MSA - You got it all

​The watch said 7:45, Sunday morning, so I tightened my helmet and closed the door behind me. With me, I got my “Warm Up” bottle, a gel and my phone. I let the legs start spinning around in circles and I found today’s tune. 

​“
You’re a good soldier
Choosing your battles
Pick yourself up and dust yourself off
and back in the saddle 
You’re on the front line
Everyone’s watching
You know this it’s serious 
we’re getting closer, this isn’t over
The pressure is on
You feel it
But you got it all
Believe it
waka waka...
“

​Believe it M. The summer training-period hasn’t been easy or ideal, dealing with an injury in June/July and topping it off with a 7-days illness as we entered August. I had just made it to Graz for the European championship when my body said no. So I backed out and hurried home again. That decision gave me 8 days at home to get fresh and find some kind of race speed before heading overseas to Mont Saint Anne, Canada. Making it to Canada without a stopped nose and feeling good in my body was a success in itself. I learned in Val di Sole and Andorra that even when my training plans fall apart I can still manage to keep my base-form intact. So I wasn’t nervous about falling completely through the peloton, but the dream about another World Cup win had got some cracks. Cracks I wasn’t sure if I could fix this week. So I had the Sharkia song on repeat. Pick yourself up and dust yourself off. 

---

 ​The first 10 minutes was so painful. Mostly for my mind.
​I didn’t have that punch you need to follow the fast start, so I found myself somewhere at the end of the top 10. Come on Malene, back in the saddle. I slowly found myself moving up as some of the other girls needed a breath after the start effort. On the top of Beatrice (the longest climb) I was in the wheel of Evie and Sina, now the pain moved from my head to my muscles. The next 45 minutes, I had them both in sight between 20 seconds and 1 minute, I pushed the system, and wondered if my body would give me some kind of payback from this pace. I didn’t have time for much endurance work or consistency in training, over the summer, as it has been one long damage control, so I was curious how the last laps would feel. As a cross-country rider, you need to be good at using your muscles storage of the different energy sources, creatine/glycogen/fat, real smart over 1hour and 30 minutes. And to restore them again.

​Efficient is key, both body wise and for the technical skills. In a race, you repeat your vo2max power over and over again. So you need to be able to use every inch of your muscles and lungs. But not only do you have to repeat it many times, you also need to handle your bike down difficult descends just after. That's a part of what makes this sport so demanding, and why the training is so essential. So missing it, is not really ideal. After 1 hour of racing, Evie was out of sight and I knew I was losing time, but I couldn’t push it too much on the climbs anymore, because I could feel that my descending skills started to lack. So I just tried to find a pace where I knew I could be a 100% for the downhills. Luckily my fitness and skills were still good enough to take home 3rd spot. The win was some minutes away, which is quite a bit. And with the World Championship coming up in 3 weeks time..
​ I feel the pressure, but I still feel, I got it all, believe it. I’m a good soldier 

Pictuers: Andreas Dobslaff  & Irmo Keizer

xoxo
M