The trails of East Texas were calling!
The lead-up
This race wasn't one that I originally put on my spring race schedule. My goal was to run Scorpion Trail 50k on January 7th and the run a trail 52-miler about an hour and a half from my home that was part of the Q50 Trail Xtravaganza. That ran into a scheduling issue on the same weekend, so my plan to run a long race as a training run for the Mississippi Trail 100 on March 3-4 was put on hold. Then Sean told me that there was a race being put on at Tyler State park by the same folks (Blaze Trails Running) that put on the Six-0 Trail Run among others. I was intrigued and when I realized that Tyler was just about as close to where I lived as any city in Texas, I figured it was time to sign up for my first trail race in Texas in 5 years.
I decided to leave Hattiesburg on Thursday evening after work, which would allow me to not have to drive the whole 6.5 hours the day before the race. It seemed like Vicksburg, MS about 2 hours and 20 minutes away was a good enough place to stop, and I was able to find a Courtyard Marriott that was pretty cheap to pay with points, so that was a win. I left town around rush hour which isn't really a thing in a town like Hattiesburg but still is a little bit of a thing. The roads were pretty clear as I made my way to the Mississippi-Louisiana border, so the drive was pretty stress free. I was able to get into my hotel with plenty of time to do a little yoga and get a good night's sleep.
The next morning, I had a couple Zoom meetings, did some yoga, did some other work tasks and was able to get on the road just after 10 am. The weather was just about perfect, which was a bit sad since I knew the forecast had rain and occaional thunder storms on it for race day. Oh, well! Short video I made as I was crossing the Mississippi River.
I arrived at the state park a little before packet pickup, but RD Anne was all set up with volunteers and let me get my bib and shirt early. As I walked up Anne asked "Are you the frugal runner?"--since I'd tagged Blaze Trails in the tweet, she had seen the video earlier and my flannel must have stood out--ha! I asked about picking up Sean's too and she said "We love Sean!"---EVERYONE LOVES SEAN, so they didn't have a problem with that either. Eventually I made my way to the hotel and checked in just about the same time that Sean got into town. Went and made a walmart run for a few essentials that I hadn't packed (drinkable yogurt and cokes to put on ice were on the top of the list) and then rested before we went out to eat.
Evening plan
The evening/morning planning is often the worst part of ultrarunning for me. I always have anxiety of not packing the right things for the morning or if I overpack, then I can't find THAT ONE THING that I need. I'm usually pretty organized when it comes to my ultras but the FOMS (fear of missing stuff) usually causes a certain amount of over-packing. So, after a hearty pasta dinner at a nearby restaurant (less than a mile from the hotel), I settled back into organizing my stuff, realizing that the 6 am start meant an earlier than normal alarm, and reducing the amount of stuff I was taking from the room to the car, so I'd only have to make one trip. One thing that I was able to pack is a thermos full of ramen since the room had a kitchenette with a stove--that was a real luxury and something I'm going to have to look into for future accommodations. So, with my clothes, breakfast, extra coffee (I ran by starbucks and filled up a yeti thermos earlier), medicines, band-aids and cooler all set out, I was ready to crash by 8:30, which would allow me to get 6-6.5 hours of sleep. This is pretty close to my average on my normal days, and not being sleep deprived on race day is huge. (See the Burning River 100 race report, if you want to hear about some terrible sleep management before a race. )
Tyler Texas
A few words about Tyler Texas here. Growing up in South Texas, I didn't really have much reason to go to East Texas as a kid. It's about 6.5 hours from my hometown of Portland and while I had family in Houston who I'd visit, and I'd go to Dallas, Austin, and even Midland/Odessa with high school debate, there wasn't any real reason to head out towards Tyler. Even today, I can't really tell you much about what's distinctive about Tyler compared to Longview, Marshall, Kilgore, Palestine, etc. though they are different sizes and one has a University of Texas campus (UT-Tyler). I had visited Tyler once about 14 years ago because a work buddy of mine and I gave a talk there, and there was some talk of moving there and potentially getting a job at UT-Tyler. It seemed like a nice group of folks and it was a pretty little campus. The one thing every kids in Texas generally knows about that area is the connection to the oil economy in Texas. Tyler sits in the middle of the enormous East Texas Oil Field which was the basis of much of the development of those towns around Kilgore. In fact, there are oil derrick picnic tables at a rest area near Tyler.
