Taça de Portugal XCM - Barcelos

Teadsin, et maraton saab raske olema, kuna siinsed maratonid on ikka pikad ja see hooaeg olen xco võistlustele end pühendanud. Seadsin endale eesmärgiks tulla koju kukega, eelmine aasta (kui samal maratonil oli segadus rajaga ja poodiumile ei saanud) nägin, et karikateks on kukekesed ja öeldi, et varem on ka olnud, seega otsustasin, et see on hea eesmärk.
Esimesed kilomeetrid olid mööda asfalti laugelt üles mäge, seega oli hea ülevaade, kes kus on, see tähendab, et nägin, et kedagi naistest eespool ei olnud. Maratoni nimi on 5 cumes ehk 5 mäge, peale esimest laskumist tundsin nagu kala vees, väga lahe oli, energiat oli ja laskumisel suutsin tõusu ära juba unustada. Maapind oli ka kergelt niiske, et ideaalne rattasõiduks. Sealt peale nägin ka, et üks naine on mul küllalt sabas, laskumistel libisesin eest, kuid kuna ma tasasel maal ja tõusudel proovisin ühtlases tempos minna, et ikka finishisse jõuda, siis sai ta pea alati mulle järele. Peale 2 tundi hakkasin tundma, et pole just kõige parem tunne, kuid polnud ka veel hullu. Siis mingi hetk, kui sõitsin üksi metsas tõusu, nägin ees silti X (raja märgistusel olid nooled raja suunas ja valedel teeotsadel ristid), mis viis laskumisele, ma olin juba päris kapsas ja tahtsin juba laskuma hakata, kui aju tööle hakkas ja pidurid peale panin ja ikka noole suunas, ikka üles mäge jätkasin, siis oli natuke alla kolme tunni sõidetud. Lugesin endale mõttes sõnad peale, et pean valvsam olema. Kuid peamiselt oli siis juba automaatkäik peal ja erilist nautimist ei olnud, vaid pigem piin. Siiski olin veel naiste liider, kuid ma ei võitnud vaid laskumistel, kui oli ka järske kiviseid tõuse, suutsin ma rohkem neid ratta peal võtta ja vahet teha teise naisega enda kannul, kuid viimane mägi oli siiski juba minu jaoks liiast, aega oli kulunud juba 3:45, püsti peale minna ei olnud juba võimalik, kuna siis ähvardasid krambid, kui teine naine must möödus, olin üllatunud, et tegelt oli tagant veel kohe järgmised tulemas, kolm naist möödusid must seal tõusul, mul ei olnud jõudu mitte kuidagi nende möödumistele vastata, tõusu lõpus oli järsk nukk, mida teised ei suutnud sõita ja sain kolmandast mööda, siis laskumisel proovisin anda endast kõik ja ka viimastel kilomeetritel siledamal maal, kuna ainult kolm ju saavad kuke :D Ja jõudsingi finishisse, ajaks 4:24 minuti, kilomeetrid 80.

I knew the marathon will be hard for me, as the marathons here are long and I have trained for xco this season. So I set myself a goal to bring a rooster to home, last year (when there was confusion with the course and I could not get on the podium) I saw that the trophies were roosters and they said that it had been also years before, so I thought it a good goal.

First kilometers were on the asphalt slowly going up, so it was easy to have an overview where others were, that means I saw no other woman was in front of me. The marathon is called 5 cumes that means 5 summits, after the first I felt great, was fun, I had energy and on downhill I easily forgot the uphill. The ground was damp so it was perfect to ride a bike. From that on I saw that another woman is quite close behind me, I slipped away from her on downhills and as I took it more easy on flat and uphills, so I could reach the finish, then she caught me again. Then on one uphill where I was going alone, I saw sign with X (the right way was marked with arrows and the wrong ways with crosses) going for a downhill, I was already so tired that I almost started going down, but then my brain started to work and I put on my brakes and continued up in the right way. After that I told myself to be more alert, I had been riding about 3 hours then. I was already mostly on automatic pedaling and not that much joy, rather painful. But still I was the women´s leader, I did not only win on the dh sections but also when it was steep up and rocky, then I also made some cap with the second woman. But the last hill too much for me, I had already 3:45 on my clock and it was impossible to stand up on the bike as then the cramps were ready to come. Second woman passed me and I was surprised to see that other women were also close by, three women passed me there, I had no response left in my legs, at the very end of the hill there was a steep section, that I could make on bike and I passed the third woman, so I took all out from my skills going down and made all to keep the gap on the last kilometers to the finish on the flat, as only the three first get the rooster :D And so I arrived to finish with time 4:24 and 80 km behind me.