2022 Jackalope Jam 48hr - 100k

The Background

In planning my race season, I may have been a bit overly enthusiastic signing up for a 48hr race in between Rocky Raccoon 100k and J&J 101mile.  Suddenly, race morning was here and I felt unprepared.  I had been super busy at work, and had worked all weekend previously at the TCTELA conference.  After teaching my class Thursday night, I went to bed without even packing.  When I packed race morning, I forgot essentials like pillows and blankets for the tent; I had to go to the store to buy Band-aids. Long story short, I was not mentally ready.

The Race

At 7IL ranch, Jackalope Jam is a  1.5-mile out and back on easy trail, the turnaround being the Cone of Death.

It was cold, windy, and later rainy.  On the "out" section there was a headwind.  I called it the "vile wind," remembering the first paragraph of George Orwell's 1984.

I ran the first 10 miles at a good pace.

By 15 miles, I was in a bad place.  I felt mentally exhausted - mainly from working so many days straight.  I went to my car and sat, dozing for maybe 50 minutes.  Almost set to drop, I looked at the folks at the aid station on the way back and decided to head out again.

I rebounded, pushing on, telling myself at least make it to marathon. Then I said, make it to 50k; that way you could finish half today, half tomorrow for 100k.  By 50k, I was still feeling good, so I made it to 42 miles.  I had been fueled by sliders at the aid stations.  After sitting at the aid at 42, I got the chills and decided to rest for the night.

I was so disorganized that I had left the tent open; rain had entered.  My mattress was deflated.  I pumped it up as much as I could, but by 2am or so I was sleeping on the ground.  I got up and went to my car and slept more, starting again at 6am.

I had 21 miles to go to make it to 100k.  I mixed in running with hiking.  It started to rain for real towards the end. I finished up the 100k after 27 hours and change.

Fighting the Wind

The Cone of Death

Reflections

I had hoped for 100 miles at this race, but made the B goal of 100k.  My thinking was that with a 101 miler coming up, it was better to save the mental and physical energy for the final race of the season.

The conditions were really unpleasant.  That, combined, with my mental state, made making it to 100k at least respectable.  I'm glad I plodded on and finished that.

I might need to pare down my race schedule a bit.  For example, I want to do both Snowdrop 55hr and Bandera 100k one week apart - obviously not wise.  May have to make a tough choice and cut Snowdrop.

I decided to buy a camping mat the rolls up to use instead of my inflatable one so I don't have to mess with that.

Coming up, I have J&Js 101 miler with a worse problem: I have to teach until at least 7pm then drive to Rocksprings.  I'll get there after midnight.  Hopefully, I can set up my tent rather quickly and get some sleep by 1am; maybe get 5 hours sleep before the 7am start. I need to have everything ready by the night before for that.