As I dove into preparations for the event, I made considerations for things unique to this event. First, I needed to find shoes suitable for hike-a-biking. Folks on the Marji Gesick Talk Facebook group estimated they hiked upwards of ten miles and even recommended running shoes. I considered using my running shoes and Power Grips I use for all adventure races, but opted to dig up my first pair of bike shoes out of the attic. After sitting for 12 years, I dumped out mouse poop and squeezed them on like one of Cinderella’s stepsisters. Over this time, my feet had splayed with my running shoes going up 2 sizes. In the same box was the receipt from the shoes that I bought in 2012 that replaced them and quickly decided not to spend a boatload on a pair of shoes and figured I could make these work.
The high degree of technicality gave me an advantage over most bikers with my strength being on foot for all the hike-a-bike sections. Unfortunately, as I rode with Kristy McBride, I was brought back to the reality that a good rider is capable of riding almost all the features and I was not one of them. But Kristy is in a class of her own, even when you throw her into the entire mix with the men.
Listening to every podcast I could find on Marji, many riders noticed fatigue in their upper body limiting them more than their legs. I noticed slight soreness in my triceps and am thankful for my double poling workouts on rollerskis and biweekly strength sessions. I was pleasantly surprised that my husband’s old Timex watch that is too big for my wrist (this is my only watch for the past year since I’ve been procrastinating investing into a smartwatch) took until about 30 hours before it had rattled so much that it was bruising my wrist.
I made a Labor Day weekend trip to pre-ride the course where I learned how to use my Garmin. My previously longest ride of the summer had only been 4 ½ hours, so I built up my confidence with about 26 hours in the saddle over four days. (Well, not quite, since I did a ton of hike-a-bike, where I came to the sobering conclusion that I didn’t have any speed advantage on foot since I was barely moving as I lugged my bike up punchy climbs or clutched my brake levers so my bike wouldn’t become a runaway train on the descents). Despite pre-riding the entire course in the forward direction (except the private properties) and plus a bit of the course backwards, I had only covered a little over half the distance I’d be covering in a single go! That means rather than breaking up rides, I would be on course almost a full day longer during the event, without any sleep, a sobering conclusion! To boost my confidence, I studied my 2019 MG100 run splits to ensure I could cover the course within the cutoff time.
As I scouted, I often noted the lack of free trail. Upon returning to the “hard” trails back home, I amused myself at how easy they were as I danced up hills and rode seamlessly over rocks and roots. Weeks later, I couldn’t believe how little I had to brake while riding technical sections…a stark contrast to the constant white knuckling at Marji. Marji definitely grew me as a rider…after the Marji I had no problems riding a local black diamond trail that I concluded earlier in the summer I wouldn’t bother going on again after struggling and walking most of the trail.
After scouting, I wondered if I should just hike-a-bike the entire Scary Trail rather than bother get on and off my bike. Ironically, during the Marji I intentionally stayed off my bike to avoid crashing on a wooden bridge on Scary Trail, (forgetting I was in my backup pair of bike shoes not suitable for hiking) I slipped on the wooden bridge and had my hardest fall of the event. Immediately, I heard someone asking if I was ok. I told the 3rd place 100 mile runner I was ok and he had a front row seat to a great show.
Race mode
My husband calls me “putt-putt” because I only have one speed mountain biking, slow whether I’m going for an hour or all day. And this summer a lot of my mountain biking was with the kids, so I didn’t get any faster. However, I was pleasantly surprised that despite starting a two day race, I had speed. Since my last (and only) bike races were in 2012 and 2018, I didn’t have any relevant data points. I’ve raced very little in the past couple of years. In fact, I was blown away at my foot speed in my last running race, exactly a year ago, the Barkley Fall Classic. Since this event falls on the same day as the Marji Gesick, I’ve had to pick one or the other each year. This year with the Marji Gesick offering the 200, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity which was amazing in every way. For a detailed breakdown of the race, check out my following blog post.
Thank you to Todd and the entire 906 Adventure Team for what you do inside and outside of the 906 area code. You have changed my trajectory, empowering me to take on new challenges. I look forward to chasing a buckle in 2029.
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