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[RC] Hot Time at Liberty Run - Ridecamp GuestPlease Reply to: Deb Ambrose mkkgs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx ========================================== Hello! I wasn't one of the hot shoes, but my shoes were hot when we finished! And my tights had to weigh 10 pounds when I peeled them off after the ride. I had planned to do the 55 on Friday with Lippy, my Arab-Appy, and if we both recovered well, take on the 55 on Sunday as well. Well..... First of all, what a beautiful setting for camp. Shady woods, or grassy lawn, bordered by a lovely lake. We checked in and got set up to crew from our campsite. I was braiding his mane as the sun went down, and the stars and moon popped out. It was a moment you can only get the night before a ride, that mix of excitement, anticipation, some worry thrown in, and the feeling that you're very lucky to be able to do this. We knew it would be hot. No secret there. We had been training at mid-day, to try to accustom ourselves to the heat. Headed off at 6AM on the first of the 3 fifteen mile loops. We teamed up with Ruth Ann McMahon up from Florida and her pretty mare, Summer. Folks, I really thought I had been drinking enough. I swear! But when you're not, that also means you're not thinking clearly. I forgot to re-fill my camelbak that I carry close behind the cantle as we left for the 3rd loop. I ran out about halfway through the loop. This loop had a lot of miles on open clay roads, not much shade. Wow. We stopped at some water and I got off to sponge. The world just narrowed to a little, fuzzy circle in front of me. I sponged Lip and got us into the shade. Queasy, dizzy, yucky, I climbed back on. This is the dumb part. I was afraid to say anything. I also wasn't smart enough to take a drink of the horse water in the barrel. Long story short, we got some cloud cover and a breeze for a couple of minutes, and I felt a little better. Back in camp, I slugged down a couple GatorAdes, and refilled the camelbak with more. Last ten mile loop, horses picked up the "on the way home" trot, and we had a nice water crossing to cool the legs on the way. Lippy finished with good marks, I thought I would die. At the potluck, I had to get out of line, and sit, then lie down on the ground, as I had forgotten my chair. I kept drinking, and felt better when I ate, but was still loopy and weak. The next morning I wasn't much better, and decided to load up and head for home. I'll spare you the details of how long that took, but suffice to say I wasn't myself until Monday at best. Lessons for me: Take in more electrolytes. I was afraid the G'ade would upset my stomach. Ha! Eat more food. Have more easy to eat food, both carbo and protein, handy during the holds. Take off helmet, cool head, and put on damn straw hat that I brought specifically for the vet checks. Don't arrive at the ride all tired and shagged out. I did good keeping Lippy tanked up all week, but I was pooped when I pulled in. Re-reading posts after I got back, I'm going to try Emergen-C. Great ride management!! Vicki Parker was friendly, helpful and cheerful. Trails were super, well marked, and footing was nice. Bugs were bad at times, but probably less so for those moving out faster. So my first multi-day attempt fell short by half. I felt a little disappointed, as Lippy looked so good on Sunday. But I still needed a 4 hour nap that day, so I've got to fix a few things. Still, he was his calmest ever at the start, and tried his best all day. Looking forward to our next ride, probably the Carolina Moonlight on 31 July. All the best, Deb Ambrose and Lippy, 260 miles Aberdeen, NC ============================================================ Many of the endurance riders in our top echelons of competition, now and in the past, exemplify the 'common man' not the hierocracy. It is this possibility, this chance to come to the fore, that makes endurance competition of the Aussie/American type so much more desirable to part of the world. ~ Bob Morris ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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