OK, a little background. Cortny couldn't make it to this race. She had to work. Secondly, Code had gotten up at 2:30 to be at my house by 3am. I had gotten up at 3am to great him. We drove straight to the race, each of us with just a handfull of sleep hours.
The race took place in Highland, IL...which is a 4 hour drive from Spring Valley.
Code and I arrive and set-up our area. Each team had a designated area of about 15 feet by 15 feet to stash all thier gear at the starting park. Most teams are setting up neat canopies, and laying out tarps. Code and I just make a pile out of our gear and organize it best we can.
At the pre-race meeting we learn that one member of the team will start by doing a 1 to 1.5 mile run to a pool, dive in, find a clue sheet on the bottom, and run the distance back. Since Cortny is our best runner, Code and I just stare at each other till I finally say "OK, I'll do it."
I'm not the best runner on pavement, and I really shouldn't push it to hard on pavement with my tendancy for shin-splints...severe shin-splints. So, a 1 to 1.5 mile SPRINT down a paved road was a bad idea. I did OK on the way there (I didn't get last place), but as I emerged from the pool, I felt the pain and couldn't run back. My shins were on fire and I really was finding it hard to walk. I decided to walk back and this made it seem like we'd be WAY behind. I couldn't even see the next to last team.
The decision to walk back was smart though. I walked off the pain, checked the clue sheet, and was mentally ready as I walked into the park to greet Code. Code was standing ready and holding my backpack and stuff. 10 second transition.
We immediately started walking, and left two teams in our class behind us as they still were trying to figure out what gear to take.
I should mention the race was divided into 3 classes. Those that would bike first, those that would canoe first, and us that would trek first.
As we approached the first checkpoint, we could see three teams in our class that were in front of us. We over took all three by Checkpoint 3. They were all either lost or they were totally confused by the orienteering section.
We were walking quickly. They were running...but like chickens with thier heads cut off. LOL.
Unfortunately, after we overtook them, they just followed us, and we couldn't lose them.
As we took CP3 and headed back to start the bike, the three teams near us sprinted back to the park to get on bike.
Code and I walked. Checked our maps calmly. I refolded the map and got my gear ready for the bike. So, we walked into the park, put on our helmets, and headed out on our bikes. 15 second transition. We headed out in front of 2 of the 3 teams that sprinted to beat us. They were still fumbling with gear.
Less then a mile later, we biked past the other team in our class that had beaten us out of the park. Bike is our strength.
AGAIN, this team just chose to follow us and use me as thier navigator. They were pretty obvious about it. Still, I enjoyed that they were following ME.
They followed us through the more difficlut CPs and then over took us as we headed to an easy CP. We'd not catch them again.
We were slowing. It was HOT! ...and I mean HOT HOT HOT! Plus, we were tired and it was starting to show. Our pace dropped from about 15MPH to about 12-13 MPH. We were managing about 11MPH as we headed onto the single-track trail. (see pictures below...this is right now in the story...the vehicle you see us riding toward is at the entry to the single track).
As we entered the single track trail, we were hit from a cool breeze from the neighboring lake. Optomistically, we smiled and commented that the cool breeze would be nice for the next 5 miles. Unfortunately, the cool breeze was a one time event. We soon found that the humidity of the lake and the wind stoppage from the trees were causing an oven effect and it was a good 10-15 degrees hotter in the woods. That means it was well over 100 degrees.
This was pretty technical single-track. We had to get off our bikes and push them on too many occations to count. I was getting dizzy from the heat, and Code was worse. Still, nobody was catching us.
At about the 2 mile point on the trail we caught a team. I didn't recognize them, and asked were they were at in the race. They told us they were in Class "B"...the class that had started on bike. We had just caught a team that had started on the bike.
About a quarter mile later, we caught and passed another team from Class "B"...bike starters.
The checkpoint in these woods was a rope-pull (travese) across a small section of the lake. You got a tiny (I mean tiny) innertube to stay afloat with. I asked Code if he wanted to do it...but he stared at me like I was crazy. Only one team member had to do it...so I did it. I thought the lake would cool me off....but the water was warm (almost hot).
The 2.5 miles out of the woods was the worst section for me. It was truely terrible. I was so dizzy at one point that I had to walk my bike for a long section. Code did not mind the rest either. Both of us really wanted to drop dead...it would have been easier.
It should be noted that we were beating the teams behind us...even making distance on them. They were suffering worse. I can't begin to recall how many times I turned to Code and said "How are we not getting caught and beat?". The answer is that we were actually doing pretty good compared to the teams behind us.
We biked another huge distance to a manned checkpoint. We rested probably 15 minutes. I changed socks. Code just layed there. At this point we had biked about 36-37 miles. Still, even after 15 minutes of rest, nobody caught us.
We headed out with 7 more miles to go till the canoe. We were managing 7-8MPH...6 up hills.
...and just like that it turned from sunny and super hot to a cold downpour.
The rain was coming down as hard as I can ever remember rain coming down. It was stinging my arms and legs. The rain drops hit so hard they would splash up from the road below. I was shivering from cold. This was good.
We did our best impressions of Forest Gump talking about rain..."Sideways Rain. Straight Rain. Even rain from below."
It's these monsoon rains that would energize us through to CP 13 (the final bike checkpoint). At CP 13 we were told the race was being called off due to lightning and dangerous conditons on the lake.
Code and I were kind of happy and kind of sad. We weren't sure if we'd have been able to manage the canoe section (especially in the wind and rain)...although we'd have tried. We wanted to quit, and yet we didn't want to quit.
We will go back there next year and finish that race.
