Hi trail runners,
I signed up for Capt. Karl's Traverse Trail Running in Burnet, Tx. .It is a 6 or 12 hr figure 8 loop night race. I've never run all night before. I want to run a 100 mile race sometime so I thought this was a good trial run to see how it would go and what I could learn from it.
I definitely learned a lot from this race. I learned I need to bring more provisions to fix my feet for one.
Capt. Karl's is a pretty rugged trail, well, compared to Huntsville State Park in Tx. which is mostly where I run. This was at least as much work as hiking the Grand Canyon. I expected I'd get 50 miles in the 12 hrs and I think I would've gotten 45 except the 3rd loop was a fiasco and took me a couple of hrs to figure out my way back to the start..that bit was so exasperating I wanted to scream but I got reoriented and successive loops went better. Several places I had to walk fast, the terrain was just too precarious to run.
The first loop went well enough. I followed the pack and although the pace was slower than I would've preferred, I took the opportunity to try to remember the course b/c I'm notoriously disoriented in the dark..Toward the end of the second loop it got dark. I finished the 2nd loop pretty much by myself and feeling pretty good about my time, I headed back out..and got lost. Somehow I did several loops within the designated loop, passed the manned aid station twice w/o going back to the start, I can't tell you how this made me feel when I realized I'd made circles that would not be counted..
A guy appeared, said,"I hate to tell you this but you are going the wrong way. You may as well keep going and do the loop backwards." Then he explained that there are a couple of hard rights after the start, and of course I went straight..I spent a few minutes berating myself for being the only moron on the planet who doesn't know what they are doing but that passed quickly. I'm not as entertained by self flagellation anymore, and besides I wasn't the only one who screwed up. The other irritating thing was I started my last loop at 5:30 a.m. thinking I had plenty of time to finish but the guy at the manned aid station said I had to be back at the start by 6:30 so quit running, walked, did that exact same inner loop that made me lost the first time, grrr..meanwhile my husband called and since I was near the road, he came along picked me up and drove me to the start to get my stuff. Now I'm wondering if I misunderstood the guy, and he meant I had to be back by 6:30 to start another loop..I mean if I had known the last loop wouldn't be counted I would've have bothered doing it. Oh well, there's next year. It was a good experience, overall, I wasn't afraid, I never got sick, or tired, I had to go to the bathroom at "usual" times, so I learned that I can run for along time w/o losing it. And when I was lost, I didn't lose it. And I kept trying to eat something at regular intervals even though I was never hungry. I drank Amino all night, ate a couple of gels, shot blocks, orange slices, a banana, half a bagel..
It was really muddy in places and successive loops of several runners made the course muddier and muddier. I had 2 prs of shoes and socks, switched them out at midnight but I really could've used a 3rd pr of both. My feet were always wet, always rubbing and developed some mega size, really nasty blisters. (mental note to bring duct tape).
My legs are really stiff this morning and a couple spots on my feet hurt. In a couple days I'll be fine. There weren't a lot of people at the race, more were there for the 6 hr then the 12 and after the first loop I barely ever ran into anybody. I saw several fireworks displays off in the distance and once the moon came up, it wasn't hard to see. I had a headlamp and a flashlight. It was hard to remember not to beam the light right in people's faces but I'm sure a few people will remember me for that.
There was about a mile of jeep road through woods that was runnable and I always cut loose there. The rest varied between a short climb, jagged rocks, single track, mud or hard packed dirt. I fell once but that wasn't bad, I wasn't going fast. Overall it was fun, mostly just really funny, at times. One of the times I came to the manned aid station and the bag of pretzels was strewn all over, made me laugh, I felt so right at home! Hearing the generator in the distance was a strange comfort, I guess after that 3rd loop I really focused on staying on the course and everytime I'd pass the sound of the generator I'd be relieved, I'm on track..(There really is nothing like an ultra is there? :-)
They had breakfast burritos and fruit in the morning, and it looked good, but I still wasn't hungry. So I packed up my gear and left. I had taken my shoes off in the road, and by the time my husband drove me to the start I couldn't put them on again so was hoofing it through the weeds and gravel back to camp. They haven't posted the results yet but last yr, 50 miles was the furthest anybody got. I had expected to do 45,but I only recorded 30. I think. If ya count all the trail I covered while I was lost and the last loop that didn't count, I easily walked/ran 45. Oh well, there's next year..I really want to go back and do that again.
Everybody was really nice and the race director is a doll. Capt Karl's is another great, enthrallingadventure and for a good cause. (Cancer research) I loved it.
Lynnor Matheney
Houston, Tx
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