This past weekend was the second (hopefully) annual 24 Hours of Laramie relay and solo race. I made a team for it again this year, the Mad Mountain Masochists. The Triple M's this year consisted of myself, Brian (the only other returnee this time), Bishop, and Alec and Kathy Muthig. This year, we tried to have a 6-10 man team, unfortunately we lost 2 people to injury and 3 people to money. Once again, the goal was to just try and keep someone moving at all times.
The weather was pretty nice, got a little warm during the main part of the day, but it wasn't down right intolerable. So, we started off, with me, then Alec, and then Brian. I clocked in at 80 minutes, with the other two coming in between 50 and 55 minutes. Unfortunately, Brian immediately hurt himself and was done for the day. Alec and Kathy had to leave at that point to go to a wedding for 7 hours. This left Bishop and I to take care of the team for that period. I was getting slower during that time, going as fast as 90 minutes, and as slow as 125-130 minutes. Bishop, on the other hand, was getting plenty of time to rest up and blast each of his laps. He was getting twice as much rest as he was running, and I was getting the exact opposite... half as much time rest as I was spending out on the course.
That was taking its toll, and I was crashing hard. I went out each time I needed to, but I was feeling worse, and I was drinking and eating a lot less than I should have been. By the time Alec and Kathy returned, I was entirely out of it and in no condition to go back out. They also brought Brian back, who opted to be our drunk mascot (ironically, he wasn't all that drunk either, haha). Bishop, who swiftly recovered from a twisted ankle his previous lap, went out as soon as I arrived back, followed Kathy, Alec, and then Bishop again. I was unfortunately getting worse and I spent the rest of the evening in the tent. It was likely dehydration and a lack of calories, but I was layered up and was getting extremely cold.
I was wandering around when Bishop arrived back, and at that point, Alec and Kathy were asleep, and I was still in pretty lousy condition, so Bishop and I decided it was punting time. Bishop went home and I just tried to warm back up. By morning, Alec was still crashed, though Kathy and I were up. I was still not feeling well, so Kathy went out to get one more lap.
When all was said and done, I had 10 less miles than last year, and the team had about 30 less, but it was a tough weekend, and we did the best we could under tough circumstances. Fortunately, we had far less people hurt themselves this year. Unfortunately, last year we had a minimum of three people at all times, and this year, we had that long stretch of just two of us. I think another big problem I had was the fact that I had gotten very little training in before due to my long injury stretch, and that the Big Horn 30k was the previous weekend. I know I was dubious yesterday, but without fail, I will undoubtedly assemble another team. In fact, I've kind of already been moved into position to assemble another team for the 24 hours of boulder race in october. So, we'll have to see if I can start feeling good again, and then recruit a bunch of crazies for the next big adventure. Though I must say that I'm growing tired of racing this year. I've only done three races, and they've all been resolve testers. As much fun as all that "I've come out a bigger man for surviving" crap is, I really don't need that sort of validation that frequently.
Ah well, like I said: I complain now, but the next big thing that comes along, I'll be there.
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