Doug and I drove to Bandera on Friday, January 6th around noon so we could miss heavy traffic. We made our way into town, and headed to race headquarters where we would pick up our drop bags, mingle, and get final updates relative to the course and race.
Pre-race briefing and dinner were very nice. Lots of great food, care of Slammin’ Sammy V and his kitchen crew. I saw a lot of familiar faces, which was a delight. This sport is so great – meeting so many wonderful runners from all over the country, and getting to see them at various races and catching up on what has transpired since the previous race. What a treat. Linda Rust and Chris Chandler were heading up the packet pickup, and greeted the runners with giant smiles. Linda had made Texas shaped cookies, which were absolutely adorable. As I always do, I enjoyed a glass of red wine with my dinner that evening.
Rise and shine came at 5 o’clock a.m. Saturday morning. I had my water bottle with Spiz sitting on the nightstand ready to gulp down as soon as the alarm went off. I had coffee and left for the start close to 6:30 a.m. Drop bags needed to be in their designated areas by 7 o’clock that morning so they could be transported to the aid stations. I had lunch kits for my drop bags, along with a large Gnass bag. The weather at the start was wonderful - 45º and completely dry. I planned on starting in a Montrail cap, singlet with long sleeve shirt over it, Race Ready 1⁄2 tights, Injinji socks, Hardrock shoes, Dirty Girl gators, and Mountain Hardware gloves. I carried two 26-oz. hand held water bottles; one containing water, and the other containing a mixture of apple cinnamon Hammergel and water. Joe shouted, “Go” and we were off.
The start was very low key and fun. I started off across the field out of the lodge and around the corner to the left before we would begin to climb. I was in good position, and was very relaxed on the first climb. I passed several people, most of whom I did not recognize. I came up behind Bridget DeLaRosa-Herrejon and passed her on the uphill. I wondered briefly what lie ahead later in the race. I knew how Bridget runs – easy on the front end and strong at the end. I also knew that she had won this race the past two years. I decided to put it out of my head and run my own race, just as I try to do in my training. Before long, I met up with Kelly Heath, Jon Teischer, and Pete Mehok. We enjoyed several miles together chatting and laughing like crazy. We joked about Pete running behind us, and wondered if he fell down in a forward motion, how many of us he would take out with his 6’6” frame? JT told us about his upcoming move to Colorado Springs, CO and how if we ever wanted to come out to visit, he’d take us out for a run and dust us in the altitude. In and out of the first two stations together, I fell back from the guys somewhere between Chapas and Crossroads-In. Running along with my MP-3 on, I was feeling okay. I was a little nauseated, which was very unusual for me. I chewed up 5 papaya enzymes immediately to fight off the pukey feeling, which worked like a charm. After 2 1⁄2 hours of running, my left foot hooked a rock and I was down on the ground with my right knee taking most of the impact. (Yeow!) – that hurt. I looked ahead and saw Kelly 100+ yards in front of me. I hoped he didn’t hear me yell when I tumbled. He kept running along and I got up, looked down at my body for a quick inspection, and saw a little blood on the right knee. Not bad, I thought. Henry Hobbs would be proud and Joe would be even more proud. I was a little rattled, so walked for a few minutes to regain focus. Before long, I was running again and feeling okay. I came into the Crossroads In aid station, and was told that I was the first woman. I said, “That can’t be right.” I was told that it was, in fact, right and that no other women had come through yet. I shook my head and told the volunteer that I didn’t think that was any good. I knew who was behind me, and now with the giant bulls-eye on my back, I was the woman to catch. That wasn’t particularly comforting, but there was nothing to do about it but keep moving.
My goal going into Bandera was a time goal, not a place goal. Prior to the race I came up with a spreadsheet that put me in the 50k transition at 6:10 and finishing in 13:25. Never knowing whether or not a goal is too hefty, I decided to put the goal out there anyhow. My previous best at Bandera was 16:07, so I was going to have to shave off a good chunk of time.
