The Limberlost Challenge

The adventure started yesterday, when Rémi and I left to go to a race near Huntsville.  We were meeting Kristi, Mike and the kids at The Nordic Inn.  It was a pretty rustic motel!  More to come later. 
In the motel there was a little restaurant and so we decided to have dinner there as the "chef" could cook something gluten free for Luke.  It was all you can eat fish and chip night and so we all opted for that.  Bad choice before a race I know... Spaghetti would've been much better but it was not on the menu.  It took what seemed like forever to be served.  The "waitress" was quite flustered, apologizing for the wait but according to her it was really busy and she and the chef were the only 2 people working.  There was 2 tables with people sitting, and everyone was eating the same thing... I'm not sure how she would do if the place truly was busy! haha

After dinner, we each went to our room as it was bedtime by then.  Back to our rustic rooms.  We had a very old green bathtub, new toilet, a teeny tiny little TV and 2 beds.  Just by looking at the beds you could tell the mattresses must have been as old as the place! Talk about not very comfortable!  I tossed and turned and tossed and turned until 3am.  I felt like I was going to roll off the bed... you know when it's that old... I got up, went to the washroom and decided to try the other bed.  It was a bit more comfortable.  We should've tried both beds when we got in!

6am came and we got up to get ready.  Got dressed, had "breakfast" and off we went.  We had a 1/2 hour drive to get to the course.

Once we arrived, we got our bibs, listened to a short debrief, had one last pee break and off we went.  It's a beautiful place!  If you are ever in that area, the hiking trails are just gorgeous!  The views... ahhh. The hills, not so much fun but they are part of the adventure.

All was going well.  Doing good time, up and down, up another hill, around a corner, jump over a rock, and a root (whoever said this was not a technical trail lied).  Come the first aid station - eat a couple pieces of watermelon, a couple pretzel (mistake! I was stuck with this dry thing in my mouth for a while! Note to self -go for the chips next time!) and off we go.  Get to the second aid station - do the same thing -minus the pretzels!

Not long after this second aid station, my left knee started to hurt.  I know this pain too well as I've
been battling it on the right leg for 2 years... that's finally fix and the left starts to act up?  No!!!  Every step you take (running and downhill) is excruciating.  It feels like you are being stabbed with a knife.  It truly is unbearable.  We ended up walking 7 km until we got to the end of the first loop - 14k.  I had a decision to make - hike the second loop and risk that it gets worse and actually start hurting when walking? or stop and take the DNF (did not finish).  With our trip to Peru coming up soon, the decision was pretty much made for me.  I can't risk not being able to go on the trip.  So that was the end of the race.  I wanted Remi to keep going without me, but he wouldn't.

We did get our medal as it was the same whether you do 14, 28 or 56k.  I'm a little disappointed but know full well these things happen... and it's out of your control.  I'm now dealing with pain in both hips (which is causing the knee pain), my knee and my foot (which could also be the cause).  Back to physio next week!


Official Website: Limberlost Challenge