Over the holidays I was fortunate enough to run the Snowdrop 55Hr Solo event in Sugarland, TX. The race started on Dec 30th and ran through Jan 1st. I ended up with 100 miles and a sweet buckle in about 35 hours. At .74 miles per loop, it took 134 loops to make 100 miles.
The buckle is pretty sweet. I'd been saying for at least 3 weeks I didn't really want to run the event. My training had been slipping since early November, so I was feeling fat and out of shape. I felt good skinning up the mountain up in Steamboat over Christmas, but I wasn't feeling running around in circles for two and a half days.
Originally, when I signed up, I thought I could run 200 miles. That was back in August or September. Little did I know I'd be faced with some work issues. In early November my employer laid off a number of folks. Two from my team. Some guys I'd known my whole career. One was my old boss who I'd worked for directly for eight years. I guess I took it a bit hard.
My flight back from Colorado was cancelled early Monday the 28th of December after being delayed for about 8 hours. I wasn't able to leave CO until Tuesday afternoon the 29th. Once I arrived in San Antonio I had to pack, load up the dogs and drive to Houston Hobby Airport and pick up Gina which happened to be about 1AM the 30th of December. About 6 hours before the race started.
We arrived at the race venue about 0330. Thankfully Vincent from Trail Toes had already set up the tent for us. We knocked off a few hours and woke up to start the race with everyone at 0700. After about 2 hours, I stopped to send a few work emails and take a nap. Around 1130 I got back out on the course.
Being totally tired did not help my disposition. In the afternoon, I thought that since I had plenty of time I should go ahead and finish the book I was reading on my Kindle. I was reading The Revenant. The movie comes out tomorrow night! I've already bought my ticket. By dark I wasn't quite done with the book. I'd gotten over the fact that I didn't want to be at the race, and decided I should run a bit.
Through the night I slept two different times for about 4 hours total. I spent time running with Vincent, Dimitry, Kelley, and Will. I spoke to Matt a bit about his upcoming attempt on the TIR 200 solo. Also, Gina ran/walked a few laps. The night drug on and on. But finally the night yielded to the day. I pulled the Kindle back out and finished my book. Once it was done, I picked back up with Catch-22 but didn't finish reading that book. Pretty hilarious book about military life.
I had another book on my Kindle called "How to Run Faster with Less Effort" . I joked with some folks, saying I'm reading this book so that I can learn some stuff. :) I wasn't really reading it though. I got a few laughs from folks with that joke.
Finally the total number of loops reached 110, so only 24 more to go. I ran a few fast ones with Joe Fejes, who set a 48 hr age group record and reached 250 total miles in 55 hours. He's the real deal. The RD Kevin Kline is a great guy and made a big spectacle for everyone who reached 100 miles. He spared no expense whooping everyone up when I finished my 100 miles. Here is a pic of us with the buckle.
All in all, Kevin puts on a world class event. I had a great time. The food was delicious, hot chow, and ultra food. A nice warming tent with TV's playing football games. I think that I will be back next year. Nice place to chill and celebrate the running lifestyle I guess I've been living for some years now. Life could be worse. :) I feel like I crossed another mental hurdle with this event. One of just accepting and getting shit done. Whether it be on a boring .74 mile loop or not. Thankfully I had Gina to make sammiches and I didn't have any blisters or ball chaffing.
Originally, when I signed up, I thought I could run 200 miles. That was back in August or September. Little did I know I'd be faced with some work issues. In early November my employer laid off a number of folks. Two from my team. Some guys I'd known my whole career. One was my old boss who I'd worked for directly for eight years. I guess I took it a bit hard.
My flight back from Colorado was cancelled early Monday the 28th of December after being delayed for about 8 hours. I wasn't able to leave CO until Tuesday afternoon the 29th. Once I arrived in San Antonio I had to pack, load up the dogs and drive to Houston Hobby Airport and pick up Gina which happened to be about 1AM the 30th of December. About 6 hours before the race started.
We arrived at the race venue about 0330. Thankfully Vincent from Trail Toes had already set up the tent for us. We knocked off a few hours and woke up to start the race with everyone at 0700. After about 2 hours, I stopped to send a few work emails and take a nap. Around 1130 I got back out on the course.
Being totally tired did not help my disposition. In the afternoon, I thought that since I had plenty of time I should go ahead and finish the book I was reading on my Kindle. I was reading The Revenant. The movie comes out tomorrow night! I've already bought my ticket. By dark I wasn't quite done with the book. I'd gotten over the fact that I didn't want to be at the race, and decided I should run a bit.
Through the night I slept two different times for about 4 hours total. I spent time running with Vincent, Dimitry, Kelley, and Will. I spoke to Matt a bit about his upcoming attempt on the TIR 200 solo. Also, Gina ran/walked a few laps. The night drug on and on. But finally the night yielded to the day. I pulled the Kindle back out and finished my book. Once it was done, I picked back up with Catch-22 but didn't finish reading that book. Pretty hilarious book about military life.
I had another book on my Kindle called "How to Run Faster with Less Effort" . I joked with some folks, saying I'm reading this book so that I can learn some stuff. :) I wasn't really reading it though. I got a few laughs from folks with that joke.
Finally the total number of loops reached 110, so only 24 more to go. I ran a few fast ones with Joe Fejes, who set a 48 hr age group record and reached 250 total miles in 55 hours. He's the real deal. The RD Kevin Kline is a great guy and made a big spectacle for everyone who reached 100 miles. He spared no expense whooping everyone up when I finished my 100 miles. Here is a pic of us with the buckle.
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1 comment:
Good job, John....I appreciate your incredible running strength in the off season. I guess in Ultrarunning there doesn't have to be an off season!
Best of luck getting into Hardrock from the wait list, you have a great shot at that. Deb and I are way too far down the list to have a chance...maybe next year!
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