Cross Timbers Trail Run 50-Mile
February 24, 2007
By Bill (The Trailgeeze) Rumbaugh
Yoda once told Luke Skywalker, "Do or do not, there is no
try." Today was another 'do not' day at the 50 mile level for yer humble scribe. This time I went out prepared (or so I
thought) and at least knew how my efforts stacked up against what I would have
to do, in order to get the job done.
"Start in the middle and work both ways" is one way to
describe the course. The start is in the Cedar Bayou Marina on the South shore
of
The week prior to an event, I always watch the Weather Channel
like a hawk. There was a lot of ballyhoo about a storm system coming through
Friday night and Saturday morning. Causing a lot of traffic disruption in the
states to the North and West. I had hiked much of the trail with the Scouts about
10 years ago, and knew a wet course would just be a mess, oh sort of like it
was last year, from what I've read. But I'd paid my $ and was going to get out
there regardless. It ended up being no big deal. There were a few places where
it was muddy and you had to watch yourself, and some of the gullies had a small
amount of water in them. But by the second half, things had dried out well and
there were no issues to speak of from the moisture. What was a problem was the
wind. The paper said this was the strongest West wind we have had in the area
in over 20 years. It blew down the A/S tents (except for the one at Paw Paw Point) and generally wreaked havoc with anyone who
needed to be in one place and get anything done. A lot of
dust, too. Though it did not affect the runners, except for our legs
getting sandblasted in a few sandy sections, I looked across the lake
mid-afternoon and could not see the far shore for the yellowish dust which also
tinted the sunlight. That's a lot of dust. Gave things an apocalyptic
appearance, the few times I could look up to see anything but the trail
immediately ahead. We were protected by the trees, but the trees paid for it.
At one point I heard a crack and looked up to see a medium sized tree toppled
by the wind. Its trunk was 5 or 6 inches in diameter and it came crashing down
as if felled by a chain saw. I had never seen a tree blown down before. I
noticed numerous large branches had fallen across the trail as well as a couple
of small trees as the race progressed. Much of the day there were odd creakings and crackings off in
the trees which were brought on by the wind. It was not a good day to be a
tree.
After finding the pavilion, thanks to Fred Thompson, who arrived
in the dark with Char at about the same time I did, we picked up our packets
and did the usual pre-race preps. I put my drop bag in the designated spot and
listened to the pre-race briefing. White surveyors tape for the trail, yellow
caution tape for where the trail does not go. The trail was abundantly marked,
and the anxious moments wondering if I'd gone wrong were few and short-lived.
It's a good feeling to see that strip of white plastic fluttering reassuringly
in the breeze during a doubtful moment. One of the better-marked trails I've
been on, actually. There was a roll call before the briefing, to see who had
actually showed up to toe the line. I heard many familiar names, some faces I
knew and recognized, others I knew by name and reputation only. Two names from
the Ultra List were familiar, Mariela Botella, and Dmitry Rozinsky, both from
Random observations of the course include one section early in the
race before the sun was fully up. The trail crosses a section of oaks which
were all bare. The leaves, a light brown, covered the ground and reflected the
sunlight. The light in that area seemed to be coming out of the ground, giving
everything a pleasant tan color. A pleasing contrast to the
usual dark color of the ground. Speaking of ground color, the sand in
several areas was an interesting orange-yellow color. I know reddish pink soil
is caused by iron oxide. I have no idea what causes yellow (cumin?). There was
a significant amount of moss in a few areas. I even noticed small clumps of it
growing through cracks in a section of defunct asphalt. Later, I encountered a
dachshund-sized opossum about to cross the trail ahead of me. Since animals in
the wild typically see me before I see them, the thought crossed my mind that
he might be rabid or otherwise "not right" so to preclude a close
encounter of the unpleasant kind, I clapped my hands to hustle him up a bit. He
took off across the trail as I hoped he would do, but the terrain dropped off
abruptly on the far side. As I pulled up even with him I could see he had
dropped down about 10 feet and was struggling to regain his footing, thrashing
about in the leaves. I immediately felt badly about my impatience. The trail is
a popular one and there were numerous hikers and backpackers out and about.
Late in the day, several campsites were being established. I don't believe
bikes are allowed on the trail. Near the 'unmanned' A/S the trail runs along
the boundary of the park. On the other side of the park's fence a bigger,
taller fence has been installed by the owners of that parcel of land. There is
a large sign that warns of guard dogs and the perimeter, which has been
cleared, gives the appearance of being occasionally patrolled. Another sign
nearby sez, "No trespassing, this includes Boy
Scouts." From the Google map/satellite pictures, darned if I could see
anything worthy of such paranoia. Obviously some top-secret
installation that has been cleverly camouflaged.
