2019 Alamo City Ultra 50k

The Background

I went into the Alamo City Ultra 50k excited about running.  I had finished in the top half of the field at Habanero 100k two weeks earlier.  While it was a tough race, full of emotional and physical pain, the good performance energized me.

I got busy and did little running in the two week interim, three short runs.

Terri and I drove up to San Antonio Saturday.  We were tired so we just went to the hotel and watched Parts Unknown with Anthony Bourdain.

The Course

The Alamo City Ultra is a really cool course.  A 5.4 mile loop, the first mile and a half is steep climbs and descents, like Bandera.  Then follows some smooth trail to the aid station at 3 miles.  There is a short paved section, then you turn off into a soft, smooth trail.  Finally, it ends with the same steep climbs.

The Race

I started off pretty well and the first two loops were uneventful.

The third loop I started to feel fatigue.  Forgetting to bring my buff, I had no system for storing ice, and it was hot.  I also think I got a bit behind on calories.  Whatever the reason, I struggled through the rest of the race: weak, dizzy at times.  I struggled to keep up 20+ miles a mile hiking.

Rob checked on me at the end of the fourth loop and, seeing me still sweating, pronounced me ok.  By the end of the fifth loop, he again asked if I was okay and I said yes.  He remarked to others that its okay, I always look like this.  I said, "Yes!  I always look like crap.  Good race, bad race.  I finished in the top half of Habanero, looked bad the whole way."  We all laughed.  Rob is a great race director.

When I was hiking, I did feel very bad.  But I remembered the depression of a DNF and the satisfaction of a finish.

It wasn't all misery.  Towards the end, I chatted with a guy named Jose who was attempted to finish his first ultra.  I also talked briefly to a runner named Katy who was doing the 50k two days in a row.  Such stories inspire me.

I mixed in a bit of running on the last loop and finished.  Rob high fived me and asked how it was.  I said I felt bad today but a finish is always worth it.

Reflections

I finished way back at the end of the field.  Regardless, I'm proud I kept going.  I felt immense peace at the finish, like always.

So what happened?  Several possibilities:

• I got behind on calories.
• I got too hot because of a lack of ice.
• Maybe I haven't trained enough.  I've tried to use races as long runs and take it easy in between.  Maybe I'm undertrained.  But I ran well at Colorado Bend under a similar training schedule. 
• Maybe I just had a bad day.

The answer is probably a combination of all of the above.  I am not sure that I should train a lot harder, as I want to run a long time.  

I decided to sign up for the Rough Creek Marathon.  Two weeks before Arkansas, it will be a chance to assess where I am.  I missed running Rough Creek anyway, one of my favorite races.  I think I will run a 20 mile long run on the sidewalks to make sure of my fitness between now and then.

Thanks to Rob, Trail Racing Over Texas, and the volunteers for putting on a great race!