Book of Chad

Destroyed still from last weekend’s Provincial Championships I was looking forward to the final race in this year’s Cross on the Rock series, however, I was not feeling very competitive and was just heading out to have a fun race on a fun course. This year the Beben park course was fairly different because of a large construction project in the park, The course could be described as running backwards compared to previous years. It had a different feel than prior Beben courses yet it still maintained most of the charm this venue has to offer. I am not sure how it happened that I was given a front-row call-up, I found myself directly in front of two guys that had the ambition to do well and should be able to be me. After chatting with them at the start I assured them I would start quickly to not hold anyone up.

And start quickly I did maybe a little too quickly for my fitness. I was the second wheel through the first 3 or 4 corners and pulled aside on the first straight section to let those who were keen get by. I had a good first lap and in a perfect world my lap times would be consistent and my result would have been very good after all my lap times had been very consistent this year. This race was not to be every single lap was slower than the previous one as I limped my way to the end. The only excitement came mid-race when Jen Jackson came up from behind and I put in some power to try and give her some competition. I was so cooked that I didn’t put up much of a fight at all since she was able to pass me before the windy section.

I had a lot of fun throughout this season at Cross on the Rock however, I never really felt like I could get it all out as I could earlier in the year. I am not sure if I raced too much in the summer or if I didn’t get my fitness high enough before the start of the cross season, probably both. I have two more races left this year and I am looking forward to the experience of my first CX Nationals and the C2 race the next day.

Race: COTR #6 Beben Park Nanaimo
Time: 1:09:02 Laps: 7
Avg Heart Rate: 188
Max Heart Rate: 197
Place: 27th