Cactus Rose 50 Miler
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| Upper McKinney Falls |
This was my first ultra in
Texas, my first ultra in graduate school and my first ultra since Leadville.
Needless to say I was anxious to hit the trails for the weekend. I feel that my
training for the race was solid, about 85 miles per week with about 40% trails.
It was a drastic change going from a job at Rocky Mountain National Park to a
Physical Therapy school in Austin, Texas and I was worried running might have a
hiatus. However, I still had plenty of time to grind out the miles in the Texas
heat.
I found several great
trails in Austin including McKinney Falls, Barton Creek, and Onion Creek Park
and some old country roads that reminded me of farm town life back in Tiffin,
Ohio. I thought I could run a personal best for the 50-mile distance since a
course in Texas could not even compare in difficulty to the courses I ran in
Colorado. However, after the sun came up on the course that I was running I
realized that this was not at all the case.
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| Padre Island North Beach |
I got in a taper week and
was able to do some miles on the beach at Padre Island with Apryle. It was a
great opportunity to explore more of the state and get in some relaxing miles.
I had a couple of tests race week that forced me to study long hours and
luckily kept me from running too many miles as I inevitable do race week. As a
result I was feeling well rested and after getting off work at 9pm on Friday I
traveled to Hill Country State Natural Area.
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After a restful 4-hour
nights sleep in my pop up tent outside my car I toed the line for the race
somewhere in the middle of the pack. This was a mistake, should have started at
the front after spending some time weaving around the main pack. After breaking
free I saw a few other head lamps every now and again but essentially I was by
myself, a drastic change from Turquoise Lake… It was relatively flat but very
technical terrain and I was tripping and stumbling all over the course. The
trail was tough enough during the day but at night I having even more
difficulties.
The sun rose around mile
17, right as I entered the sotol and I caught my first glimpse of where I was
running. It was surreal; I almost could have mistaken it for the foothills in
Colorado. It was great to see some undulating landscape again but then I
realized that I would not be running a pr today. I kept plugging and made the
half way point in 3:55; 20 minutes slower than my first 25 at Collegiate Peaks
in May. I was still hopeful that I could maybe even split the race.
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| Apryle sporting the buckle |
I will say this was the
best that I have done in race in regards to staying hydrated and nourished. I
must have filled my 2-liter camelback 6 times and ate about 3500 calories. I
kept remembering back to Apryle handing me trail mix every 5 minutes on Hope
Pass and tried to duplicate that with myself. I feel that this was difference
between running the last 10 as opposed to walking it in.
I did not even spilt but I
did manage to keep it relatively close coming through the next 25 in 4:31:26.
This brought my overall time to 8:26:26; about 58 seconds slower than my 50 in
Buena Vista earlier this year. However, I feel that this course was
significantly more difficult than the Collegiate Peaks 50. The elevation gain
seemed comparable (3600 CR 2500 CP) but the technicality of Cactus Rose made it
much more strenuous. I finished the day in fourth, my best 50-mile place, a win
in the ultra circuit continues to allude me.
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| Near Boyle Aid Station |
The course was very well
marked and for being a self-sustaining race the aid stations far surpassed my
expectations. I believe the route chosen was an excellent way to highlight the
landscape. The course did an excellent job of tearing up my legs with the cacti
and the rocks did an exceptional job of rolling my ankles. It was an
interesting course and made me work for every inch and I would not have it any
other way. If I were going to be in Texas next year I would sign up for this
one again, but hopefully clinical rotations will take me back to Colorado.
