Katy decided to accompany me on a business trip down to Austin, Texas. Austin was close enough to Bandera, Texas for me to sneak over there for some trail running in the Hill Country State Natural Area. This park changed my perspective on Texas, which I always had thought of as flat. It is far from that, at least in this part of Texas.

This weekend was the 7th running of the Bandera 100k/50k/25k. This trail race is part of the Tejas Trails series which includes other well know ultra races such as the Rocky Raccoon 100 and Cactus Rose 100.

Katy and I drove over to Bandera from Austin after my last meeting on Friday. We luckily were able to exchange our Toyota minivan for a spanking new Prius. This helped cut way down on our fuel usage.

We arrived at the race site with plenty of time to register and attend the pre-race meeting. Joe Prusaitis, a long time ultra runner, is the race director for the Bandera. He and his support staff did a great job explaining the course markings and the aid stations.

Katy and I next drove over to the small cabin we rented on the other side of town. The cabin was located on the edge of the Medina River. It was very cute but lacked any central heat. Not good given the forecast for sub-freezing temperatures. We survived.

We next drove into town to grab some food. We found a very nice restaurant for gourmet pizza. The food was awesome, although some of the artwork was a little strange (lots of S&M stuff).

We settled into bed soon after arriving back at the cabin as it was too cold to sit around. I was fortunate to have slept like a log. We awoke at 5:30am sharp. One bagel and a cup of coffee and we were out the door. We did not have a moment to spare, arriving at the park at 7:15 (race started at 7:30).

I quickly signed in at the registration tent before heading over toward the starting line. I had a few moments to chat with Josue Stephens before the official start.

There were about 100 100K runners heading toward the trails after crossing the chip mat. The 50K and 25K runners started from a different location to prevent too much crowding on the single track.

I worked my way up the right side of the pack and joined the three front runners as we headed for the first single track and the climb up Sky Island. This was one of what turned out to be grueling climbs given the steep grade and loose rocks.

The view from the top was spectacular. Man I wished I had a camera. No time to rest.

Next on tap was a steep descent over, yes, you guessed it, rocks and loose dirt. I flew down with reckless abandon, probably not a wise move given the distance yet untraveled. I was almost at the bottom when I spotted Josue almost at the top of Ice Cream Hill. He was smoking the course in hopes of finishing in close to nine hours. Go Josue!

I power hiked Ice Cream Hill and cruised down the back side into the first of five aid stations on this 31 mile loop. Each aid station was separated by almost exactly five miles which was nice.

I rolled into Nachos to the sound of my name being called. The person recording numbers had quickly looked up my name to welcome me in. A very nice touch. I then saw Katy who had been kind enough to trek over to this and the remaining five aid stations. You are the best!

Katy and the aid station staff were a little worried that I had taken a nice digger, as my legs and left arm were bleeding in several places. The culprit, however, was the Sotol which leaves you with nice paper cuts wherever you contact it.

I quickly topped off my water bottles with Green Magma and grabbed some Sport Beans before heading off toward the Chapas aid station.

The next section of trails was much tamer. It still had some uphill, but all of it was runnable. Chapas came up way quicker than I thought it would.

I immediately saw Katy as I entered Chapas. Katy and the other staff had been unable to find my drop bag. Luckily I had given Katy an extra drop bag to carry around with her. I grabbed some PBJ, more fluids, and another handful of Sport Beans.

The trails over to the Cross Roads aid station were even more runnable than the last. A fair bit of this section was single track, which ran along side of the park boundary and then across some large fields. The only tough part was headwinds in the fields. The winds during the day were gusting to 30 to 40 mph.

I entered Cross Roads with my quickest pace of the day (8:14). Once again, my drop bag was not to be found. Very strange and somewhat worrisome given that this bag had my headlamp in it, which was a requirement for the second lap given the final half of the loop was back into the hills in darkness.

I said goodbye to Katy and headed out for a five-mile loop which would take me up and over the Three Sisters before returning to the Cross Roads. This section of trail was tougher than I thought it would be. I had to power walk a lot more than I cared to. I also took one wrong turn and got a few hundred feet down the trail before realizing I was off course.

I arrived at Cross Roads for the second time, dismayed to find that my drop bag had still not been found. Not too worry. I was hoping to break five hours for the first loop, which would hopefully give me plenty of a buffer to complete the 100K in eleven to twelve hours.

The trails from here onward to the Last Chance aid station involved a lot of climbing and technical trails. This made for slow going. My left knee also started barking during this section, especially on the downhills. The pain slowly worked up to my left hip. Not good.

I came upon a camera man in the trail after what seemed like a long time to go five miles. He told me that the aid station was a mere 1K away. This buoyed my spirits and allowed me to pick up the pace. It was not long before I heard music. I rounded the corner to see a big boom box and Katy dancing in place. I was very happy to be almost done with the first lap.

I mentioned my sore left knee. Katy and an aid station staffer mentioned that there was a half mile short cut back to the finish. No way. I was at least going to finish one complete loop.

I left this last aid station knowing I still had two nice climbs between me and the finish. I did my best to run as much as possible. This was not easy as the trails were technical and my left side was barking loudly.

I finally crested Boyle's Bump to flat ground. I was able to pick up my pace with only minor pain. I was very happy to see the starting line and the end of my 31-mile journey. I crossed the chip mat, knowing that a second lap was not going to happen. No sense in trashing my body with the Boston Marathon only a few months ahead. I had a lot of fun and would have loved to have completed the entire 100K, but there will be many other days filled with adventure.

I sacked out for a bit, chatting with Joe and his son Mike. Mike and Katy had been out and about, trying to find my drop bags. Joe offered to lend me a headlamp, but I told him I was happy where I was.

I finally got around to asking what place Josue was in. I was dismayed to hear that Josue was back at his tent icing his ankle (previous injury). Arg! Josue ended up having to drop.

My official time was 5:06:59 with a pace of 9:54. My heart rate averaged 149 bpm with a high of 172 bpm. According to my Polar 625, I ascended 3,540 feet over the 31 miles. This is based on the built in altimeter. I am unsure how accurate it is, but combined with all the rocks, this is one heck of an ass-kicking course.

My splits for the aid stations were as follows:
* Nachos - 5.6 miles, 9:00 pace, 159 AHR
* Chapas - 5.44 miles, 8:33 pace, 155 AHR
* Cross Road In - 5.85 miles, 8:14 pace, 151 AHR
* Cross Road Out - 4.96 miles, 11:08 pace, 148 AHR
* Last Chance - 4.25 miles, 10:23 pace, 148 AHR
* Lodge - 4.9 miles, 12:51 pace, 138 AHR

My hat is off to Joe and all the volunteers who helped make this a memorable trail race. I hope to make it back for a second helping of the hills of Texas.

Source: http://barefoottc.blogspot.com/2009/01/preliminary-bandera-report.html