CX Nationals

I find it kinda funny how the only nationals I took part in this season was CX, which is my weakest discipline. Well I guess I only did it because it was only an hour drive away.

So I think I did alright. I beat 10 guys, which was exactly how many I thought I could if I were to have an alright day. I was hopping to feel some more power, but I didn't at all. I had to suffer to to keep the pace above tempo, and any attempts at attacking would leave me completely gassed for several minutes. Seems to be the same story for every cross race I did this season.

I'm starting to think that I might be the kind of person who can only be fast once a year. I don't mean one weekend, I mean fast for 2 or 3 months. Or I am likely just burnt out from my first full season of racing, and made it worse by tackling the marathons and the squeezer through September (although they are my favorite events of the year that I never want to miss) when some rest wouldn't have hurt.

I never wanted to take cross serious before the season started, but have learned from it that I am a much more competitive person than I thought. Going into a race "for fun" is really no fun at all. If you are not prepared, you will be dying to hold on to a wheel of someone that you could have crushed a month ago, and before you know it you are getting lapped and won't even be completing the full race. I'm still glad I did the races I did because I learned a lot and it kept me on the ball the past couple months.

I have started to think a lot about next season, and have a good idea about when to do what. Unfortunately I will have to miss a couple races to fit in the rest periods that I neglected to take this season. I plan to start my intensity sooner for a better early season, then after a break in July I will build for a peak in August/September. I want to do the GMSR as a cat 1, So I will need some serious power early September, and than taking a 2 week break after that should have me feeling a little fresher for some CX action.

It looks like the next couple weeks are going to be very restful for me. I am just going to focus on charging the batteries before strength training season.