Monday, December 14, 2009

Marcus 2009 Recap

2009 was a good year for me. I learned and grew (figuratively & literally) a lot.

My season started out on a bad note with a crash in the final turn at Cherry Pie and a broken arm. I was stuck on the trainer for 6 weeks after. I learned to keep motivated through the hard training when all my teammates were racing.

It took a while to get up to race pace with all the other juniors who had been racing all spring. But I was up to speed by Edgar Soto. Time Trials aren't my strength, but on the TT I kept my mind focused and finished 10th which I was very happy with. The next day in the road race I felt great and finished 7th. Overall I end up 8th, but 2nd out of the 15 year olds.

At Nationals Charlie Avis won the 17-18 TT. I saw how hard he went and knew I could make my body go that hard, but maybe not as fast. I remembered this in the crit when with one lap to go 8 riders got a 10m gap off the front. I closed the gap and decided to keep going. I lasted until 50m and was passed by the sprinters (I think I was pedaling squares). I ended up 6th and the 1st 15 year old.

After Nationals I raced in the Cal Cup as a 3. In the past years I had only been able to stay with them, but this year was different. I was stronger and had peaked later because of my crash. I got a few top 10 finishes and some of my upgrade points so hopefully I can upgrade in 2010 to a 2.

This year I learned to keep motivated through hard and boring trainer time. I did well for my age in big races. I also grew 4 inches during the year. SO WATCH OUT next year

1 comment:

Manley Man said...

Nice effort over the course of the year. And for growing four inches this past year, let me know if you grow another four in 2010. I happened to average four inches a year from around birth until 16 and I ended up 6'9"!