Me and marathon races....well we don't have a great history. We've done a few, some with ok results, come with terrible results, and some with a lot of heartache, combusted lungs and mechanical failures.
It was kind of obligatory that Aido and I, as Brisbane-ites, go to the race, even just to roll around. I have been doing not a great deal since nationals except uni work, and heading to the jumps park at opportune moments to try and dial launching over that really long tabletop (there will be a post when I properly nail it...).
Aido had come off massive miles at the Tour De Cure. Massive...slow miles...where they stop every 50km or so and have a curry. Both good an bad aspects to this sort of training, yes he can last the distance, however stopping halfway through the race for a bit of curry may be somewhat problematic when racing an XC style event.
Myself...well my recent training consists of 1. Don't get sick, 2. If not sick then try and bang out a few rides over 3hrs in length 3. That is the whole training plan.
I was a little sick from Aido's cold, had shitty legs and was mildly hungover at the race start, often a good mix for a shit start of race and finishing hard. It was just a slogfest.
A stop mid-race to assist a fellow who had supermanned over a jump and landed without his bike lost me over ten minutes on lap two of three. this would have been fine and I would have felt my time was worthwhile helping said fellow, if soon after I was neuro assessing him and stating that the QAS need to be here to scoop him out, a medic came over, poked his neck and promptly started to moved the quite confused fellow, stating that it was ok because he had no spinal damage.
Not sure about you, but I certainely don't have x-ray vision, and this first-aider would be worth a million if he did. Considering the possibility of this first-aider's actions actually having a seriously detrimental effect on this rider (somewhere over 60% of spinal injuries are asymptomatic), I scooped my bike up and had to leave. Others around the rider were looking at me as if to say "what do we do". I stated that they needed the QAS, a helicopter and that I didn't want to be involved with this medic's actions.
And rode off really mad for having used my time helping a fellow who was promptly 'un'helped by an untrained imbecile.
The rest of that lap I ended up just re-passing all the people I had passed before the stop, another slow and tedious process. I had no idea where I was in the field, but far back in the elite field I was sure.
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| At least I am in the air...catching flies in my mouth I'm sure This was the jump that ejected so many people! |
Lap three was a hard descision to make. Aido was with me at that stage, having been ejected by the train of surging elite men due to lack of curry stops. He's like 'well, it's up to you if you want to finish...". It was only another 30km of almost pure singletrack...how long could it possibly take? Well, nearly two hours actually.
It was a rollercoaster race of emotions, from being exhausted to exuberant, to aggressive then depleted, somewhat delirious and then back to focussed for the last few km's of the race. at times you can race, at times I just needed to survive. Marathon's are like that, they do strange things to you.
Anyway, I rolled over the line half an hour behind the leaders, completely over everything in third in elite and fourth overall in the women's event. Many people were saying it was one of the hardest marathons they had ever completed due to the 2100m altitude in only a scrape under 90km, and the relentless singletrack.
A drug test really sealed the deal as a long and testing day out, as I stood in front of an ASADA drug testing lady nude from bra down while she watched me trying to pee into a jar while standing up. Akward was an understatement.
Overall, I am glad I raced but can't wait for life to stop being so crazy busy and mental, so I can ride my bike and not succumb to stress-related ilness at the drop of a hat!
I also need a singlespeed. Singlespeeding, drinking beer and just keeping it real is sooo much more 'me' for most of the year. I can turn it on and get a little bit series for the National XC series, but why do it if you don't love it! I love pinning a bike, I love riding a singlespeed. Maybe i'll ride SS at marathon nats 2011?
Category: Women's Elite SS: Entrants: 1 (Anna Beck) I can see it now...