Yes this race hurt, mentally and physically. My body damage 24 hours after the race is basically a mild or slightly sore right ankle. So I can't go for a recovery jog today and I'll probably lay off running till thursday, but besides that I have less body soreness and tiredness then I did after the Palo Duro 50 miler back in October. Now my mind has cleared enough that I can compose some semblance of a race report. I've run enough miles at Huntsville State Park, to not worry about the roots. My race philosophy is to just "stay in motion," maintain the Big 3: Hydration, Energy, and Electrolytes, and stay Vegan (no animals or anything from an animal touching my mouth). I was all set to finish my first 100 miler. I was adequately rested, super hydrated, fully fueled, and ready for the race to begin at 6am saturday. I was feeling great. I had completed a good 50 miler in October at Palo Duro Canyon, finished a training marathon trail run at Warda in November, and had an excellent 50 mile race at Sunmart in December. Plus I had paced my girlfriend, Ava, for every rocky kilometer in January at the Bandera 100k. My road running training in Gilbert's Gazelles had progressed nicely during the fall. I set PR's in the IBM 10K, Motive Half Marathon, and Jingle Bells 5K. Hard speed work had taught me how quickly my body could recover. Thus I approached this 100 miler planning to aim for a sub 24 hour finish, but nevertheless cross the finish line with a smile and run the final mile. I wanted to try and complete 3 loops by sundown, 630p, and then walk/run in the dark and finish by 6am. I broke the race down into the distances between aide stations, and set times when I wanted to reach each, with a few added minutes on each loop for time 'lost' at aide stations. I would start each loop with a disposable hand bottle, and a bottle carried in my back ultimate direction carrier that I love. I would push 80 oz minimum of liquid on each of the first 3 loops in daylight. My body burns hot, and I've had problems with hydration in the past. In my back bottle I would carry Clif Shot drink mix (switching from their green apple w/caffeine to cran-raspberry with each refill), and in my disposable drop bottle (reused Propel bottle) which I would pick up at the start of each loop filled with Hammer's Sustained Energy mixed with Chocolate Soy Milk, this is the same delicious 'milkshake' drink concoction I use for recovery after hard workouts. I chewed on Clif Bloks the first 3 loops. I also packed cashews, Newman's chocolate cookies and barbq potato chips. All delicious treats that I would supplement with hot rice & beans from the aide stations. I've also found that wearing yellow sunglasses (discovery made at Bandera this year) during a race in wooded areas or when cloudy gives excellent depth perception, plus protects the eyes. I put my on after daylight, and didn't take them off till twilight. During the race I stayed super hydrated, and I was going to the bathroom every 45 minutes it seemed like! This was great, except for the time lost. My goal for the 1st loop was 3 hrs 55 minutes, but due to going to the bathroom (when you add up all those times), I finished 2 minutes behind schedule. Then in transition between the 1st and 2nd loops I had to take care of my only pre-race mistake, I wore Smartwool socks that were too thick, this sock change cost me 4 minutes and was the first time I would quickly sit down during the race, I would only sit down 3 other times during the race, twice for putting on tights because of the cold night air, and once for the 'bathroom'. The air temp was around 28 at race start, 6am, and I knew it probably was only in the 40's when I started my 2nd loop, but I was getting hot. Soon I was running shirtless, leaving both shirts I started the race in at mile 27 in my first drop bag. Other runners asked me if I was cold, and probably thought me crazy, but I did spot one other runner running shirtless. I realized later it was a guy featured in Trail Runner magazine a few months ago, and the guy who would end up winning the race in just over 13 hours 30 minutes. Loop 2 went good, I was about 1 minute behind schedule until I entered the only area on the course that is hard to mentally break down into sections, and that section (which I mentally disliked on each loop) cost me 6 minutes. This is the trail from the Dam aide station to the bench, about 3 miles in I believe. I ended the 2nd loop 8 minutes behind schedule. The roots at Huntsville are not bad, as long as you lift your knees, if you shuffle your feet or fail to pay attention you will trip. I caught a few roots, and often it was because I was not scanning the ground in front of me diligently. Trail running taxes you mentally when you are nearly picking every step in sections that are highly rooted. Because of this, and for my own mental reasons I do not like to chit chat with other runners or even run with anyone during races. When you talk you lose just enough attention to detail that you will miss a root and trip, or forget something you need to do when you reach your drop bag, or slow down. I didn't even want to listen to my ipod that I packed in a drop bag just in case I needed it. All my focus was on maintaining pace and not injuring myself by tripping and falling. I'd run 222 miles of races at Huntsville state park and never fallen, tripped yes, but never landed on the ground, and I planned on finishing this race with 322 total miles without falling. Now the night before the race I did fall out of the shower and land on the bathroom floor at the Super 8 hotel, but I hoped that would be my only fall for the weekend, and it was. On loop 3 my body was getting tired, at the halfway point, 50 miles in the race, I knew that breaking 24 hours was not going to happen, so my goals became to finish 3 loops before the winner, and to not damage myself. I realized I had pushed my body this past fall and by completing Bandera 100K 3 weeks ago my body was not as fresh as it had been when I ran very well at the Sunmart 50 miler on these same trails back in December. I picked up my flashlight at my drop bag at mile 53. My Nike Free Trail shoes were working great, my feet hurt, but they would have hurt in regular shoes, plus in regular shoes I would have blisters. I learned after doing 45 miles at the Bandera 100K back in January in Nike Free Trail shoes that I don't get blisters when wearing them when I would if wearing regular trail or road shoes. Just before dark I put a dry shirt on. I was staying up on hydration and nutrition, and knew all I had to do was grind out 2 more loops in the dark. I picked up my pacer, Ava, at the start of the 4th loop. It was dark, it was cold, we ran some, but walked more. the 4th loop was tough, mainly because we had to do this same loop one final time before the race, and pain, was over. At 130am we finished the 4th loop. There was nearly a full moon, the talking of coyotes was in the distance, and several species of owls were calling. Why would I want to cover this experience up with music from an ipod? We got passed, but passed more. I was hurting, but if I was hurting and staying ahead of others, then they had to be hurting too. The 5th loop was fun. We only got passed once, and we passed several runners/pacers. Sunrise at 7am found us just over 4 miles from the finish line. My body hurt, but I was power walking fast enough that my pacer had to jog along with walking just to stay ahead or behind me. Finally with about 1.25 miles to go I had my pacer get behind me and we jogged and ran in. I hurt, but I knew I could run and finish with a kick on this final mile, just like in the final repeat of miles run in training. 8:07 am and it was over, time to recover, get my 'milkshake' in me, stay hydrated, get back to the hotel, take a short nap, and return for the award's ceremony. BUT, during the race I had planned to do one final thing before leaving the finish line. I called the race director, Joe Prusaitis, over to witness this one final thing. I asked him if anyone had ever done this at his races, as I pulled out a ring box, opened it, and presented it to my pacer, Ava, and asked her to marry me. She said yes! A great way to end my first 100 miler!