Silver at the European Marathon Championships

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BY: Sally Bigham

Published: 15th June, 2011

A podium at the Euros was one of my season goals and I'm really happy to have achieved it!

 

 

I had 7 days after the Trans Germany (TG) to taper and recover for the Euros, which possibly wasn't long enough. The day after the TG we travelled to Kleinzell (AUT) so I took a complete rest day. Over the following 6 days I spent time pre-riding the marathon course at an easy Zone 1 pace for between 1 to 3 hours per day. Four days before the race I had a Zone 6 (anaerobic) interval session scheduled, but I still felt too tired after the TG to complete the session. 

 

The course was really challenging with lots of steep climbs and fast forest single trail descents - I really liked it J The course was dry and fast during the week, but rain before and during the race made it slippery and muddy. I decided to use Conti 2.2 X Kings (with sealant) on the front (19 psi) and the back (20 psi). This turned out to be a good decision because a number of riders crashed on the slippery descents and corners.

 

It was important to enter the early single trail sections at the front of the bunch, so a fast start was necessary. I rode at the front with Pia Sundstedt, Jane Nussli and Milena Landtwing; however on the first climb Pia and I were able to build up a 40 second lead. We rode together for the next 30kms and I was able to respond to Pia's attacks on the climbs, but eventually I had to let her go. My legs felt heavy and my breathing became laboured, I'm not sure why - perhaps because I wasn't fully recovered from the TG or perhaps because I was digging so deep???

 

Over the next 30km I lost approximately 2 minutes to Pia, but I had a 6 ½ minute lead over 3^rd position. I knew that I'd have to have really bad luck or do something silly to lose my lead over 3^rd. There were still several really steep, loose climbs to go and some really fun forest single trails. I started to take the descents a little more cautiously because I didn't want to make any mistakes at this point. Crossing the finish line in 2^nd position was a really great feeling :D

 

 

During the 4 hour race I had approximately 2.5 litres of Torq energy mixed at 6% (150grams of carbs) and 6 Torq gels (150grams of carbs) - a total of 75grams per hour. This worked perfectly and I felt fully fuelled and hydrated during the race. Recent research suggests that irrespective of bodyweight, you can take on and use 60-90g of carbohydrate if it's 2:1 maltodextrin:fructose.

 

Results:

 

1. SUNSTEDT Pia (FIN) National Team Finland 4:04:11.3
2. BIGHAM Sally (GBR) Topeak Ergon Racing Team 4:08:46.5
3. GIACOMUZZI Elena (ITA) CAPRIVESI 4:16:53.6
4. NUSSLI Jane (GBR) Fischer BMC 4:19:14.1
5. LANDTWING Milena (SUI) Team Centurion/Vaude 4:20:21.3

 

Full results can be found here 

 

Many thanks to XCRacer.com for their ongoing support and sponsorship.