UM2018...

21/5 - To try and put into words all that happened and the emotion involved in last weekends adventure is nearly impossible...but Ill try my hardest.  For those of you who don't know, I went and crewed, supported and paced my good friend Carmen at Ultraman 2018, Noosa, QLD.  If you are unaware of this madness, it is a multi-day ultra endurance triathlon comprising of the following; Day 1- 10k open water swim and a 145k bike ride.  Day 2- 280k bike ride and Day 3- 84.4km run.  Yep, it is hectic!So, last Thursday I headed to the Coast.  We packed my van, went to a crew/race briefing and had our own crew meeting on the Friday to make sure everyone was set to go.  Carmen was racing, but in her crew was Andrew (crew captain and the owner of At One Foods), Seano (paddler and all round joker), Tony (bike mechanic and quite crusher of peddles) and myself.  We also had Andrews wife Tara and Carmens partner Beck as chefs and Carmens brother and sister in law as all important run arounds and helpers.  It was a winning team!  We would have been lost without each other.  Thank you so so much guys!Rather than go through each day play by play, I think I will more speak on what I saw and experienced.  Carmens determination and courage to dig deep, bury herself on the bike and then suffer through the run was inspiring.  I use that word sparingly but it truly was.  The swim was a concern for her and she had worked so hard to make it happen the way she desired....and she executed.  Watching her on the bike was beautiful.  That is the first word that comes to mind when I think of watching her for hours, stroke after stroke.  Her cadence was high, she was smooth and she was relaxed for the most part.  She performed at the same high level at the start of the day as in the back end hours.  As a runner and cycling fan, it was amazing to watch!Carmens strong point is her run.  She had some time to make up on the leaders that day and I believed she would make a massive dent her deficit.  In ultra running though, unfortunately, things don't always go to plan.  She did really well through about 50k and then sadly, her right leg decided to not play the game anymore.  It was really hard to watch her struggle, limp, hobble, cry and be disappointed through those last hours but again, her determination to get the job done was amazing.  Even with a busted leg, she was still able to dig deep and get the run done in a shade over 8hr 30min.  Crushed.All in all, the entire five days (before and after) was incredible.  It was joyful, stressful, celebratory, tiring, an emotional roll-a-coster, gratifying, again, inspiring and just plain beautiful.  For the team to work together as we did and see Carmen fulfil her dream of becoming an Ultraman was an absolute honour.  Although there is some disappointment there, due to not finishing where she would have liked (still managed fifth female!), the overall sense of accomplishment, doing something very few people in the world even have the guts to dream of should be a badge of honour for her.  Carmen, you are an inspiration to not only me but thousands of others and we are all so proud of you!  Thank you for letting me play a small roll in seeing you crush UM2018.Since returning home, it has been back to normal and training hard.  It dawned on me Thursday that I only have four weeks till Brisbane Valley Rail Trail 100miler!  What the heck?!  Four weeks!  I need to get my head in the game!  Training is going well and I am excited to be lining up to race my favourite distance again in under a month.  Big love friends, have a super week and Ill catch ya soon.