Day 195… I’m Alive
I am not ready to put into words all that I experienced over the weekend. I need to let my brain take in all that happened and process this weekend. For as I sit here it all seems like a blur mostly of water and neoprene. At this point all I can really say is I am alive, walking slowly, and back home in Vermont.
For those that missed it or live under a rock. I did not win World’s Toughest Mudder, I actually have to put a DNF next to this race. I was one of the last people standing. I made it 21 hours and about 36 miles completing about 150 obstacles. I was officially the last woman to drop before the end of the race, in reality two of us dropped together both suffering from mild hypothermia and I was suffering from extreme fatigue. Only two women raced through the night and finished after the 24 hour mark a truly amazing feet!
Things I can say about today. Todd, my hero, and I left the Radisson in Freehold, NJ just before 5am this morning. We arrived back to Vermont just after 10am. I was back working by 10:30am in a short-lived attempt to get back to my regularly scheduled life. Something I learned I was not ready to do. After lunch I went back to my room and changed into some comfortable sweats and have been trying to get my body back to properly regulating its temperature.
The aftereffects of racing for close to 24 hours I have learned are gastrointestinal madness, body temperature control problems, trouble connecting conversations fully together, and zombie like tendencies. For me, I watched this in other people before, but it was not until truly experiencing it that I now know how they felt.
Confused, an example today of my brain not connecting. As we headed back on the Northway about to get off the exit in Lake George, NY. I saw a Jeep which looked like a friends who had been at the race over the weekend but had missed getting to talk to. The Jeep triggered the thought I missed Sherry, but for a moment I couldn’t piece together where the race had been held. I knew we were coming home from WTM but had forgotten it was in NJ. Little details were lost for much of today. It is as if I was walking around in a fog or haze, I found myself blankly staring off into space many times today.
The good news is other than an ache in my foot, I am no more sore than my ultra or the Spartan Beast after this race. It’s really surprising. I expected everything to be in pain. Currently, my wetsuit is dripping dry in my bathroom along with my hooded vest and gloves. Those three items were the best investment I could have made going into this race. Everything else is wet and muddy sitting in a plastic bin waiting to be washed another day. That’s all I can muster up today, but the most important thing, I’m still alive. At least that was my Mom’s concern.