I took a couple months off running after the last season. Summer came, and I enjoyed spending extra time with the kids and watching classic movies. Returning to training, I built up to six mile runs. I trained a few times with a friend of mine, Luke.
The Muleshoe Bend 60k was to be my first race of the new season. This would hopefully be my 5th finish of the race - a record for me (second best is Rough Creek with 4 finishes).
I drove up, visited Half Price Books, got a Thundercloud Sub, and had Amy's Ice Cream.
The Race
It was hot, humid, and still the whole race. I always forget how the rocky the race is. 3 sections per 9 mile loop, and in the middle there's some smooth, runnable stuff.
In the first loop, I began to feel some depression and anxiety. I didn't want to run, but I didn't want to DNF at Muleshoe, which has always been a good race for me.
I decided to be conservative, hiking more and running less than I could have. Pushing on, I rebounded but never felt great.
I did run some bits, which was good, because when I reached the final loop I realized I'd be close to the final cutoff of 12 hours. Seeing a great runner I know, Agatha, lifted my spirits.
I ended up finishing in the back of the pack with 45 minutes to spare.
Reflections
I don't know if there is anything to learn from this race, other than that sometimes I'm not mentally there and I'm glad I didn't give up. Physically, I was not in bad shape.
Throughout the race, I debated whether I should run the Badger 100 in two weeks. Looking at the results, I ran at an 18-minute pace. I need a 19-minute pace at Badger. Muleshoe is a much tougher course; Badger is longer. I figured it would be a gamble but there are a lot of factors saying I can finish. For example, I ran Rocky Raccoon 100k this year in 17 hours and change. Doing that again (and Rocky is tougher than the Badger) would give me 15 hours to finish the last 60k in the time I need to make it to the airport.
I felt good that I finished Muleshoe so I decided to go for the Badger.
