Thanksgiving weekend racing fun!

Last weekend was Thanksgiving, and for us that meant extra family time; one of the things I'm most thankful for. Our extra family time this past weekend was spent doing what we love - racing and having fun! It was a jam-packed race weekend with not one, not two, but THREE cyclocross races and a turkey trot thrown in just because we could. With it being Thanksgiving we had the bonus of that extra weekend day, which allowed for another race day; so why not right?

It all started Friday night with an eliminator style cyclocross race. With it only being one lap at a time, you pushed yourself harder than you would if you had 4-5 laps together; but that was ok. It was only 1 lap and then time to recover right? Well, the recovery ended up being much shorter than anticipated, so it was sprint like hell, rest a minute or two and go again! It was crazy fast but so much fun! The way the heats worked out, with all ages and categories mixed, we even had a heat with all three of us together!

Saturday was a great race day. The boys were up in the morning, and I cheered and cowbelled my little heart out for them both until it was my turn. The weather was beautiful that day and I had some fun battles with some strong chicks out on the course. I felt in the groove (as much as I can for my lack of cyclocross skills) and my legs felt strong. I finished hard, exhausted and with carnage at the finish. Just what it should be; and I couldn't wait to do it again the next day!

Sunday, much to my dislike, ended up NOT being a great race day for me. While I woke up excited to battle it out again, I just didn't have that cross flow in me come race time. I felt slow, legs heavy and seemed to be hitting every root I could find which rocked me all over the place. Let's just say Sunday was not a smooth race. I find cyclocross funny that way, some days you rock it and some days it rocks you.

Pain face - photo credit: Bill Quinney

My boys however, both had a great race day on Sunday, battling the insane 90-100km/hr (!!) gusts of wind as they powered through the course. That crazy wind did however make for some wicked giant leaf piles. Can you spot the feet?

New pre-race warm-up: leaf pile jumping!

Monday's race was my favorite day of all! It was a family race that we were all doing together, so I was thinking it would be a nice easy run on the trails with my boys. Little did I know my littleman would crush the course and the leisurely 5km I had pictured was a full out race! Running side by side my bean I was fighting back the Mama tears. I couldn't have been more proud of him! It was the best run ever.

We rounded out the weekend with a great home-cooked family meal sharing the many things we're thankful for. (No pictures, we ate it too fast!)

Moving onto next weekend...I'm looking for redemption. Saturday is a double-header for me with a noon cross-country race then evening cyclocross. Sunday we wrap it up with cyclocross provincials for one great weekend! Another triple header and I love it! Race, refuel, rest, repeat! Fall is a wonderful time of year and I'm so thankful we get to do it all as a family!