Wouch.

I got worked. I pulled the plug a couple miles into my 4th lap. It started to unravel quickly, and I had no desire to get a ride off course from a 4 wheeler. Things went well, really, except that I could not get any liquid out of my pack. Any attempt to fix it resulted in failure, so I was relegated to the small freebie every 10 miles at the start/finish area. The lack of sufficient calories just took it’s toll. The legs were feeling decent, but with the incoming bonk they were getting a bit shaky on that final lap.

I hate DNFing. Hate it. But it was the smart decision. I guess after a silly one (moving up, racing pro on the SS) I was due to use my head. I will race the SS again, but it will be in the SS class.

I did get a lot of work done though. 35 intense miles. That was what I was after. It’s all with a bigger picture in mind, and today was training more than racing.

I think I knew I was in trouble when Kenny Jones looked at me before the race like I was crazy. I thought, “If Kenny thinks this is bad, it must be bad…” Kenny did the E100 on a SS, and finished in the top 10. I thought he was crazy for doing that!

I always knew the local Pro’s were fast. But trying to chase them down was incredibly harder than I thought it would be. Those guys are the real deal, and it was fun trying to hold on as long as I could.

All in all it was a solid, hard, painful workout. I learned a lot, and next time I won’t be quite as ambitious. But that still doesn’t mean I won’t get another delusional notion and line up the SS at a 12 hour sometime.

Maybe in June…