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Bandera 100K - spectating+ crew

January 9, 2016 (Morning)

Exercise Type: Bike

Weather: 40 - 60F, breezy

Comments:
Up and at 'em with the fellas and CA at 0500. Tea for breakfast then out the door just after six. Cool but not too cold.

It was a bit of a struggle to stay warm in the dark, with a north breeze, as CA warmed up. I tried to dodge a bunch of folks, as I wasn't in the mood to explain why I wasn't racing. I stayed with CA until 5 minutes before the start. The 25K and 50Ks start by going north, while the 100K starts by going south -- the starting lines are about 600m apart. I grabbed her jacket layers from her, then hustled to the start, where I gave Ford's dad his crew stuff.

Once there, it finally sunk in that I wasn't racing. I encouraged and wished good luck to DeNucci, Terranova, and Mendoza...and then they were off!

Once they were off, Meredith Terranova hooked me up with a bike so I could get around the "no car" course. I pedaled through some sticky ground to the first junction of the 25K, but missed CA. I then went to the 6-mile mark and hung out. She came through F1 and probably 6th overall, looking good! By then, the sun was out in full and it felt warm.

I then pedaled about 3.5 miles to the next AS at mile 11 or so. I chatted up with Rob Goyen (a RWB alum and TX RD) for quite a while...only to miss CA coming through when I got impatient and walked up the course...only to walk the wrong trail! Ugh.

So I biked back to the finish line. The bike was OK, but NOT comfortable, so I didn't ride any extra. Rode a total of 30 easy minutes. Once there, I parked the bike and waited for CA to come in. She looked STRONG, winning in 2:15 (guys winner in 1:59, which was legit).

From there, we hung out a bit 'til I got a word on the leaders -- all tightly bunched at mile 22.

After that, we headed back into town:

- coffee
- bacon and eggs back at the house
- back to the coffee shop to get work done

At 3 we got back to the course. Jim Walmsley finished at 3:17!!! That's 7:47 for an enormous CR! at 8:06, DeNucci came in, as pumped as I was in '12. Good for him. Post-race we chatted with he and Jenny Maier, then cheering in Terranova at 8:40.

After that, we took off for Crossroads, trying to see Avery. Chatted with a couple guys who were from Northern MN (including my hometown of Eveleth!) as the sun began to set. Chatted with Sarah Lavender-Smith (who's doing a cool story on an RWB runner doing his first 100K), then Avery came in to mile 43.

He was doing a little rough. He was totally unaccustomed to this terrain - we just couldn't adequately train for it. All else was OK except for super-stiff knees. I gave him some form cues and got him going.

After that, we headed back into town. Ford and DNF'd and he was back at the house, so we built a fire in the 'place - as it was quite cool now - and ate salad and had a beer. Then the three of us went for some BBQ.

PM: after-dinner beer at this trashy TX townie place where EVERYONE was smoking INDOORS, then met up with the Terranovas, Denucci-Maier and another guy to chat and hang out, then home.

Avery had finished (<14hr) and we met him back at the house. So did Jack, the other guy (13:30). Spent the rest of the night chatting and celebrating!

Good day! Best of all, my foot was minimally sore, which was great! I made the right call, but it was tough to be out there, in "failure mode" once again.