MSC #6 Race Report: Cross Country

Hot, hot, hot. Black kit + racing at noon + low heat tolerance = heat stroke. I drank A LOT of water and mix (think Gatorade) out on course, but by my final lap, I started to get the chills, nausea, sluggish thinking. I was out of water. It finally penetrated my hazed brain that I needed to cool off, so I grabbed a couple random bottles from the trailside and drank them down. Then when I reached the aid station, I did something I’ve never done: I stopped during the race. I downed two bottles without a break, which I’m not sure I could do normally. I felt a heckuva lot better, and went on to finish, even managing to stay out of last spot. Hooray for 7th place!
A thunderstorm with clouds so thick you could take a bite out of them rolled in during the pro’s race, ending it early as lightening splintered the ridgeline trail. The early finish left Judy Freeman of the Tough Girl squad and Ross Schnell of Trek VW in the top podium spots.