The first loop was pretty unremarkable; I was running a good pace but not trying to go too fast.  You could already tell it was really humid, and this was a sign I should have read to increase my electrolyte intake.  The second loop began and soon enough I was tagging along with a couple other guys who were running their first 50 miler.  It was nice conversation but soon I think I passed them after the 3.5 mile aid station.  This time we were running the big loop, and you run down the first downhill at the Gas Pass.  I loved running this down part, especially since it wasn’t muddy like the last few times I’ve run down this little hill!  Joe modified the course this year, and one addition was an extra small hill.  Well it’s not much of a hill compared to Cactus Rose, but it’s big enough.  I think some of the other parts of the course were modified in this back section too.

I don’t remember too much about the 2^nd loop, I still felt pretty good and thankfully my ITB wasn’t bothering me, which I had aggravated at Cactus Rose (and didn’t bother me the whole race, which I was happy with).  The third loop continued on and I think I was mostly by myself on this loop.  Other than a few minor aches and pains I felt OK but could start feel the effects of the heat on my body.  At this point I should have tried to get back on track with my electrolytes but at the time I didn’t feel that bad, just some minor cramping and calf soreness.  After about 16 miles (1/3 the way) I was on pace for a 10-11 hour finish, which was going much too fast for me to sustain given the heat of the day.  By the 3^rd loop, all the runners for the other races had started (400+ total) and looking around the course you could see the toll the heat and humidity were taking, everyone seemed to be walking.  The fourth loop is where I started to slow down due to some cramping on my left side (was my left leg sweating more than my right leg??) and I was getting passed by what seemed like everyone (including by a couple armadillos).  By the end of this loop, my legs were cramping even though I had been downing a lot of salt the entire loop trying to catch up, and the only thing thought I had was to get back to the start/finish (mile 27.5) so I could get my soup.  Just give me my soup and life will better.

I got back and got my wish, but I ate the whole thing from my thermos, another big mistake.  Felt like such a rookie.  At first, it didn’t bother me, but after about a mile I couldn’t really run much, my stomach felt too bloated and I barely felt like moving in what turned out to be a “Loop of Doom” for me.  My head felt awful and I even sat down a couple times in this 3.5 mile stretch since I felt nauseated and barely felt like moving.  Around this time I heard some other runner screaming in pain ahead of me, he was having some bad calf issues, just auditory confirmation of the toll the humidity was taking (as if I need any extra confirmation of it).  Eventually I made it the aid station and sat down with the full intention of dropping, although I don’t think I told the AS volunteers that.  About the only thought I had for the previous 20 minutes was that I felt awful, wasn’t improving, and just wanted to curl up on the ground.  I sat at the aid station and the volunteers waited on me while I ate some chips and bananas.  There must have been a hundred or so bees swarming the aid station, going after anything sugary.  I guess I looked pretty bad and non-threatening to them since they also landed on me and buzzed around.  Thankfully no stinging but I probably wouldn’t have put up much of a fight at the time anyway.  I ate a few more banana slices, started to feel a little more human.  After at least 20 minutes or so I decided, as much as I liked sitting there, I needed to move and give it a shot.  Another runner was there, and we tagged up for what turned out to be a very enjoyable 11 mile stretch (he was a lap ahead of me in the 50 mi and had 1.5 loops left).  He was doing his first 50 miler, and wasn’t carrying anything, not even water.  Here I am, practically a travelling drug store with pills, food, toiletries, and water and he isn’t carrying anything.  Well, everyone has their own style.  We walked a few minutes out of the aid station, and soon I found renewed strength and felt reborn with energy.  And I’ll just say there’s no feeling like rebounding back from the dead; it’s pretty hard to describe the changes or even explain how your body can go from feeling that bad to that good in such a short amount of time.  I guess it goes to show, just like in life, things don’t always get worse and you just have to wait it out and be patient.  I guess maybe I should have been taking more bananas/potassium, maybe one day I’ll figure these things out!  Well, he and I ran pretty well, talking about all sorts of things, running, work, nutrition, politics and we both were keeping a pretty strong pace considering.  I told him of my job predicament:

“Well have you considered going into the oil and gas industry?”

“Yeah”
“Oh well my uncle back there works for XYZ Company, he’s the COO”

“Funny you mention that, I just had an interview with them”

What are the odds?  Who knows if it will help or not, but it’s a small world.  Tagging along with him was great running company and soon we came back to the aid station, he had one more lap to go and I had two, which now seemed very attainable for me.  The RD Joe P asked me how I was doing too, and assured me I had enough time to finish.  Kind of nice to be able to BS with the RD before/during/after a race, try that at the Houston marathon.  Loop 6 began and my running friend was starting to slow a bit, but I didn’t mind that much since we were moving good and I enjoyed the company.  It was his first 50 miler, which while this was an easy course, the weather conditions made it pretty challenging since no one (well, not me at least) is acclimated to the heat anymore at this point of the year.  I think it was near the end of loop 6 (or maybe it was 5) but I took a nice dive and fell.  Thankfully it was soft dirt (no rocks) and the only thing bruised was my ego and a dustier appearance.  I felt pretty OK at this point considering it was about 40 miles in.   Earlier I thought the top of my left calf was cramping, but after 4 or 5 hours, I finally realized it wasn’t a cramp but I must have tweaked it somehow early on.  It hadn’t been that bad to run on but it was getting more uncomfortable as the miles rolled on.  And now finally, it was starting to cool off outside and felt quite pleasant—it had only taken a good 9-10 hours!