Race Morning
I woke up with the alarm, grabbed coffee, a bagel, and water and got moving. Since the park was almost half an hour from the hotel, my goal was to be out the door by 5:00 to get there with enough time to grab the timing chip organize my gear/drop bag at the pavilion, and do a few last minute stretches and port-a-potty trips. Unsurprisingly, the drive was easy as Tyler traffic at 5 am on a Saturday is almost non-existent. We got one of the closer parking spots and then I left Sean to organize his stuff while I organized mine. Unfortunately, that meant we kept missing each other as we went back and forth from the car, and a last minute potty break meant I almost missed the start. But here's a video of the start where I'm in my usual yellow shirt and Sean is wearing a light navy windbreaker type jacket. (We cross the start about 22 seconds into the video).
First two laps
As you can see from the video of the start, Sean and I weren't trying to get out of the front of the pack. In fact, given what had happened at Scorpion Trail 50k, I was very leery about pushing the pace early. I didn't want to blow up. In the race on January 7th, my goal was to run a hard training race to force my body into accepting that sort of volume and intensity (60 miles in a week, hard uphills). This time, the goal was to push out the window for my stomach going south with the thought that if I can keep my stomach in check for longer, I might be able to increase my likelihood of success and decrease my recovery time. I figured if I can run 108k in 16 hours or so without completly destroying myself, then adding on "just" another 53k in 5 weeks' time shouldn't be too bad. That last 53k would need to take less than 13-14 hours, but that should be a reasonable pace on the Mississippi 100 course.
We started off nice and easy and in the dark on a trail that was starting to get damp, I was perfectly happy to be stuck midway or more than midway back in the conga line. After about 10 minutes, we realized that a decent amount of it was pretty runnable and Sean was getting antsy about the amount of walking we were doing. With my "Take it easy" approach, I was fine with the pace, and I still felt like my body was settling in, but he wanted to do a bit more running and he wasn't wrong. After a few more twists and turns, we eventually ended upon the "Old Road Trail" which was, in fact, an old road, so it was wide and without roots and rocks and took us straight to the first aid station around mile 3. I went ahead and got more electolytes at that point (drinking very often and even eating some honey stinger chews), so I would be ready for the longest section without an aid station--only 5 miles but still. There was a bit of a climb on this section and then we got to the part of the trail where they had been doing some controlled burns. This section of trail was much less rooty and the curves were more like hiking trails than mountain bike trails, so I found the running very easy. We had passed a couple folks at the aid station (Sean and I generally do not mess around at aid stations) and now we passed a few more. Pretty soon we were at the 2nd aid station and 8 miles into the race.
As we passed through the aid station--grabbing some food and loading up on gatorade again, they called out--less than 3 miles to go. Whew, that was quick. The "sun" was now up. I mean, it was light out, but there was no sun all day. We'd been hit with sprinkles a couple times already but as this was the time of day when our bodies were warming up with running, it was welcomed. We then followed the signs to take a right, but wait, there was someone running straight in front of us. And look there, there is a sign going the other direction and flags on the left. Sean and I went back and forth talking about it: me, worried we were off course; him, sure we were good, until I saw folks coming towards us and realizing that there was two-way traffic on this section. This is what I get for not really looking at the trail map ahead of time. Oh, well. Just cost me a little anxiety. Soon, we got back to the "Old road trail" but instead of heading left towards that aid station, we went straight ahead to the start/finish. Along this section was a long downhill and an older guy (about our age, maybe a little older) came flying down on the downhill and then was taking it easy again and walking the uphill.
We finished the first lap in 2:21. Well ahead of the time that I thought was "reasonable" to finish in 18 hours (before midnight), and I felt very fresh.
Getting back to the start/finish, there was a group of runners getting ready to head out. What distance was that? 22 miler? 11 miler? Again, not paying enough attention to the race docs was causing some confusion. I got some tailwind and some water along with snacks and headed back out with Sean. The beginning of the course was going much more quickly. The hills weren't as bad as what we thought when we ran them in the dark. The dark really, really will mess with you on these trails.
As we made our way into the second loop the 22 mile runners started coming up on us. While it's nice to have distractions, if I'm going to trip and fall on a course, it's usually when there is a runner breathing down my neck. As per usual, Sean was ahead so I was taking the six and having to shout out "runner back" to Sean and sometimes it was "and there's two more" or "two more and then three after that", etc. It gets pretty tiring having to scooch over on the course, so I was pretty happy once the fastest of the 22 milers finally passed us.
Medical Stuff
Around the first aid station, Sean started going quiet. This is unusual, so I didn't push the issue. By the time we got to the back stretch, he started mentioning he was having some symptoms related to a medical issue he's been dealing with. Just before we hit the last aid station, he told me he was going to run ahead to get back to the start/finish to deal with it and he'd catch up with me on the third lap.