I reminded myself to pick up my feet, even though I was feeling just mildly flat. I must have stayed on my feet for 40 minutes before I took another face plant. (Yeeeeeeow!) – another rock. What was going on with my lead feet? The second fall was a little worse than the initial fall. In order to protect my right knee, I must have instinctively shifted my body so I fell on my left side. I avoided another gash on the right knee, but nailed my left thigh. This fall really rattled me. In fact, I stood up after going down and walked for quite a while. My bottom lip started to quiver a little bit, and I made up my mind that I was done. I had enough for the day. I would go to the lodge for the 50k transition, and drop. Why should I finish a race when I’m not feeling great and I have already taken two falls? I wasn’t having fun, and had decided to quit. I visualized getting to the lodge, and informing officials that I was done. I thought about how I would respond when asked why I was quitting, and all the excuses and justifications I came up with were really pathetic. I wasn’t sick. I wasn’t dehydrated. I wasn’t injured. I was just being a big, fat baby. Suddenly I felt my heart begin to race. I started power walking, and then running, and decided that quitting was absolutely out of the question. I could sing along with the music, get in some caffeine, and concentrate on picking my feet up. It worked, and I was pleased with my newfound attitude. Suddenly….BOOM! Another fall. This time I landed on my right side and collected a couple of nice raspberries on my right elbow and right lower leg. I stopped to check severity, saw some blood, and started running again. There really was no point in trying to clean off dirt and blood that early in a race like Bandera. In the first 50k I had already fallen 3 times. The chances of at least another fall were great. I had been through my mind game and decided that I wasn’t quitting, so I kept moving. I asked myself how I could run two 100 milers and not fall once in either race? I must have been past due for falling.
Moving along mostly alone, I sang out loud with my music, and loved it. The climbs were wonderful, the scenery was breathtaking, but the rocks were loose and my footing stunk. I started to feel a little bit better as I headed to Last Chance. Up Mt. Everest I cussed Joe’s name, but cussed it even more coming down. Choice? What kind of sickness is “Choice”? I made it through, and recalled crawling that section in the cold and rain with Doug three years prior – the year I DNF’d at mile 36. I reminded myself that Bandera 2006 was a beautiful day and much different from the “Mudslide” year. I came into Last Chance, exchanged hugs and hellos with Letha and Mark, got some Coke, refilled water bottles, and took off. I felt great for the 5-mile stretch into the Lodge transition. I found the downhills to be very runable during that section, and started smelling the barn.
Around the final corner, I could see vehicles parked and could see the Lodge. I arrived very close to my goal – 6:07. I was really happy to be there, and to see Meredith. I stood by my drop bag, throwing down fuel, and was greeted by Joe and Joyce. Joyce gave me one of her tight, heartfelt hugs. Joe glanced at my elbow and grimaced. Almost immediately the grimace turned into an ear-to-ear smile. He was so satisfied with the damage. I explained to Joe that I had cussed him for several miles, which seemingly made his day. Meredith would pace me for the final 14 miles of the race, but we discussed prior to the race that she would be at the halfway transition to get my fuel ready for me. I had arranged in advance a very quick transition, and requested she physically drag me out of the station if I started wasting time. She delivered! She walked me out of the transition after I gulped down a half serving of Spiz and a Starbuck’s Double Shot. She gave me a hug, and sent me on my way.
Out of the lodge, I was really feeling good. I took off down the trail and really looked forward to taking the first climb alone. Relatively uneventful, I made my way toward the first aid station. When I came in, I was really confused. The picture I had in my head of the first aid station was the setup of Chapas, so when I came into Nachos and the set up was not what I had visualized, I felt a subtle panic in my belly. I looked at Steve Sisson and said, “Oh no, something’s wrong”. He said, “No, you’re at Nachos. You’re fine.” He told me that I was the first woman to come through, and that Doug was running in 5th place. John Beard was also there, and I asked him how Marcy was doing. I was so thrilled to hear how well Doug was doing – he had been so strong in his training, and I knew if he had a good day, he would really nail it. Steve fished my Succeed container out of my shorts pocket for me while I reloaded bottles. Everyone seemed to have a job in making my transition fast, and then I was soon on the trail again.
My run to Chapas was smooth until I ran out of water. The weather had gotten warm, and I was sucking down water like a camel. I would pick up my Camelback at Chapas, but that particular thought was of absolutely no comfort after I tipped my bottles up for the last time, only to get a small drip out of them. I decided I could stick it out, as I was getting close to the aid station. I looked up ahead and saw some people heading toward me. It was Kurt Egli and Cindy Henges hanging glow sticks. I asked where the aid station was, and Kurt replied, “Not very far, you’re pretty close.” Not trying to get too ugly, I said, “Seriously, how far is it? I’m out of water.” Within a second, Kurt had the lid off of his water bottle and was pouring water into mine. What a guy! Even though I was close, I desperately needed the water, and he really saved me. I came into Chapas to find Jeff Farrell waiting for me with my drop bag already set out and opened. He had looked at my checklist, which was inside, and completely took care of me. He was amazing. Jeff commented on the organization Doug and I both had with our drop bags, almost laughing in disbelief that anyone alive could be that anal. I saw Mariela, and she said that her runner had dropped, but that she was going out for a run anyhow. Mariela paced me at Bandera 100k two years prior, and taught me how to power walk. After a brief discussion, we agreed that she would pace me to the next station, where I would pick up Meredith. I was so happy to have Mariela with me. She stayed behind me, and we power walked on down the trail. I was pretty motivated and threw in some running stretches. On occasion, Mariela requested running. She would pick out a tree or bush and say, “When we get to that bush, you’re going to start running, okay?” I never resisted, just did as she said.
