Cedro Peak 2013

As I sit and type this, I've got some memories planted firmly in my flesh.  Saturday was just "one of those days" for me.  From the off I had all kinds of blinking lights in the cockpit.  "Man, my legs are dead." "Well, good thing I forgot to charge my headlamp, I can't see a damn thing."  Four of us were together from the start, and we bumbled through the first 10 miles at a leisurely pace.  My body was fine, my breathing was fine, but just no go in the sticks.  As disconcerting as it was, I knew that the goal was larger, keep working, keep plugging through, that's the goal.

Coming off Cedro Peak on the way out (somewhere around 12 miles) I found myself hurtling towards the ground face first with no hands in front.  My body made an executive decision to attempt to take the fall with my left shoulder, and I was left to assess the damage.  I quickly got up, and the adrenaline seemed to hold everything together, no broken bones, no excessive bleeding, good to go.

I ran essentially with or near Jacob Lawrence(eventual winner) until aid 5.  Essentially he kept plugging at a solid pace, and I began to have some more issues.  I took 2 tylenol around 4 hours, which ended up causing some  kidney dysfunction.  Coupled with some slight dehydration, I had some issues with dark urine and pressure, so I essentially shut down the last 14 miles and jogged/hiked back to the finish.  I knew that Jacob was gone, and that I had a lot of other things this summer to do, so I wasn't keen to make a bad day worse by charging through the warning signs.  I don't know much about it, but I do know that the cases where people get in trouble are where they continue to push hard for long periods of time after these (or, likely worse) symptoms.

I ended up finishing in 7:46, good enough for second, but a long way from my targeted goal.  Sometimes, you have to play the cards you're dealt.  Once I was done, I started the process of flushing my system.  Between the time I finished and the time I'd arrived I took down somewhere in the range of 200 oz of water and Gatorade.  I've been peeing clear ever since I got home and haven't had any associated discomfort, so I'm confident that I avoided any lingering issue.  In fact, Sunday was my first day off in about 2 months.

Of course, a big congrats to Jacob (we've raced a couple times now), who ran a smart, steady race and seemingly held a consistent effort all the way through.  Also, Kim King (new RD) and her crew put on a great race.  Well organized, some neat swag, great aid stations, well marked and honest course.

What's next for me? Grand Canyon in 5 days!  Recover and execute.