Twice As Spicy

Habanero Hundred: The Return | Ultramarathon #091

…I can feel my left heel starting to get annoyed. I recall to myself that this happens when I have begun to have heel blisters issues in the past. Normally I don’t get a lot of blisters, but heel blisters have happened on occasion (usually due to extended downhills, or when excess sand/pebbles accumulate in my shoes). I talk it over to myself in my mind as I trot along the pasture surrounded by the onlooking cows who don’t seem to care about my presence. 

“Maybe I should stop now and empty my shoe”

“The next loop I will address this, not long and I can change my socks and clean my shoes out again.”

“It is only a small annoyance. I can probably just run through this pain for a while”

Isn’t ultrarunning a stupid sport. Here I am less than 4 hours into this ultramarathon and I am arguing with myself, trying to persuade myself that ‘it is fine’. Perhaps this was the beginning of my downfall in attempting to repeat a sub-24hr performance at the hottest race in Texas.

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Let me step back for a minute. Why was I even here again? I swore to myself I would never let myself be found running this race again after completing it last year. How did this happen? Well I somehow let the thought of another buckle creep into my mind. As you may know by reading my blog I am a buckle chaser and love the 100 Mi distance. With this race nice and close to our home I somehow had the thought of well maybe I could do it again. Clearly, I had forgotten all the pain and suffering my poor feet went through last year to get the run done (see 2021 Habanero race report).

Wednesday of race week I had not entered my name into the registrants list yet, but I reached out to TROT (Trail Racing Over Texas) and asked if they needed help on Friday to setup for the race still. In fact they did so I was going to give myself some volunteer hours opposed to running the event. But something changed somewhere between then and Thursday. I don’t even know what changed or what exactly happened. It was like I had blanked out and the next thing I know it is now Thursday evening and I am sitting there staring at my screen with the UltraSignUp confirmation number just eyeing me back. 40 hours till race start…

Friday morning it was pouring race in the Houston area and so I was a few minutes late getting to the ranch to help Cal, TROT’s newest fulltime RD, with the race setup. Arriving safely getting through the storm it was a nice day after all, not super-hot just yet, still cool-ish from the passing morning storms. I got set up with the course flags and set off around the infamous Yellow Loop at 7IL Ranch and began flagging the course. I spent a good 2.5 hours on my feet simply hiking the loop planting the flags as I went clipping the odd reflectors into the adjacent tree limbs for some night time visibility as well. I got back to the main barn and met with the packet pick-up crew where Cal had arranged some pizza delivered for us for lunch. A quick bite to eat and then I spent another 2 hours or so setting up the main start-finish aid station with a couple others. The weather had cleared now and few clouds remained. The humidity returned and I was dripping by the end of my volunteer shift. An hour commute back home to the family for our traditional Friday family movie night where I’d kick my feet up and pack my things. 

Race Day arrived and my Victory Sportdesign Grizzley backpack was ready to go with all my essentials and my few spares things I may need depending on the day. Since the race is a “high noon” start, just to maximize the heat of the day, it was an easy going morning overall. I had my coffee, ate an omelet my amazing wife made for me, and then at down to play a game with my 2nd oldest daughter not too long before my departure. 

Race ready. Taken not long before my car
troubles started. Photo: Katie Meding.

