This weekend was the annual Bandera Trail race.   I think this was my 9th year running the race and my 4th time going for the 100k distance.  I’ve completed the 100k twice before, dropping to 50k last year due to the mud.  This is also the same course that I attempted the 50 miler in October – that race I dropped due to the crazy rain.

There would be no excuses this year since the weather was beautiful.  The temperature ranged from 40 – 65 degrees and it was sunny all day.  Tracy came with a few of her rowing friends and signed up for the 25k.  She stayed at a ranch outside the park, while I slept in my car at the start line.

Tracy joined me in the truck prior to the race, so I got a kiss for luck.  The race has about 1000 people in total spread among the 25k, 50k, and 100k distances.    The 3 races start in different directions and my group had about 300 people in it.  The course is two 50k loops that cross 6 aid stations.  The course traverses a variety of cactus covered hills that are very rocky and steep.  I did the first loop in 6:15 and felt great.  I met Tracy and she told me that she ran a 2:56, 25k and won her age group.   After a short change of shirts, I headed out on the 2nd loop with my friend Mike pacing me.   We ended up running/hiking most of the 2nd loop with another guy, Boz.  We completed the 2nd loop just after 10pm putting our time at 14:48 – which is about 20 min slower than my fastest 100k.  Overall, it was a great day.

The pic on the left is one of the many fields of sotol cactus you mus run through.  The leaves are sharp and slice your legs.  The right picture is a typical climb of the many hills you the course goes over

On Wednesday of this week I flew to Leadville in advance of Saturday’s Leadville 100 Trail Race..  I wasn’t running this event, but I was pacing my friend Mike in it.

On Thursday, I was at the Mt Elbert trailhead by 5:30am and was on the summit of Mt Massive by 9:00am.  The wind was intense and I almost turned back since I had every piece of clothing I brought on and I was still freezing (see pic below).  I ran the 6 miles back to the car, refilled my water and set out up Mt Elbert.  My heart wasn’t in it and I didn’t want to face the wind again so I turned around at tree line.  I still got 20 miles and 7,000 ft of climbing in.

Friday was spent mainly on calls for work, but I did get to go to the runners briefing.  While most of the briefing consisted of corporate babble from the sponsors, there were some inspiring spots from the many multi-year finishers of the race.  On Saturday at 4am, Mike V set off.  I first saw him at mile 24 and he looked good and most importantly, was right on his goal card.  The Leadville race has a 30 hour cut off so it was a tough one for Mike to choose to be his first 100.   Mike also came in at 40 miles to the minute on his card.  The picture below is from this point which is followed by going over a 3,500 ft pass and then turning around and coming back.

When Mike got back, he had blown his goal times, and was only 2 minutes off the cut off time – which means that if he had come in 2 minutes later, they would have pulled him from the race.  He was cranky, he had let his nutrition go, and gave us the speech that all hundred milers have given on how there is no way he can run 40 more miles.  Since I was the next pacer, my response was that is great because we are going to walk the next 15.  Over the next 5 hours, Mike slowly got calories into his system while putting one foot in front of the other.  Most importantly he realized that he could do more than he thought he could do.  The pic below is Mike climbing a hill about mile 65 – head down, small steps, good posture, and moving forward…

I turned him over to Jamie at mile 75.  Jamie kept the pace up and turned him over to Dave for the home stretch at mile 86.  Mike promised me he’d run the finish so I don’t feel bad about showing the world how I reminded him.  In the end, Mike V is now the owner of a Leadville belt buckle and we are all very proud of him.  This afternoon he spoke about being one and done, but my guess is he’s looking for his next race within 2 weeks.

On Saturday, the 26th running of the Shadow of the Giants 50k was held in Fish Camp, CA.  It was the 4th time I had run the race.  Preston has run the 20k twice, but didn’t want to run this year so he hung around the start line and read his book for the morning.

The weather and course were beautiful for the eighty two 50k runners that started.  My official time was 4 minutes faster than the previous year which put me in the faster half of the runners.

This weekend was a 50 mile race in Southwest Texas.  It was run at a place called Camp Eagle.  The course was a 16.7 mile loop that was run 3 times.  Each loop had 1,700ft of climb but the worst part was that the entire day it drizzled and the temperature didn’t rise above freezing until late morning.

I was running with Mike, a friend of mine (pictured below).  This was Mike’s first 50 mile race and he did great.  We finished just over 12 hours, but given the weather, that was in the front half of the pack.

