Bandera 25k 2020 race report.
We had a plan! Trista and I would do the 25k trail race at Bandera. It would be great, tough training for Rockman! It would be be Trista's first time doing Bandera! It would be my first time actually running Bandera with someone else! It would .. actually be the first time Trista and I would do a running race of any kind together! (We've only ever done swimruns together, oddly! (I mean, and triathlons, but not TOGETHER together for those.))
Best laid plans.. it turned out Trista's schedule didn't allow her to take the time she would have needed to fly to Texas and back. So while she signed up for a run up and down some mountains in NC that same day, Matt and I headed out to Bandera to do the 25k.
Things have changed since we last did Bandera (in 2012). The 100k is now on Saturday, and the 50k is at 7:30am on Sunday, the 25k at 9:00am on Sunday. While I prefer Saturday races, the logistics made it SO much easier to get there, to park, etc. Especially rolling in so late on Sunday (having driven 40 minutes from our hotel in Kerrville), and having no line to park, plenty of parking, etc. We were only competing with the other 25k people for portapotties, so never a line. (The portapotties themselves, however, were very disgusting, since they'd already endured an entire 100k race and the morning visits by the 50k folks.)
Sunrise on the drive to Bandera.
We were proud that, unlike the Turkey Trot, we remembered our bibs this time. We were less proud as we walked to the start line and saw chips on peoples' ankles and realized we hadn't gotten THOSE. Fortunately we still had plenty of time to spare.
Matt and I were various degrees of undertrained for this event. My longest run had been a 10 mile road run a month or so ago, and I had done a hill workout a couple weeks after that. I've been doing lots of shorter running, and a decent amount of trail running, but having done Bandera before, I knew this was probably gonna hurt. Especially with a still-irritated-over-a-year-later hamstring problem that I haven't been able to calm. So the plan for the day was to be smart. Matt, having done tons of riding but even less running than me, had the same plan.
Before.
We lined up fairly close to the back so as not to slow others down, and bid each other good races. When the gun went off and the people in front of us all started walking, I realized maybe we'd started a little TOO far back.
The good news is, this was a new 25k course, and one big improvement is it starts out on the jeep trail we drove in on, rather than the single track it used to start on. That means there was plenty of time for people to get where they belonged before it turned onto a real trail.
I realized pretty quickly that I should have sucked it up and stood around before the race in my short sleeved shirt, even though it was in the mid-30s. Because it only took about 10 minutes before I was WAY too hot in my long sleeved shirt. And then we climbed Lucky Peak for the first time.
I didn't FORGET how hard Bandera is, but it's easy to just be like "Oh, yeah, it's tough, whatever". Those hills are LONG. And STEEP. And ROCKY. Near the top of Lucky, since I was walking (with purpose) anyway, I managed to walk while I took my pack off, took my long sleeved shirt off, tied it around my waist, and got my pack back on. At that point I was at the top of Lucky, and we had a breeze, and it was cool, and I felt pretty damn great.
And then we had to come back down Lucky. Several times during the day, out loud and in my head, I said "Bandera: Where the downhills are just as bad as the uphills!"
I ran what I could on those downhills, but they are ALSO LONG. And STEEP. And ROCKY. And while you can trudge on an uphill, it's pretty easy to get completely out of control on the downhills, to the detriment of your ankles, or worse. So I made sure to be very conservative. Especially knowing that we'd not only eventually be going up and down Lucky again, but that there were several other ups and downs that were just as bad.
And then I just settled in. Not many people around me, as things spread out nicely. It had been forecast that it would get into the mid 60s later in the day, but for hours the weather was overcast and breezy and cool and just pretty much perfect. Running felt good. Walking up the hills felt exhausting but manageable. Running down the hills felt controllable and smart.
At one point I got to a volunteer who turned everyone off to the left. He said to go up the hill, do a little loop, then come back down the hill. A lollipop. It's the only place where there are people on the course going both directions, and it's on a steep up/downhill, so it can be a little messy, especially when people are tired. Despite that, it's really nice because even the really tired people cheer for the people coming down as they go up, and the people going up as they come down. Nice little boost, and a GREAT view from the top.
As I came down to the bottom again and started to turn left and continue on the course, I heard a voice I recognized! The volunteer was explaining the lollipop, and I heard someone respond "Once more over the horizon." And that voice was Matt's! I couldn't see him, because there's scrubby trees in the way, but I yelled, "Matt!" and he yelled back. It was such a lift for my spirits, knowing that he was doing well, knowing that he was still making cute little pithy comments to volunteers, and knowing he was so close behind me!