My running buddy finished and now I just had to finish off the last 7.5 miles, as it was now turning to dusk and what was once a bustling race with over 400 runners, cars, and many volunteers, was down to just the hardcore 50 milers finishing it off.  The trail was empty, quiet, and peaceful with only the crickets making noise.  And now the people were gone, the animals were coming out: I saw a grass snake and a deer probably in the span of 5 minutes.  My running (or my laughable impersonation of it) was getting more sparse as my calf was getting more sore, and my legs were kind of trashed—go figure this would happen after traveling 43+ miles on foot.  I came back to the middle aid station and thanked the volunteers who had helped me again to come back from the dead–if it wasn’t for one guy’s help in particular, I probably would have dropped earlier.  Another one said “You look a lot better—I was a little worried about you” “I was worried about me too” (He also told me after the race, as everyone was trading stories over burgers and beers, that watching me rebound and finish gave him hope he could finish a tough trail race, kinda cool huh?).   But I couldn’t hang out too long, so I grabbed my flashlight and set out on the last 4 miles.  These 4 miles were pretty tough, I could run the flat open fields OK but the other sections I was “walking”.  Even my walking was a bad impersonation of walking, more like a hobbling stumble, and one woman who I ended up finishing with was passing me walking.  I was around a couple other runners/walkers when we ascended the final hill.  It really isn’t that bad, but at this point in the race it is big enough.  Once that was over we were about 1 mile or so away from the finish.  My garmin was slightly off, but I figured we had about a mile left and I had been at it for 12 hours and 40 minutes.  We can complete one mile in 20 minutes, right?  Not today!  At this point I just wanted to sit down and have a burger (I ended up having two), very simple pleasures but that’s about all I wanted in life.  Found the strength to run up and through the barn to finish in 13:03 which isn’t a great time but satisfying considering the heat, humidity, and where I was in the middle of race, I was more than happy with it.  If it wasn’t for suffering/learning through the Capt’n Karl’s scorcher 60ks this summer, don’t know if I could have finished this one.  Thank God I don’t have another 50 in three weeks, I can finally recover some.  So 2 of the 5 50’s down… Rocky Raccoon should be easier right?  Running 50 miles ain’t easy.

I’ve “only” run one 50 miler before which is comparatively MUCH easier at Rocky Raccoon, and given that I had been training pretty hard for it, thought this would be a good challenge for a second.  The only other major detail with this race is that it is self-supported.  So you need to bring your own food (except for ice and water which is provided).  I packed way too much food but I figured to be on the cautious side and have more options available to me.  The night before, I honestly wasn’t nervous at all but just wanted to get finally get started.  My mental strategy was to break it into 10 five mile sections: counting to 10 is easier than counting to 50 and running 5 miles at a time isn’t that hard, right?  I guess I’ve used running as an outlet the past few years, but personal things have not been very much fun lately so while it may not accurate to call running 50 miles at Bandera a “vacation”, it would be nice to get lost in park and enjoy what turned out to be a beautiful day.  330 am came way too early on race morning and soon enough it was time to start on a cool, crisp morning at 5 am.

The first section has only one big hill, Lucky’s Peak.  At this point, your legs are still fresh and the runners are all bunched up, so it was no big deal other than the rocks going down made for some curious footing in the darkness.  The rest of the section to the first aid station at Equestrian was pretty easy, a few little rollers on a dry creek bed until hitting a flat section and an open field.  Had to stop to enjoy the stars, seeing the Milky Way above, and the skyline of the hills against a night sky – almost makes you feel sorry for those still asleep in bed.  Made it to the equestrian aid station in about an hour and felt great.  The 2^nd section was by far the easiest.  No real hills and it wasn’t very technical.  The first couple hours I felt pretty good and was enjoying the wonderfully cool temperature and night running, right before sunrise.  Made it to the second aid station at Nachos and refilled my supplies before heading out on the 3^rd section which has one big hill, Ice Cream Hill.  By this time, sunrise was approaching which looked beautiful against the hills.  Going up Ice Cream didn’t seem that bad, but the sotoll cactus in the 3^rd section really were taking exception to me being there.  Before too long, I looked down and noticed my knee and ankle were already bleeding from the serrated cactus plants, with many more scratches, much more than I recall at previous Bandera experiences.  And while I received quite a few scratches and cuts, with the evidence still visible several days later, it doesn’t compare to the tall guy who looked like he face planted in a rock garden.  It looked like he got in a fight and lost, and I’m told he had to drop after coming in for one loop, that sucks, hope he turned out OK.