I mentioned I had hiked the trail with the Scouts about a decade
ago. Surprisingly, I remembered a few features of the trail, though I could not
remember where it was we had camped. Probably on Lost Loop somewhere, a section
that the trail does not include. A section of the trail goes out on a small
point of land overlooking the lake and then switches back. Barbed wire had been
strung between trees to prevent shortcutting the trail. I recognized that, as
well as a football-shaped 'island' where the trail divides and comes back
together near the Lost Loop section. Also a few candidate
trailside campsites that we had considered.
The trail has character, no doubt about it. When you see a runner
wearing a Cross Timbers Trail Run shirt, you can bet he or she earned that one.
Many of the climbs are from root to root and rock to rock, quite steep, which
leaves you breathing hard afterward for a long time. The short out and back
section to the East of the S/F area has a steep section, that
can only be described as gnarly. One of the articles in the website mentioned
that S.O.B. hill was again back in the course. Undoubtedly that is the one.
Parts of that section are quite runnable, but it does
have more than its share of tough trail. Level ground can be easily walked to
the tune of 15 minutes per mile, for an hour and a quarter for 5 miles. There
have been accounts of people doing that section in under
one hour. It took me about an hour and a half, and I ran what could be run.
Yep, it was tough.
To prepare for the race, I created a little spreadsheet listing
the mileages for each section. The entry blank sez that the 50 mile cutoff is 5:00 at the S/F area.
Runners will be stopped for their own safety. If a runner feels that they can
continue [in order to complete the 2.5 mile out and back], they MUST carry a
flashlight and have a pacer. So that was my goal for the day. I knew it was
quite aggressive, given the nature of the course and its reputation. My
spreadsheet included the times I would need to have at each A/S. For laughs, I
also included times based on my run of the East Texas Ultra Run 50k from two
weeks prior, which was my best outing in a long time. Calculating my average
time for the ETUR and superimposing it on this course (pretty laughable, I
know) I came up with a "best case" time for each A/S. I printed it
out and laminated it so I could carry it in my pocket and refer to it as
needed. You former marathoners, remember pace bands? Same
idea. To the casual runner, this seems maybe a little
obsessive-compulsive, but this was the main reason for not being able to finish
the Palo Duro 50 miler. I let the clock slip up on me
and did not take corrective action until it was too late. I was determined not
to make that stupid mistake again. Well into a race, my glycogen-depleted brain
is not capable of accurately carrying out the mental gymnastics necessary to calculate
whether I'm going to be able to finish in time. So I had two sets of times, one
for best case and the other for a "no pacer" time that would get me
to the S/F area at 5:00 so I would not need a pacer. I don't know anyone who
"owes me" enough to pull in a favor like traversing that little
section of trail with me. So bottom line, I needed to get back by 5:00.
We took off in the dark at 6:30 and headed out. Ran
quite a while along the park road before finally leaving for the single track.
Mariela, Rochelle and Lynn were behind me and they
all passed me in the first mile or so. I stayed up with Rochelle and Lynn for
awhile. Rochelle, originally from PA, is quite skilled at traversing the downhills, one mark of an accomplished trail runner. She
could get to the bottom of a difficult section while I was little more than
halfway down it. It would take me a long time to catch back up with her. I
started out with my favorite long-sleeved shirt, which was obviously too much
in the 60 – 70 degree weather, even with the wind. Linda Boggs retrieved my
drop bag at Paw Paw Creek so I could change to a
short sleeve shirt and stash my small flashlight. I also had minor issues with
the new bottle carrier belt I had bought. Could not fix them, so chalk it up to
violating the old adage of never trying anything new on race day, some lessons
seem destined to be re-learned over and over.
The three miles to the turnaround seemed like way more than that.
In fact, the modest mileage between aid stations
seemed like way more than the amount specified. Space travel undergoes
something called time dilation as the speed of light is approached, according
to Einstein. I encountered the earthbound equivalent of distance dilation
during this event, though the speed of light was never in any imminent danger,
to say the least. All of the distances seemed substantially longer. Approaching
the turnaround at Paw Paw Point, I noticed an
interesting flaw in my thinking process, I was wanting
to see the folks who had passed me so I would know the turnaround was not much
farther. But if they had opened up a significant lead, that would mean they
would see me sooner, rather than later. So I was not wanting
to see them at the same time I was hoping to see them. Odd the things you think
of on the trail. Or not think of. I did stumble several times this race, but
nothing worthy of note. Several times during the race I caught myself looking
at the ground but not really seeing it in any detail. Time to
refocus the concentration. This is not a trail you can zone out on. A
radio commercial from years ago came to mind, "Have respect for the mine,
concentrate all the time, 'course Days' Work is the tobacco you chew."
