While
things came together for an incredible experience at this year’s Cactus Rose
100 Mile Trail Run, things fell apart for me after the race. The “amazing” camp
site we had at the Hill Country State Natural Area in Bandera, turned out to be
surrounded by poison ivy causing me to have the worst outbreak I have ever have. I have
had poison ivy several times before (I spent my summers in college working at a
camp grounds, where I often weed-eated poison ivy while wearing shorts) but
nothing compares to what I had for the 5 days after Cactus Rose. I exacerbated
the problem by swimming in a chlorinated pool Monday morning after the race
helping to spread the poison ivy over my whole body. I probably got a total of
8 hours of sleep from Monday through Saturday the week following the race, as
the constant itchy kept me up all night. By Wednesday and Thursday, I would
catch myself at work just staring at a computer screen or off into space in a
sleep-deprivation/Benadryl haze. While I was able to keep my running streak
(currently at day 336) going by still running 2 miles every day, my body did not get anywhere near enough rest to fully recover from the race.
And
in order to keep the theme going of “what not to do in order to recover from a
hard run,” I decided to go ahead and run the Rockledge Rumble 50km two weeks
after Cactus Rose. The race takes place on the DOBRA trail system at Lake Grapevine,
and had not been on my list of races to run this year until I was offered a free
race entry. I mean, I couldn’t turn down a free race entry. My friend Carl had registered
for the race as well, so my plan going into the race was to just run with him
the whole day and turn it into more of a fun, long run with some aid stations
set up for us.
Race
morning came, and after getting lost several times on our way to the race (you
can’t always trust Map Quest) we arrived at the race site about 10 minutes
before the race was to start. After a very quick dash to pick up our bibs and
get our shoes on and water bottles ready, we were off. Maybe 10 minutes into
the race and I was already regretting it. My legs were shot. My breathing was
heavy. My back ached. It was going to be a long day. Luckily for me, I was able
to keep up with and run with Carl who was not afraid to poke fun at me anytime I
started to complain. Often, whenever I vocalize a feeling or thought, I give it
more energy, more intensity, I make that feeling or thought more “real,” so
having someone there who was not buying into my complaining helped me out a lot early
on in the race. Still though, I felt like crap.
The
race was a 21 mile loop, following by a 10+ mile loop. I was able to keep up
with Carl for the first 18 miles but finally had to tell him to go on. I was
done. I was going to just walk the next few miles and pull out at the 21 mile turn
around. With some reluctance, Carl agreed and took off leaving me alone to wallow
in my self-pity for the next 3 miles. During those 3 miles, I started thinking
back to last year when I had DNF far too many races, and the nasty feeling that
they had left. I still was able to walk, why not just walk those last 10 extra
miles as well. A slow, slow finish time was still much better than a DNF. I bet
I could power walk fast enough to bet the cut-off times. So instead of dropping
out at the 21 mile turn around, I decided to head back out for what I thought
would be a long solo 10 mile hike.
About
a mile after starting the last 10 mile loop, I was already tired of
walking. So I started to “run.” I may have been moving slower than a heard of
turtles walking on peanut butter, but I was “running.” I planned on running for
3 minutes, than walking for 1 minute, but walking felt worse than running. That,
couple with the realization that running would get me done and off of my feet
faster, kept me running instead of walking. I guess I was moving pretty well,
because about a mile from the finish line, I caught back up to a very surprised Carl.
He hadn’t expected to see me again during the race. That’s when my “racing”
mode kicked back in, and Carl and I took off for the finish line. We may have
been over 2 hours behind the winner of the race, but you wouldn’t have known
that from watching the two of us race towards the finish, our only goal being
to beat the other one. The finish line sits at the top of a staircase leading
into a pavilion, and we were running at a dead sprint (again “sprint” being relative
here) up the stairs. We both crossed the finish line to the cheers and
laughter of those still waiting around the finish line. After catching my
breath and getting some water, I headed over to the results table to see which
one of us beat the other, only to see that we had finished in a tie. Yep, both
of our timing chips had crossed the finish line in 6:30:18. But I did put my arm
out, so a photo finish would have shown that I crossed the line first. I’m just
saying :)
My
plan for the next few weeks, is to focus on recovery. I have the Isle du Bois
55km on December 6, and the Brazos Bend 100 Mile the following weekend of December
13-14. I have big hopes for the Brazos Bend 100 Mile, so going into December
healthy and strong is of utmost importance for me. Also, the Texas Trail Running Championship
is coming to end, and I have put myself in a good position to make a strong
push at the end of the year with both of these races.