We got to Crossroads in great time. I hugged and thanked Mariela, and picked up Meredith. I was thrilled to see Meredith. She got me organized, and we pulled out of the aid station with Mariela and Robert King. Mariela and Robert pulled ahead some as Meredith and I struck up our conversation. The first thing I told Meredith was that I knew Bridget was behind me somewhere. My goal was not to win this thing, so if she passed us, I was genuinely okay with it. Meredith nodded. We joked about her pigtails and mocked high school cheerleaders by doing little jumps, kicks, and flailed our arms like we were shaking pom-poms as we traveled across a flat section of trail. We climbed the Sisters, and I was still feeling good. The climbs were always welcome for me; it’s the downhills that tend to bother my legs. I began to kick rocks with my right foot. Only the right foot? Of course only the right foot, and only the right big toe. I pictured a cartoon character that stubs his toe on something. In the cartoons, the characters’ toe enlarges 10 times its normal size, gets fiery red, and throbs like a balloon rapidly inflating and deflating over and over again. Similarly, that was how my toe started to feel. Up and down and around the Sisters, we soon descended back into the Crossroads aid station for a quick re-fuel and to put on our long sleeve shirts.
On toward Last Chance, I kicked several more rocks, but managed to stay upright. Meredith navigated the course verbally from behind me. She told me that as long as she jogged with my speed-walking pace, I was okay to continue to speed walk. If she had to slow to a walk, I was moving too slow. Deal! I broke into a run and held it as long as I could before I would have to take a walk break. We were still moving well. We hit some hills, which was okay with me. I still preferred the climbs. Mt. Everest was ahead of us, and Meredith psyched me up for the ascent. She told me once we hit the top, we’d make our way down and were nearly at the Last Chance aid station. We mustered up the energy to run the section leading into the aid station, and were greeted by Letha and Mark. I wanted Coke again. We chatted very briefly about the Bandera 100 miler that I would NEVER do, Meredith’s killer quads, and how I couldn’t wait to be done.
We took off, and I looked forward to the final section leading into the finish. More rocks kicked with the right toe – Meredith would try to calm me by telling me, “It’s okay, just walk it off, we’re almost there.” She was great, but I couldn’t help think about my floating toenail that may have been wandering around inside my sock somewhere. I began asking Meredith about flashlights behind us, and if she saw any? She looked and confirmed that the only lights she could see for miles were glow sticks. It’s not that I didn’t believe her, but I asked repeatedly whether or not she could see anyone closing in on us? Finally she stopped turning around to look because she knew no one was there. Very shortly after we left Last Chance, I verbalized that getting passed at that point would really upset me. I told Meredith that I had enough in my legs that I could change gears if I absolutely had to. All of a sudden, maintaining my position was everything. BOOM – another rock kicked. My yelp must have echoed all the way to the finish. I already knew the toenail was a goner, but started wondering if the entire toe was going to be affected? I started to whimper, but that was not going to fly with my pacer. OH NO! In a stern voice, she said, “The winner of this race is NOT going to cry!” I complied and pulled in the bottom lip, holding it with my teeth. We reached the downhill section that would get us very close to the finish. I really liked that section because it was so runable. Meredith said, “Run relaxed, watch the rocks, pick up your feet” in a chant-like statement. As if we were playing “Repeat after Me”, I chanted the exact words she spoke, over and over. I was like an obedient child following mommy down the trail, putting my trust in her that if I did as she said, I would be okay. We rounded the corner and saw the vehicles and lights at the lodge. I was finally done. I could hear cheers coming from the finish and cheers coming from Meredith. She gave me a swat on the backside before she cut off just before the finish line and said, “Go get it!” I crossed in 13 hours and 35 minutes. Doug, Joe, Joyce, Paul, Melissa, Pete, Kelly, and Robert H. were all there waiting and gave me hugs. I was led into the heated tent where I saw Rick Gastelum and Kurt and Shelly Egli. I am always so happy to see Rick and got a great big hug from him. I thanked Kurt for saving me with the water earlier. Shelly was an angel and provided me hot soup, ginger ale, and endless amounts of water.
Bandera 2006 was wonderful. The conditions were absolutely perfect in my opinion. I love running when it’s warm, so I was very happy to see temperatures rise into the 70’s. I learn something with every ultra I run, and this particular race was no different. I’m so glad that I didn’t give up when I was so certain that quitting was the right thing to do. The self-evaluation was what I needed, and when I came to the realization that there was no good reason to drop, the decision was made.