2025 Brazos Bend 50k

The Background

Brazos Bend 50k was to be the first race where I switched over to 100-mile training.  Also, I was not scheduled for another race for 5 weeks after it.  

I had been racing for 4 weeks straight every weekend. So I just ran a couple of 5-milers over the 2 weeks after the last race.

There was a recall on my Coros watch, and a new Coros Apex 2 Pro arrived in the mail.

On the Friday before the race, James and I went to see the Rockets beat the Thunder.  I did not get to bed under 11pm for a 4am wakeup.

On Friday, I had a hard day at work.  I was worried because when my mind is troubled from work, I sometimes let that affect my race performance.

There was a cold front moving in.  The actual weather would not get cold, but there were storms scheduled.

The Race

Whoever made the playlist at the start had good taste: "Mr. Jones" by Counting Crows, "Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam, "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, "Streets of Philadelphia" by Bruce Springsteen. 

The Start

It was warm and humid, but sometimes a cool breeze would help. I headed out at high-11-minute miles, telling myself I should try for 100-mile pace.

A Few Miles In

After the first aid station, around 7 miles in, depression hit me.  All the work stress kicked in, and I felt overwhelmed.  I did not want to race anymore.  I slowly hiked a couple of miles.  I wanted to drop, not seeing how I could continue feeling so bad.  I am not usually capable of crying, but tears almost came.

I reached a road crossing.  Looking left, I knew I could hike back down the road to the start and drop. Straight ahead, I could cross the road and continue down the trail. I seriously considered dropping.  But I had never dropped a race this short from just lack of will. I had made a goal of no DNFs this year.  Plus, I knew that the depression would just continue if I got in my car.

I crossed the road. Remembering that at races like the Badger 100 I had snapped out of wooziness by running a mile or 2, I started running.  I kept repeating, "Run right now to keep the depression at bay."  It worked, and the depression lifted. 

Fighting the Depression

Nice, Smooth Trail Ahead

At this point, the trail was 3-miles out  to the Sawmill  Aid Station and 3 miles back.  I ran about 5.5 miles of that. At about 14.5 miles, I started hiking again, thinking I would do that for a mile to the start and save up energy for another push on the second loop. 

After crossing back over the road, I passed by the Nature Center Aid Station. I worried I was way off course, but they said I would just pass by the side of it and it was .5 miles to the start.  But that still meant that this loop would be 16.7 miles, 1.2 miles long.  I remembered how Cal had said the course branches off for 50 miles and 50k at some point, and I never saw those signs. At the start, I asked Cal at what point the course splits. He said .5 miles in.  I had followed the pack at the start, and many of us had missed the turn.  I said, "That's okay. It's my own fault."

After taking in some calories, I ran a couple of miles. It had started raining off and on by that point, but not too hard.   At mile 19, I started hiking again. I managed 14- or 15-minute miles on the smooth trails all the way through that same road crossing.  

Heading out to Sawmill Aid Station, I felt weak from lack of calories.  I had nothing left in my pack, so I slowed a bit, but not more than a few seconds per mile. It was hot and humid.

At the aid station, I drank a lot of coke and ate some Cheezits. One the way back, I hiked at a 16-minute pace, and threw in some bursts of running.

Crossing the road the final time, I remembered that I like that sore feeling in my legs after a race, so I ran for some stretches.  I saw a runner behind me, and I made it a point not to get passed.

My new watch was very accurate, and the 32.37 miles matched one long loop and one regular loop.

I finished in 7:47, 66th out of 112 (bottom 42%).

After the finish, I got my medal engraved for free. That was a nice bonus! 

On the Bus Back to the Nature Center

Luckily, I finished when I did, because by the time I started driving home it rained harder. 

Reflections

I was so thankful that I did not drop. The depression of a DNF would have been terrible.  Hopefully, I can use this experience when the temptation to drop happens again. I am proud I kept fighting to the end of the race.

Well, the Mohican 100 Mile is ahead.  I need to do some 20-mile training runs over the next 5 weeks.  Then, there will be the Wildflower 50k. 

At this pace, I would have banked 2:32 off of 32-hour pace for the Mohican 100. But this course was all flat and smooth, so I would have banked less at Mohican.

Thanks to God, Cal, the race organization, the volunteers, friends, Terri, James, Paloma, and all of my family for the support!