Rough Start...

...but a long way to go.

It's late, so this will be brief. Trevors stomach turned on him at mile 8, mine followed suit about 7 miles later. Just way.too.hot. The race started at 9:00 but our day started with 5:30am alarms. A solid breakfast and a ride from Uncle Roman to Buena Vista started the day.

We ran well early on, not among the leaders of our field, but doing 8:3xs up the initial 7+ mile climb had us feeling good. We hit the first aid station, sweat dripping from our visors, and both the terrain and our performance went downhill from there.

We got passed by many while Trevor battled serious stomach cramps. The heat, the exposure (NO shade to be had) and the altitude, not to mention a previous nights sleep disrupted by a smoke detector beeping every 30s, all conspired to fall my partner.

But man, what a tough guy. We are in the tent as I write, and I just told Trevor that had what happened to him been me instead, well, I don't want to think about it. (He in turn told me I was in fact on his side of the bed.) He really did a great job covering ground at a solid pace while dealing with enormous discomfort.

We finished the 20.7 mile course in 3:17:xx, making it the longest duration race of my life. It was good enough for 11/25 in our group, far off our goal. But, the good news is, when the stomach goes south, the legs don't get the fuel they need. When they aren't fueled, they can't hammer away. So we are left with lots of ground to make up, but also 4 relatively fresh go-sticks on which to make up that ground. So we're cautiously optimistic.

For those that care: I drank 64oz. of Gatorade and or GU Brew, had caffeinated Honey Stinger gels at miles 4,12&16, with a non-caffeinated gel at mile 8. And a few salt tablets at the aid stations. I also peed at 10:15am, and not again until 6:30pm. Did I mention it was hot?

So that's it. We are up at 5:30 tomorrow for another shopper of a stage, but hopefully one in which we finish higher.

-JP, Team E.L.F.S.