Saturday night, June 24, at 7pm kicked off the first of the Tejas Trails Capt’n Karl’s 60k nighttime trail series. Last year, I ran the full 4 race series. It was such a good time and race series, that this year I am back to do it again.
Before every race, I set 2 goals for myself: one attainable goal and one stretch goal. Colette keeps me honest on my goals and will ask me what they are before every race. For Capt’n Karl’s Pedernales Falls, my goal was to complete the race in under 8 hours and my stretch goal was to beat my time last year. This may not sound like much of a stretch goal, but this year I was entering the race with two nagging injuries.
Ever since Infinitus, I have been experiencing Achilles Tendonitis on my left achilles. Also, two week prior to Capt’n Karl’s, I injured my right foot. All the symptoms on my right foot point to a stress fracture.
The Sunday before the race, I went for a run followed by a ruck. When I woke up on Monday, I was in a lot of pain, my left achilles and my right foot were both very swollen, and I could only hobble around the house. I seriously considered the possibility of not racing. As the week progressed, the swelling and pain subsided to manageable levels. After some research, I decided to change my shoes for the race and use my Hokas. I don’t like the Hokas for distances over 25 miles due to the restrictive toe box, but they offered the most cushion of my trail shoes. I really didn’t want to miss this race not only because it would mean DNF the series, but also it has become an annual camping and race trip with the family. The girls race the kids 1 mile trail race, then camp out in the park. I come up with a plan for the race: wear my Hokas, wrap my left foot, and take a bunch of ibuprofen.
It was a fun race. I started off the first mile testing my feet to see how they were doing. The plan was working; there was little to no pain in either foot. I kicked up my pace to my 100 mile pace, slower than my shorter race pace but very sustainable. Overall, the race was fairly uneventful (not a bad thing by the way). I had some stomach issues which seriously affected my calorie intake. I had to stop any “solid” food around mile 10 and my last calories was from my Nuun drink at the halfway point. My body was in a constant state of paradox – it wanted food/calories but did not want to eat/drink them. I just drank a lot of water. Like all Capt’n Karl’s races, I did have a tumble. This one was a good one. I went completely head-over-heads and ended up banging my knee, shoulder, and lower back on rocks. Nothing serious, just some scrapes and bruises.
In the end, I finished in 7:43:18 – 19th overall, 5th in my division. I also beat last year’s time by 8 minutes. I hit both my goals. The girls also completed the kids race. While my feet are swollen and bruised, I am super happy about the race and I am looking forward to the rest of Capt’n Karl’s Series.