I wanted to stop and get my phone out of my pack (it was in the back, so hard to get to), but I never did. I'm jealous of Matt, who stopped and got someone to take his picture at one of the views).
And then back to the rocks and hills and cactus. Oh, the cactus. I had been thinking "Wow, the sotol isn't as bad as I remember!" Yeah, no, I just hadn't gotten to it yet. This next section has sotol growing all along the trail, and its little stabby hands are unavoidable, so you just have to run straight through it. It isn't so much that it causes grievous injury, it just causes dozens of tiny micro-cuts that bleed and make your future shower uncomfortable. But it's part of the charm of Bandera!
I was feeling decent. Eating on schedule, taking salt, drinking plenty of water. I was feeling pretty worn out, but not too terrible, given my undertrainedness. I felt good that I was so close to the end! Less than 2 miles to go! Then I remembered: We had to run up and down Lucky Peak again. Oof.
That is an unwelcome way to finish off a really hard race, lemme tell ya. Pretty sure my slog was a LOT slower the second time. Plus halfway up, the sun started coming out. No! So close! Let me finish in this wonderful weather! No sun! Fortunately it didn't fully come out, and it stayed pretty cool and breezy.
I made it back to the top again, and started heading back down. There was a guy behind me on the way down, and I told him he should go ahead, because I was going to be VERY cautious going back down, given how my legs were feeling. He said it was fine, he didn't need to pass, but man, it's hard to be smart when you've got someone right behind you, and you don't want to slow them down. But it was his choice, so I just did my thing, and managed to make it down with no grievous injuries.
Of course, then in the last 3/4 mile, when the course becomes mostly dirt trail again, I twice caught my toe on basically nothing, and pitched forward. I never fell, but let me tell you how displeased my toe tips were about being smashed into roots and rocks after several hours of being smashed into the toes of my shoes as I ran downhill. (Very displeased.)
But even though the last half mile was about a mile long, I finally made it to the finish line, and finished the race!
By far my slowest Bandera 25k, but I knew that it would be, and I'm pleased that I was smart and ran the race that I was trained for, and didn't compare this race to ones I've done in the past.
2020: 3:34
2012: 2:57
2011: 3:07
(Actually, right about the same pace I ran for the 50k in 2013.)
Matt finished shortly after me, looking strong and happy.
This was a good reminder that we can do hard things, which is a bit of a theme for this coming year. And it was a good reminder for my quads that they were woefully undertrained for these downhills. The next few days were quite unpleasant, as far as downstairs were concerned.
After.
Now we ramp the run training up even more, before our next very stupid and ill-advised event in late February!
Best laid plans.. it turned out Trista's schedule didn't allow her to take the time she would have needed to fly to Texas and back. So while she signed up for a run up and down some mountains in NC that same day, Matt and I headed out to Bandera to do the 25k.
Things have changed since we last did Bandera (in 2012). The 100k is now on Saturday, and the 50k is at 7:30am on Sunday, the 25k at 9:00am on Sunday. While I prefer Saturday races, the logistics made it SO much easier to get there, to park, etc. Especially rolling in so late on Sunday (having driven 40 minutes from our hotel in Kerrville), and having no line to park, plenty of parking, etc. We were only competing with the other 25k people for portapotties, so never a line. (The portapotties themselves, however, were very disgusting, since they'd already endured an entire 100k race and the morning visits by the 50k folks.)
Sunrise on the drive to Bandera.
We were proud that, unlike the Turkey Trot, we remembered our bibs this time. We were less proud as we walked to the start line and saw chips on peoples' ankles and realized we hadn't gotten THOSE. Fortunately we still had plenty of time to spare.
Matt and I were various degrees of undertrained for this event. My longest run had been a 10 mile road run a month or so ago, and I had done a hill workout a couple weeks after that. I've been doing lots of shorter running, and a decent amount of trail running, but having done Bandera before, I knew this was probably gonna hurt. Especially with a still-irritated-over-a-year-later hamstring problem that I haven't been able to calm. So the plan for the day was to be smart. Matt, having done tons of riding but even less running than me, had the same plan.
Before.
We lined up fairly close to the back so as not to slow others down, and bid each other good races. When the gun went off and the people in front of us all started walking, I realized maybe we'd started a little TOO far back.
The good news is, this was a new 25k course, and one big improvement is it starts out on the jeep trail we drove in on, rather than the single track it used to start on. That means there was plenty of time for people to get where they belonged before it turned onto a real trail.
I realized pretty quickly that I should have sucked it up and stood around before the race in my short sleeved shirt, even though it was in the mid-30s. Because it only took about 10 minutes before I was WAY too hot in my long sleeved shirt. And then we climbed Lucky Peak for the first time.
