1/12/2009 Bandera 50K Race Report

Zach and I had a fantastic weekend! The Hill Country State Natural Area was absolutely beautiful and robust with trees, cactus, yucca, and various wildlife. We got there around 2pm and found a good parking/camping place close to the main lodge aid station. We just slept in the back of the Xterra. At 4pm Friday afternoon we sent the kids off on the inaugural One Mile Kids Run! There were 11 participants of various ages and Zach broke the tape first! He was completely winded but stoked! They had really cool awards for the kids, kind of a pewter iguana with a plaquard saying Bandera Endurance Run 1st place! Very cool! After the race we had a delicious dinner catered by a local restaurant. Spaghetti and Tortellini plus a salad. Pretty tasty! After a brief prerace meeting Zach and I headed off to bed. We watched 10,000 BC on the portable DVD player and then crashed for the night. Around 4am a strong wind started blowing and would continue to wreak havoc all day. The temp for the day was in the 50's but felt cooler than that due to the wind. Anyway, the race started promptly at 7:30am and the 100K, 50K, and 25K runners would all head off in different directions. It was so nice to not have to fight the cattle chute. Ok, so, the first 10 miles of the 50K course were the toughest by far. There was a lot of climbing and neverending rocks. Apparently they don't believe in switchbacks down there either. If you came to a huge hill you just had to go straight up over the top and then dodge rocks on the way down the other side. At this point I was thankful for the small amount of time I devoted to getting on the elliptical at a higher setting. I got to chuckling when Chris, a 6'8" runner from San Antonio, asked me how I liked the scenery and I told him that all I could see was rocks and horse shit! You really did not want to take your eyes of the trail for a second due to all the rocks. After the first 10 miles it leveled off and most of the course was on nice soft dirt trails and some beautiful wooded paths. However, one mile from the 50K finish, Joe put in a monstrous uphill battle with loose rocks thrown in. I heard several people cursing his name. I told him such and he just said, "Good!" haha Overall an absolutely beautiful and diverse place to run in. The aid stations, as usual with Joe and Joyce's races, were well stocked and manned by fun, helpful people. They had everything you might need! I felt pretty good for the whole race, and never had any ITB issues which was amazing! Yay! I finished the race in 6:37. Not the fastest time but good enough to land me right square in the middle of the pack. I was pleased with my performance. After I finished I went back to the Xterra and had to use wet wipes for my shower. No running water at the park! That part sucked but c'est la vie. Hopefully no one saw me in the front seat. ha After I got "sparkling clean" I headed back to the Lodge aid station so I could help out for awhile with the 100K runners and so forth. Also, once again, I got to meet some amazing new friends and catch up with some older ones. I saw Chris Harrison from San Diego whom I ran with at Javelina. She was doing the 100K. Dan Brenden was there for the 100K as well. I also met Matt Crownover and his wonderful family. Apparently, Zach and Makenzie had met his kids at the Palo Duro Trail Run and become friends with them. The Crownover's and their friends, the Teaster's, invited Zach and I over to their camp site for Taco Soup after the race. It was delicious and I also got to drink a Shiner. So good after running! Matt ran the 100K and bested his PR by over 2 hours! Awesome! He felt like he really nailed his fueling that day. That makes a huge difference. I also got to meet a fellow Lubbock runner, Jeff Key. A great guy who I hope to get to know better here in Lubbock. He had some Land Shark beers and I snagged two of them off of him while we chilled out and talked. Next time I need to take a cooler of my own! ha Zach and I headed to bed around 9pm or so and I was wide awake by 3am because the air mattress we were sleeping on decided to deflate in the night and I was sleeping on the hard floor of the car. It was freezing cold and windy and I didn't want to have to get Zach out of the car and then freeze my ass off waiting for it to air up so I decided to go ahead and git on home. I got up and shoved a sleepy Zach into the front seat and we took off. ha I hated to miss the breakfast but we would have had to wait around for several more hours in the cold and I am a puss when it comes to cold. Anyway, we got home around 10am yesterday morning. I went to see Hunter, my massage therapist, yesterday afternoon and I feel pretty good today. So, all in all, I am very pleased with this race, the course, the people, and my performance! I will definitely be back next year!