Cyclocross End of Season Report

Simon's first cyclocross season finished with a third place win for the under 14 series. Because of his willingness to keep coming back for more punishment he was able to secure his place atop the podium by out scoring his nearest opponent and beating him out right in the last race. It was earned and well deserved.

One of reasons Simon kept returning was the encouragement from fellow racers and the spectators. This makes the sport appeal to most cyclist; you not only get to race but you can cheer on fellow racers when you're not racing.

So congratulations to Simon for a top three finish in his first cross season!

13.1

Thanksgiving day I ran the Weather Channel Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon. It interesting how when you push yourself you learn things. Some of the things that I learned were more of a confirmation of things already knew but were not ready to consciously admit and put into practice.

Race Report:

Start time was 7:00 am. The race started in Chamblee and ended at Turner Field so the course was not out and back. Got up at 4:00am has some coffee, I had picked up my Breeze Card the night before so I was out the door 5:00am walking to the East Lake Marta Station. Got on the train at about 5:22 had to make one transfer and exited the Chamblee Marta Station around 6:05. I followed the crowd to the area where the trucks were collecting bags from people that wanted to keep their warm up clothes and pick them up at the finish line. I had decided to leave my clothes near the aid stations when I got warm on the run. The clothes are picked up and donated.

Got to my stall based on my number about 6:40 and waited. My friend Dan said he would meet me near the front but I never saw him at the start. 7:00 race started. The first few hundred meters we just walked then we had the whole road and were able to start running. After about two miles I settled into my Half Pace. A pace I thought I could finish the race without too many problems. My longest run to date was 9.5 miles.

Dan ran past me at about mile 3 and I ran his pace for about a half mile but decided to slow it down to my pace and let him go ahead. With three marathons under his belt I figured he knew what he was doing. To make a long story short here is what happened:

• Mile: 1-8:29, 2-9:56, 3-8:46, 4-8:44, 5-9:14, 6-9:04, 7-9:09, 8-10:38, 9-10:44, 10-11:27, 11-11:43, 12-12:21, 13-13:13.

As you can see things started to go wrong somewhere into mile 10 and got worse until the end of the race. I felt as if I has sustained an injury but I ran 2 miles on Saturday without the same pain. Things I learned:

• If you are going to run a long distance you have to train a long distance. The thought of running for over an hour does not appeal to me.


• I am much better at pushing myself hard for a short distance that just pushing myself to run long distances.


• I'm a better runner that a cyclists but I can work on the cycling part.

So when I talked to Dan about the race and he was describing the course after 10 miles I had no recollection of it. I was so focused on finishing I didn't even notice where I was.