Training in Augsburg before World Cup #3, photo by Julien Dekarczyk

Following is the rundown of my race at the World Cup #3 in Augsburg Germany! This was the last of the three consecutive World Cup races 2009. On my first run I was a little tentative, but I finished the run as best I could and pulled as best I knew how. The quality of the run was fairly normal in comparison with training runs, and I was satisfied with the way it worked out. I was physically drained at the finish line, and my lungs were tired too. I can attribute this to the crazy schedule of three back to back World Cup races leading up to this weekend. I had been on the road for 5 weeks! This is as it should be though, and despite the feeling of being tired I was still able to push 100% to the finish. I talked with Michal (the national head coach) after getting changed, about technical and tactical adjustments to my plan, and then chilled out in the video tent. I was still a little low on energy when I was warming up for my second run, so I did a lot less warming up, just enough to keep me alert and ready to start. I was basically trying to conserve energy while still loosening up and sharpening up for the run. My second run went better than the first, I was able to improve on many of the mistakes that I had made on the first run, while unfortunately made some new ones that cost me. Even so, I had some really good sections in the runs that I was proud of.

I managed to finish the World Cup Series off the way I wanted to! I am recovered now from the bout of viral meningitis I got during my flight home from Germany, and have been training at home on the Pumphouse. There is really good material from this summer’s races to analyze and build on in training during the next months. I have learned a lot from this tour, and have reached the end with the feeling of success. I am very excited for PanAmerican and Canadian Championships next week in Kananaskis Alberta! I fly on Sunday morning. I’ll be doing my best to get the most from the week of training and racing on such a beautiful course at such exciting events – I’ll also make time go exploring in the surrounding mountains, drink tea and reflect.