I did the 11 plus hour drive down to eastern TN on Friday for the Cohutta 100. Got there just in time to pick up my race packet and find a place to crash for the night.
The race started nice and early at 7AM (luckily) and the first couple hours things went well. Then came the first real climbs, and I knew it was not gonna be the day I wanted...no where near recovered from the last two weeks of racing. But little did I know the worst was yet to come.
Things rolled along and I made it to the top of the major climb a little passed the 50 mile area (pretty much uphill from mile 25 to 55) that led into 20ish miles of rolling sometimes flying downhills. Then IT happened......
That's the best way to put it, I had the epic of all epic melt downs. I knew it was getting hotter, we had zero cloud cover and alot of this part of the course we were exposed.
The three climbs from the 75 to the 90 mile area were a little steeper then the ones earlier but very ridable. But they KILLED me, I never got off the bike but I was hurtin. Not from the grade of the climbs (done far worse), but the heat. I was very close to bad things happening heatwise (but I others at aid stataions that were worse.)
I wanted to marry the chick that had the iced towels at the last aid station (ok, it was a dude, but it sounds better being a chic) it kind of brought me back.
Even thou the iced water shower I took helped a ton, it was to little way to late. I finished at the 9:32 mark, just outside my hard target of nine and a half hours and way off my true target of a sub nine...and about 1.35 days behind the leaders.
A full report to come later today/tomorrow.
1 comment:
Nice job on the finish. From everything I've read the heat was insane.
Peace,
Metro
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