I didn't FORGET how hard Bandera is, but it's easy to just be like "Oh, yeah, it's tough, whatever". Those hills are LONG. And STEEP. And ROCKY. Near the top of Lucky, since I was walking (with purpose) anyway, I managed to walk while I took my pack off, took my long sleeved shirt off, tied it around my waist, and got my pack back on. At that point I was at the top of Lucky, and we had a breeze, and it was cool, and I felt pretty damn great.
And then we had to come back down Lucky. Several times during the day, out loud and in my head, I said "Bandera: Where the downhills are just as bad as the uphills!"
I ran what I could on those downhills, but they are ALSO LONG. And STEEP. And ROCKY. And while you can trudge on an uphill, it's pretty easy to get completely out of control on the downhills, to the detriment of your ankles, or worse. So I made sure to be very conservative. Especially knowing that we'd not only eventually be going up and down Lucky again, but that there were several other ups and downs that were just as bad.
And then I just settled in. Not many people around me, as things spread out nicely. It had been forecast that it would get into the mid 60s later in the day, but for hours the weather was overcast and breezy and cool and just pretty much perfect. Running felt good. Walking up the hills felt exhausting but manageable. Running down the hills felt controllable and smart.
At one point I got to a volunteer who turned everyone off to the left. He said to go up the hill, do a little loop, then come back down the hill. A lollipop. It's the only place where there are people on the course going both directions, and it's on a steep up/downhill, so it can be a little messy, especially when people are tired. Despite that, it's really nice because even the really tired people cheer for the people coming down as they go up, and the people going up as they come down. Nice little boost, and a GREAT view from the top.
As I came down to the bottom again and started to turn left and continue on the course, I heard a voice I recognized! The volunteer was explaining the lollipop, and I heard someone respond "Once more over the horizon." And that voice was Matt's! I couldn't see him, because there's scrubby trees in the way, but I yelled, "Matt!" and he yelled back. It was such a lift for my spirits, knowing that he was doing well, knowing that he was still making cute little pithy comments to volunteers, and knowing he was so close behind me!
I wanted to stop and get my phone out of my pack (it was in the back, so hard to get to), but I never did. I'm jealous of Matt, who stopped and got someone to take his picture at one of the views).
And then back to the rocks and hills and cactus. Oh, the cactus. I had been thinking "Wow, the sotol isn't as bad as I remember!" Yeah, no, I just hadn't gotten to it yet. This next section has sotol growing all along the trail, and its little stabby hands are unavoidable, so you just have to run straight through it. It isn't so much that it causes grievous injury, it just causes dozens of tiny micro-cuts that bleed and make your future shower uncomfortable. But it's part of the charm of Bandera!
I was feeling decent. Eating on schedule, taking salt, drinking plenty of water. I was feeling pretty worn out, but not too terrible, given my undertrainedness. I felt good that I was so close to the end! Less than 2 miles to go! Then I remembered: We had to run up and down Lucky Peak again. Oof.
That is an unwelcome way to finish off a really hard race, lemme tell ya. Pretty sure my slog was a LOT slower the second time. Plus halfway up, the sun started coming out. No! So close! Let me finish in this wonderful weather! No sun! Fortunately it didn't fully come out, and it stayed pretty cool and breezy.
I made it back to the top again, and started heading back down. There was a guy behind me on the way down, and I told him he should go ahead, because I was going to be VERY cautious going back down, given how my legs were feeling. He said it was fine, he didn't need to pass, but man, it's hard to be smart when you've got someone right behind you, and you don't want to slow them down. But it was his choice, so I just did my thing, and managed to make it down with no grievous injuries.
Of course, then in the last 3/4 mile, when the course becomes mostly dirt trail again, I twice caught my toe on basically nothing, and pitched forward. I never fell, but let me tell you how displeased my toe tips were about being smashed into roots and rocks after several hours of being smashed into the toes of my shoes as I ran downhill. (Very displeased.)
But even though the last half mile was about a mile long, I finally made it to the finish line, and finished the race!
By far my slowest Bandera 25k, but I knew that it would be, and I'm pleased that I was smart and ran the race that I was trained for, and didn't compare this race to ones I've done in the past.
2020: 3:34
2012: 2:57
2011: 3:07
(Actually, right about the same pace I ran for the 50k in 2013.)
Matt finished shortly after me, looking strong and happy.
This was a good reminder that we can do hard things, which is a bit of a theme for this coming year. And it was a good reminder for my quads that they were woefully undertrained for these downhills. The next few days were quite unpleasant, as far as downstairs were concerned.
After.
Now we ramp the run training up even more, before our next very stupid and ill-advised event in late February!