I was still feeling great and rolled back into Equestrian to begin the 4^th section, which was the nastiest section by far, with the 3 Sisters, Sky Island, and probably some other hills which I don’t know the names of.  I remembered the Three Sisters from this year’s Bandera, lets just say I don’t have very fond memories of them; scorned lovers, perhaps.  I tagged along with 3 other guys who were running the 100 and I liked the pace so I tried to keep up with them.  The 4^th section was pretty nasty and I remember coming down one trail, and you can see in the near distance the next hill “Whoa!” – Only I used much more colorful language to describe the sight of it.   I like running downhills but I am just not skilled at running downhills in this technical of terrain, so that part is still challenging for me.  On the plus side, at this point my legs felt OK from all the hills – just as I felt like I needed to take a break from hiking up them, the hills were over and the climbing muscles could get some relief.    Thankfully the 4^th section ended, and I tried not to think about the fact I’d have to be back here soon.  The 5^th section had two big hills, Boyle’s Bump and Cairn’s Climb.  They were big, but honestly I enjoyed this more than the previous section.  Instead of going straight up and back down, you had a break where you ran around the top of the hill, giving you a little bit to recover and you know, actually run some, although there was some sections with some nasty footing in areas.  I have never really danced but I suspect that the skills acquired from running here would be transferrable – maybe time will tell.  As I reached the end I started seeing more runners and a few friends who had already reached the halfway point and started back.  I really like out-and-back parts of races where you can say a brief hi to other runners – as much to cheer them on as myself, I think.

Well I reached the halfway point in about 5:40 and other than a few minor aches, I felt pretty dang good about my time and my prospects for finishing.  I ate kind of a lot and set back out on the second loop, only 25 miles more to go with the toughest 10 directly in front of me.  Going back up Cairn’s and Boyle’s, I started sweating big time.  The starting temperature was somewhere around 35 degrees, but now it was at least in the 50’s or maybe even 60 degrees.  Not warm or hot by any standards, but when you’re out there busting your tail and climbing a steep 300 foot hill, it can be kind of taxing.   Going up Cairns, I took a moment to look off to the right for a fantastic view of the park.  Another woman going the opposite direction also looked and lamented that we weren’t using all the flat trails we could see down below, but where’s the fun in that?  After the a few miles in, my body started to go downhill and I was running real low on energy.  I’m not sure why but I suspect I was drinking too much water and not enough salt or maybe I didn’t eat enough early on.  My fingers looked slightly puffy and I was drinking a lot, since I did not want to run out of water on all the super nasty sections.  I eventually recovered before hitting the aid station but the recovery was somewhat hollow since I knew the next section was going to be brutal.  I refueled and headed back out to the 4^th section where I started noticing my right knee was complaining at me, most likely my IT band.  Mostly was bugging me on downhills, which this section had a lot of super-technical downhills.  With this discomfort, my running was basically reduced to almost nothing the rest of the race.  It wasn’t that painful, but worse on the downhills (which there were plenty), and bad enough on the flats that made me not want to run.  I don’t remember a whole lot of details other than the steep climb up the first sister – man that was tough!  And I knew at this point my time goals were probably gone out the window, so I just tried to enjoy the beautiful weather and gorgeous views, the kind you just can’t find in Houston.  Despite the views, I was quite happy to finally kiss the Three Sisters goodbye.

Getting through the 4^th section was pretty hard the 2^nd time, but I eventually made it back to Equestrian to reload with some soup and other food.  I set back out and jogged a little bit better after stretching my IT band, but my running was rather short-lived before going back up Ice Cream hill.  I don’t remember too much about the 3^rd section this time, other than it seemed much rockier than before (if that is possible).  More hiking ensued before I made it to Nachos and ate some more food while sitting briefly before heading back out, 40 miles down and 10 left.  The next section was pretty easy but I couldn’t run much.  This section was probably a low point – don’t know if I didn’t eat enough food throughout the race but my energy level dropped like crazy.  I seriously felt like I could have laid down on the side of the trail and gone to sleep.  My disposition was poor but all I wanted was to make it to the next aid station and eat… something… anything! The GU chomps I had on me were just not cutting it.  Around this time some of the 100 miler leaders were passing by as I was staggering along – watching them zoom past me I had great respect for them, true athletes.  Eventually, (maybe days later?) I made it to the next aid station and sat down next to my cooler.  I must have looked pretty crappy because a guy came and helped refuel my bottles and brought me some ginger ale while I ate as much as was comfortable.  At this point it was 530 pm and sunset was soon after 7, so I brought my flashlight along just in case I was having a REALLY tough time the last 5 miles.  I brought the flashlight in my pocket, but I was carrying a water bottle in both hands and soon realized I had just failed basic math since I would be one hand short if I needed to use my light.  I decided I’d just deal with that should the sun go too fast and hope I can crawl in before sunset.

The food helped restore my disposition and energy level (didn’t feel like a cranky toddler anymore) and I jogged a bit better here.  I couldn’t stand any more than 30 seconds to a minute, but at least was moving a bit faster on this nice little flat single track.  Soon it was time to go up Lucky’s Peak where I still had a few expletives left in my vocabulary before going back down it, which was challenging.  Had to sit on my rear end a few times, but eventually that hill was over.  Kept walking until the start/finish was on top of me, since you have to run the finish.  Enjoyed some soup and hot chocolate at the end which was fantastic, before being fortunate to see the stars and Milky Way again, just as it was before, some 14 + hours earlier.

It was nice to finish another 50 miler, but I was a little disappointed by the outcome in that I couldn’t see how well I could have ran it, but I guess sometimes things are out of your control and you just have to do your best, hopefully I tried my best.  I never felt like quitting but just goes to show you can finish if you keep moving forward.  I have much respect for those who finished the 50 and even more so for those who went for 100, this is not a course for whiners, wimps, or wusses.  I think I’ve gotten my fill of rocks and cactus for a while!

