NB's Comments:
Walking up the stairs of my home carrying my
over-sized gym bag packed full of wet gear from the
race proved to be more challenging than I ever would
have thought. My aching calf muscles were still
hurting after throwing me to the ground earlier in the
day. The muscles simply locked up… the pain so bad I
actually yelled out loud… and to make matters even
more interesting, my Camelbak was completely dry.
As I
stood halfway up the staircase leaning on the handrail
and debating if I should simply drop the gym bag without
any regard to its contents or place the bag down gently,
I decided that the two and a half hour race I paced us
for would have been fantastic had it actually been a two
and a half hour race. 3 hours, 40 minutes and 5 seconds
wasn’t exactly what I had planned… surely something my
leg muscles hadn’t planned for either…
The
08:00 start on Saturday morning would have been better
had it been a 05:00 start. At 03:00 I woke up excited
about the race and was unable to go back to sleep.
The
plan was to meet Dr. Josh at my office at 06:00.
No
matter what I did… which way I tossed… which way I
turned… I kept thinking I was going to oversleep… that
for some reason, my alarm clock that wakes me up every
single day of the week was going to fail me this race
day.
I
finally just got up and re-inventoried my stuff… again.
Dr.
Josh strapped my bike on to the back of his car under
the yellow tint of the security light at my office while
I transferred my gym bag and other implements of
destruction to his back seat.
The
ride to Lake Houston Park in New Caney, TX was
uneventful unless you call a ride along a dark freeway
at 06:00 on a Saturday morning an event.
I
reckon we arrived at the park a little before 07:00. We
had enough time to set up our gear in the transition
area (TA), get our paperwork done and get our numbers
scribbled on our arms with the over-sized permanent
Sharpie. Team 326.
After
a group meeting where we all agreed to respect the park
and the other park visitors, we bowed our heads for a
brief prayer, and just after 08:00 we were off on the
first section of the race… a trail run.
I’m
not sure of the exact distance of the run… I am still
waiting for Rick at HART to let me know… but I overheard
someone say it was just over 5K. Given that it took us
just over 30 minutes, I’m guessing it was probably
around 3.4 miles or so.
The
next section of the race was called “Hike and Bike”.
Basically we had to make a loop… both of us, but with
only one bike. We both had to wear helmets, but we
decided to let Josh rest while riding the bike. I ran.
And of course, about a quarter mile into it we had to
cross a river. Wet shoes, wet socks and wet feet for
the remainder of the section. Nice.
21
minutes later we were back at the TA, and we both
immediately changed socks for the next section. The zip
line.
We
had no clue how far the zip line was from the TA. We
knew we had to follow the red ribbons; we just didn’t
know for how long. Another 21 minutes of running (and
another river crossing thrown in for good measure) we
arrived at the zip line.
I’ll
admit I was pleased to see a few folks backed up for the
zip line. Standing in line donned in our harnesses and
helmets for about 10 minutes was a welcomed break. When
it was our turn to go, we climbed to the top of the
40-foot tower, clipped in, and with a leap we were
flying through the air tethered to the cable Billy Bob
and Bubba had apparently rigged up earlier in the week.
After
climbing down the ladder on the other side and returning
our gear, we started running through the woods again…
wet feet and all… and about 20 minutes later we were
back at the TA to begin the biking section.
Now
at this point I was pretty glad to be hopping onto the
bike. I had been running just over an hour and half…
and during the hike and bike section I was actually
running pretty hard… all the while with wet socks and
shoes. The full suspension of my mountain bike was sure
to be a relief. Wrong!
We
pedaled out of the TA, and it was about a mile into it
when we had to cross a wooden bridge. I wasn’t
expecting the front wheel of my bike to wash out on the
pine needles like it did, but sure enough, I was on my
ass as I watched my bike slide through the guard rail
and over the edge into the shallow dry (fortunately)
creek bed below.
I
took inventory of myself… nothing was broken… only a
drop of blood on my arm… I retrieved the bike and we
were off again.
Now
I’m not sure when it happened… but if I had to guess,
I’d say no more than 4 miles or so into the ride. I
could feel my left calf trying to seize up. I stopped a
couple of times to try and stretch it out, but I kept
pushing it… dumb.
I’m
glad there was no one around when it finally locked up
and sent me to the ground in pain. If you’ve never had
a muscle lock up, trust me when I say it’s something you
never want to experience. My toes were pointed
straight; it looked as if my calf muscle was going to
come out of my leg, and all I could do was yell in
pain. Fortunately it didn’t last long, but when it was
happening it felt like forever!
With
more stretching and pacing it wasn’t long until my right
leg decided to do the same thing. And to make it more
interesting, my Camelbak was completely dry about a mile
or so before the paddling section. Just wonderful!
Now
while all this was going on with me, Dr. Josh’s legs
were doing pretty much the same thing… though his quads
decided to get into the act as well. I’ll let him tell
his side of the story, but I will say it would have been
more convenient had our muscle cramps been on the same
schedule. As it was, I’d get my legs stretched out and
be rolling along just fine when his legs would go out on
him. Once he got it worked out, mine would seize up.
This pattern seemed to repeat itself again and again…
We
finally made it to the boats after 54 minutes of
pedaling, stretching, pedaling, stretching, and hauling
our bikes through a muddy bog.
We
grabbed our life vests, paddles and boat and paddled
like madmen to the other side of the river to retrieve a
penny from the bucket waiting for us on the wooden
dock. Josh grabbed the penny, and we quickly turned
around and paddled back. And we actually passed a team
during the paddling section… though it really didn’t
matter since they ended up passing us when we had to
stop and stretch our leg muscles again.
We
headed back to the TA on the bikes along the same
54-minute course. Somehow we were able to pull it out,
because we reduced the time to just over 39 minutes for
the return trip and the end of the race.
3
hours, 40 minutes and 5 seconds.
Note
to self… drink more water! |
