2011 ‘Battle on the Plains of Abraham’ not as successful as the Original battle in 1759

The tragedy is that I never got to compete in that first winning battle!

It seems to be that if I can’t be the best, then it has got to be dramatic. 

Race morning teammate Katelynn and I take the walk to the en francais Starbucks for a hot, hot, hot tea (we ordered in English).  Briskly we walk back to the hotel only to be stopped on the street by the light falling of snowflakes all around us and in between these stone historic buildings – it was magical.

Our race was at 1:00 (or 10:00 B.C. time)

Our coaches found us an empty floor at the hotel so we could warm-up inside and then out into the cold snow to start the race.  The French start command caught me off-guard leaving me a few steps behind the other pony tails.  The 2.5Km course was very technical with hills and slopes and tight turns – not to mention the additional component of wet grass and snow.  

The first tight corner came not even 1Km into the race. 

 I was on the inside, slipped, fell, got spiked in the lower calf (two long slashes), got up, ran hard to catch up, died early and didn’t have much to give near the end.

We are making race plans for next year.

Next time, CIS!  I’ll get you next time!

A shout out to my teammate Marissa Ratzlaff who had a phenomenal race!!  Woot woot!  Congrats to the boys who had steady finishes.  Thanks to Nikki Bell’s family for coming out to cheer us all on and take pictures of our soggy bodies.

My time: 20:22.1