Same applies to the trail, only without the tobacco products.
After passing Paw Paw Creek after the
turnaround, I again checked my progress. I was about 5 minutes ahead of my best
case time and cruising along fairly well. I knew of course that this would not
last, but I was determined to keep the minutes "in the bank" as long
as possible, because they would be needed later. I kept the hammer down where
the course was runnable and tried to get up or down the
hills in as decent a time as I could. Rochelle passed me again, presently. She
had taken advantage of an opportunity to get in a bonus mile or so near Paw Paw Creek, where trail markers were scarce. She lamented
that she had a good time going until then. I'm thinking she was still doing
well. As I approached the S/F area I felt the call of nature and found a
"minimalist" public restroom. A sight for sore eyes, I have to add.
No plethora of porta-potties on the premises and the
thought of using the paw paw patch was
not pleasant. I then headed into the S/F area, checked in, and topped off the
water bottle. As I located the entry point for the last out and back section, I
checked my time and I was about even with my best case time at that point. So I
still had a cushion between where I was and where I had to be to make the 5:00
cutoff. Climbing up S.O.B. hill, there were a few Scouts coming down at the
same time. One chubby fellow asked, where do you want
to be? Lamely, I replied, "Anywhere you're not." He was trying to be
helpful, but I had no clue as to the best way up that mess. We got past each
other and the trail finally leveled out. There were some other sections that
were challenging. Some were quite exposed to the brisk wind coming off the
lake, and there was a steep drop-off in many areas. Finally, I got to the
turnaround. This was the trailhead, and some hikers were getting their stuff
ready for a hike. I spied the A/S on the far side of the loop and headed for
it. The wind was so bad there, all the A/S goodies
were in the back of a camper shell. The wind rattled parts of the shelter so
much that the racket made conversation difficult. I got my water topped off and
a couple of cookies and headed back past the hikers. Some other hikers were
about halfway back along the trail. They were taking a break and were lounging
on the rocks beside the trail. As I passed them, I said, "Tough trail,
huh, guys?" Most of the way back to the S/F area I decided it was time to
face facts. I fished out my schedule and found to my dismay that I was about
even with my No Pacer time. Yikes! That 5 mile stretch was costly. I came into
the S/F area intending to get some calories. I remember reading in Joe Prusaitis' report of this race from a couple of years ago
that he mentioned he would have done better had he eaten a proper meal at the
halfway point. So I had a meaty sandwich waiting for me in the ice chest but
then had second thoughts. I have not eaten a sandwich during any of my training
runs, it's been PB&J's and Ensure, both of which
had proven themselves during my 2005 Ultracentric experience. I've already made one mistake of
trying something new, let's not compound the situation with another. So I
downed an Ensure instead, and cycled through the S/F area, grabbing a couple of
home-made cookies from the table.
All right Trailgeeze, its time to get
serious. No more time to reapply lip gloss or lollygag around addressing
wardrobe issues, time is tight and you've got to get some more minutes in the
bank if you stand a chance of getting back by 5:00. So I put the hammer down
and got after it. I was by myself for nearly all the second half of the trail,
so any pace I was making was my own. Through Paw Paw
Creek, 'Point and 'Creek again, I was getting really tired but was a scant few
minutes up on my No Pacer pace. I had caught up to Lynn Ballard and passed him
at Paw Paw Creek aid station as he mixed up his
electrolyte drink. I saw about seven others headed to the turnaround as I made
my way back, among them was Marshal King. It was possible to make up a few
minutes more on the next section, but I would have to run as much of it as I
could, and not let the climbs slow me down any more than necessary. Late in a
race, the quads start to protest mightily when you call on them to run. I was
also running out of energy and breathing quite hard at the top of the many
climbs. I was slowing down, despite my best efforts. The 'unmanned' aid station
at 3 miles to go to the S/F area was a sight for sore eyes. I topped off and
headed out, eating a piroulene, a type of cookie I
really like but have not seen at any other aid stations. He also had Ferrero-Rocher Chocolates, what a guy. I pulled out my
schedule to check time and then realized that I did not have a time for that
A/S, since I was not expecting there to be one in that section of trail. In the
last three miles I began to slow down even more, to the extent where I realized
I was going to miss the cutoff by about 15 minutes. At that point, being tired
and sore, with little reason left to hustle, I ran less and less. About a half
mile out from the S/F area,
As
I was changing clothes, Mark Blenden finished. A few
minutes later, Fred Thompson came in. Both of these gents were way ahead of me
all day. My plan was to change clothes, get a bite to eat and then take a
snooze before I headed back to