So originally my decision to go to Bandera would be a last minute one depending on "spousal permission" and my hesitation given my overall lack of fitness given my extended break from running due to injury. Then I learned that a friend planned to do the 100k and that sealed the deal for me. He and I both have Bandera ghosts in our closet and I offered to come out and pace him in the last 15 miles. So, I registered for the 25k and began making my packing lists and my plea to my hubby.

My plan was to leave Houston right after work on Friday and I was going to stay with friends in Helotes on Friday night since they were kind enough to offer and also participating in the race. Traffic getting out of Houston at 5:00p on a Friday is never uneventful, but once out of the city the drive was free sailing. I met up with my friends and after a little pre-race prep we were off to bed.

Saturday morning came quickly and we were up and moving and out the door to Bandera on a foggy, cool morning. We get to Bandera, pick up our packets, check in for the race and make our final preps just when Joe says go and we're off. My goal was to run the 25K in 3 hours. I wasn't sure if I could do that or not due to my lack of training and more specifically, my lack of HILL training. While I thought I was moving on a 3 hour pace, Sarah Brown (from NTTR) quickly caught up to me and yelled "hey, I thought you were RUNNING this thing" to which I replied "I am, shut up!". :-) I was certainly working hard as evidenced by my breathing, but my legs were hanging in there and felt strong despite the lack of overall fitness. The forecast had the temps rising to the 70's quickly that day and I was warmed up before the first mile was over.

I was in and out of the first aid station quickly as I didn't need much and it was a short trek to the next aid station at Crossroads. Past Crossroads are the hills referred to as the "Three Sisters". I counted them though... and I have fondly renamed them the "Five Wicked Sisters". I don't know who counted 3, but that inner loop from Crossroads back to Crossroads has 5 nasty ups in this flatlanders mind.

After returning to the Crossroads aid station after the inner loop, the 25k race only has about 2.6 miles to go. Amazingly, these were practically flat miles. I kept anticipating another ugly up, but I was pleasantly surprised. At that point I was spent though and had no gas to give it a go. While I passed a few people in this stretch, I got passed several times as well. I was running, but not very quickly. I finished in just over 3 hours... I want to say 3:04 or 3:05. Haven't seen the results yet and forgot to stop my watch.

I had a great time and as expected, this course was difficult. But I had fun and the volunteers were great. Thanks to Joe and Joyce and everyone involved with course control and aid stations. You guys did a great job and I appreciate your hard work to make this such a great race.

PS - my runner dropped at mile 53, so while I was anticipating an extra 15 miles that night, I only got in about 5. While I wanted to pace someone into the finish, my runner was very sick and I decided to stay with a friend in need.