Crampy Iron Legs for the Ironcross

Holy hell I hurt. Thank god for friends to push me a little further to make it hurt a little more (just kidding Donna). No, I was very, very grateful to have Sheena hang with me (she poached the course - it was awesome!) and know the way back when I finally said I can't do this anymore. I started cramping at 3 hrs and it felt like both legs were big old charlie horses. I sucked down endurolytes which helped, but it wasn't enough. I hung it up at about mile marker 35? Not sure. It was mid-way between checkpoints 2 and 3 (there were 4 altogether). You had to be at checkpoint 4 within 6 hours and I was at 4.25 hrs when I decided I'm done. I don't think I could have made the last check point in 1.75 hrs -- I had 2 more mountains to climb before that checkpoint and one of them was a big bugger! So at 4.25 hours we thankfully were on top of a mountain and could ride the ridge back to the finish. It still took about an hour to get back -- maybe a total of 50 miles by the time I was done? I don't know... but I DO know I hurt all over -- my shoulders, my knees, my legs, my crotch, my ass, my feet (the one went to sleep at one point), and my nose from blowing snotrockets all the time. That's what I get for not preparing more for this! That's what I get for thinking I could do it. Actually, entering this race was just what I needed to get my mind off the birthday so it WAS a success. But it DID confirm you gotta train to do these things and that means riding a bunch. Wanna do the Ironcross next year? Start riding now!