Well, as I expected, Ron did the entire 100 miles and I completed 64. I am very happy with that number. What a ride! We got started at 7am and headed out. After the first few miles I was feeling good and challenged a guy to a race up a hill (he thought I was kidding and didn’t go), and almost immediately got a flat. This was about mile 10. I changed the flat and it was hard to get going again. I had been going at about 14mph, but after that, I dropped down to about 12. I got to the first food stop (mile 20), had a granola bar and something else (can’t remember), and headed out to the second food stop at 32 miles. As I was approaching that stop, I was thinking “you know, 64 miles is nothing to sneeze at, and I am starting to really hurt.” So, I decided to turn around and head back. This was an excellent decision! The 12 miles between stops went really fast and I maintained about 19mph. I stopped at the 20 mile stop again and ate some oranges (best things I have EVER had), grapes, and another granola bar and then headed out thinking “20 miles left ­ I can do that!” Yeah.

Well, after about 8 miles, I was hating life and was down to about 9 mph. By the time I had hit the 8 miles left mark, I was very unhappy. I was feeling nauseous and just bad --­ my lower back was really bothering me (damn camelbak). I had to stop and decide whether or not I was going to vomit now, or wait until I finished the race. I ended up stopping and stretching my back and feeling sick about every two miles. I did manage to get back some speed ­ I was so close! I got up to 16mph and stayed there for the last 8 miles. When I finally turned on to Sahuarita Road, I was so thrilled,­ but things got even better when I saw all the cars lined up and I could see the end. What a total relief. I sat down and had some sprite and after about an hour, I managed to eat a sandwich and a bunch of grapes. Then I had to wait for Ron, who was doing the whole 100. I am waiting for Ron to give me a blog entry describing his race --- it will be well worth reading!