After DNFing at Cactus Rose 100 in October, I needed to
recharge my mental running energy. After
healing the Achilles, I put in some good performances by my standards at the
Team Red White and Blue 10k and Soler’s Sports 50k.
Back in the swing of things, I decided to use the holiday
vacation to get in some time on feet.
The biggest training week I’d
ever logged was 100 miles. With a combination of road, trail, and Stairmaster,
I managed to log 110 miles in seven days, a couple of weeks before Bandera.As my wife and I arrived to set up our tent in the Hill Country State Natural Area, I was confident in my fitness but not in my mental preparedness. I had been back to work as an assistant principal of my school for a week, and the craziness of the beginning of the semester had left me little time to think about the race. I worried that this, combined with the fact that I’d been racing since June, would leave me unfocused.
The Course
Bandera throws rocky trails,
razor-sharp sotol, and steep climbs at the runners. The first five miles feature Sky Island and
Ice Cream Hill to the Nachos aid station.
For about ten miles, through Chapas aid and the first stop at
Crossroads, it’s mostly flat trails.
Heading out from Crossroads for a five mile roundtrip it's mostly runnable, with the Three Sisters
hills in between. The last nine miles
feature a lot of climbing with Lucky’s
Peak, Cairn’s Climb, and Boyles Bump in succession.
The Race
The first five miles or so were fine until I fell down the
hill. I was descending the backside of
Ice Cream Hill and made the mistake of trying to go around a runner,
hopping down a step and skidding on my knees and hands. With blood streaming down my legs, I started
to run again and luckily my ankles and knees were still working. I debated stopping at the next aid station
for bandaids but ended up just rinsing
the wounds off with my water bottle.
From the Nachos aid to Crossroads there’s about ten miles of
flat, smoother trail. Flatter stuff is a
challenge for me because I prefer the hills to break things up, and I went into
a mental low point about ten miles in. I asked myself why I do these crazy
races. Wouldn’t I be happier just running
an hour a day and reading books? I told
myself this was the last race of the season; no way I’d be doing Rocky Raccoon
in three weeks.
Since I was in bad mental shape, I decided to focus on
taking care of myself and getting through the first 50k loop. No way did I need to pile going
out too fast on top of this mental low. I
jogged very slowly through the flat sections, hoping to conserve myself for the
second loop.
I managed to rebound through the Lucky’s Peak, Cairn’s
Climb, and Boyle’s Bump and started to feel confident and engaged again. Finishing the first loop in seven hours
exactly and not feeling tired, I thought there was a slim shot of beating my
time of 14:17 last year.
Sky Island and Ice Cream Hill tired me out though. I told myself to run the flats, however
slowly, through Crossroads, which I did. The weather,
which had been perfect all day, got slightly hotter. Nothing compared to the 96 degrees of Rough
Creek in September, but I could feel the sun on my face. As I headed into the Chapas aid my water
bottle ran out and I started to get dehydrated.
I focused on chugging coke and water at the aid stations until the sun
went down.
At Crossroads, I dug my long sleeve shirt and gloves out of
my pack as the cold set in. However, the
time spent standing still at the aid gave me the chills. After jogging for a mile to warm up my body
temperature I began walking. With
roughly a half marathon to go, I hit another low, again mental more than physical. I didn’t want to run until midnight, didn’t
want to race anymore. Finally with a mile before the return to Crossroads I got
sick of the 20+ minute a mile pace and started running again, just wanting to
be done with this thing.When I reached Crossroads, it was 8:30. Suddenly I realized that with nine miles to go, I had three hours to finish the race in Western States qualifying time, sixteen hours. Energized, I ran everything runnable for a final push.
Coming down the steep downhill of Sky Island in the dark, I fell again, this time only scraping my forearm a bit. Again, still able to run.
Despite running all I could, I knew it would be close to get in under sixteen hours with Cairn’s Climb and Boyle’s Bump ahead. The same as last year, running atop the plateau of Boyle’s, it seemed like the drop to the finish would never come. Finally, I plunged through the darkness towards the lights of the lodge on the horizon. I crossed the line in 15:27.
In the car after the finish
Awesome buckle!
Reflections
After the race, I felt revitalized about running again. Yes, I ran 1:10 slower than last year, but
in the previous race everything had clicked. This one
was more of a test of will, and I felt proud that I’d pushed to get the 2015
Western States qualifier. As always, the
despair of race lows fades with the glow of a finish, and by the drive home I
was already excited about Rocky Raccoon 100.
Concerning my race strategy, I think if I had a shot of
beating my time from 2013, I’d need to have finished the first loop in 6:30 or
faster. Even if I’m running very
comfortably, even splits in an ultra are too much to hope for. Since my mental state was messed up, it was
the right move to run conservatively, but if I have a time goal for Bandera
2015 I should bear this in mind.
I do think I raced too much this season. The temptation is to keep chasing the high of
the finish line again and again until one burns out.
Thanks to Joy, Joyce and the great volunteers for another great race!
