Thanks, Mike. That's where I was. I normally can't bring myself to quit. I just hate admitting I can't do something. But there came a point when any hope of actually making time was completely unreasonable and continuing just to continue would likely have landed me in medical... or the hospital. It was totally a lost cause at that point and it took so much for me to admit that I lost this one. I'm the kind of person that would rather die than quit, but only if there is still some hope.
Even as I sit here and type this, more than 48 hours later, my calves hurt so badly. It's as bad as anything I've ever done to myself. As the event got closer, the weather looked to be so much more of a factor, but there was just nothing anybody could do about that.
The frustrating thing is that I know if it weren't for the cramping, I had a chance. I stuck to my plan, which wasn't a bad plan overall. I had a good swim. I did pretty much exactly what I planned on the bike. Even the first part of the run was kind of according to plan. I planned for the run to take up to 3.5 hours. I already know I'm slow, particularly after the swim/bike. And I know I'm going to walk up hills, and they were legit hills. The first three miles were almost entirely up hill. I wasn't happy it took nearly an hour for the first three miles but I figured I could make up a little of that deficit on the way down if I could just jog a ~12 minute/mile pace on the downhill section. I just got behind on the electrolytes and could never catch up. Even on the downhill, I couldn't jog because the cramping was so bad. At the 7 mile mark, I was two hours into my "run" and now I was battling cramps in both my calves, my abs, my hamstrings and my right quad. It was horrendous.
The worst part is that, this being the last time they run StG, there's no chance of redemption. When I did IMAZ, in the back of my mind, there was always the thought that if I don't make it, I can try again next year. I knew going in that this was actually going to be more challenging for me than IMAZ just because of the hills. I thought I was prepared. If it was just hills, or just heat, I would have been OK. Hot and miserable, but I would have finished. Hills + heat = just too much for me.