Champs - The Finals

I already mentioned how nervous I was starting out on the first day of the Championships, but after the first few runs, I had settled down quite a bit and was able to enjoy the experience. But then something happened - we kept running well. Really well. I kept waiting for us to have a total melt down run, but as we made it through each event, I started to get a little more nervous after each good run. I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and I was sure the higher we were, the harder we were going to fall. My big pie-in-the-sky goal was to make it to the finals, but I didn't really expect it to happen. In fact, I hadn't even made a hotel reservation for Sunday night or taken off work Monday. But as we continued to do well, I started thinking.... maybe.... maybe we could make it!

Then Sunday morning in the last round before the finals, Regular Round 5, L took an off-course tunnel. It was still a good run - not a meltdown. Actually, parts of that run were some of our best work all week, but we did cross the finish line having done one tunnel too many. I figured that was surely enough to knock us out of contention. (I didn't know at the time that many of the dogs after us also had an off-course tunnel, and that we still finished in the middle of the pack, even with our 10 course faults.) And I hope you won't think any less of me if I tell you that, far from being disappointed, I was actually relieved. In fact, I was practically giddy about being done and having not just survived the week, but having thrived. I didn't choke, I didn't let my nerves get the best of me, I rose to all the physical and mental challenges - the heat and humidity, the long courses, the long days, the double shots... we ran better than I had dared to hope, and I had no regrets about any of it. We did our best. We left it all out there on the floor, and I was so proud of us! And I was done! I made it! I was going home! Whee!!!


There were never any standings posted during the week, so it was hard to get a feel for how we measured up. My plan was to get some lunch and wait to see where we ended up, and then pack it up and hit the road. I figured I could be home by bedtime, and in good shape to go work Monday morning. I was sitting in the stands, totally relaxed and stupid-happy, eating delicious lasagna (seriously - how many sports arena concessions stands do you know that sell lasagna for lunch?!?) when the finalists were announced. They called my name just as I was about to take another bite, and I remember actually dropping my fork in surprise. I can only hope that no food fell out of my mouth when my jaw dropped open, but I don't think I was aware of details like that at the time. I'm not sure what happened to the rest of my lasagna, but I don't think I finished it.


After the jolt of surprise came a little jolt of panic. Oh. I'm NOT done. I'm NOT going home quite yet. Oh dear. Suddenly, I was feeling quite green again. There were a few moments when I was probably as nervous as I had been at any point during the week, until I realized that we could have a total melt-down run in the finals, and I wouldn't matter - we were finalists, period! No matter what, the worst we could finish now was 4th place! I could trip, hit my head on the dogwalk and knock myself unconscious half way through my run, and I would still be a finalist! Anything we did in the finals was icing. By the time it was our turn to go to the line, (after I explained to L about how I had accidentally lied to him about being done and really we just had one more run to do) I was feeling almost giddy-happy again, with just a touch of nerves.







In the end, we didn't crash and burn, I didn't trip and knock myself out on the dogwalk, we finished second place in the finals round, and third place overall in the 20 inch height class. L also won several sponsored awards: Highest Scoring Mixed Breed in Proficient Jumpers, Highest Scoring Mixed Breed, and Highest Scoring First Time Rescue Dog.



We drove partway home Sunday night before stopping around midnight to find a hotel, and finally made it home around lunch time on Monday. I was so exhausted, I didn't go in to work until Tuesday, and didn't start speaking in complete sentences again until Thursday or Friday. I was a wonderful experience, but I honestly don't know how people do it every year - I think it has taken me most of the fall to recover. And I don't know if we will ever go again, since I don't think I could ever top how we did this year!

(PS - Bonus points to the first person to name the TV show the theme music came from. Double bonus points if you can name the TV show that the Round 1 video music came from!)