AUS - The Ending of a Great Year

On Sunday I capped off my season with my second and final X-country race in Point Pleasant Park, Halifax.  None of our 7 boy squad had ever raced AUS so this will definately serve them well in the future as we placed 5/6 in the team classification. 

You couldn’t have asked for a better day to run.  Sun was out, trees were turning colour and the temperature was perfect.  There was a wind which made it tough on some parts of the course.  This was a race however and these things were quickly forgotten as the gun went off.

I had a mission when I began..  work together with fellow teammate, Shawn Miller to chase one of the SMU guys. All went according to plan until the second lap.  It happened in an instant.  First our SMU guy was there and then he vanished.  He would later finish 5th overall which shows that he was in it to win.  Our race continued but it was done for personal pride instead of a podium finish. The amount of talent that was in this race was phenomenal.  It is good to see that the AUS will be strong for some years to come.

This was my first race where I didn’t wear a watch.  I wanted to run freely,  to see if it really did make a difference when you’re not concentrating on time.  Did it work?  Not really. I like feedback and all I got was that 10Ks are tough races.

So this is the end of the year for me.  I am officially done training for at least a week.  My body wants a break.  This race showed me that I have been going on fumes.  As much as I want to keep racing, I need to revamp the schedule and focus on rebuilding for next year.

Make sure to keep checking back here for updates. If you happen to be in Halifax for the TNS Banquet on Friday, Chris Gairns and I will be doing a presentation. Hope to see you there.

Happy Training

Cliff