senior phenomena at the indoor finals of the 1500m. She wasn’t satisfied with running just to get second, where was the fun in that. She definitely put her heart into that race. To be that fearless is a quality that not very many athletes or people have.
I’ve been anxious to watch our superstar compete as soon as we boarded the plane to Charlotte. It doesn’t matter what she’s doing, I know that she is going to give it everything she has. And finally the time is upon us. The skies have clouded over, it’s a perfect 77 degrees and the track will be primed and ready once she gets there. Apparently, NASCAR, another event known for speed on the track is also been abuzz around the city. I’m not big into NASCAR but if I had to pick a small luxury car, with a big engine and an effortless ride, I’d pick A - lexis.
I’ve got my camera, stopwatch and phone ready to twitter updates on the race!
Stay tuned as Skarda takes the track this evening at 7:50 p.m. eastern time in the prelims of the 5k!