So as I said I was hoping this race would be good speed work training, but the Fates had other ideas.  I had tossed around the idea of finishing in 2:30 for 24k.  This goal was certainly reasonable for me if I had a good day or good weather; unfortunately I had neither!  I had probably 3-4 hours of sleep, felt sick the day before, and additionally I had run more the previous 4 weeks than I ever have.  And of course the rain which makes even easy courses such as these challenging.  In fact, I almost didn’t go since I felt kind of crappy, but decided to tough it out, since that what I normally do.

Arrived at the park where the monsoon quickly started, and was quite cold.  Initially had one tech shirt one, but that soon changed to two.  Brought in my umbrella to check in where another runner joked if I would be bringing that along? Actually not a bad idea but that made me realize I had a parka, which I have never used for 4 years, in my trunk.  So I tossed that on, which definitely helped keep the rain off. However after the first 2-3 miles, I was overheating so I dropped it off at the first chance (didn’t get it back… but can’t say I’m too upset since that’s the only time I’ve used it).  Oh yea, not even a half mile in, I went to lift up my left foot… but my shoe got stuck in the mud! Think that was a first for me but that gave me a good lesson to make sure your shoes are REAL tight in muddy conditions as these.

Well the miles trudged on but my heart rate was just gettin’ too high and I wasn’t even running hard.  Probably just a combination of all the events, but any chance of speedwork was out the window, so I just tried to sit back and enjoy the 15 miles.

The course seemed easier than I remember — not sure if that’s because I was only doing 2 laps, or I had gotten stronger or what.  But afterwards one of the race organizers told me they took out a section or two that was “too tough” due to the rain.  So, maybe that helped, but some extra matting/carpet in some areas definitely helped, along with my Asics Trail Sensors which seemed to give me much better traction than my Gel Nimbus, since I just finally got a pair of trail shoes.  Only a few spots that were bad, but mostly just alot of splashing around in puddles and mud for 15 miles., and actually one of the spots where I almost bit it a couple times was on concrete and not mud.

The rest of the race was rather unremarkable for me… I finally started getting warmed up and felt good around mile 12 or so but nevertheless I got 2nd in my age group finishing in a shade over 3 hours… but that loses some luster since there were only 2 of us! Hardly an impressive time but OK considering how crappy I felt most of the race.  Lots of hardware considering a small amount of runners, and a lot of people got a BOX of Gu and multiple t shirts; so it was well organized and nice swag. Well that concludes what may be an over-detailed report for only 24k… next race is cactus.

3 others were continuing on for the full, so off we went after everyone else came in thru the half.  I paired up with another runner who was running her first 26.2, and I was in no rush anyway since I was just trying to get in some miles.  Not to mention, running alone thru downtown Houston didn’t sound very fun so the company was good.  Two other runners were crewing for us on bike/truck and provided many stops along the way to refuel which was pretty awesome.  The weather on the 2nd loop was much nicer– lots of cloud cover and plenty of breeze which made for a pretty decent Houston afternoon.  Not a bad way to spend the morning.  Lots more walking on this loop as her calves were talking to her but we finished in about 4:50 of running time (well, that was my time at least).  Would have been nice to run more on the 2nd loop, but it was still good training I think.

Then I came back to Seabrook on Sunday morning for another long run with another friend, but honestly didn’t know how long I would last.  It was REAL humid on Sunday morning.  Just miserably sticky and nasty.  Made it through the first 8 mile lap but honestly it was very slow and I wasn’t sure how much longer we could go.  If we were just going to walk another 5 miles or so, was it worth it?  Well we continued on anyway and finished with about 15 miles, but it was an extremely slow effort.  By the time we were done, the weather actually felt much nicer — made me wish I started at 10 am instead, ha.

So that gave me a total of 59 miles for the week, which is the most I’ve gone in a week.  I feel pretty good about my training for Cactus, just that I’m worried I won’t be ready for the hills.  I’ve run Bandera twice so I know what to expect, but I’m going to try to concentrate on some quality speed workouts and weights to build a little more strength.  And hopefully get in one more 30 mile training run in a couple weeks.

A masochist no, but you have to be willing to deal with pain and obstacles if you are to undertake any ultra distance event (just like in life).  And what my friend, and others who question the purpose of doing these things, fails to appreciate is the journey past obstacles and the ability to push oneself past whatever one thinks their limits are. The last of the Capt’n Karl’s Series was at Muleshoe, and it provided a significant obstacle (beyond just the distance) in the fact the high Saturday was around 108 degrees (and back home in Houston it was reportedly the hottest day EVER).  I arrived at the park around 6:15 with just enough time to finish my preparations and say hi to a few friends before the race briefing.  Not too long after that one guy who is partially responsible for getting me into these things, Mark Henderson, rolled in.  He was talking about his race-day nutrition (a couple shrimp,  a couple beers, and a pop tart, I think) and was giving me a hard time about my picture being in Ultraruning mag earlier this year, but it was good to catch up briefly with him.  Soon it was time to embark on the 37.2 mile journey.

