When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don't adjust the goals, adjust the action steps. -Confucius
Two
straight years of traveling to Bandera, Texas and two straight DNF’s (Did Not
Finish) at the Cactus Rose 100 Mile Trail Run had left me with a nasty felling
of frustration. After last year’s 2nd DNF at the race, I questioned
myself as to why I had even picked up trail running and put myself through running
such long distances. It took me several weeks before I was able to enjoy
running again and remember what draws me to this sport: the self-exploration,
the time alone in nature, the trail running community, and the general ebb and
flow of success and defeat in running and racing.
In
late January, I made the decision to tackle the Cactus Rose 100 again in 2014,
and I put together a 10 month training plan specifically for the race. I had
been less rigorous in my training plans the previous two years. I gave myself
several smaller goals throughout the year as benchmarks to work towards, but my
main focus in training was always the Cactus Rose 100. I ran quite a few races
throughout the year, all geared more as glorified long training runs which, along
with my training, allowed me to get in five 40-52 mile long runs and over twenty 20-35 mile
long runs in the 10 months leading up to Cactus Rose. I had built up the endurance,
now it was time to execute on race day.
Friday,
the day before race day came, and Carl and I made our annual trek down to the
Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera. Carl had served as my sole crew the
two previous years and had sign up to do it again this year. We made it to the
race site in great time (no traffic despite driving on I-35 through Ft Worth,
Waco, and Austin!!!), and were able to get an excellent camping spot in the
shade next to the start/finish line. The shade was a great bonus, as it was
going to be HOT this year at the race. The Cactus Rose's course is a 4 X 25 mile looped
course and it is a self-supported race, meaning that I had to bring everything,
besides ice and water, that I would need during the race. The folks at Tejas
Trails put up five tents with water and ice throughout the 25 mile course, and
each runner has to leave their own stuff at each spot the day before. I really
enjoy this type of race, as I usually already just bring my own food and drinks
to races anyways. The past two years I had left a large variety of food and
drinks at each aid station, but this year I kept it very simple. At every
station I left: coconut water, Vega electrolyte mix, fig jam/almond butter
sandwiches, Larabars, canned soup at the start/finish turn around, fruit
(bananas, pluots, and dates), apple/ginger juice, and caffeine (either yerba
mate or canned espresso). Seems like a lot when I write it all out, but still
was much less than the two previous year.
The night before the race I was so nervous
that I had trouble getting much sleep. 5am Saturday came soon, and the race was
on its way. I position myself closer to the start of the pack than I normally
do, as the race course becomes a single track trail early on, getting congested
fast, and I wanted to run fast in the cooler weather before the sun came up.
The first loop went by quickly, my split time was around 4:50, with me only
stopping twice to refill my water bottles. I was seeing some of the faster,
more successful, Texas trail runners not too far in front of me throughout the
loop, so I know I was moving at a good pace. I grab a can of Amy’s No Chicken
Noodle soup, dropped off my head lamp, and took off onto the second loop. I hadn't ever tried eating soup during a race before, but it had sounded good. In hind sight I wish I wouldn't have, because for the next 2-3
hours I kept slightly regurgitating it, leaving a nasty taste in my mouth.
Other than that, I was doing a good job of taking in enough calories and water
and feeling great.
About midway through the 2nd
loop the sun and heat started to make themselves be felt. I came into the turn
around, mile 50, around 3:10pm, for a lap time of 5:20. I was slightly
dehydrated but feeling good overall. I changed socks and shirt, drank a lot of
plain water (I had had too much coconut water and electrolyte mix and not
enough water) and took off again. The next big climb came around mile 58 and for
the first time during the race, I was feeling low. My whole body ached, my
knees and low back felt stiff, and my mood was just blah. I knew my calories
and water intake were good, and that this low was mental not physical so I forced
myself to push through it. It took about an hour and several spontaneous loud
yells to work myself through the low point. After working through it, that
low point became really the only prolonged low of the whole race. The sun went
down on me around mile 65, and the cooler temps help to put an extra spring in
my legs.
I finished the third loop, 75 total
miles, right at 9pm, a loop time around 5:40, and was really looking forward to
picking up Carl who was planning on pacing me for the last 25 miles. Carl was
asleep when I got, and wasn't feeling too good. He had eaten some leftovers
that weren't sitting too well with him, but with a little nagging on my part, he decided
to at least run the next 10 miles with me. I hadn't really talked with anyone
throughout the whole day, and was happy to have someone to have a conversation with. We stopped
at mile 80 at the first aid station on the loop and spent a little too much
time getting our stuff together. We were there for maybe 10 minutes total, not
too long, but certainly my longest stop of the day. The next 5ish mile included
several steep technical climbs, giving Carl a good taste for the course. I was
still able to power hike the ups, and keep a good pace on the down hills. I was
moving so well on the down hills, that I was having to wait on Carl to catch
back up to me at several points (sorry Carl, but that was a massive ego boost
for me).
We
arrived at the next the aid-station, Equestrian, and I grabbed a yerba mate and
sandwich, and took off alone. We had decided that Carl was going to wait for me
to loop back around where he was than going to run the last 5 mile with me.
During the next 10 miles, the temperature dropped, and I had to keep running to
stay warm. Not a bad motivation to move fast. When I got back to Equestrian, I
learnt that the colder temperature had forced Carl to get a ride back to the
start/finish and into warmer clothes, so I was off on my own for the last 5
miles towards the finish line. Those 5 miles went by with me caught in a
mixture of exhilaration and anxiety that something might happen to me so close
to the finish.
Finally
at 3:54am, I made it back to the finish line, finishing the Cactus Rose 100
Mile Trail Run in 22:54:26. Joyce Prusaitis was there to hand me my finisher buckle
and force me to sit down next to a heater. While warming up, I learnt I had finished
in 2nd place overall (I knew I was near the front, but didn't know
my exact position the whole race) and was handed a large hand-made metal cactus rose as my trophy. I can’t explain how great it felt to be sitting next to that
heater, at 4 o’clock in the middle of night, knowing that on my third attempt, I
had finally finished this race. I preceded by celebrating the best I knew how
to: going to sleep.
Thank
you so much to the people at Tejas Trails for putting on this event and
allowing us runners to test ourselves on such an amazing course. Also huge
thanks to Carl for crewing for me, and tolerating me talking about this race
for over 3 years. I've got at least 3 more ultras lined up for this year, but
none can match the sense of accomplishment of this race.
