We slept on a balcony and in the car. It was miserable. But, at least I wasn't cold and my legs went straight. A full 75 minutes of sleep is NOT enough! We took over from van 1 and started our quest to the finish.
My miles were nice downhill...until the end. Hmm, I've done this before. Stuart had really rocked his downhill legs and actually taken the lead back from the 1st place team (the fact they'd been held back 90 minutes was insignificant). So, I started out ahead of them! The guy that then in turn passed me was an excellent runner. I knew I wasn't keeping up with him. I told him we were doing this so that they could get another kill, because we figured they'd been lonely on the road waiting for a few kills. HA! Then we had the car with the flat tire blocking the road. My team gave me my water and sent me on my way. No one knowing if they'd even get to me before the exchange. Luckily they did!
I loved the dirt road downhill and despite a couple rough spots it was great trail! Then mile 6 hit. This time I knew what was coming. 500 ft of gain in just one mile. Take it easy RAD, you got this. Again, after the downhill your uphill muscles work differently! I swear they do! I did my best though and despite my pace again dropping well beyond my 7:30 perscribed (I okay'd it, but didn't see the hill at the end!). Oh well. I was simpl happy to be done with my legs. Now I just needed to drive home and get to a piano recital...Barely made it in time!
AP: 8:03 splits: 7:13, 7:24, 7:29, 7:19, 7:16, 7;34, 12:08
We had to leave to get home and couldn't stay for awards, but we ended up taking 2nd overall. A great team of old farts (39 yrs old is the average age for our team) competing against young college students? Yeah, I'll take it!
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