They are awesome from so many perspectives. Apart from doing the best trails in Rotorua in one race I have learnt so many important elements in racing from these - to pace myself so that I don't burn out, when a good time is too sprint, knowing how far to push myself and when.
Having completed race 1 and 2 of the Nduro series (sorry blog followers - I haven't made a blog about race 2) doing the final 50km race is the "max-out" effort. The Nduro races have a format of shorter than 50km for the first race, pretty much bang on the 50km for the second and well over the 50km for the final race. I knew this was going to be tough.
Even though I am the only person in the under-16 category doing the long course (nobody else is stupid enough to ride 50km at race pace), while I don't have pressure to get a place, I actually want to prove to myself that I can cut it with the best even more. My goal on this final race was to keep up with the top guns in all the other categories and get in the top 30 overall.
Race 1 was a test to see how I would go, establish a race pace, test stamina etc. Dad and I took a steady as she goes' approach and finished around the 75th place.
Race 2 I attempted by myself. I packed the pace up over a longer course and stuck with some top riders who were fantastic in giving me support and advice. In that I placed around 40th.
So with these experiences I knew that I had every chance of reaching my goal, but I also knew how hard it would be to place in top 30 with over 100 other competitors with a high calibre of skills and fitness (some of them were NZ national champions).
This time we didn't do out classic family experience and arrive 15mins before start. We had an early trip down and plenty of time to prepare and relax.
Even so, I got to the start line not really knowing what to expect for this final race – apart from going hard and fast at the start to get into the single track clear of the main bunch, and hopefully not burn out in the process.
The 5 minute count-down to the start felt as though it had gone very quickly. In all the pre-race jostling I ended up being quite far back in the start line (maybe in the top 60) so it was going to be hard for me to get through.
When the gun went off it was a slow start with all the front bunch bursting off and me left in the bunch at a walking speed trying to pass everyone - Damn, damn, damn!!!
Still, dad's advice stuck in my head - be patience and smooth – don't panic, it was a long race. It wasn't until we approached the 10km mark that I found my rhythm. I was able to set a pace that wouldn't burn me out too much and was starting to catch riders ahead.
By the half way mark (25km) I could feel my legs hurting but I wasn't willing to ease back at all and maintained the pace using any down hill I could to stretch and relax.
I felt really proud of myself at the 35km mark because I began to catch riders who were New Zealand representatives for XC and the long 24 Enduro stuff, etc.
By this point my main concern was how long I could continue at the pace before my legs began cramping. After 2hrs and 30min on the bike my heart rate was over 180 and I was throwing everything I had left so I could make it in that top 30. It was a real mind-game just to keep pushing.
I was actually really surprised when I came to the last huge hill climb because I had been so focussed on just keeping going. I knew from the race map that I was about 5km was the finish.
I'll be honest - my legs were barely functioning – the body stores were running on back-up power – but looking around at my fellow competitors I could see everybody else were in the same position.
I was in a group of 4 riders and were all spinning up the hill on granny gear – I could almost hear the lags squealing.
As I reached the top I knew it was virtually all over. All I had to do was survive the downhill and make it to the finish unscathed and I would get that top 30. Boy did that last few k's feeling like forever!
Crossing the finish line I could feel the cramps beginning. Just made it! I can honestly say I had nothing left - even another few hundred meters would have ended me. If you look at the photo below I look almost relaxed, but trust me, my legs were jelly and if I'd had anything in my stomach it wouldn't have stayed there long!
At the prize giving I was given the 1st place in my category and 1st overall in the category for the whole series. Even though it was just me in the category I felt proud going up because it had been a really honest effort and it felt good to be representing the R&R team who have really supported me on the journey.
Later that evening at home when I went to check online how I went overall I found out that I had come 28th!!!!!!!!
I had completed the 50km race in 3hrs and 34seconds (damn! only 34 seconds off being under 3hours). It's really inspired me for next year- what do you reckon? top 10?
:)
