Miami Sunset junior Nick Diaz was the lone Florida qualifier for this weekend's Nike Nationals in Portland, Oregon. Diaz punched his ticket after a ninth place finish at the Nike Southeast Regional. Due to a great team performance by the Brentwood High School team, the junior bumped up four spots into that fifth and final position.
He landed in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday and will be giving us updates of his weekend so we can go along for the journey as well. Stay tuned to flrunners.com and milesplit.com for the latest in coverage from NXN including results, photos, videos, and a complete recap of all the action.
Saturday
I woke up to a very cold morning. We all went to eat breakfast and got on the bus to go to the NXN course. The course had no snow at all and wasn't muddy or slippery. I had to warm up for about 20 minutes and my legs felt great.
Once the race had started my legs still felt great and I went out great. Once we had gotten to the woop de doops (the little hills) my quads were on fire and the race was getting very physically challenging for me with all the haystacks and the uneven dirt surface. I wasn't able to PR or complete my goal for NXN but I'm glad I came here to experience this trip and meet all of these amazing people from the southeast, different parts of the country, and a lot of Olympic athletes.
I've learned a lot from this trip and I won't let it define the season I've had. I'd also like to say thank you to everyone who have supported me this entire season. It's been such a great one with all of you and I can't wait till the next one but for now I need some time for my legs to rest.
Friday
My day started with waking up to snow. Being from Miami, Florida, It was the first time I have ever seen snow and I think I was the only person at NXN who hasn't seen that.
We ate breakfast and we then went to the NXN course. The wind was 20 mph and it was 19 degrees at the course and the grass was very uneven due to the course being full of snow. The weather is suppose to be a little warmer the day of the race (which is tomorrow) and hopefully the snow will go away. After we left we went back to the hotel and got ready to meet Olympic athletes and athletes who are a part of the Oregon project.
We had a Q&A with them. I was fortunate to sit with Tara Erdmann along with the rest of the southeast individuals and ask her for some tips for the race or just running in general. It was then after that I was able to meet Galen Rupp. He seemed like a very nice guy but no one was really able to have a full conversation with him because everyone wanted to take a picture with him or get his autograph.
This whole NXN trip I've been learning new things about running everyday and I'm glad I'm able to have this great experience. Wether I race bad or good I know this doesn't define my 2013 XC season and I'm just going to go out there, give it my all, and have fun!
Thursday
The flight was great! Once I had arrived at the Dallas airport I met some other runners from Maryland and went with them to Portland, Oregon. Once we landed in Portland we went out for a very cold run at about 28 degrees. I ran again today at the Tiger Woods Center and I'm already starting to get use to the really cold weather. It's dry over here so it doesn't look like there's going to be a lot of mud on the course. Everyone from Nike has been very welcoming to me also.
When We got to the Tiger Woods center today to get all of our Nike gear which was really cool. After that we went for a run and said hi to Galen Rupp and he said hey right back at me. He was in the middle of a run so I wasn't able to take a picture with him but it was still great to be able to see him. So far this trip has been a great experience and it's only the second day I've been here.
The South boys feel like a team. They also gave us all kinds of free gear. They gave me sleeves ,a GPS watch, a book bag, a warm up jacket and warm up pants , these spikes that say NXN on them , customized trainers (Nike free runs), socks, jersey, and racing tights,
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