Canton Cup

Unlike the previous day in Maine, the weather at Canton was cold. And windy! Everyone had the winter gear out for the first time (with the exception of a brave [stupid] few who raced in short sleeves and shorts!). With the cold and gray skies, it literally felt as if it could snow at any time.

I like the Canton course - it's challenging and has something for everyone: pavement, double-track, bumpy grass fields, tight turns, a track, a loose run-up and three sets of barriers.

The one thing I don't like? The sky-high barriers out in the field. Yes, they say right on them that they are 40 cm. BUT, they are on an uphill that is gullied in the middle. This means you can see daylight under them, and they really are taller than 40 cm. This will be important later ;).

After standing most of the day in the cold cheering for teammates and friends, I really didn’t feel much like racing - it was cold and I had put out a huge effort in Maine and was tired. I had, however, paid my registration and packed my gear, so the game was on. I made my way to the line as late as possible to try and stay warm, and still managed to be in the front row to start, giving me a much better start than in the previous day’s race! Yay!

Going into the second lap, I was really pushing the hairy edge of the eyeball. I could see both Sue M and Marci T-H just ahead, and went slighty past where I should have trying to close the gap. Remember those sky scraper barriers? I ended up taking the first one in my shin! Man that hurt! But, determined, and still able to see them just ahead, I kept on going, trying to catch (I never did). I ended up racing against Hannah K who beat me by a few seconds on the final lap going over the barriers. I was happy to be finished, and knew I pushed hard when my leg hurt so badly I couldn’t put weight on it, and my stomach stayed upset for over a day ;)