The course was four loops, divided into 3 parts by two aid stations in between and then one at the start/finish.  I reread my race report from last year, which was pretty accurate as far as the terrain— no real hills, a decent amount of rocks but not un-runnable except for a stretch in the middle which is tough.  It had a lot of switchbacks, so you could see headlights ahead of you, behind you, above or below you but really they could be much further away than you think.  But I didn’t really remember a lot of this course so it was fun to discover it again, it is a fun course to run.  And looking at the trail which was still lit by the setting sun, you could tell everything around looked dead due to the drought.  The first hour or so clicked by o.k. but it was definitely hot, and I was probably going a bit too fast, and as per the usual with these summer races for me, my stomach wasn’t very happy.  I made one emergency stop off trail but after that felt much better.  Made it to the 2^nd aid station and had a couple pieces of watermelon which were wonderful and apparently everyone else agreed since they were gone on the 2^nd loop.  I left there and made it back to the start/finish and was feeling pretty good.

For this race, I decided to bring a cooler with ice water and put a bandana in there to cool myself down between loops, especially since there were 4 loops.  I think it helped a good amount but maybe I should have brought a spare so I could take one with me.  Nevertheless it was definitely nice to cool down even if only for a brief moment on such a hot evening.  I don’t remember too much about the 2^nd loop until I almost lost a contact around mile 12 or so but managed to grab it from my eye before it fell to the ground and put it back in my eye without any issues, thankfully.  Somewhere in the real rugged section I got briefly lost and turned around, and lo and behold Neal Lucas comes up to lap me, and I then of course found the correct way–thanks for lapping me there Neal! I think the heat was taking its toll on me though, and my stomach was having more complaints with me.  I had half a Subway sandwich an hour and a half before the race, and I think that was the culprit.  I swore off them several years ago since the last time I had one it made me sick (besides why go buy a sandwich when I can make one for a fraction of the price) but I gambled since I was going to try something different with my pre-race nutrition.  No more Subway!

“If you are going through hell, keep going”

When I made it to the half-way point I was feeling pretty crummy after a visit to the portapotty and made it to my drop bag to try to recover a bit.  I didn’t have much of an appetite but force fed myself a little but my stomach just felt off.  I felt pretty awful but didn’t want to quit, I’d made it this far and only had two make it two more laps to get the belt buckle.  Besides, all those Navy SEALs who were killed several weeks ago—they would never quit.  Lots of people don’t have the physical ability to run or even walk, what would they give up to jog a mile? So putting things in perspective gave me a little bit of motivation all though I was in a bad mood since I felt kind of helpless to my body.  Some friends and the start/finish were trying to help, but I didn’t feel like talking much and at the time my vocabulary only consisted of simple commands or curse words anyway.  I was a bit frustrated since I’d spent/wasted  almost a half hour at the aid station (a long time…. Too much even for me) and I wasn’t improving even with such a long break, but I know I can walk so I might as well keep walking for a while.

Off I walked for about two miles before I finally started feeling a bit better.  Well at this point my only goal was to finish (can throw all time goals out the window now) and was just trying to estimate with a worst-case scenario if I walked 20 min/mile, I would be cutting it close to finish under 12 hours, since I couldn’t even lightly jog due to my stomach discomfort.  Eventually I tried jogging again and the next mile I was decent before arriving at the first aid station where RD Joyce was there and I told her about how I was feeling.  She gave me some encouragement and I felt good to leave, so I did and soon started feeling better.  The rest of the lap I ran pretty strong and felt a lot more confident about finishing since now I was only a lap, several aid stations, away from finishing and my body felt much better.

“Lots of people out running now.… but after midnight only the hardcore runners will be left”

What once was a bustling party-like atmosphere at the start/finish was now much more subdued since those who did the shorter distances had gone home and were probably asleep in bed since it was now about 3 am.  I returned to my drop bag which once too had more company and was now alone on the dirt and washed myself off with cold water again which was very refreshing and got a nice view of the stars which were clear on a cloudless and moonless night.  Just had one more lap to finish, so I picked up some papaya from Liza Howard (at least I’m pretty sure that was her… I felt like telling her I like reading her blog but had other things on my mind) who was working the aid station and set off on my final lap.  And it actually started to feel cooler; at least it wasn’t so blistering hot anymore.

The fourth lap started went pretty well  and I was almost alone except for a few people I would occasionally pass since I was now moving a bit better.  Almost all the runners were done so now the trail was empty and I didn’t have to worry about people running me over.  It is a bit more relaxing for me to run alone,  although there are definitely times when it’s good to run with others too, to push you.  I am more introverted so I suppose trail running suits me well, lots of time out there where you are by yourself with no one else near you (or even no one knows exactly where you’re at) and I guess I like it that how you succeed is totally up to you.  Somewhere I smelled the stench of a skunk on this lap, which was the only wildlife I encountered.  Later on I saw two more skunks, including one that was no more than five feet from the trail, but I didn’t really want to get to know him any better so I sprinted past him.  I made it to the last aid station where I soon ran out of energy.  I was jogging well before, but stopping for a break at the aid station seemed to get me out of a rhythm and sap all my energy.  It was around this point I finally noticed some chaffing issues, including in some areas I didn’t know it was possible.   It was less than 3 miles back to the finish, which on an average day, I could easily finish under a half hour. However an average day does not consist of already having covered 34 miles of trails!  My body was just plain tired and it took me another 46 minutes to make it to the finish after 10:46, where the other hardcore runners who stuck around to celebrate, were cheering those of us who stuck it out to finish.  Joyce came by and gave me a big hug and congratulations since she knew I was having a rough go at it, and I picked up my finishers medal and my first belt buckle, guess I’m a real Texan now.

