The 2013 Cross Country Arizona Watch List series continues. As the season gets underway new athletes will be added to the list. Good luck to everyone! See you on the course!
Journal Questions:
Name: Bridgette Doucet (Bridgette's Milesplit profile)
High School:
Canyon del Oro
Year of Graduation: 2015
Best time in a 5K and a 3 Mile Race:
5k: 18:37
What are your goals for the upcoming season:
To have fun, be there for my teammates, and get a personal best, all while not stressing out too much and giving God the glory.
How is your summer training going? Your favorite workout? What kind of summer mileage do you run?
Summer training was awesome! Our team joined up with Ironwood and had a fantastic time. It was a great feeling- the excitement that continued to build as the beginning of the season got closer and closer, but the relief of knowing that we could have fun, too. (The miles fluctuated between 30 and 42.)
How long have you been running and how did you get started:
This will be my third year in cross country, but when I was younger, I was part of a track club. I was a sprinter, if you can believe it. I started running with my Mom and Dad- nothing too crazy, just two or three minute intervals for a half hour or so. Then I met an older guy with Einstein hair and a Brooklyn accent who told me there was a place on his team for me, and the rest was history.
Which meets will you be running this year?
There are more Wednesday meets this season, which are cozier than invitationals and a lot of fun. Then of course we’ve got the classics, like Desert Twilight. It’s going to be a great year for the whole team.
What are your favorite and toughest courses to run in State and out of State?
I’m not sure I could pick an absolute favorite, but the toughest course for me was the Tumbleweed/Ojo Rojo course. My freshman year, I got confused and started to sprint before realizing that I had yet another loop to complete before the finish line. I stopped with an anguished “NO!” Then a helpful spectator looked at me and said, “Not no. Go!” And I went. Good times.
So far in your high school career, what is your favorite cross country race or cross country memory?
My favorite race was last year’s Turkey Trot, (a road race around Thanksgiving), when I got to run with some of my friends from the Ironwood team and we ended up singing and laughing the entire way. (At the end, we did a Conga line.) My favorite memory was going to running camp with one of my best ever friends, Sarrah. We ran not one, but two gigantic hills together, and ate about a ton of watermelonJ.
What do you look forward to the most this season?
This season, I’m not going to pressure myself, because life’s too short to get worked up over something that’s supposed to be fun. I just want myself and my teammates to make some awesome memories, and to glorify God by giving my effort.
The pasta parties. Always the pasta parties. You have not lived until you have tried some of the team’s Moms’ Italian food.
Out of all your running accomplishments so far, which stands out the most?
It’s not my accomplishment, but I’m still so proud of all of my teammates every time they get a personal best or a new course record, or even just finish a run that they had struggled with before. We are each others’ cheerleaders, and that’s awesome things about one of the team.
When you are not running what do you like to do?
Oh, many things! I love all kinds of artsy stuff, like collage and sketching. I also love cooking awesome food with my Mom and reading stories with my Dad, or just hanging around with my older brother and sister. Also, I can sing a fantastic rendition of most Disney songs.
Do you cross train (lift, swim, bike etc)?
When I have time, I adore biking, and things like classes at the YMCA are fun, too. And who doesn’t love push ups? (Answer: me, along with most of the sane world. No offense, I’m sure they’re good for you, but that doesn’t mean that I’m going to smile when I drop down and give you ten. )
How have your coaches influenced you overall?
Hmm, let me see- they’ve pushed me farther than I thought I could go, made me laugh, made me cry, made me pass out (almost), trained me better than I could ever imagine, mentored me, let me lead, trusted me, loved me like a daughter, yelled at me like a parent… and changed my life completely. Thanks, you guys.
Shout-Outs?
This might take a while, but here goes:
Thank you God, for this crazy, spectacular thing called life, Mom, Dad, Ian, and Heather, for always supporting me even when the meets were early in the morning or late at night, and for never giving up on me (as well as for my comfortably stylish pink Crocs), and the rest of my marvelous relatives, for your love, to every single one of the people that I’ve ever been lucky enough to call Coach, including Glider, Shawn (didn’t care that I was a naïve newbie), Eddy, Latania (drop it like it’s hot), Donna, Peace(air jobes all the way), Luckow, Virgin, Gerard, Odenkirk, and Barney, to name a few, (man, you guys have cool first and last names), to my teachers, past and present, because I know, I know, I’m a student athlete, not an athlete student, to my CDO family/fans, who were always excited to hear about me running for an obscenely long amount of miles (like, six!) again, to all of the people who’ve ever congratulated me, because right back at ya!, to my neighbors and best friends Meghan and Shayla, to all of the many, many great friends and teammates (really, some of the most insane, magnificent people that I will ever meet) that I got to know through running, like my Incredible Ironwood Buddies, the Flagstaff Dynamo also known as Tatiana Gillick, the awesome Karina Kelly, the cool-as-an-otter-pop April Lewis, and of course a sweaty-runner-hug for my breakfast sistah and lifelong friend Sarrah-rahhhh! Not forgetting my always awesome current teammates for being brave enough to show up and make things happen, to the ones “who are running legends to the running legends” (cough, cough, I told you I’d mention you, Jacob and Tim), to Mr. Sitter for always starting us off on a good note, and Dan Renolds, because you are always hilarious when I feel more like hyperventilating than laughing, to the guys from AZ Daily Star who were eccentric enough to ask me questions and take my picture as if I was really that special (it made me smile), to Margot Kelly, because you are seriously a superhero, to Andy Trourd, for not running away when I was totally fangirling about getting to meet you, because you’re cool like that, to the entire Bruno clan, because wow, to my ‘Lifeskills’ friends, who will always remember, for all the people who my brain forgot to mention, because you know how bad I am with names, and for anyone who’s ever been crazily courageous enough to stare rebelliously into the Arizona sun and announce, “I’m going on a run. Or a jog. Or a walk. It depends on how hot it is. Don’t wait up, guys.”
Quick Six:
Favorite Pre-race Meal?
If it’s in the morning, I’m partial to the eclectic yet delicious combination of peanut butter and oatmeal. If it’s in the afternoon, Powerade and PBJ’s are the way to go.
Kind of shoes you train in?
Erm… some kind of Asics Nimbus awesomeness something or other. With stretchy laces, natch.
Favorite athlete (running or otherwise)?
I know that this is going to sound like a cop out, but I really can’t pick a favorite. It’s just not possible. But for a hint, see my shout-out list.
Favorite song?
Eye on It by Toby Mac. Just try to listen to that entire song without at least bopping your head a little. I dare you.
What time of day do you run?
During school days, at around 3:45 PM, when yes, it happens to be a balmy 100 degrees Fahrenheit or so. You get used to it… eventually.
Favorite quote?
"But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint.” –Isaiah 40:31.