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First Race of the Year, Homage to Ice.

It was April 15 and I was up at 5:00 am getting prepared for the first race of the year. On the drive to Mansfield where the race was being held I relaxed and got myself prepared. It had been nice and warm for the previous week and on race day it was cold and raining. But at least I was ready and brought all of my riding gear. It was the first race in the Ontario XC Marathon Series put on by Substance Projects. My coach was there as well as some of my teammates. I was doing the half marathon in preparation for the Ontario Cup which was the following weekend. It did feel a bit weird dong the Half Marathon since I am used to do the full distance. My coach and all of his athletes went and did a warm up just before the race. After the warm up I went and did my final preparations and then headed to the start line. I lined up right behind my coach and on the right of him were my two teammates, Thomas and Scott. The start buzzer went off and the start was hard and fast. After the first few corners I was sitting in 3rd place and was drafting on the long double track. It was misting rain the entire race and was only a few degrees above zero. After I started the race I didn't even notice the cold. Once the first half of the race was done and I settled into my race pace I was in third place. On the second half of the course it became a bit more muddy and it was a bit slippery in a few corners. I pushed it hard to the finish and I came in third place. It was such a fun course I was tempted to go for another lap, lol.


Third place on the podium

Once the race was all over and we got changed into clean dry clothes I went to cheer my mother on as she came across the finish line. She had a good race even though she was recovering from a cold. While I was waiting for the awards I was able to catch up with some cycling friends and chat for a while. When it was time for the awards I got up on the third step and I got my very first half marathon medal.

Even though it was cold and raining I had a good time.

Going to get cleaned up

Stay tuned for more up and coming Blog post. 

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