I was so excited and relived to finally make it to the 9th and final ProXCT in Vermont. It was sure to be a great race since Sabra Davison (Lea Davison’s sister) was putting it on. Sabra worked really hard to make the women’s races the main events. She had the payout larger for the women and had the women race last each day (that’s a good thing and 99% of the time the men race last). I haven’t been feeling 100% but wanted to make it to through the last round of racing regardless of other stuff going on. I flew out early so I could get a feel for the course and climate. The course ended up being far less technical (if you skipped the 3 A lines) than the previous east coast races. I had time to enjoy downtown Burlington, Lake Champlain and the race course. I stayed with Lea’s coach Andy and his family and their very well behaved dog Yeti. I had some great conversations with Andy about training and with Daria about nutrition. So I started the race feeling a sense of dread and wondering if I’d even make it without getting lapped. I was prepared to be pulled on lap 4 and so I finally began to give it my all. Funny thing was I ended up passing a couple of girls , then when I wasn’t pulled I was shocked and found out I had enough to keep pushing one more lap! I got in all 5 laps and finished in 15th. It was what I needed in order to finish the season in 3rd in the series (see next post!). I’m not proud of that finish and definitely frustrated that I’m not racing the way I know I can. I know I have SO much more but due to a myriad of factors I’m just not there right now. Sunday was short track. During my warm up I KNEW I had nothing in my legs. Against my better judgment I lined up. Since I’d already registered, had the number plate and had a warm up in my legs I thought I’d try the race and hoped for a miracle. Nope, just nothing there and got pulled after 12 minutes. While warming up the thought “you need to know when to pull the plug” kept going through my head. Then the conflicting thought of “don’t give up before you even try” took over. I guess I can chalk it up to one more race, one more experience.

Custom name plate and ready to roll!

Corn field during warm up

Catamount Classic race venue from a far

Racing XC

Racing STXC