My biggest concern before this round was that it felt like I was the least well prepped I've been for a race, ever! A couple of weeks ago I had a urine/kidney infection so I’d been really sensible and done nothing but rest. The Friday before the race was the Air Maiden coaching day at Chicksands. I felt pretty unfit but it went really well (blog to follow) so I was super excited about the race and thought, 'nah, being ill won’t have a big impact will it?' How wrong could I be?!
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| This sign made me laugh every time! |
If Okeford is the race in the Series that everyone raises their eyebrows at, Milland is the one that makes everyone grin in anticipation. Held on private land, the trails have been sculpted by the Southern Enduro team and they are SWEET! After Round 3 I decided that I was going to do a track walk the afternoon before the race to think about line choices and features. So, on Saturday afternoon I pitched up, grabbed my wellies and headed up the transition track. I hadn’t got far when I bumped into Sam, Tony and Emma. Miraculously, this time we managed to combine gossiping and actually focusing on the track.
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| Track walk with Emma, Sam and Tony |
Shortly more friends, Marcia and Renee, found us deep in discussion over a corner and we all laughed at the fact that all this would probably fly out of our heads once we were actually in the race! Joking aside, I do feel that this time the track walk actually helped and I got a feel for the course and the conditions. There were lines I'd decided on during the track walk that I used during the race.
By this point in the Series it’s more like a giant gathering of mates and the beautiful early autumn morning added to the atmosphere. As always I was riding the practice with Nikki and Martin, but we were joined by Tom and my biking buddy, Ben. After not riding for 2+ months following a shoulder op, Ben was coming to ride the practice, catch up with everyone and be official Enduromum photographer.
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| Tom, Nikki, Martin and Ben |
We adopted our usual policy of leaving the closest stage until last and headed up the transition for the start of stage 2. The ride up to the stage heads was same as usual – full of laughter, banter and bike talk but by the time I reached the bottom of the first run I was not feeling great. I felt tired and shaky and burst into tears, this was the first sign I probably shouldn’t be riding. However, the trails were so good, my friends were all there and to be honest I’m stubborn and I couldn’t face the thought of not riding. Knowing that I’d been ill, we decided that if we walked the transitions and I took it gently on the downs I’d be fine. The lack of timing on the uphill transitions in Enduro meant that I could take as much time as I needed, which worked well.
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| Waiting to race |
After the practise we all had a little R&R (apart from Ben - he was making the most of the free riding) before the race itself. I was feeling a bit better again and when the race came around, I was ready to go. I enjoyed all the stages and was very happy with my riding considering.
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| Milland was too good to miss! Photo credit: Little Bee Photography |
Upon finishing it did strike me as a little odd that I wasn’t longing to go up and start again, like I usually do, but obviously I was just a little too tired - today was the first time anyone at Southern Enduro had seen me push up a hill! As you will see, I was more than just 'tired', and thanks to this I lost the next few hours, so Ben will take over:
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| Post race smiles with Emma and Nikki |
I had a cracking morning – got 7 runs in, my shoulder felt fine, I didn't crash and, because I wasn't racing, I didn't have to plan lines – it was all about having fun! Vicky was clearly tired after her practise runs, so once the race started I became bag bearer, water and flapjack supplier, photographer and general support crew. Sam (who also has a shoulder injury) and I had a great time moving between stages trying to capture cool moments with Vicky’s phone camera and watching people scare themselves – the only downside was having my legs shredded by the woodland brambles! Before I knew it, Vicky was at the top of the final stage and after another 'good luck', some water and half a flapjack she set off. 20 minutes later we met up in the pits, checked out the times – Vicky was in 4th – and headed back to the car.
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| Couldn't really stay upright .... |
Vicky was knackered and I was starving so while Vicky lay down on the grass I hurriedly packed her bike away before we headed back to the fajita wrap stand for some (in my case) much needed food.
Unfortunately, this is where things started to go wrong, those who know Vicky, will know that she rarely sits still for more than five minutes. By now she was sitting down at every opportunity and was feeling rubbish.
Having managed to work her way through a wrap we decided to move over to the main area and find a chair for her to sit on. At this point I still had no idea how serious things were going to become - within 10 minutes she had her head between her knees, eyes closed and was barely responsive. Denise (Scott’s Mum) came over with the paramedics and they quickly had her laying down, trying to answer questions, legs in the air and all in possibly the most inconvenient place possible - right next to the timing chip table and results board!
While I milled around trying to answer questions, occupy Scott’s son so he didn't cry and be generally useful, while feeling useless, Denise had it in hand. She stayed by Vicky's side the whole time making sure she was OK and helping the paramedics with equipment when Vicky was too unresponsive to listen or move. After doing plenty of tests they concluded her SATS were OK and put her on a drip because she was probably dehydrated, phoned for an ambulance and tried to keep her warm. Just as they got the drip into her arm, Vicky proceeded to roll onto it because she was so cold she had to curl up! Couldn't lay on your right shoulder could you Vicky? Vicky's husband was contacted and grilled for medical history before arranging to meet us at the hospital that evening.
Faced with two cars and Vicky on her way to A&E, Nikki and Martin came to the rescue. Between us we sorted her car out and drove to the hospital where we arrived to find Vicky tired, but finally able to open her eyes and smile again! With a feeling of great relief they headed off while I stayed and chatted until Al arrived.
A very unexpected dramatic end to my second Southern Enduro event, but also my second time in hospital with Vicky. Lets hope there's no third time.
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| Focusing on where I'm going now! |
It’s been one way to learn a massive lesson in listening to your body but more than that it’s made me realise how lucky I am to have the love and support of so many friends in Southern Enduro. I want to thank everyone who helped but in particular: Denise, Ben, Nikki, Martin, Al and my parents – thank you all so much for looking after me and getting me home safely. I love riding and want to improve and for that I need energy and fitness. I demand a lot from myself each week with with approx 90km of riding, functional fitness training, spin and pilates – and I've been trying to learn to read what my body needs, but this is a work in progress and clearly I am still getting it wrong. My plan now is to get back to race fitness and not view this as a setback, only as a lesson.
