Crossing To IM?

This past weekend was the opening season for cyclocross here in the Mid Atlantic. I have been using cross for years to extend my racing season, usually because I have been hurt and missed my season goals. Luckily this year I am healthy and my main focus Ironman Arizona is 2 months out. This does cause a dilemma for me because I have been racing and training for endurance triathlon all year, and although I do intensity and shorter races, none are quite like cross. I learned that the hard way at Charm City Cross this weekend! Years back cyclocross was just getting traction and the races were well attended, but nothing like the races of today. There are teams and racers that are only based on racing Cyclocross, and needless to say the cometition is much higher than just a few years ago. I tried my best to have a good start, but just didn't have the capacity or even the want to try to get up front early in the race. With 60 or so racers out there gunning for the first corner its easy to end up near the back of the pack... which is where I was! Luckily about 10 minutes into the race the pace slowed and I started to warm up. By about 30 minutes into it I was actually feeling good and riding with a local favorite rider who happens to be named Chris too... which made me feel like all of the crowd was cheering for me! With a lap to go I was still feeling like I was just getting warmed up so I really started to push the pace, and we were just dangling out of the top 10 so I felt with a good push we could both move up. Unfortunately I went too hot into an off camber and lost the front end of the bike and went down. After remounting it took me a few minutes to get going again and by that time the race was over. It was fun, but my road rash and sore muscles told me that this was something I will have to be careful of in the next few weeks. With the demands of IM training eating up most of my weekends, and another 1/2 Ironman race in a few weeks I can't commit to a season of cyclocross. I am going to do 2 or 3 local races maximum if I don't end up losing fitness for IM. This is crunch time for me and hopefully I can stay healthy and get everything right. I will be trying to get some more time in this weekend by doubling up at the Ed Sander CX in Buckeystown, MD. After that I will be getting ready for the Brierman 1/2 which looks like it could be a great Tri for me in the mountains near Frederick, MD. I will keep you posted and thanks for reading!