To echo 00 - really good stuff and way to extract the positives. That course if infamous for the sand - just a calf and morale killer and facilitator of many a blister. And very very respectable time as well! Some runners have a pretty visceral reaction to Brazos Bend due to lack of elevation, lack of tree canopy, hard flat surface, usually very humid regardless of what time of the year it is, etc. but I would take that over ankle deep sand. Good job!
****2024 Trail and Ultra Running****
52,036 Views |
706 Replies |
Last: 7 hrs ago by aggiespartan
Congrats! I was there supporting a friend who completed her first 100-Miler. Despite the last minute location change, things seemed to go really smoothly.
I've been a pacer at the 7IL before (Habanero) and that course is not fun.
I've been a pacer at the 7IL before (Habanero) and that course is not fun.
Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screw-up.
now registered for Bandera 50K.
Packet officially picked up!
#1034
#1034
i won't pick up until sun morning, so no clue what my # will be. Guessing whatever they pick out of the stack of bibs.
still not sure what shoes i'm wearing. I'll be there solo, so whatever I start with I have to deal with for the duration.
still not sure what shoes i'm wearing. I'll be there solo, so whatever I start with I have to deal with for the duration.
I'll probably be picking up my bib Saturday morning. Kind of starting to freak out a little bit and question everything.
then everything is normal.aggiespartan said:
I'll probably be picking up my bib Saturday morning. Kind of starting to freak out a little bit and question everything.
aggiespartan said:
I'll probably be picking up my bib Saturday morning. Kind of starting to freak out a little bit and question everything.
Me too! It got real this week for me. I'm planning on picking up my packet Friday evening and catching the pre race briefing.
Good luck everyone.
Sunday at Bandera could be interesting depending on when this cold front comes though. Right now, we'll probably be done before it hits, but if it shifts earlier, it could get interesting.
Running the 25K and picking up Sunday morning. Barring something completely catastrophic, I should be done well before the winds starts shifting...
Feel bad for the course workers as the chance for snow, wintry mix, etc keeps increasing and arriving earlier...
Kinda like breaking down RR50 a couple years ago before Snowmaggedon.
Feel bad for the course workers as the chance for snow, wintry mix, etc keeps increasing and arriving earlier...
Kinda like breaking down RR50 a couple years ago before Snowmaggedon.
what time is it supposed to roll through?
right now, looking like evening, but it was originally predicted for mon/tues. trending earlier every update I've seen.
high of 60, low of 17.
high of 60, low of 17.
It's looking a little rough for getting back to DFW on Sunday.
It's go time!
Good luck everyone!
Good luck everyone!
Finished the 50k in 07:57:15. Over an hour faster than I was expecting. After liver surgery 7 months ago, and a sprained ankle last month, and very little training- I am beyond happy with the result.
Nice job! Forgot there was a 50k today. How'd the ankle feel?
I can't sleep, so I'll do my race report.
Bandera 100k - It Wasn't My Day
I finished my first 50k at 8:02. I thought that was pretty good considering everything that happened, but it didn't come without a price in loop 2.
My first fall was at mile 9. Luckily there were two guys behind me that asked if I was ok and if I needed anything. I told them I was ok and that I just needed a hand. They offered two. If they hadn't been there, I probably would have stayed there for a while. I fell on a slight downhill on a bed of rock. It hurt. Would not recommend. Apparently I forgot about it quickly, because I did it 3 more times. I have no skin on one knee, and I can't tell what's sore and what's bruised. At some point, some dust got in my eye, and I couldn't do anything to get it out. I tried everything, but I ran the end of loop one and all of loop two with blurry vision in one eye.
I had a mental breakdown at mile 20 for no reason. I just kept telling myself that I was tougher than the course. Everything hurt from the falls, and I wanted to quit, but I didn't. One girl I did some miles with ended up DNF just because she wasn't going to make the 17 hour cutoff. That annoyed me, and I knew I had to finish.
I power hiked the entire second loop. I shuffled maybe 20 feet, but nothing was working right. I still maintained a decent pace and managed to finish at 18:55.
I have no skin on one knee, my legs and hands are skinned up, I can't bend one foot (I have no idea what that's about), I'm coughing from all the dust I inhaled, I have at least two blisters that I'm afraid to look at, I can't stay warm, and I have no idea how I'm going to drive back to Dallas, but I got the f'ing buckle.