Sean has been going through the shit with some medical stuff. That's his story to tell, so I'll let him when he's ready. But suffice it to say that there are a lot of complications of running with certain medical issues. My main medical issue is that about 7 years ago, I was diagnosed with allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). While running as an asthmatic has been the reality of my entire life, this was a new twist when I started coughing up mucus plugs and my lung capacity felt like it fell to zero. I was 46 when I was diagnosed, but I was happy that I had something that HAD a treatment and it wasn't the worst case scenario--in other words not cancer. That all being said, I am very grateful that despite my lung capacity still being at a level where I would be diagnosed with level 2 COPD had there not been another diagnosis already. The fact that I can run 100 miles and Boston Qualify with lungs that are at 65% of predicted lung capacity is something to be grateful for.
Third and Fourth Laps
Starting off the 3rd lap solo was a little hard since I didn't know if Sean was ahead of me or behind me at the aid station still. I didn't spend any time really looking for him. What I did realize once I was out there was that this was going to be the beginning of the course starting to get more quiet. Some of the 54k runners were going to be finishing soon as were most of the 11 and 22 mile folks. This was both good and bad. I wasn't going to have to worry about folks coming up and flying by (which might lead to my tripping and falling), but it also could lead to some monotony and boredom out there--especially since I didn't know what was going on with Sean.
So while I was on the 3rd lap I was wondering where what had gotten up to Sean and where he was so I stopped and walked for a little bit and wanted to check in with him but really just informed him where I was about 5 minutes into the third lap.
At that point I just wanted to knowwhat was going on. Eventually he texted back decided to drop at 22 miles saying he couldn't straighten out his medical stuff. Knowing how Sean was his own guy when it came to making decisions around running, I decided this must have been for the best. His health issues were a big question mark before this race. The race though, had taken another turn.
The third lap started getting quieter, and while dodging faster runners is no fun, it does keep the race more interesting. Over the next few miles or so I caught up with someone who had been just ahead of me and we were able to chat for a little while and keep on going. By the time I was back from the third lap I was half expecting to see Sean there but I knew he was still dealing with his medical issues. After three laps I realized that there were just really going to be two more opportunities to use some of the provisions instead I had left at the pavilion, so I decided to go ahead and eat some of my ramen then I found my bowl I found my fork I was able to spoon out the ramen that I’d made the night before and get enough in my system to where I actually felt somewhat satisfied. I knew that the sweets and and crackers and PB and J on the course weren’t going to do it for me for much longer.
I started off on the 4th loop at a decent pace, and considering how I felt after 50k a few weeks back, I was pretty impressed with how strong my legs and stomach felt. One spot that was tricky was one big downhill that had red clay that had turned slicker and slicker throughout the day (see photo above) and it was steep enough and slippery enough to where the only way really to handle it was to get up a little momentum and just tippity tap dance all the way down to the bottom letting gravity carry me as quickly as it could.
This runner I found out his name was Levi was attempting the 180K distance or 100K distant for the first time he’d run a 50K previously but it never approached this distance. After giving him my kudos and having a little chitchat about the day, I decided to just keep on going in my regular pace. He ended up finishing just after me in the race.
At that point I was actually pretty happy. 3 loops down, over halfway done, a 50K under the belt, etc. and my running felt just fine. And my stomach, while it wasn’t doing great, with the additional calories and electrolytes of the ramen and coke and chobani, it was ok. I was able to eat the ramen at the 54K mark and I was feeling pretty good. The smoother section on the back half allowed me to keep on running, though my running speed probably felt faster than it actually was.
WIth one last mile to go before the 8 mile aid station (Blackjack) before you have to go back out after being only 30 yards or so from the aid station. I looked over my shoulder and noticed that there were several runners that catching up with me. Although some of them might be from the shorter distances like the 54K and were just finishing their 3rd loop, one woman was running the 108K. When she caught up, we ran together for a bit, chit chatting about races. I found out that this was this this was her actually her second 100K approximate distance where she had had a previous experience that did not go well at all. She said that the force that she’d gone to before was actually much hillier than what she was expecting and was really surprised at how bad it was. When I asked where and she said oh it was this little race called Loup Garou in Louisiana I had to laugh out loud. I of course was wearing my Loup garou hat. The Loup Garou is one of my favorite somewhat local races. Since it only about four hours to get there I feel like it has to be part of my calendar every year from now on.
