Nicholson's on another level
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Devin Nicholson made a triumphant return to the TVRA Tri-County Cross-Country Championships Thursday afternoon.
The Tillsonburg Glendale HS cross-country 'phenom' ran away with the senior boys race, finishing first overall with a time of 20:45, a full two minutes faster than second-place Matt Sheeler of Holy Cross on a 6.75 km at Springwater Conservation Area.
“If I felt good, I was going to take the lead,” said Nicholson. “And if I felt like I couldn't maintain the lead, I was going to hang on the guy's shoulder and run just behind him.”
He felt pretty good taking the lead at the point where runners enter the Springwater course's forest.
“I knew I could use the hills to my advantage and I knew I had it in me to keep going. Once I got on the hills, I just kept trying to push myself further ahead.”
Nicholson, 17, last raced cross-country in his Grade 10 year, but he was sidelined the following spring during the track-and-field season.
“I was in the hospital 40 days for anorexia. I took the whole year off from running to recover. I trained all summer and this was my return to running competitively.”
Glendale teammate Taylor Renken, who finished 35th with time of 26:41, remembers running with Nicholson in Grade 10 when Nicholson was finishing 20th to 30th.
“We saw him win the first race (of 2013) and he's kept it up,” said Renken. “Personally, I've never seen someone from my team do that. But I know he's been running throughout the summer and he's been training really hard. It's good to see – it's cool.”
“Better training, smarter training,” said Nicholson. “When I was anorexic, I would just train and train and train until my body just couldn't do anything. I wouldn't stop. I wouldn't take a rest day and I wouldn't let myself recover. I trained more than my body was capable of recovering.
“Eventually they started to catch on to what was going on, and at that point I knew what was going on myself, but I was so far... it was so 'in my brain' what I was doing, it was so hard to get out. I think the stay in the hospital helped me out now, helped me figure out the proper way to train.
“Now, I train six days a week and I just do proper workouts. I don't push myself to the extent where I can't do anything. I push myself to the point where I know I'm going to be able to build more on what I've already done. I used to train six hours a day - now my maximum would be two hours, and that's just like once a week for a long run.”
Today, he's eating healthy, training healthy... and winning. And not just winning, but winning big.
“It's a prime example of how hard work pays off,” said Glendale teammate Brayden Ambo, crediting Nicholson as a 'perfect example.' “He put in the work and it shows.”
“My confidence level is through the roof,” Nicholson grinned. “I find I have huge confidence now, not just in running, just in life, too. I'm way better off now because of the training and proper nutrition, and everything else too.”
He tries to use his experience to help motivate and train his cross-country teammates.
“I know a lot about running and I try to teach them stuff. Like I taught them a different breathing pattern. I picked up a book this summer and learned about it. I find it really helps, so I told them about it and they're catching on.”
Nicholson, who also runs with the London Legion running club, will be leaving for Vancouver on Nov. 29 to compete in the U19 cross-country nationals. In the meantime, it's WOSSAA next Thursday at London Springbank Park and a shot at OFSAA.