Day 26 Cadney Homestead Park to Marla 82 K / 51 Miles

Prior to the second year running of the Illinois Marathon the weather had been cool. I had trained throughout the winter and felt good about doing the half-marathon. All I was going for was a personal best. Might be easy to do because the previous year had been my first half-marathon. The day of the race was greeted with the warmest temperatures of the year so far. Needless to say, people were dropping like flies due to the heat. I was hurting. I finished, slower than the previous year. As I sat on a bench in Memorial Stadium, a friend, Dr. Don Greeley, walked up to me and said I didn’t look good, and with his advice I tried to stand up to walk with him to the medical center tent. I couldn’t stand up. My body refused. With a couple of other people to help me, we made our way down to the field where I got a wheelchair ride to the medical station. After about two hours of re-hydrating and cooling. I was able to make my way home.

Today when I stepped outside our room at the roadhouse, it was notably warmer. Every day until today, I had started with my layers of a short sleeved tech-T, a long sleeved zippered T, a fleece jacket, and either a lightweight wind shell or my rain jacket and riding tights. Today, there was no fleece and I knew at some point I would be stripping layers, that point came about 30 K into the ride. I could feel the heat building as well as radiating off the pavement.

Today we figured that the Travelers Rest at Marla was easily reachable. I had been our 2-day goal leaving Coober Pedy. With yesterday’s mileage, It would be and easy half day ride. Half-way into the ride however, we were all feeling fatigue. David was still battling back pain, and Joe had not slept well. I had no excuse as I felt good at the start. We had talked earlier about proceeding beyond Marla, but as both the heat and headwinds began to build our reason took hold. We rolled into Marla around 2:00.

Our day yesterday I’m sure was one factor, but until today the temperatures had been pleasantly cool since the start of the trip. Most mornings we would ride with gloves, but often those were stowed by noon. We are moving farther north, and the temperatures are warming. We will have some more bush camps ahead so hopefully no more freezing nights.