Today we ran 30km from Schlanders to Latsch, Italy. We covered 1800 meters of climbing, and 1900 meters of descending.
I've been thinking of this day for the past 8 months....the Finish Line at the 2011 Trans Alpine Race. What would it feel like? What would I do next? Would I be relieved or sad that it was over?
After yesterday's horrible day, I was hoping today would go much better and would be more fun. The profile of the stage looked better- only 30km, and more runnable terrain!!
I woke up feeling great and ready to go!! We took off slow, and I took Rene's lead as to what pace she could hold. I have to admit something though, when we started to climb and I saw the top women's teams slipping away and forging ahead, I just wanted to run them down and catch them all!!! Now I know that we set off to just finish this race, but after feeling so good all week and feeling stronger by the day, I just wanted to RACE!!! Now, this doesn't make any sense- at this point, the 7th place team is an hour ahead of us and this late in the game, TOTALLY unrealistic that we could move up any placements. So I struggled all the way to the top of the climb with all of the above thoughts..... fighting the urge to run as fast as I can, and knowing that it just plainly didn't make any sense, and I would be the world's worst partner if I did so. I probably shouldn't admit these things, but it was the first time I really struggled with it. I feel very guilty just admitting that I had these thoughts:(
Now, Rene and I talked the night before and we agreed that if she felt up to it we would push the downhill to the finish- to finish this race strong!! And that is what we did!!!
Right from the summit, we pushed the technical singletrack and were laughing and giggling on the way down. Then we heard Mike and Nadja (the mixed canadian team who has been kicking ass this whole race!!)- Nadja was having stomach issues, and problems with her foot and forced to walk the downhill......We really felt for them because they were placing in the top 10 every stage up until this point. They are so positive though, they both had smiles on their faces:) Love these guys!!!
From there, we got into the 2nd aid station pretty quick and had a quick stop, then ran hard on the forestry road down approx 6km.....then into rolling singletrack....to a flat asphalt finish for 3 km......It was like heaven.....I got my strong finish, and all my selfish thoughts from earlier completely disappeared and I remembered why we signed up for this race initially. For the Experience. And it was an Amazing one!!! 8 days, 4 countries, 274 kilometers through the Alps with 15, 436 meters of elevation gain!! And partnership. It is all about working as a TEAM and looking out and supporting each other. Rene is my partner, but has also become a very good friend and that is something that I will cherish more than any race placement could ever offer. There is a different degree of trust and closeness that goes along with being partners in such a race. The training for months, the sharing of feelings (good and bad), the good days, the bad days.....The sharing of the whole experience is something that no one else fully understands. It has bonded us in a way that will be there forever. I am very proud and lucky to have a partner like Rene!
And my body held up!! Actually my body completely amazed me.....feeling stronger and faster every day, no muscle pain, no blisters and my foot was pain-free until stage 7!!! I was expecting to have to take anti-inflammatories every day, but I only ended up taking 2 in the 8 days-It's amazing what the body can do!
And we ended up with an 8th place finish in the women's category! Not bad for 2 girls that didn't have any "Real" mountains to train on.....instead of 1 mountain repeat, we did 10 smaller ones:)!!
I am so thankful that we finished the race with no injuries, no serious illnesses, and no falls, which is amazing considering the gnarly terrain we were running!!!
We've had such amazing support from Valhalla pure- we had such amazing gear out there!!! We were always comfortable....wether it was in humid 30 degree heat, freezing rain or near freezing at the summit of the mountains, we had the right gear!! Thank you so much Valhalla!!
Also, I can't thank Trent and Carter enough for all of their help with the logistics of this race, and for all their cheering and support!! It was unbelievable how seamless and easy they made things for us- they worked so hard, and had to drive to all the stage towns, find guesthouses and lug gear!!! And a huge Thank You for Rene, Trent and Carter for letting me be part of their family for the last couple of weeks and for including me- It has been such a fun and great time!!! Thank you so much again for everything you have done for me:)!
So after reaching the finishing line, what was I thinking? I was thinking how much I loved to RUN, how much I loved this experience and that more importantly, I was ready for a vacation......
No comments:
Post a Comment