Top of Zion leg 2. I was really tired before I even started this one. I had Gill drop me off early so I could prepare mentally because I was already hurting. I made sure to drink a lot and eat a lot in between legs. I got going, and it was just a constant wall the whole time. The leg was 7 miles on a steady (very very gradual, barely noticeable) uphill. I only made it 4 miles. Splits were 7:06,7:35,8:18,10:10. After the first mile I kept hearing cars come up behind me and I would look back and nothing was there. Not a soul. That happened a lot. I met my van at 2 miles and they soaked me and gave me some water which was good. Then I was really in for it. About a half mile after that I stopped sweating (still 80-90 degrees ish) and my mouth was completely dry. I forced myself to keep running because I kept telling myself I wasn't a wimp. I was strong. I would not give up. I walked a couple times and I was so out of breath. I ended up just praying that the van would be there with more water. I was weaving back and forth, still hearing cars yet the road was empty. I would feel my mind start to slip and I would force it back into focus. It got harder as time went on. I saw the van driving back (probably because they noticed I was taking a lot longer than usual) and as soon as they tried to help I collapsed. I know it sounds dramatic and I hate it too but that's what happened. My legs would not move. They were jelly. Parker and Gill helped me into the car and Michael got out and finished my leg. Over the next 3 hours I was in and out of sanity and in a heck of a lot of pain. Kaylee and Guppy have training for this stuff so they were helping me. I don't remember much. Just that when I finally came to it was about 8:30. They picked me up at 5:30-6:00. I vividly remember the run, and the distinct feeling in the van that I just didn't need to breathe. I just didn't breathe for a while because it was too much work and Kaylee would shake me and tell me to breathe. I'm so grateful Kaylee and Guppy helped me. Michael, Austin, and Kobe gave me a priesthood blessing and apparently I got progressively better after that. I'm so grateful for them. My third leg was cancelled because of smoke but I felt so bad for not completing my second leg. I was fighting so hard. My body just shut down. I don't know why. I prepared the best I could. I did my best to support the team I'm writing this in such detail so I can remember it and hopefully learn something from it in order to avoid this in the future. Huge shoutout to Gill for putting together our team and to the team for working so hard and being so amazing. Lol also shoutout to anybody who actually read this whole thing |