“Show me someone that’s completed an ultra, and I’ll show you someone that can pretty much accomplish anything they set their mind to…”

I went and sat down next to the other dozen or so runners that were left and recovered, chatted, and enjoyed the fact I was done, 180km of trail in the Texas summer.  And driving back the next day, I felt pretty good sense of accomplishment, not necessarily for the buckle, but it’s damn hard to finish these 3 60k’s in the summer, and lots of people dropped due to the heat along the way.  I suppose it is a good case study in perseverance since there are points in each of the three races where I seriously questioned whether I would finish each one.  I also probably need to take a better look at my nutrition, although I never have any of these issues in the normal races that start in the morning, where the heat index is not over 100 degrees.  And I know I’m not a fast runner, but dang, I am pretty close to DFL in the standings for the series (22nd out of 26). Good thing I don’t have an ego, haha.  Looking at my splits, I spent 9 minutes at the start/finish after the 1^st and 3^rd loop, and 25 after the 2^nd, ugh.  I’ll be thankful for the spring/winter races when I don’t NEED to spend as long at the aid stations.

Guess I'll need to get a belt for it now!

I met some friends for lunch in Austin, dropped by the hotel and rested, and soon enough it was time to start at 7 pm.  The first mile and a half is easy, down to the Pedernales River (which is more a collection of large rocks than actually river) then marches back up and along the fenceline bordering the park.  I kind of liked jumping from rock to rock at this part on the riverbed, which sort of reminded me of parts of Bandera.  At this point, I was taking it easy, limited by the heat and my stomach which was at best OK.  The fenceline portion has a couple decent hills, but they aren’t too bad, they at least make running along a straight line more interesting.  I made a visit to the port-a-potty somewhere around mile 6 but it was just a false alarm, and I was just trying to get my stomach to a comfortable state.  Soon enough the course curves away from the fence along a wonderful single track and onto more of an easy jeep road section, which had some nice views of the surrounding area, before the next aid station.  I made it to the pipeline aid station where the leader was there (he was 4 miles ahead coming back from the next section) and I started to feel little better.  Leaving this aid station has a big downhill (down Wolf Mountain….not much of a mountain but big enough) which was really fun to run, and the next section was a 4 mile loop back to the pipe which wasn’t too bad, and I tagged along with two other runners and managed to keep up with them as my body improved.   The guy ran Nueces 50mi in 9:17 so when I heard that, I should have probably just told them goodnight and backed off on my pace.   But I didn’t and soon it was time to go back up what we just came down, and even before we began the big incline, I started to go downhill a bit.  I tried to eat a Larabar I stuffed in my pocket, but the combination of the temperature and it riding directly next to my body melted it down… so I probably won’t do that again as it wasn’t quite as tasty to eat.  I made it back to the aid station and got some food and headed out again for the 6 mile trip back to the start/finish.  This stretch, miles 12-18,  was a definite low point for me–I guess I really needed some calories because I had little energy or desire to run, and mostly felt like curling up in the fetal position.  I’m pretty sure if I had the option to quit there, I probably would have.  I didn’t want to quit, and I know it’s not the strongest mindset, but that’s about all I could think about for a while.  Thankfully however, that option wasn’t available so I kept marching back to the halfway point.  Somewhere in this section, there was an easy doubletrack where I didn’t need my headlamp, so I turned it off and rested my eyes, and enjoyed the moon and stars filling up the sky.  The moon provided quite a bit of light, enough to light much of the trail, and the stars were beautiful in a cloudless sky.  There is no light pollution in this area of Texas and the night sky is simply gorgeous.

I made it back to the halfway point and started to feel a bit better.  Some other friends were there who did the other races (the shorter, not insane distances) were done and in a good mood, and thankfully brought me plenty of food and drinks as I sat down to try to figure out what the heck I was going to do.  I was there probably fifteen minutes or so, ate quite a lot, and decided I was going to keep on going; I didn’t want to quit, quitting is too easy and besides nothing really hurts so there’s no reason I can’t at least walk.  I think also if they weren’t there taking care of me, I probably would have dropped, but who knows.   I continued on down to the river, where it was pitch dark except for the moon, stars, and glowsticks to light the path.  There was also some insects making loud clicking sounds (Nerd Alert: they sounded just like a clicking from a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Riker is kidnapped in his sleep and transported to an operating table in a dark room by aliens who communicate with that sound…well… that’s what it sounded like, granted it’s probably been ten years since I’ve seen it).  It was kind of eerie but peaceful too knowing nothing or no one is really around you.  Running with people can be nice, but it is very relaxing to run trails solo at nighttime, and now that the 30k runners were gone the course was thinned out and comfortable.  Felt like I was driving on damn I-10 on the first loop with all the runners passing and such on the fencline.  I continued back up the trail to the fenceline and started to feel better.  I could see headlights in front of me and soon started passing one or two people before hitting the aid station along the fence, as now the moon was setting and was a beautiful orange color.  I passed one guy who seemed either incoherent or talking in a foreign language, I couldn’t tell.  The next stretch had a couple nice downhills here which I enjoyed since I like running the downhills hard and I was starting to feel great.  I continued on and passed another one or two and was feeling strong, especially considering I was 25+ miles in and honestly this 10 mile stretch might have been the strongest I’ve run in any of my trail races, at least it sure felt like that (I think I counted I passed 5 or 6 people on the 2^nd loop which is quite unusual for me in the late stages of a race.).  Normally after 20-25 miles in a race, I am reduced to jogging what I can and mixing in some speed walking… but here I was actually RUNNING !  The temperature was probably down to 85 and the sun was gone, so that probably factored in to my better disposition.

