Last weekend I had to cancel my race in Norway due to the injury I got the weekend before at a race. It has gotten a little bit better even though the week has been up and down and I have gone from hope to despair. I decided to give the race this weekend a go since it was so close to home and I wanted to see how my  coccyx would feel during a race. I had decided to stop if it hurt too much… But everyone that races  in any sport knows that most likely will not happen, you finish despite the pain…

It started pouring down with rain as we started and it was a long neutral start through town, I had the crash fresh in mind and just got further and further back in the bunch, it was slippery and crowded and everyone is so stressed, not my cup of tea;). When the car let us go I could not even see the front of the bunch and think I was laying 6th of the girls. I passed 2 on the first climb and could also see Emmy and Angelica at the top but could not really catch them. Ann was already gone. I passed Angelica after 15km when she was fixing a puncture and I got reports that I was 30 seconds behind Emmy for a long time. I eventually caught her at the half way mark just to fall back again on a long climb, I just could not get the power down my legs…

I did the second half of the race on my own and tried my best to fight but not much happened and I finished 3rd on the day. It was with mixed feelings. Very disappointed that my injury did not feel better and that I was in so much pain after, at the same time as I was happy with a podium spot despite the circomstances.

The race was close to the small town where I grew up so it felt like it was a ”home race” for me, lots of people were cheering on me and i saw a lot of friends along the route, always nice! :-)

Craig also raced and did well finishing 7th in his category even though he started in the 3rd batch and had a fall. Well done honey!

Craig and me before...

...and after

Fighting with 10km to go

Podium with Emmy, Ann and me