Tuesday, November 09, 2004 - 12:33 PM

It was warm out there today- can't believe how warm for November. Nice to be able to wear shorts and singlets in November.

As usual, Dave Ormsby was nice enough to pick us up and drive Melanie and me to Sunnybrook Park. Once there, we ran into Dave Deubelbeiss and we went off to run the course (one loop only) for a warm-up. Both Melanie and I managed to roll our ankles during the warm-up. Way to go, injure yourself before the race! Same course as a few weeks ago with some minor changes -- a faster course, I think. But on some of those sections - man, the wind!!

OK, so the start - everyone lined up and we were off. I didn't want to start too fast. Melanie was right there with me. In fact I think she had a half-step lead on me. After the initial jockeying for position, I tried to settle in. But I was getting a bit worried. Mel was still leading us as we headed down the steep downhill. She was looking good. This may be the race where she finally beats me!

I decided to remain positive and tuck in behind her. If she was going to have a great day, then I wanted her to run well. I stayed behind her. So single file up the steep hill. Once we crested the hill, I managed to pull even with her. we ran side by side around the soccer field. At one point, Mel asked, "Are we running too fast?" She said this because she could see George H. ahead of us and we are never that close to him in a
race. Then we ran into quite a strong headwind. Neither of us willing to give ground so we both faced it together trying to close the gap and catch up to the group ahead of us. Once we headed back towards the start area, I think I managed to get ahead of Mel slightly. I was focused on catching up to that group ahead. I felt good at this point, and just wanted to run strong to the finish.

I didn't know where Mel was at this point. I try NEVER to look back in a race, so I didn't in this one :-) I'd see Mel at the end, or before the end ? Onto the second loop! I was gradually catching up to some guys ahead of me. Around the soccer fields and down the steep hill. At the bottom I saw some guy (Dave D, it turns out) lying on his back at the bottom. I wondered what happened to him, but kept going. Then it was the steep uphill again. I am new to this cross-country racing thing. I saw this line of guys ahead
of me. all were bent over with their hands on their quads and were pushing (?) their legs up the hill. I used the small-baby-steps-on-my-toes technique and caught up to all of them, and had to slow and wait to get around them at the top. But, whew, that's a hill. Definitely feeling some lactic acid burn at the top.

Took a few or more than a few strides to regain some rhythm. Almost to the end now, and that small uphill crossing the road felt harder than it should :-) Into the wind again. Saw some guys ahead and pushed as much as I could at this point trying to catch up. Then it was around the last tree and heading to the finish. I heard a marshall say I was the 2nd woman. Thankfully the race was over. Ohhhh, feeling ill in the chute. Don't you just love cross-country racing :-)

So I finished in 32:37, good enough for 2nd woman overall. And my Longboat team got first in our Age group!!! Go Longboat!!

A fun day! Looking forward to the next one in 2 weeks.

April Boultbee
Toronto, ON