December 2016 I received an unexpected Email from Lluis, race director of Marato Borriol:
"Hi Sara
How are you? I hope you are fine.
I'm Lluis, the MABO race director. I write to invite to come here again. I would like see you to run again in Borriol. We can offer a free race registration and accommodation.
Best Wishes, Lluis."
A bit of context: in 2015 I came 3rd lady at MABO. I had applied to run the race late, but Lluis and his team were kind enough to let me run when they looked at my previous performances and saw that I would be racing. I had entered MABO in 2015 for two reasons; One was to increase my experience of mountain racing prior to the World Trail Championships. The second was quite simply as a birthday present to myself. I'm not the kind of person who likes to go out and party hard. A weekend of exploring a part of the world I had never visited before and the change to run around in some new and exciting places is a much more appealing birthday celebration to me. (In fact, my love of endurance running first started when I ran the Jurassic Coast Challenge in 2013 in celebration of my 30th birthday. 3 marathons, 3 days, finishing in Poole, the town in which I was born.)
I was really keen to go back and run MABO again, I had such fond memories of this race, the place, the people, the atmosphere. And it would also be a brilliant opportunity for me to compare my post- to pre-accident performance. But first, there was something I needed to get off my chest....well, off my knee really.
I emailed back and explained to Lluis what had happened to me in the past year, about my accident and how I was waiting for my final operation, and my performance may not be anything like my previous level. He was really understanding, and told me to let him know whenever I could and there would always be a place for me in the race.
Late December 2016 I finally got a date for my operation: 11th of January. That gave me 2 months to recover and get fit in time for MABO. YES, I could do this!! I emailed Lluis and let him know. His reply:
"It's a good notice!"
So 11/1/17 I had my metalwork removed.
Within 2 weeks I was back on the static bike, aquajogging, elliptical trainer and weights, weights, weights...I was GOING TO MABO! And I was going to do my absolute best. My leg started to work properly for the first time since my fracture, my running pace had improved, my gait was normalising. My 5km time went from 23mins to 21mins 20 secs, just because of the metal removal.
It was just that little aspect of running downhill that was still giving me problems. But I worked at that, I worked so hard! Technical terrain was difficult, but it was still better than pre-op. I was confident that I wouldn't be faced with a repeat of the Mourne Skyline, where I had to take every decent sitting down, sliding down the slopes on my arse because my knee just couldn't handle them.
2 months of training, and I was as ready as I could be at this stage. I had, in my head, set a goal of 5 hrs. Given that my time in 2015 was 5hrs 6 mins, this was optimistic to say the least. But my newfound pace was making me feel invincible!
I travalled to Spain a few day before the race, to give me time to adjust to the climate. Unlike my old attitude to races, where I'd just turn up and have fun, taking my fitness for granted, I was strict with myself leading up to MABO 2017. My diet was good, no alcohol for a week before the race, I tapered (something I NEVER used to do!). I spent the day before the race lurching between excitement at being able to race again, and fear of not being able to complete my mission: to run as my 'old self'. Pre-accident Sarah. This was fear was alleviated a little when Lluis asked me to answer questions for an audience as part of the 'Front runners' line-up. I felt like a bit of a fraud, sitting with the amazing men and women who were in contention to win the race. In particular, Gemma Arenas, the female course record holder. But it was good to be able to explain my story a little and to meet more of the lovely MABO crew.
Race morning.
Lluis had been kind enough to let me stay in his flat while I was in Borriol. I heard his alarm go off at 4:30am. Mine was set for 5:30am. But I had been awake most of the night anyway.
I drank coffee. Lots of coffee. I wandered up to the race start, and the town was already fully awake, the cafes were open, runners milling everywhere. I had another 2 coffees. The Spanish make an espresso to rival the Italians!
We filtered into the staring area, and I tried to find a good spot. Not too far forwards; I didn't want to be caught in the inevitable crazy racing sprint-start. But not too far back; I knew that the trail became singe file pretty quickly and I didn't want to be stuck behind slower runners. I was surprised to see a lot of female runners pushing forward into the front ranks. But then, this was the Spanish Skyrunning champs and there were a lot of contenders for the podium.
A count down from 5 and we were off. Inevitably too fast for my ultra-runner legs, but I didn't want to lose my place on the climb, so I pushed on until we hit trail. Suddenly the air was filled with the scent of rosemary and lavender, crushed beneath our feet. That jolted me back to myself. This was what I had come here for, the experience! Suddenly the fear and doubt were gone, and I was simply running. I didn't have to think about my knee, my lack of ability. 1 year ago they told me I might not run again...and here I was. LIVING the trail.
Despite trying to stay fairly far forward I was soon caught in the inevitable conga line as the trail narrowed. The first climb was real hands and knees stuff, but slowed by sheer volume of people. After about 30 minutes of shuffling the trail opened out and I was able to move forwards at my own pace. I felt pretty good, and the initial decents were all easily runnable. I just enjoyed the feeling of pushing myself where I couldn't before. I allowed myself to breath hard and to really push my legs in a way I just couldn't while the metal had been in my knee.
After about 13 miles we hit the first really technical section, and I inevitably slowed. I just can't bounce off things with any confidence like I used to . I was passed by a few people I had previously overtaken. I found this really frustrating. The problem is, I can't run down anything technical without concentrating really hard. Every footfall has to be planned, as I lack the proprioception in my right leg to run without thought. Add to that the frequent stops to let people pass me, and pretty soon I was feeling mentally exhausted. I was really glad of the next long climb to allow myself some time to recover and not to have to concentrate for a bit! From that point on it was every down that became more and more exhausting, whilst every climb gave me the chance to move forward, push my lungs and recover mentally.
As we hit the ropes section a guy shouted to me that I was in 8th place. Damn! I had been really hoping that I was further up than that. But I knew where I was losing time. I was running without a watch so had no concept of the time that had passed, but I could feel myself losing out on the decents. I pushed hard up the next couple of climbs and overtook a whole bunch of people including one girl. All I could do was keep on pushing up and then try my hardest to keep momentum going down. This was getting trickier and trickier as my knee was really starting to swell and stiffen. At the top of the final climb someone said to me 'hey, it's all downhill from here!'...like that was a good thing! I managed to get down the final hill, when I caught another girl at the bottom. Once we were off the decent my legs picked up and I surged forward, taking her and nearly catching another girl in front as we rounded the corner to the finish.
I looked up at the clock....5 hours 10 minutes exactly. That was such a bitter-sweet time. I knew that if it hadn't been for my knee I could have hit the sub-5 hour time I had hoped for. But, on the other hand, that was only 4 minutes slower than my time in 2015, before my fracture!
So that was it. The run was...amazing. Those climbs, the views, the smells and the overwhelming friendliness of the MABO volunteers and crew! Sure, I was frustrated by my continuing inability due to my knee, but this race marked my first serious effort to perform. And I feel that, despite everything, I did perform. Tentatively, and still uncertain of my ability, but I could have continued on past 26 miles. I could have raced on to 50, and who knows, I may have continued to overtake people as my endurance held out where my knee was failing.
Knowing your weaknesses helps you to find your strength. And when someone tells you that you won't be able to do something, don't take their word for it. Try it for yourself. They could well be wrong.
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