Somewhere along this stretch I came across an armadillo, which I think was surprised when I flashed my light on him and he ran off as did I.  I saw probably half a dozen tiny scorpions or so, but I thankfully didn’t get to know them any better.   I came across one runner here who was doubled over and puked, so I gave him some food and walked with him for a few to make sure he was o.k. Made it to the aid to refuel where I was talking to the aid station volunteer about the carnage and such before one runner I passed came in and said “I want whatever Michael is having!” due to my passing him a couple miles back.  I was flattered and soon after I was properly refueled, headed down the “mountain” and was still feeling really strong but started to slow a bit when I caught up to another younger runner, who I ended up completing the race with.  He wore plaid SHORTS (not running shorts… shorts) and carried a Gatorade bottle in his pocket!  He spirit was great and was good company to talk to.  He knew the guy who won it and is 21 yrs old, ran it in 5:12… insane!  Imagine if the guy actually gets some real experience running trails.  And he also told me he (the one I was running with) was only running 20-30 miles a week…. so maybe I should cut back on my mileage, huh? We continued back up the hill, which was much tougher and slower than the first time through, to the last aid station (the pipe aid station which you hit twice).  The incoherent/foreign talker was sitting there when I arrived, and apparently it was english he was speaking before.  I guess that was just a rough stretch but it was nice he was better since the volunteers said he camped out there for a good while (and I’m pretty sure I saw him and the puker finish).

Leaving the last main aid station, we had an hour and twenty minutes to run the last ~6 miles of the course and get under 9 hours, which at this point was my goal.  I ran the course in 9:04 last year, so this was a nice target, and running a 10k in an hour twenty is easy right?  Well the first 3-4 miles were quite good, but my energy level was quickly crashing.  I think I needed to eat more because I was just running out of gas and could barely walk much faster than a crawl the last mile, but thankfully the guy I was running with pulled me along to the finish.  It served me right, it was my fault for not eating enough before we left but I guess I thought I could just tough it out.  My light was getting pretty dim so I had to spend a minute or two changing it out, which I didn’t really want to do since we were so close, but I was starting to trip more frequently (and also, the expensive energizer batteries were not worth double the price… they didn’t last twice as long so I will go for the cheaper option next time…).  As I changed out the batteries I noticed my hands were finally getting pretty sweaty.  The humidity is significantly lower in the hill country than in the swamp of Houston;  many others said the humidity was “high” but never once did I hear any sloshing in my shoes as is the normal case on a long (or even on a not-so-long) morning run in Houston.  We continued and once we saw the finish line a couple hundred yards away and could hear the cheers lure us in, we sprinted and my official time was 9:05:19, which is about 40 seconds slower than last year.  Amazing I can run for 9 hours…37 miles…and the time is almost exactly the same.  This time I sort of damn near ran a negative split too were it not for cratering at the end;  first lap was 4:20 and second was 4:45 however the second lap includes about 15 minutes of sitting between the two loops.  So all in all, not too bad.  The Suffer Index was high on the first lap but thankfully was much lower on the second to make a for a decent performance.

Once I finished I sat down, Joe gave me my medal and shook my hand, and I ate some pringles but I was just nauseous and tired.  After 10 minutes or so I started getting really light headed and more nauseous, so I alerted a runner who was kind enough to wait on me and brought a tarp where I laid down for probably a good 30 minutes, cooling off and trying not to pass out.  Dang, the things we do to ourselves.  And pay money for it too.  I’m sure I wasn’t exactly the most attractive spectacle there but I didn’t care and I was content to be done, just lying there cooling off and listening to their stories.  A banana and some Ensure from another wonderful runner helped with my hunger and as quickly as I felt bad, I was back to feeling normal again…well, as normal as you can feel after traveling 37 miles on foot.  On to the last one in the series in 3 weeks at Muleshoe!

But it all started several hours before when RD Brad Quinn gave us the rundown and offered us a moment of silence—the Capt’n Karl’s series are in honor of his father in law who passed away due to cancer, so this was a moment for us to reflect before we began.  And so we did begin the 60k, 37.2 mi, course of six 10k loops at 7pm at scenic Ink’s Lake State Park with an aid station half way in and one at the start/finish.  37 miles is a long way on foot and too much to deal with mentally, so my plan was to break it up into six loops which was slightly more manageable.

Hijacking the photo...the sun is almost gone and start of Lap 2.

We started 15 min before the 30k runners but it didn’t take too long for the mutants/speedsters to pass us.  The course has a variety of some hills, a jeep road, single track, and rock hills.  The rocks are really the most important feature since they are pretty brutal to run on, especially in the dark.  A decent amount of smaller rocks, but mostly it’s the large rock outcroppings that are difficult to run at night, well… difficult for a Houstonian like me with no terrain like that to train on.