Bandera 100k - It Wasn't My Day
I finished my first 50k at 8:02. I thought that was pretty good considering everything that happened, but it didn't come without a price in loop 2.
My first fall was at mile 9. Luckily there were two guys behind me that asked if I was ok and if I needed anything. I told them I was ok and that I just needed a hand. They offered two. If they hadn't been there, I probably would have stayed there for a while. I fell on a slight downhill on a bed of rock. It hurt. Would not recommend. Apparently I forgot about it quickly, because I did it 3 more times. I have no skin on one knee, and I can't tell what's sore and what's bruised. At some point, some dust got in my eye, and I couldn't do anything to get it out. I tried everything, but I ran the end of loop one and all of loop two with blurry vision in one eye.
I had a mental breakdown at mile 20 for no reason. I just kept telling myself that I was tougher than the course. Everything hurt from the falls, and I wanted to quit, but I didn't. One girl I did some miles with ended up DNF just because she wasn't going to make the 17 hour cutoff. That annoyed me, and I knew I had to finish.
I power hiked the entire second loop. I shuffled maybe 20 feet, but nothing was working right. I still maintained a decent pace and managed to finish at 18:55.
I have no skin on one knee, my legs and hands are skinned up, I can't bend one foot (I have no idea what that's about), I'm coughing from all the dust I inhaled, I have at least two blisters that I'm afraid to look at, I can't stay warm, and I have no idea how I'm going to drive back to Dallas, but I got the f'ing buckle.
congrats! and way to tough it out!
I also have a big welt on my head from my headlamp. That's pretty fun.
Way to kick ass! Did you start on time? I was looking for you on the course and thought I said hi towards the end of my loop.
I wore my most hardcore brace and barely had any wiggle. It's a little sore just due to the repeated striking on that foot. The only issue I had was that when my feet started swelling, the brace cut off circulation in my foot. So, my left toes are kinda numb now. Hoping that goes away in a few days.
Yea I started at 7:30. I had a unicorn hat on. I probably looked like I was dying
Yup! That was for sure you!
Way to stick with it and push through to the end. You definitely earned that buckle.aggiespartan said:
I can't sleep, so I'll do my race report.
Bandera 100k - It Wasn't My Day
I finished my first 50k at 8:02. I thought that was pretty good considering everything that happened, but it didn't come without a price in loop 2.
My first fall was at mile 9. Luckily there were two guys behind me that asked if I was ok and if I needed anything. I told them I was ok and that I just needed a hand. They offered two. If they hadn't been there, I probably would have stayed there for a while. I fell on a slight downhill on a bed of rock. It hurt. Would not recommend. Apparently I forgot about it quickly, because I did it 3 more times. I have no skin on one knee, and I can't tell what's sore and what's bruised. At some point, some dust got in my eye, and I couldn't do anything to get it out. I tried everything, but I ran the end of loop one and all of loop two with blurry vision in one eye.
I had a mental breakdown at mile 20 for no reason. I just kept telling myself that I was tougher than the course. Everything hurt from the falls, and I wanted to quit, but I didn't. One girl I did some miles with ended up DNF just because she wasn't going to make the 17 hour cutoff. That annoyed me, and I knew I had to finish.
I power hiked the entire second loop. I shuffled maybe 20 feet, but nothing was working right. I still maintained a decent pace and managed to finish at 18:55.
I have no skin on one knee, my legs and hands are skinned up, I can't bend one foot (I have no idea what that's about), I'm coughing from all the dust I inhaled, I have at least two blisters that I'm afraid to look at, I can't stay warm, and I have no idea how I'm going to drive back to Dallas, but I got the f'ing buckle.
I'll attempt my 100k race report...
Did packet pickup on Friday evening after checking into my airbnb in Bandera. Listened to 5-10 minutes of the RD talking up all of the sponsors so I decided that was enough. Other than getting a better idea of where the place was, start/finish line was, and parking, I probably should have just picked up my packet race morning.
Race started dang cold (to me) but I would always rather be hot than cold while running. Had many layers that I was shedding as the miles went by. Overall the weather turned out to be quite nice.
Mile 7 was my first incident. I rolled my ankle. Not enough to take me out, but enough to add some pain to the equation for the rest of the race.
