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Ultramarathon #134 | Habanero #04 | Year-to-Date Ultra #04
If you have read my prior race reports or perhaps talked to me in person in the past couple years, you may know that I have sworn off running Habanero Hundred ever again. I was quite adamant about that after my most recent D.N.F. out there on the ranch. So how did I find myself back at 7IL Ranch once again? Why on Earth would I do back after swearing off this place, and the stupidity of this hottest race format just to further torture myself? Why oh why did I want to subject to myself of that awful combination of exposure, sand and humidity?
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| "the reason" |
2021 Trevor Meding | #ultrarunningdad: Habanero Sucks! (finish #23)
2022 Trevor Meding | #ultrarunningdad: Twice As Spicy (finish #29)
2023 Trevor Meding | #ultrarunningdad: What A Dumb Idea (D.N.F.)
Well, the answer is actually really simple. TROT put out their buckle reveal this year, and well...I simply could not resist as a self-proclaimed buckle prospector I just had to have this one. Besides TROT was introducing the inaugural distance of 135 Mi this edition and so I was actually staying true and saying I'd never race #HH100 again by signing up for the 135 Mi instead (see what I did there! Mind of a crazy ultrarunner comes up with all sorts of self-affirming thoughts).
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| Habanero weather: Heat Index Advisory alert almost perfecty overlapping the race timing. |
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| Prerace portrait. Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas | JJustisPhotography |
Everyone was busheling around gather their last-minute items, and the eagerness of the other distances there setting up their camps and crew sites kept the ranch busy and crawling with people, much like a beehive community where there always seems to be movement. I was lounging back in my car behind my car, sipping some electrolytes trying to stay [pre]hydrated as it was 100f ambient temperature. The only "true blessing" of this format (if there was one) of the new 135 Mi distance was the fact that we got to start at 18:00. Although it was peak heat of the day around 106-108f heat index feel-like temperatures there was only about 2 hours before the sunset occurred. This meant that there was an opportunity to run through the entire first night, fresh, and set yourself up for a decent pace in the overarching picture of the race.
The Race
Starting off it was hot. no doubt about it. Feeling good and fresh I just took it out as best to a lower 5-6 RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) with all the excitement and anticipation of the start of the event this was key to keep myself from burning matches too fast off the very start in the hottest part of the day too. The first 3 loops of this course had an "extended" portion of a couple km's added on the very beginning of the loop, thus there was 3 "big" loops before resuming the normal main Habanero 10 km loop that we would repeat endlessly [well 18 more] until 21 loops in total were completed. These extra few kilometers on the first couple loops brought the distance up to the desired 135 Mi needed in the overall finish. It was smart of Cal to place these at the start of the race, not only to get them over with, but to not have to mentally wrestle with remembering a change in loop later (so I did appreciate that).
Finished loop 2 just as the sun was fully setting and so the temperatures were just starting to cool off below the 100f mark, which felt super nice. Grabbed my kogalla lighting setup for the night hours and got into the mindset of grinding out as many steady miles as I can before the sun came. Grinding away the night actually felt quite nice at the beginning of the race. I had removed my t-shirt and ran the night shirtless to try and utilize evaporative cooling, to the extent that occurs in humid South Texas. This was part of my strategy until the sunlight hours returned.
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| Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas | JJustisPhotography |
Loop 8 completed and I then opted for a brief stop. I took a 6-minute nap at the back of my car in my chair. I changed into new attire and got up to continuing moving forward. With the exposure of the daylight emerging now I also had put on the first (of three) rabbit UPF sun hoodies.
I deliberately started to slow my pace with the return of the impending heat index rising once again. The second day was now here & the sun was back and had returned to try and kill me! Starting off Loop 9, I caught up with friend and Habanero legend Vic Valenzuela for 2 km. It was a nice breaking from all the running and jogging I had been doing to take a purposeful extended walk break as we caught up and chatted.
Got my sunglasses and rabbit ice RAD-Dana out for Loop 10, sun was now behind a cloud, sort of. Walked loop mostly with Vic again. This time I took the entire loop to power walk and keep moving forward. Vic has a known Habanero cadence where he paces each loop perfectly as a nice power walk / slow hike type pace and so it was another needed break from running as the mileage started to pile up on my legs. The sun hiding behind the clouds did not last long at all and came out to the full extent as the clouds slowly disappeared altogether, never to seen that day again (seriously! no clouds in the sky at all). Once I started using ice here, I never stopped, I kept using it from here on to help keep myself just a little bit cooler with that topical cooling.
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| If you squint you can see 7IL on the map there. |
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| Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas | Paul Stephan |
Eventually the day came to an end I had survived the day. I recall being on Loop 14 when the sun went down again, which meant that I was now two thirds done (i.e. 14/21 Loops, even if that is not exact distance due to the first 3 loops being slightly larger). My body was tired, y feet were sore, the miles were dragging on. I started knowing every single pebble on the loop out there. I contemplated my life choices that had brought me back to the ranch again as I stumbled through the completion of Loop 14. I opted for a nap at the main aid station. I laid down on a TROT supplied cot and set my timer for 15 minutes on my phone. My ultrarunner brain awoke me after 14 minutes just before my timer was set to go off. I had slept nearly instantly and so I did have a slightly refreshed feeling after this rest. I shook out my shoes again and retied my shoes, grabbing some food, before continuing on now into night two.
