north pole extreme

Just under 24 hours removed from my Podcast interview with Neal at YourRunning.com where I swear up and down that I’m not going to fall asleep and risk having to rush from my bed to the bike, I find myself running around my sleeping tent like a crazed madman trying to find the clothes I thought I had layed out all nice and orderly just a few hours before.

It was exactly like the feeling when you oversleep and need to be at the airport 5 minutes ago. My mind was racing and I couldn’t think straight. Meanwhile, Richard is standing in the doorway saying ”just put on anything! The race is about to start!” - he wasn’t helping things..

The thrill of finishing the most amazing race EVER was soon replaced by the realization that it was friggin’ cold outside and the beads of sweat that were starting to form on my forehead would soon freeze solid and make me that much colder (assuming that was even possible). There wasn’t a lot of standing around, but rather a quick dash back to my tent to strip my running clothes off and try my best to dry the clothes that were going to pull double duty today in both the marathon and the bike race.

According to Richard, the bike race was going to start soon after the conclusion of the marathon, but with three-quarters of the people still out on the course when I finished and several of those on their 5th or 6th laps, I figured I could count on a good 4 or 5 hours (at least) before I’d be doing ANY bike riding – sufficient time to get something to eat, walk off some of the marathon, and possibly get a quick nap in. I wasn’t tired and I wasn’t particularly hungry, so I went for a walk to support the people still out on the course.