As we continued to cruise along I found out her name was Jenni and she was about to get picked up by her pacer that was meeting her at the start finish and that pacer's name of course was Stephanie--Small world. Stephanie is the runner who seems to keep on being in the same running circles. Whenever I will meet a runner that happens to be from the DFW area, of course they’re friends with Stephanie. This goes back to Brandy Ray who is the complete and total badass that I met back at Burning River in 2021. She ran Burning River in 2021 and 2022 as practice runs for habanero 100M race that is sadistically scheduled in August in Texas.
So I chatted with Jenni up until the point where she caught up with a couple runners on the back and forth part of the trail. As I got in finishing up my 4th loop I was feeling pretty good knowing that I was 2/3 of the way done still hadn’t really seen Sean. I knew he was still handling some stuff so I poured myself some ramen but at that point Anne popped out asking if there is anything she could do to help. Having an extra person to help was awesome, and in this case, it happened to be Anne, the RD. I asked for a little hot water to warm up my noodles that had kind of gotten cold. That allowed me to get something warm in my system as now it was late in the afternoon and darkness was starting to approach. I knew in the next loop I was going to have to make some decisions.
Illuminating Decisions
The big decision I was having to make was what exactly I was going to do with my lighting. At Loup Garou one of my many screw ups involved the fact that I hadn’t really sorted out my lighting ahead of time. My logic was that it was only a 60 Miller and it was starting at 6:00 AM, so I felt like going by headlamps alone I would be just fine. My headlamps are not very impressive-- they are maybe 250 lumens Energizer headlamps that cost $20 at Walmart. However in the last couple years I’ve been greatly aided by buying a Kogalla which involves more like 800 lumens and straps through the chest with five lights and lights up the entire trail. Unfortunately grew I’d forgotten it for Lou Garou, but now, I made sure to bring it. The kogalla had an issue when I first was using it in that sometimes the light would just randomly go out and the battery pack would die quicker than I’d expect. Given that, I was a little hesitant about using the Kogalla on the 5th loop, knowing that I would have to do the 6th loop in the dark. So here I was approximately 4:00 in the afternoon knowing that within the next couple hours it was going to get dark. The sunset was expected to be at 5:50 that day and I was expecting the lap to take me around 3 hours. I decided to risk it and just take my headlamp, rather than carry the kogalla and possibly have it burn out on me.
Laps 5 and 6
I had now finished 44 miles and had 22 to go. While I knew I was mostly there and at many courses (loup garou, rocky raccoon) this would be my last lap with 20 or so miles to go, my mind didn't want to start thinking that the hard part was over. Afterall, I hadn't really started to struggle with my stomach stuff. My plan of ramen at the start/finish and then polishing off a coke with a chobani chaser at the first aid station seemed to work for the 4th loop so I was sticking to it. At Loup Garou and Burning River last year, by mile 35 or so my stomach was gone, so I actually was pretty optimistic about making it this far.
I start off this next lap and I make a couple text checking in with folks. I heard from Sean. He was doing well. His plan was to meet me between laps 5 and 6 and that would help get me over the hurdle of the darkness and the slog that that entails. I chatted with a runner that I had been leap frogging with, and that helped pass the time and before I knew it, it was 6:00 pm, I'd been running for 12 hours and it was dark. No stars or moon to help and the rain started coming down harder and harder.
When I made it into the aid station, Sean was there with a bowl of hot ramen that tasted better than anythng any michelin star restaurant could have served me. I decided to change into my rain jacket (I was one of the few runners in just a shirt that was still out there). I was afraid of getting hypothermic with the rain and my run turning into more of a wet march through the mud.
The final lap was wet and I kept alternating between too cold with the rain and too hot with the jacket. My stomach finally completely went and my Chobani that I took at the last aid staion did not sit well in my stomach. I finally made it in to the finish, being greeted by a wet but cheerful Chris and Anne. Chris asked me my age and I was like "50....2". He said, "all I needed to hear was the 50" and then handed me the buckle and the master's male award. Somehow I ended up 5th male and 4th male was 39 and so I technically won the masters award. The only female ahead of me was Jenni and she killed the last couple laps finishing 40 minutes ahead of me.
Aftermath
As I drove away from the race, I had to pull over before I even left the park to empty out whatever the contents of my stomach were at that point. While retching is terrible, I felt so much better afterwards. I was able to start eating again shortly after that and by about 2 am, I was half done with my medium sized pizza. I got up around 3 hungry for something else and one of the beautiful things about a race in Texas is that at 3:00 am, a Whataburger nearby will be open and you get some taquitos, so that's what I did.
Overall, it was an excellent race put on by a top notch running company in Blaze Trails. I'm happy that I ran it as it provided me a lot of training both mentally and physically to get ready for my 100 miler scheduled 5 weeks later.
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