Joe Haus picked up the baton to the disappointment of Bixby and began to pace me. The temperature began to drop here and we were about to hit what I thought last year was DEATH ON A STICK MATE! I decided to practice judo and go with the road this year. I had two strategies. First, I wanted to make it to Fish Hatchery in less than 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Walking at a sub 17 minute pace (17 times 4 divided by the square root of pi would be the remainder of…damn, this math is too hard to do at this sleep deprivation). Thank goodness Joe is a numbers guy and told me that our current pace would work. Of course since Jason and I walked last year and were caught by the entire field on that road (not really but it sure felt that way), I was going to run if the headlamps behind us were running too. Well, no one else ran and based on my super-human ability to power walk with the titanium sticks, I chose to walk. SOMETHING ODD happened here and is something that makes no sense: The 4 miles somehow was longer than I remembered. Our sub 17min/mile pace still took longer than 1 hour 15 minutes.
NOTE: The space/time continuum coming back into Leadville the last 50 miles changes. 50 miles is really 70 miles. I promise.
Well anyway, we made it to Fish Hatchery aid station. I checked in and weighed. I was 3 pounds heavier now than when I started. Oops…too many gu’s! I asked the doctor (well, he acted like one) to help me. Unfortunately every medical person on deck was working on some poor soul having a seizure or something. All I wanted was tape or something for my IT bands (which were killing). When they finally finished, I had the following conversation with the “doctor”:
KIRK – “Can you tape my knees? My IT bands are shot.”
DOCTOR – “That will not work. You are an idiot.”
KIRK – “I am sorry. I am not dying, but it would help me finish this run. What can you do to help me?”
DOCTOR – “What have you done in the past about this?”
KIRK – “I have never had this problem before. What do you recommend?”
DOCTOR – NO REPLY
KIRK – (WTF look on my face. Is this guy for real?) “Uhhh”
DOCTOR – NO REPLY
KIRK – “Well 10 years ago, I had an IT issue, but that was when I was fat.”
DOCTOR – “Well, what did you do then?”
KIRK – “I don’t remember.”
DOCTOR – NO REPLY
KIRK – (this guy will be strangled sometime, but I am in too good of a mood to do it myself)
DOCTOR – NO REPLY
KIRK – “Ok dammit, can I have a pain killer?”
DOCTOR – “Yes”
KIRK – “And????”
DOCTOR – “Here is ONE”.
KIRK – “C’mon Joe, were are outta here”.
I decided here to keep on my street shoes despite the blisters forming. I was not sure if the blisters were due to the water crossing even though I dried them, added powder and changed shoes in Twin Lakes, due to the street shoes, due to being on my feet all day, and/or a combo on them all. So, I did the best think, nothing.
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