The first lap was relatively uneventful for me, except for the fact I could tell already my stomach was not in a great state and I was probably going too hard since it was a bit hard for me to breathe well, which I suspect was due to the heat.  I made a pit stop at the bathroom on the way out after the first loop, and continued.  Not more than 50 yards out of the loop, I realized I was so concentrated on refueling and hitting the bathroom at the aid station, I forgot my most important piece of gear, my headlamp.  This event was a night run after all.  Thankfully I wasn’t far away—had I continued on for another 10 or 20 minutes… not sure what decision I would have made.  Also at the aid station they had a guy with an exterminator sprayer, only it was filled with water, so I had him spray down my head which was a nice relief.

The second loop continued on but my stomach still wasn’t getting better and in fact was getting worse, and running for any great stretch of time was hard.  I can run 10, 20 miles in the morning in the summer but for some reason I just can’t quite dial everything in right for these night races.  I was eating food, water, and electrolytes so I had no idea what to do to correct it.  So I hit the bathroom again at the end of the 2^nd loop and I was feeling pretty awful.  I was force feeding myself a couple bites of sandwich in the hopes I would improve things but it just made me feel nauseous, and all I could think is there was no way I could finish if I felt like this for a long time.  I probably stood at my drop bag for a good 5-10 minutes trying to figure out what I wanted to do and I was *this* close to just giving up.  But I drove all the way up here, and I didn’t really want to stop with only a 12 mile training run.  And my legs actually felt fine, so I thought I could hike to the half way point and drop at the aid station there if I wanted to, so I had the guy spray my head down again and marched out.  In trail running, just like in life, it doesn’t always get worse and you just have to keep on going and tough it out.

I walked almost all the way to the aid station in the 3^rd loop, probably a good 30-45 min, and thankfully started to feel a bit better so I decided to jog again, which felt great.  While walking I even passed  a couple who were walking the race, but not “participating.”  This is a trail RUNNING event so it was nice to run some.  The sun was now gone so it had cooled off, which also made me feel better so my outlook started to improve substantially and the thoughts of quitting were pretty much erased.

I came in through the half-way point at over 5 hours.  Well, definitely no way to make it under 9 hours but I should be able to tough it out and finish….but I realized  I was going to be out here a long time.  I ran most of the 4^th loop with another guy from Houston, and it was nice to have some company.  Only thing is, most of the people I was running with now were an entire lap ahead of me.  Oh well, I’ll get there eventually.  My stomach was still kind of alternating good and bad… it seemed like I needed more time for my food to digest coming out of the aid stations than in other races.

It was past 2 am and time for the 5^th lap to begin and the guy who I ran the 4^th with headed out before me, I was taking a lot of time at the aid stations but I needed it.  By this point, my strategy was to run all the easy non-rocky parts and do my best with the rest.  Half way into the lap, my headlamp was getting noticeably dimmer.  This had an inverse effect on my running, as now I had a reason to get back to the start/finish.  Amazing what a little motivation will do sometimes!  At one point I thought I saw a rock in the shape of Texas, and a shadow of another rock that looked like a gorilla. I have never hallucinated, but I had no idea what this was supposed to mean, and  I didn’t think I was hallucinating.  And one last trick of the eye… I saw a planet in the sky (it was not blinking) but it looked like it was moving.  I stopped and focused and realized no, it was not moving and my eyes were playing tricks on me, you must be kind of tired.  I also saw a branch that was swinging pretty wildly…but there was no wind I couldn’t hear any birds.  Probably some creature out there but who knows, some things are better left unsolved.  Later in the 5^th loop I also tripped and fell and landed on some rocks.  Didn’t hurt too much at the time but the impact of me landing on the ground broke my watch off which I now had to carry in my pocket.  On the plus side, it gave me some extra adrenaline for a few minutes and I think the scrapes on my leg look pretty sweet.

I still made decent time on the 5^th loop running mostly solo and now had just one more six mile loop left.  Running six miles is easy, right… so it was in the bag.  Even though my stomach had been bad, my legs had actually felt great the whole time.  The beginning of the 6^th loop some blisters and my toes started to get uncomfortable, which did slow me down quite a bit, but at this point I didn’t really care too much since I knew I would finish.  Getting closer to the finish, I could see some light up ahead—am I getting back to civilization?  Uh, no, that’s the sun, it’s almost 6am, and now the birds are chirping.  I had been running (and walking) the whole night, and was finally almost done.  Going up the last hill, I took a moment to look across the skyline and watch the sunrise over the hill country—a nice prize for finishing near the end.  Going down the hill I could only chuckle to myself that is was now over, I wouldn’t have to see these rocks anymore, that was the hardest race I’ve finished so far.  I am certainly no speedster, but I think I have some respectable times running as hard as I can.… but finishing at the end like this is tough.

I finished after about 11 hours and 15 minutes and co-RD Joe Prusaitis handed me my finisher’s medal and confirmed that I had stuck it out.  They were out of burgers but his wife Joyce was wonderful and waited on me and asked if I wanted some chicken salad?  My mind was foggy and tired but it sounded like a good idea.  It was a good decision, probably the best chicken salad I’ve had.

My right achilles was a little sore from yesterday, but I still went for a 7 mile trail run this morning, where it got alot more sore immediately after (probably should have just rested today but I really wanted 40 miles in this week).  My body felt fine, and I probably would have gotten in more were it not for my achilles.  It hasn’t acted up in a year, and I attribute it to the Kemah Bridge, but usually the pain subsides after a day or two–hopefully that is still the case.  Maybe I’ll just avoid doing the bridge for a while….