One more full loop and then I decided for another quick pitstop to fully change into new socks. Now that I was awake again and going into the full night, with slightly cooler temperatures, I was using this as a motivation and help in mindset for my feet. That new sock feeling is really hard to beat deep into an ultra!
It was also around this point that I really noticed my inner thighs were started to get an itch type pain. Uh oh, I think I may have some chaffing... I had been using some Vaseline a couple times proactively so I was not too concerned prior to this point. However when I stopped or slowed down to a walk where I'd stop sweating for a good while my legs would dry off a bit, and that is when I'd notice the point of irritation. Well this is not good as I knew with multiple hours left, it was going to be a grind. I applied some more Vaseline and kept going.
Vaseline was that all I personally had, and asked some fellow runners, which turned out that was what they had too, so I just went with it I really wish I had some Trail Toes which has been my lube of choice for ultramarathons. The Ranch is relentless with how it tests you in this format and the fact I was getting through the challenge being able to run I was now faced head on with this extra challenge of managing some external thigh pain. When I was running, jogging, moving at decent speed where I was sweating and staying wet, the pain seemed dim down a little, but as soon as it started to dry out I could feel the burn starting back up. It was a constant battle of mental focus and determination to not focus on the issue. 4 loops to go. 3 loops to go. Then the Sunday morning sunrise comes around. 2 loops to go.
On my last loop I came through the arch, got some nice cold fluids and then just put my head down and simply trudged out into the pasture knowing it was the last time I'd see this route for a long [long, long, long] time. Every once in a while, I'd get a stitch or a twinge from my inner thigh rubbing just the wrong way that would send a big pain signal straight to my brain. It was a battle, but I was winning and I was getting through this.
I recall texting my wife and informing them I was on the last loop, but of course they already knew I they had been tracking me on the TROT provided live tracking. The last loop consisted of lots of run-walking intervals as I wanted to just get it over with and get out of the sunlight and get off my feet. I crossed the final stretched of sand and had only 0.3Mi to go down past tent city and run through the finishing arch. Completing the inaugural Habanero 135 I can say with certainty, I have no desire to return. This challenge was way up there, one of my hardest earned buckles yet!
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| Postrace portrait. Photo: Trail Racing Over Texas | JJustisPhotography |
The Aftermath
Lucky for everyone, including my wife, I did not take any pictures to document the issue.
Getting into the shower at the Ranch was both a blessing and a curse. The full serve showers are by far the best part of the course (ha!). I was afraid to take off my shorts and lay eyes on my thighs, but I also knew I had to rinse off all the sweat, grit, and dirt to the best of my ability as soon as possible because it would only be worse later if I waited a few more hours till I got back home. It was not pretty. It was painful.
Do not forget to lube kids!!!
I managed to get my shorts off and rinse off with only mild screaming as the water trickled over my body and down my thigh over the open chaffed wounds. I had conquered the Habanero 135, but not without the battle scars from the Ranch. I've said it before but the combination of heat, humidity, and the sand here at Habanero makes this one of the hardest hot races in America. There is a reason the finisher rate is historically low every year.
For days after I had to put up with open sores as my legs healed. It was uncomfortable trying to sleep at night and just get positioned with the sheets and everything.
One week later as I am finishing off this race report my inner thighs still hurt. One side is fine, the other one is still healing but is almost back to normal now. The lingering scar tissue is still there on my one leg after my open wounds healed over. The itchiness feeling finally went away about four days after the race, but my legs constantly felt like they were running hot (like on fire). I still can't believe I survived this level of chaffing to get myself a buckle. Stupid Habanero!
Results & Stats
- 40:30:20 | 134.40 Mi (216.30 km) | 8,671 ft+ (2,643 m+)
- 8th overall (M7)
- My 134th ultramarathon run and my 4th ultramarathon YTD in 2026.
- My 52nd 100Mi(+) completed
- STRAVA: Habanero 135 (8th overall), Cat Spring, TX | Strava
- TROT Live Runner Tracking: Habanero Hundred
- Moving Time = 35:10:45 (86.85% of time), meaning 13.15% stopped time
- Sleep 5 mins, 6 mins, 14 mins = 25 minutes total
- I have now run 1,104.76 Miles out at 7IL Ranch at Cat Spring, TX. This is currently my 4th biggest location in terms of mileage run.
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| Mt top10 location list. 7IL is now my 4th most popular location by distance. Updated data as of 2026-Aug-24. |
Gear Used
- Lighting setup - kogalla RA Adventure Light (waistlamp) & Black Diamond Storm-R (headlamp)
- SS Shirt - rabbit ELITEtrail team
- Other- rabbit Ice RAD-Dana
- Shorts - rabbit 5" Shredders 2-in-1 trail, 3" shorts
- Headwear - rabbit (Boco) RADrabbit team kit ice hat, rabbit bucket hat
- LS Shirt - rabbit UPF Deflector 2.0 (x3)
- Eyewear - Tifosi Optics
- Shoes - ASCIS SuperBlaze
- Socks - injinji (x2 pairs)
- Hydration - x2 NATHAN Sports 12oz soft flasks
- Watch (with GPX track of course) - Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition
- Post Race- HOKA EZ slides (WSER Edition)
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Thanks for reading.
What is Next? t.b.d.
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