Nordic Flurry

Saturday was the Nordic Flurry 5k/10k ski race at Chapin Forest. I raced the 10k race along with Rudy. Right off the gun, it was fast. I felt strong skiing up the hills, but I couldn't keep my balance racing down the downhills consisting of corners. The 10k course consisted of two 4.9 mile laps. My first lap I was feeling great. I felt like I was in the top 10 until I reached a downhill that consisted of a sharp right corner. I couldn't keep my balance around the corner and crashed pretty hard and unfortunately, a couple racers passed me. During the same lap, I crashed again around a corner and was passed by another racer. The next lap was very hard for me. I was pretty tired from the first lap and I could feel the strength in my shoulders, arms, and legs fading very quickly; especially skiing up the hills. Although I did not crash during my second lap, I was racing with Dick Brink throughout the last lap and we battled all the way until the finishing stretch. Dick took off out of a corner and I could not keep up with him. He finished in 15th overall, and I finished 16th and 1st in my AG, and Rudy finished 9th overall. I was very happy with my performance and it was a great day.

Run For Your Heart 15k

Today was the Run For Your Heart 8k/15k trail race in the North Chagrin. I ran the 15k as well as Dad and Rudy. There was a lot of runners in our race, but I'm not really sure how many. I felt good right off the bat. I kept it at a good pace and I was in second place, running with the first place runner for the whole first lap (4.9 miles). Around mile 6, i started to fade a little bit and dropped off the pace of the first place runner, and ran my own pace so that I wouldn't blow up, because there was a lot of climbing in the race. I luckily had enough legs to finish second overall with a time of 1:22:47. I felt pretty good throughout the whole race and all the training Dad and I have been doing on the running trails seemed like it paid off. Dad finished 7th overall and had a great race he said. Rudy finished 6th. After the race, Dad, my Mom, and I did a fast walk a little bit past Squire's Castle and back. We walked for about 4 miles, so Dad and I ended up finishing the day with 14 miles and my Mom had 4 miles.

Later Days

Finally

Dad and I had a very nice ride today; not on the trainers either. It was finally a nice day, and the roads were dry! We have been running and swimming a lot lately so I haven't been on the bike barely at all this year. Instead of being a 'gloom and doom' day today, it was sunny with NO wind. Too good to be true. Dad and I ended up riding 35 miles with a few hills but nothing too bad, and kept it at a nice pace throughout the whole ride. It felt really good to be out on the roads again. The way I am making the day and the ride sound is like I haven't been on the bike in years. But, it was just a great day today which ended in a very good training ride. We are running again tomorrow then possibly skiing Saturday and heading out to the North Chagrin on Sunday to get in a 9 or 10 mile trail run. One more week until the Run With Your Heart Trail running race, so next week will be a little easier than this week.

Late