I had to tend to hot spots and blisters forming on my feet that I typically don't have to deal with. This was my fault. I was using my trail shoes that were on their last leg, used socks that were worn out on the heels, and wasn't tying my shoes tight enough. I stopped twice to add bandaids and more KT tape.
My biggest mistake had to do with headlamps. My plan was to keep my primary headlamp in my pack the entire race and pick up my backup later. I didn't keep good enough track of which bag it was in and ended up leaving it at the start/finish line while thinking it was in my drop bag out on the course. I was so worried about my battery dying that I kept it on the lowest setting basically the entire way. It was so hard to see all the rocks.
My first loop was 7hrs. My second loop was 9hrs. Way more hiking and slow going the second time. Total time 15hr 58min. Earned my first buckle.
Did packet pickup on Friday evening after checking into my airbnb in Bandera. Listened to 5-10 minutes of the RD talking up all of the sponsors so I decided that was enough. Other than getting a better idea of where the place was, start/finish line was, and parking, I probably should have just picked up my packet race morning.
Race started dang cold (to me) but I would always rather be hot than cold while running. Had many layers that I was shedding as the miles went by. Overall the weather turned out to be quite nice.
Mile 7 was my first incident. I rolled my ankle. Not enough to take me out, but enough to add some pain to the equation for the rest of the race.
I had to tend to hot spots and blisters forming on my feet that I typically don't have to deal with. This was my fault. I was using my trail shoes that were on their last leg, used socks that were worn out on the heels, and wasn't tying my shoes tight enough. I stopped twice to add bandaids and more KT tape.
My biggest mistake had to do with headlamps. My plan was to keep my primary headlamp in my pack the entire race and pick up my backup later. I didn't keep good enough track of which bag it was in and ended up leaving it at the start/finish line while thinking it was in my drop bag out on the course. I was so worried about my battery dying that I kept it on the lowest setting basically the entire way. It was so hard to see all the rocks.
My first loop was 7hrs. My second loop was 9hrs. Way more hiking and slow going the second time. Total time 15hr 58min. Earned my first buckle.
Finished the 50k today. I don't know if it ever got above freezing today. Had a decent day, despite leaving all my nutrition and water bottles in Austin. I fell between miles 19 and 20, which slowed me down for a while, but pain subsided and was able to run again. Knee is pretty swollen, but I think it'll be ok. Finished in 6:16:30.
I'm moving a little bette today, but my knee is still sore. Hope everybody's recovery is going well. Still haven't gotten great sleep, but hopefully tonight will be better.
I thought the tropical tailwind they had on course was delightful. I'm going to have to get me some of that.
I thought the tropical tailwind they had on course was delightful. I'm going to have to get me some of that.
I'm almost out of tailwind, I think I'm going tropical on my next bag too!
Well apparently the course was marked wrong and each loop was 1.5km shorter than expected per the email they sent out earlier today. My Garmin measured 60.5 mile. That's a big chunk of trail to miss, I wonder where it was. I guess I will have to find another race to do to really get a 100k finish.
Whoa, that's big. Mine showed 30.5, but I figured that was just because I lost gps in some parts of the valleys. I'm not seeing an email though.
mine showed like 30.1, but it always shows a bit short on trails.
its been a few years since I've run the race, but not sure what they left off. All four times I've run the 100K, we finished the loop coming in the other direction, so maybe the connection to come in from that side is a bit longer. But I can't think of any section of the course we didn't run.
its been a few years since I've run the race, but not sure what they left off. All four times I've run the 100K, we finished the loop coming in the other direction, so maybe the connection to come in from that side is a bit longer. But I can't think of any section of the course we didn't run.
I found the difference comparing my data with the gpx file they had on their website.
It happened on the far southeast corner of the lap at mile ~21 just after the Chapas aid station. We were supposed to leave the aid station then hang a right but instead kept going straight which shortcut a small section.
It happened on the far southeast corner of the lap at mile ~21 just after the Chapas aid station. We were supposed to leave the aid station then hang a right but instead kept going straight which shortcut a small section.
i'd have to sit down and look at it, but how far out of the aid station is the missed right turn? We always went straight out of that aid station, but could have been down the trail a ways.
Trail forks right here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/pNZNdfzaPfaV1VZRA
anybody else have a cough that won't go away? The best I can figure is that it's from all the dust. It's not comfortable though.