Said my goodbyes to my wife and kids and then headed out the door. Had everything packed into my car and was ready to go. “click, click, click…..” and then….silence. My stupid car was not starting! What, not now I thought to myself. Why? I reset the ignition and tried again with no luck. Frustrated I went back into the house got my wife’s van keys and dug out our boosters cables from the garage. Luckily I have long cables so I inched the van right behind the car and was able to reach battery to battery that way. With the cables attached I was still unable to get my car started yet. “Shit”. I was now very frustrated and of course time was ticking down towards the start of the race. I was now sweating and getting my heart rate elevated just in preparation of trying to get to the race. My calmness was slowly escaping me. Again no luck with the engine turnover. Eventually I was able to get my car to at least turn on enough to where I could shift it into neutral and I rolled my car a little further down the driveway. This enable me to be able to sneak the van out (by driving on the grass) between the car and the house. My wife gave me the blessing of just taking the van and going. I left for the race with about 75 minutes till the start. The drive is 80 minutes from my house. Between all the antics and burst of swears I did send Cal a message explaining I’d be a bit late and asked if I could start, fully acknowledging my time would start when the race started. He was gracious enough to respond as I am sure he was busy at the race with pre-race RD things. I was now one of those people bugging him mere moments before the start of the event. Pulling into 7IL Ranch driving up the road I saw the hundreds of people lined up in the shoot. I was stopped by a volunteer and told to wait as the race was literally starting. I sat there in the van, watched the gun fire into the air and all the runners take off in front of me. I was then waved on in to the parking field where I proceeded to get ready. Application of my Trail Toes and filling of my water bottles was essentially the only things I had left to do as I had prepared everything else to be ready otherwise. I walked up to the RD table and told Cal I was here and now ready. I recall him saying good luck and to take my time. And with that I started by myself underneath the TROT start arch and onto the Yellow Loop a full 7 minutes behind the gun start.

Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas | JJustis Photography

Back to the race on loop 6 now I was wondering if the sunset was ever going to come. The sweet relief of the sun setting at Habanero is a big draw even though the ambient temperatures do not drop super significantly. I still had one more loop I figured until I needed to break out the lights. Cresting the final corner on loop 6 and heading back to the arch I had promised myself a sock change. I figured I had earned it as this point being more than a third done now. I was slowing down and also hoped for a mind reset with this quick break. Passing over the timing mat, I made my way to my parked van not far away and propped open the truck setting up my chair and a small tub of water. I got my shoes off and literally poured the sand out on the ground. “Man this sucks” I thought to myself. Peeling off my socks from my sweated soaked wrinkled feet revealed another layer of hidden ever finer sand. I shook my socks off, flinging sand around me and tossed this pair into the laundry bag I had set aside. Now I soaked my feet into my Tupperware tub to get off the remaining sand particles which required a bit of scrubbing – but that is why I brought this foot tub. A quick bath and my feet looked somewhat refreshed again, beside the wrinkles from being trapped in sweat-soaked shoes for hours now – these would persist until about a day after the race once I was able to air dry my feet out. A shade over 15 minutes of cleaning my feet and getting in some much-needed calories I was back up and on to my next loop: number 7.

Loop 7 = puke loop.

Feeling fresh (new dry socks, new dry shirt) with my waist lights at the ready I figured that the impending sunset would help bring back my pace back down. Heading off for loop 7 I was again filled with a bit of optimism on my interloop reset. …it did not last long. The seventh loop turned out to be the puke loop. After getting through the heat of the day, my stomach know decided to rebel against me. Why now? My stomach simply had other ideas. I resided to my slowest loop of the entire event death marching most of it with a few abrupt intrusions of emptying my stomach on the side of the trail. I did not let this deter me and just stay focused on continuing to consume as much fluids as I could to ensure I did not get dehydrated, even in the cooler temps. This is where the experience in ultramarathons kicks in, even though you don’t necessary feel great, I was able to mitigate any further deterioration of the effects and keep fluids going in despite this puke loop.

The night loops seemed to slow down and time was going very slow. I knew that moving efficiently during the night hours is key during Habanero, but my pace seemed agonizing. The more of the race you can get done at night and out of the sunlight, the less you have left to get done after the sun rises again the following day. This seems simple but it truly is strategic to think about this during this race and at least attempt to incorporate this.

Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas | JJustis Photography

The Yellow loop is alive and bustling with all sorts of runners when the race begins on the first day. There is all the 100 Mi and 100 km solo runners, as well as many relay teams taking on the challenge. Then of course you have the short distance of 10 km, 20 km, 30 km, & 50 km runner that seem to just fly by relatively speaking of course. As the night moon creeps up from the East horizon and the sun disappears to the West the number of runners dwindles significantly too. This event is known for its low finishing rate (due to the heat, humidity, sand/foot issues) so inevitability you come across less and less people as the loops go on. The sun comes up on day 2 of Habanero and the Yellow Loop can seem like a very lonely place for the 3 Miles between the aid stations: just you and the unrelenting South Texas August heat. The only relief is the brief moments of ice sponge baths, Gatorade slushies, and cold water from the amazing volunteers.

