I think the riding has helped with my running. I've been running for more than a year now and they're complementary. Annika SmailMountainbiker Annika Smail has swapped the mechanics of her bike for the purity of running but Saturday's Rotorua Marathon isn't the first time she's tried her hand, or should that be foot, in marathoning.
The 33-year-old's first marathon was in her Swiss hometown of Biel, it was also around a lake, but that's where the similarity ends.
"They're quite different, even the lakes, the lake in Biel is long and it's not volcanic. There are a few hills but there are hills everywhere in Switzerland."
The first run was as a sprightly 21-year-old and run very differently to how she hopes Saturday - her second marathon - will pan out. For a start she has more training miles under her belt.
"I don't know why I decided to run that first one. I did it with a friend and it was his idea. I would go for an hour or a 90 minute run and I had no idea if I could finish and I was quite pleased when I did. I finished in 3 hours and 30 minutes.
"I'll hopefully run 2h 55m on Saturday. People say that's awesome. It's awesome if you say you want to do it but doing it is another question.
"I think I'll start at a normal pace, how I've done other races. I don't want to go out too slow but I also want to try to go with the fast women's group and try to slot into their pace."
When you have the mountainbiking talent and fitness that Smail possesses then the transition to another aerobic sport isn't too hard to make. But the decision to run has not meant her bike has taken a back seat - last month she was among a group from Bike Culture who rode the 35km Whirinaki trail from the finish to the start and back again.
"I've had to cut back on some rides but I don't think my riding fitness has been affected much by it.
"Never give up the things you want to do!
"I think the riding has helped with my running. I've been running for more than a year now and they're complementary.
"Last year I did quite a lot of off road races, which are more of my thing. Road running can be a bit of a slog but racing is always different. You don't get to choose your course so you make the most of it."
She intends to get back on her bike a lot sooner than some could imagine - come Sunday morning she expects to loosen up her legs with a recovery ride in the Redwoods.
Then she will start training for her next marathon - the World Mountain Bike Marathon Championship in Germany in August. "It will probably take me a lot longer to do than Rotorua [Marathon]."
Smail has excelled at both this summer having won the Contact Huka Mountain Bike Challenge, Karapoti mountain bike race and Bike Vegas Nduro Summer Cup series titles while on foot she won the 18km Toi's Challenge and the off road 32km Kauri Run.
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