That is hopefully the first and last race I ever don’t finish.  I feel like a failure.  I know that’s not really the case.  But I’m not a quitter.  I’ve fought through some pretty horrendous races in my short career.  Running races on injury.  Ski races while sick.  Biathlon races where I’ve skied an extra 2km in penalty loops.  I’ve always found a way to push through it somehow and today I didn’t.

I felt okay skiing the first loop. under control.  shooting wasn’t pretty.  I missed three but with a correction on course I came in and cleaned.  during my third loop the tightness I had been fighting in my feet was beginning to become unbearable.  I was struggling to use my right leg altogether and came close to falling over on a few downhills unable to fully step turn on my one side.  Stupid.  I came into shoot my third stage.  missed four. skied my four penalties gingerly and headed back out on course.  I felt like I couldn’t put weight on my one side at all.  I gave Patrick a heads up on course and continued to try to relax it.  I barely made it around the downhill corner, nearly went clear out of the V-boards.  I wasn’t even skiing threshold anymore.  DANG I was getting pissed.  My foot and leg had become useless.

I came around the corner and skied off the course into the snow and sat down.  Ripping at my boot to try to get to my foot was the only thing I could think about.  When my foot came out of my boot it curled up into a ball my toes completely cramped up.  Patrick had to physically straighten my foot out.  Ouch. This sucked.  When I tried to bring my foot closer to me it shot all the way up my leg into my hip. miserable. stupid. ARGH!

We got me up out of the snow and into the building very slowly.  Every time I bent my knee my leg ceased up.  Super fun right?  no.  Thinking back on it. trying to figure out what went wrong…I’m pretty sure I was just really dehydrated and let my electrolytes slip dangerously low.  During my cool down yesterday I had to stop running because my side ached so badly…and I don’t get side aches… that should have been a sign right there.  oops. I guess I’ve learned my lesson.  I’ve been considering taking a better look at my dietary and hydration habits and after today I can no longer avoid it.  I will not do that ever again.  I might pee a dozen times a day and wake up in the middle of the night but I’ll take that any day over how badly my leg hurt today.

On the plus side I’ll be back state side soon and have plenty of time to get myself rehydrated  before my next bout of races!