***So this is majorly delayed. I honestly have procrastinated big time on this, writing most of it not long after the race, but then I put it off until now. Stay tuned for the National XC Race Report! *****
Fall is here, so that means my cross country season has started. I should point out that my cross country "season" has remained at a total of two XC races each year for the past few years. The first being the BC Championships and the second being the National Championships. Let me state though that after finishing 34th overall at Nationals last year I pretty much decided that I was giving up on XC and would not run it in 2013. Here we are in 2013 and I have committed to another season.
The BC Championships took place at Clearbrook Park in Abbotsford BC last Saturday October 26th. My race wasn't until 2:30pm so I was able to spend Friday night at home and then take the 8:30am ferry over to the mainland. Last year, leading into the race, we had a lot of rain making the course and fields pretty sopping wet. This year was the reverse, very little rains meant a dry course. In fact, spikes weren't really needed and in the end I kind of wish I never wore them! I will get to that later though.
Having taken the 8:30am ferry, I arrived to Abbotsford real early, probably around 11:30. The 10:30 ferry would have been ideal time wise, but everything would have to have happened smoothly without any delays. To avoid the stress, I opted for the earlier ferry. This allowed me to relax when I got there, see some of the Nanaimo Track and Field kids and other friends.
I should rewind for a minute and state that for the first time in ages (a year actually) I pulled out my XC Spikes from the closest on Friday night only to find out that I apparently had forgotten to wash them after Nationals last November. Mud caked on but surprisingly they didn't smell too horrible. I washed up both pairs (not sure when I wore the other ones but they were muddy too) and then put newspaper inside them so they would dry. I took out the insoles and wrapped them in paper too.
Fastforward back to the race, at about 1:10pm (20 minutes before my warm up) I got my gear ready. I had grabbed both pairs of spikes before I left in the morning as I wasn't sure which I wanted to race in. At this time, I decided which pair I wanted to race in and then realized that I had left the insoles at home still wrapped in paper next to the fireplace. Ugh. At least the other ones had insoles in them. Unfortunately I wasn't smart enough at the time to even consider trying the insoles in the other pair of spikes, not until someone else pointed it out right before the race.
Nevertheless, I got everything ready and then went out for my warm up. It's funny, I was more nervous for this race than I was for racing San Jose earlier in the month. I guess cause so far XC has been my nemesis.
Eventually 2:30pm came and we were off on our way. My plan was simply to go hard or go home. I had nothing to lose. I went out with the lead pack and stuck with them for most of the first of three loops until Rachel Cliff, Sabrina Wilkie and Sarah Iginlis started to pull away. On the second lap I realized my legs were not really there. Alison Jackson pulled ahead of me and I did my best to hang on.
First lap hill
Heading into 2nd lap
TGTD (Thank God That's Done) Spikes in hand!
Pretty sure the first things I said when I crossed the line was "I hate XC" and then "Spikes suck" or something along those lines as I proceeded to remove my spikes right then and there. Overall for top 6 it finished Rachel, Sabrina, Alison, Myself, Sarah and then Lisa Brooking. I did a nice cool down while cheering on the men in their 10km and then headed off back to catch the 7pm ferry home.
Results are found here
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