I am pleased to report that this Saturday's Bandera 100k went very well for me, I actually won!! I did not necessarily hope to win, but I had high hopes nonetheless.  Due to a busy schedule in Nicaragua, my training had not been what I wanted it to be in December.  Apparently climbing volcanoes and carrying load after load of 150+lb sacks of sand up a mountain on jungle trails counts as great endurance training.   This is my second official ultramarathon since I began running in January 2007.  It is also the first one I have actually finished (screwed ankle mile 52 at the Arkansas Traveller 100 in October). I ran the race in modified cut-down LaSportiva Fireblades.  I basically cut the heel down, pulled the insole and turned the shoes into trail racing flats with good tread.   Although many experienced people seem to advise against it, I went out hard in this race and did not hold back.  It is not the advised method for doing well in a long race, but I know my personal endurance levels and I know how I work.  In everything endurance related I have ever done, be it berry raking, apple picking, tree planting or corn detasseling back in the day, I have always hit it as hard as possible from the very beginning.  I know I may slow down later on down the road, and that is where more training comes in, but the mentality of it makes me work harder the entire time.   I spent a few summers roofing houses for a company that paid piecework.  I worked that nasty, hot, smelly and dangerous job as hard as I possibly could from 7 am to 5 pm every single day of the week.  I was the fastest most efficient worker and I believe it had much to do with my work ethic (hit it as hard as you can for as long as you can, then hit it some more).    The first loop of the race went extremely well for me.  I am not positive, but I believe my 50k split was around 4:40.  I have never run Hill Country State Natural Area before, and I had only heard rumors of the rocks.  Luckily, Austin has similar terrain such as St. Ed's to Bull Creek and a good bit of the Greenbelt.   Ice Cream Hill seemed to have gained a scoop or two on the second loop, that was around the time I began to have stomach complications.  My stomach bloated up like it was about to explode.  I wanted to eat everything and nothing at the same time, I hated Gatorade and Heed and wanted only water.  This was definitely the only time in my life where I begged the Almighty for flatulence.  Once I left Nachos on the second loop, the only objective was to throw up and finish.   Halfway between Nachos and Chapas I encountered a feral hog and her seven babies.  To my left was a barbed wire fence and on my right were little squealing hogs.  Due to a bad previous encounter with wild pigs, I know not to get anywhere near the babies.  I started yelling at the hogs and inched my way toward the fence.  The hogs ran off but the mother double backed, ran toward me and stopped about five feet away.  Not quite sure if it was the most intelligent thing to do, I picked up a fairly large rock (plenty of those on these trails) and hurled it toward the momma.  I was not trying to hit her and the stone landed in the brush next to her.  She seemed satisfied that I was only a wandering idiot and would not eat her children anyways.  The hog went her way and I continued to hobble along the trail. Once I made it to Cross Roads I told the volunteers about my cramping and bloating.  One of them suggested baked potato dipped in salt and I took the advice.  This was something I had never tried until then, it just never seemed appetizing, but it worked!!  I felt a whole lot better as far as the cramps, but my stomach started to feel sick.  I made it back to Cross Roads but really only remember grabbing a ton of orange slices and running out like a madman.  I had only 9.2 miles or so to go and I knew someone was about 4-5 minutes behind me at this point.  Gabriella told me at this point that I was going to win, but I was so worried about my stomach at this point I did not want to think about it.  I did not run the section from Cross Roads to Last Chance very well, this was where I lost some ground.  When I left Last Chance I heard the volunteers cheering the guy behind me.  This is where I realized I had to kick it up a notch if I wanted to end this well.  I spent about fifteen seconds cussing every part of my body out, then I took off like the devil was at my heels.  It got dark about 20 minutes after leaving Last Chance, but I avoided using my headlamp so the guy behind me would not see me.   I flew down the last hill at a breakneck pace with my light off most of the way.  By the time I reached the finish line, I was running like I was about to start another race. The only thing I could think of upon finishing was how badly I wanted to eat real food and how happy I was to stop running.   After doing some photos, Gabriella, Matthias and I went to a little Mexican place in Bandera for a celebration dinner.  Rule #1, never eat hot salsa after a long race, you will eat a store load of Tums and not sleep at all.   The next morning was the awards ceremony, I received a very nice piece of Navajo pottery as my prize.  After helping take down the tents and tables, we headed home, but not before stopping for some big fat burgers.  I do not know what it is about an ultramarathon, I usually eat very healthy, but I was craving big fat burgers all day yesterday.