I saw my sub-24 hour time goal slip away and knew it is was all about simply grinding out a finish now. I had seen maybe 4 other runners in the last 2 loops, either we were all going the same pace now, or I was one of the last few out there still running – neither was exactly true. Fueling on a heavy fill of Coca-Cola, Water, mashed potatoes, and the occasional Base Performance gel I was trudging forward as a now steady pace. Tree by tree and fence by fence I would use the landmarks to tick away my progress on the loop. Crossing the ranch road back on the inward direction meant only about 1 Mile to go. I had done it, preserving through the pain of my feet and the non-stop salty sweating of nearly 27 hours. 

The last 0.25 Mi of the Yellow Loop pours onto the ranch road which usually filled with tents, crews, exhausted runners, and spectators alike all sitting cheering and enjoying ay piece of shade they can. Now it was void of everything except a couple abandoned spots that seemed lifeless as the owner was probably resting in their vehicles, and maybe 3 people clapping as I very slowly shuffled towards the TROT arch. Cal announced my name over the loud speaker as I can in and I mustered up my best smile and took in another buckle finish, my 29th 100 Mi(or more) completion. A quick photo grab with Cal and my new piece of hardware was required before I quickly resided to my van and grabbed my chair to remove my shoes and socks.

Finish Time: 26:47:17. With TROT's newest Race Director Cal Neff. Photo: Jerimiah Justis

I will let you in on a very often neglected secret of Habanero. The very best part of this race is the fact that the 7IL Ranch has public showers available for everyone. This is such an amazing feeling to just stand under the water and let the finishing feeling overtake your thoughts drowning out the pain messages that your muscles nerves are trying to invade you brain with. A nice 5 minute shower post race is by far the best part of Habanero!

DATA

• STRAVA Activity: Habanero Hundred (18th overall), 7IL Ranch, Cat Spring, TX | Run | Strava
• 18th overall (M17)
• 28 total finishers (42.4%)
• 38 DNFs (57.6%)
• 2022 Habanero Hundred 100 Miler - Results (ultrasignup.com)
• My 91st ultramarathon I have started. I have finished 88 of these (96.70% completion rate).
• My 29th 100 Mi(or more) finish in a total of 32 attempts.
• I have now run a total of 778.15 Mi out at the 7IL Ranch in Cat Spring, TX. No idea the number of Yellow Loops I have done, but it is a lot at this point over the past 5 years.

snapshot from my STRAVA activity.

GEAR USED

LS Shirt(s): rabbit UPF 30 Protector, rabbit  UPF 30 Deflector

Shirt(s): rabbit rabbitELITEtrail team kit singlet

Shorts: rabbit 3" FKT

Other: Nathan Sports ice buff

Shoes: Altra Olypmpus 4.0

Socks: Dry Max, rnnr, FITSOK

Headwear: rabbit (BOCO) rabbitELITEtrail cap, Trail Racing Over Texas bucket hat

Sunglasses: goodr (TROT edition)

Watch: Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition

Lighting: kogalla RA Adventure Light (waistlamp)

Hydration:  Nathan Sports x2 20oz Nathan soft flasks, Trail Racing Over Texas collapsible cup

Anti Friction lube: Trail Toes

Foot Tape: Trail Toes

Gear Bags: Victory Sportdesign (Grizzly Backpack, Kodiak, Coyote II)

NEXT UP

My next goal race is Barkley Fall Classic (BFC) in Wartburg, TN. I am heading back to the lore of Frozen Head State Park (FHSP) to attempt one of the hardest races I have ever done (mile for mile). Last year this "50 km" felt like a 100 km effort.

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Thank you for following along.

#ultrarunningdad