Current Section
Age, and altitude, just numbers for Rebecca Rusch
"I was tired, hot, thirsty and in so much pain," she said, reliving the moment.
It was just around this time last year when Rebecca Rusch was on the ground, lying in the dirt, writhing in pain. She was 90 miles deep into a 100-mile bike race, her competition in hot pursuit. But at the final water stop, her calf caught a major cramp, sending her toppling off her bike and into the dirt and rocks … leaving her there, in the dirt, writhing in pain, struggling to get the calf to relax.
"I was tired, hot, thirsty and in so much pain," she said, reliving the moment. "The volunteers were looking at me like I was an alien, but at that point I just didn't care." Instead, she yelled at them to get her a saltshaker. "I just shoved a bunch of salt in my mouth, hoped it would loosen the cramp, forced myself back on the bike and took off," she said. "By Mile 90 in that race, you're just reacting in a primal way. It's all about survival -- you're not thinking like a rational, polite human being."
Tag(s): Home