While the weather was poor, I’m sure my posts in a few months will complain of the heat.

The morning was as predicted, with a sheet of ice covering my truck .  The temperature was just below freezing so all the drizzle that came down turned instantly to ice. Miserable picture of me below at the start.

While the temperature was bearable, the sheet of ice covering the rocks was not a lot of fun to run on and I bit it several times in the beginning.  I ran the first 10 miles right on last years pace, but the weather warmed a few degrees and the trail turned into complete slop.  If I wasn’t sliding on the trail, my foot was stuck to it so my stride became a very short baby step.  It wasn’t fun and my pace was cut by about 25%.  The rain never really came down in sheets, but it drizzled on and off all day.  You can see the ice melting from the cactus prongs as the temperature rose.

The further I went, the more frustrated I got.  When I hit the halfway point at the start of the 2nd loop, I decided to have a beer, drive home, and sit in the spa…  so I only went 31 miles instead of 62 – there is always next year 🙂

It’s been a while since I posted so I’ll catch up on some of the things that have happened at the end of this post…

Mud seems to follow me at every race – tomorrow is the annual Bandera 100k and just like the Monster, the course will most likely be a wreck.  Not only is it supposed to rain this afternoon and all day tomorrow, it’s expected to be below freezing so I will also experience freezing rain and ice…   The weather report is not pretty:

The only positive thing is that I won’t have to worry about dehydration.  Last year, this event took me almost 14 and a half hours, this year, I expect the conditions will slow me down so I should finish right around the time the moon rises.  I talked to Preston and decided that it’s probably best he doesn’t run this year since I will be out on the course long after he finishes and he will be miserable waiting in the cold weather for me.  In past years, he was able to ride his bike around and hangout outside while waiting – definitely wouldn’t happen this year.

I was on this course in October for the 50 mile Cactus Rose.  I finished about 2 hours faster than the only other time I did the event, but the conditions were completely the opposite – a little too much heat and completely dry.  I didn’t bother making a video for the race, but here is a picture of me at the 5am start.

This spring and summer we had some major work done on the house.  All but one window and every external door was replaced.  We also had the front walkway tiled and the 1970’s rock replaced.  Lastly, the railing along the steps was replaced with the same type as I did the year previous.  A couple pictures are below.

Things are moving along at work and a few of my peers and myself were asked to be in a TX Monthly ad for our alma mater, Texas State University.  The picture below is a clip of it.  Stay tuned, I’ll post some pics or a video from the race – not sure if I will have the will to finish, but I will start.

The last Saturday in June, Preston and I ran the Capt’n Karl’s night race a Pedernales Falls State Park. For Texas, the conditions were moderate – starting temperature was just over 90 and with recent rain the course wasn’t a giant dust bowl. Preston finished 50^th out of 130 runners in the 10k and I finished in under 3 and a half hours making it my fastest 30k ever.

We took it easy on Friday and went on a couple of short hikes.  On the way from Oakhurst to Yosemite, we always pass a trailhead called the Lewis Creek trail.  After buying bug spray, we decided to give it a shot.  The trail drops several hundred feet to a large waterfall and pool.  The water was a little too cold to swim, but Preston and Tracy did their best to get close to the waterfall.

We hung out at the pool for an hour or so and then decided to drive to Nelder Grove. The grove is on the 50k course, but the 20k turns off before you get there so we thought it would be nice to visit. After a dusty ride up a long dirt road we finally got there. The grove is home to some of the giant Sequoias and Cedar trees. We walked through at a pace much slower than we normally do during the race and read all the posted information on the trees and the history of the area.

On Saturday, we got to the start line a little past 6am to find the parking lot almost filled. We got a spot relatively close and went to check-in. The place was bustling and the race director, Baz, was his normal cheerful self. The day couldn’t have been any better weather. Low 60’s to start with nothing but a cloudless sky.

Everybody had great times. Tracy was successful in finishing her first trailrace in almost two years. She ran the 20k in 2:12. Preston came in 12 minutes after her, beating his previous year’s time over 20 minutes. I finished an hour faster than last year, breaking my 50k personal record with a 5:43.

Last weekend was the annual Bandera Trail Race.  The race has options for 100k/50k/25k; there is even a 1m for kids.  This was the 7th time I ran this race and the 3rd time Preston ran it.   The race has gotten very large, this year almost 1000 people ran one of the events.  I ran the 100k and Preston ran the 25k.

Rather than write about it, I put together a 5 minute video of the day.