"If you want to practice running hills.."

During the pre-race meeting Saturday night the RD said "This is a great course...if you want to practice running hills".

OK. So maybe I should have thought this whole 6-hour race through a little better than I did. Maybe I should have been tipped off by the fact that it was a 6-hour race. Or maybe should have realized it wasn't called the 'Texas Hill Country' for nothing. Maybe I should have thought about the fact that I really haven't run much at all this summer save for a couple 30Ks and my feeble attempt at running two miles once a week for the last two weeks. Maybe. But that is just not how I roll. Instead I thought that I could easily run 25 miles any time I wanted. And maybe would even run more. So, Saturday night I set out for Pedernales State Park just happy as a clam to be running trails under the full moon as my gift to myself for my 33rd birthday.

At the pre-race meeting the RD announced that instead of allowing runners to head out for 4th lap at 12:30 (5.5 hours into the race) the cut-off would be changed to 11:30PM (4.5 hours into the race). I pretty much knew then I would not make a 4th lap and no chance to run 34 miles that night. But I was still prepared to do so if I somehow made the cut-off.

We headed out at 7PM for the first lap. Right away it was apparent that when he said it was going to be a hill practice he wasn't lying. I was glad to get to run a little in the light of the day so I could see the trail and get to experience what the park had to offer. Lot of hills (did I say that already?), lots of cedar trees, lots of loose gravel, lots of big rocks and lots of hills. It is really pretty out there. It started raining about 30 minutes into the run and raining hard about 15 minutes later. I decided not to stop at the first aid station (5 miles in and at the foot of this insane beast of a hill). At this point the ground was just soft enough to soak up the water and real cake to our shoes. I swear each of my shoes weighed 10 pounds. Grrrreat!

I made it through the first lap in 1:28. I knew there was really not going to be a chance to make the cut-off at that point. My impression of the first loop was 5 miles uphill followed by 3.5 miles downhill. Each lap we were to change directions. So the second lap should be easier right? Ha ha ha!!! I sipped a quick cup of Heed and headed out for the second easy lap.

It was still raining but now it was dark. I decided running in the dark is great because you can't see how big the hills are. I actually ran really good for those first 3.5 miles to the aid station. I felt great going up the hills. Strong. Ready for those next 5 miles of downhill. Grabbed a cup of gatorade at the water stop and headed out.

Apparently the laws of physics are voided out on the trail at night. Because all the downhills I was waiting for never came. Not sure how it is that we ran a 8.5 mile loop that was mostly uphill both ways. I thank Joe P for that. I think he has the power to change terrain to make things as tough as possible. By about 13 miles or so I was really getting tired. I thought I saw a bathroom which meant I was two miles out. Time was looking good actually. Then about 15 minutes later I really passed the bathroom. SHIT! I still had two miles to go. Did I mention anything about hills yet? 2 miles uphill.

Pulled into the aid station in 1:45 minutes. Had a cup of heed and 1/4th peanut butter jelly sandwich. Chatted for a bit about how bad it hurt then headed back out. I am not going to lie. By now I was really starting to hurt. I also had some issues with my belly - too many calories during the day or not enough during the race. Luckily there was that bathroom at 2 miles in. Took care of some business and got back on the trail. I realized about at this point that giving myself this present for a birthday is just nuts. If a friend gave me this for my birthday I would stop being their friend.

Then the coyotes started howling. FUCKING COYOTES HOWLING! Jeez. That pretty much put my nerves on edge and got me imagining what was waiting for me in the bushes that I surely could not longer outrun. I saw a light ahead, figured there was safety in numbers and started booking it. Finally caught him. But that little "sprint" took a lot out of me. When I got to the aid station I was about dead. Stayed there for a bit chatting with the aid station people. They offered to drive me back. I declined.

The last 3.5 miles sucked. There was a lot of walking up the hills and barely moving down hills. I sang a lot. Outloud. I chatted with a couple of the 12 hour runners. I hurt. I moaned and groaned a lot. And I hurt. The last mile I saw a light behind me. I thought it might be another female and I was not going to let her pass me. Apparently as dead as I was I still had that competitive fire in me. And I somehow picked it up. I kept thinking I would see the finish any minute. And it kept not being there. I pushed and pushed and finally saw the finish and ran it in. I heard steps behind me. It was a guy and he was sprinting to catch me. He finished 1 second behind me. I thanked him for pushing me at the end. I finished my last lap in 2:12. OUCH! I got second place out of the women - no cheers needed there were only 10 of us. Only one person made 4 laps, 8 of us made 3 laps.

So, there you have it. That is a really long write up. My legs hurt. And I ate like a pig all day yesterday. And I just ran 25.5 miles which is actually the third longest I have ever ran. 5:28 minutes.

Oh yeah....did I mention the hills?

Carry on.