Pandora Box of Rox

Cool Medal, Yeah !

I have been looking forward to going back to Reveille Ranch since Captain Karl last year. I I did not get a chance to enjoy the view from the dome last year as it was a night race and really wanted to go back again.

The hubby and I decided to drive up the same day vs staying a hotel which we always do for the Teja Trail races. It seemed just too frivolous to spend on a hotel for a marathon. But bad decision as we had to wake up at 4am. Both the hubby and I were blurry and zombies despite having coffee. I could hardly open my eyes in the car. The first thought that came to my mind was that it gonna be a bad run.. considering how sleepy we were.

Arrived at Ranch about 40 minutes before start and gosh it was BBBBBBBBBrrrrrrrrrr at 37 degree. I was freezing and shivering cold. We collected our race packs and went on the routine of mixing our drinks and bottles. I told the hubby that I did not want to carry water for the race since it was cold and the aid stations were about 3-4 miles apart. He said that he had same thoughts. So we decided to put our bottles with our drop bags just in case we need it for the second loop.  ( good decision on hind side).

7 am and the race started. The first 1.5 miles was pretty flat with just some bumps. I was surprised that my body woke up for the race. The legs felts good and achilles did not hurt at all. It usually does for the first 3 miles. The lungs felt good.  I looked at my watch and saw that I was at 11.15 min pace. I knew I had to slow down as this was going to be a long race and I needed the energy for the next loop. The hubby and I stayed for about 1 mile and then he was gone.  We decided to run our own race for this. I tried to stay close to him but got worried when my pace dropped. So I decided to stick to my own race plan and slow my pace. The goal was to finish within 6 hours.

The course started to change after the second mile. The legendary granite rocks started to appear as we started our ascend to the dome. Contrary to the peeps who complained about the rocks, I actually love them. They make the course less boring and more challenging and definitely provide a change in scenery. We were probably in the dome for 3 miles before we got out of it.

I was surprised when I landed at the next aid station at about mile 5. The 5 miles seemed to go past so fast in the dome. More surprise to see David Jacobson manning the station. We got to know David during last year Captain Karl series and had pretty much ran many races with him since (or rather behind him since he is much faster than us).  I did not stay long at the aid station. The cooler weather helped and I am not missing my water bottles.

The next part of the course was a mixed of rocks and trails and more down hill compare to the first part. It was a nice change of pace and course. I started to get worried when I did not see any sight of the hubby. I began to wonder whether I was going too slow. I checked my watch and saw that I was on pace and decided to keep to my pace.

Fatigue started to set in at mile 8. I knew I need another boost of Ucan ( my race energy drink) soon and was keeping my finger cross that I would be able to last another 5 miles. I have a bottle of Ucan at the start/finish line waiting for me.  The aid station at mile 8.5 was a welcome sight. I drowned down 2 cups of heeds and went on my mission of chasing the hubby.

The trail from this aid station to finish was pretty much runnable with little bumps. I continued to keep my pace and tried to power walk the bumps to save energy. Having the mission of chasing the hubby seemed to make the time and distance goes by fast. Before I know, I was at the last aid station on the course. I knew I was 1.5 miles from the start/finish. I saw a few runners going out for the second loop and was expecting to see the Hubby. But still no sight.

Arrived at the start/finish at 2hrs and 45 mins. I saw the hubby standing there and I knew that he had drop to half. He handed me my water bottle and Ucan. I debated whether to take the water bottles for a minute and decided to carry them as the weather was getting hot.

The second loop seemed to go as fast as the second loop. Before I knew, I was at the dome. I was pretty much running alone with no souls around me. I did the dome on the first loop with other runners around me. I started to get worried when I went round and round the dome. I almost thought that I was lost as I was getting longer to get out of it compare to the first loop. There was a few spots where I could not see the reflectives and had to stop for a while to look for them. Took me a while but I manage to get out of it. *phew*

Arrived at the second aid station and David shouted "you are down to single digit. Just 8.5 miles to go"... and he kept repeating it. Yeah... I heard you David.. but 8.5 miles on the trails is forever:)

For some reason, mile 20 kept sticking into my head. I decided to open my gu at mile 20. So I kept looking at my watch for mile 20 to come. So it was mile 16, then mile 17 and mile 18 and I was a happy person when I saw mile 19. I knew mile 20 would be next. And yeah me... at Mile 20, I opened my gu and I was happy again.  Yeah.. do not ask me why mile 20 is a magic number to drink my gu... it is just me... I have a plan for everything on the trails... call this OCD :)

I began to see other runners at mile 20. I passed a few and a few passed me. Finally, back to civilization. I must be on high and happy that I had only 5 miles to go only that I kept telling everyone I met on the course "Almost there. We are almost there.. just a few more miles".  LOL.... yeah.. I said that to everyone I met.

A runner in white came from behind me and pretty much play tac toe for next 3 miles. He picked up speed at the last 2 miles and left me. I was still passing some souls and telling them that we were almost done.

The last aid station finally appeared and I knew I was 1.5 miles out. Joyce was there and asked me what I need. I waved a no and yelled that I am not stopping. I just wanted to finish the last 1.5 miles.

It was slightly bumpy 1.5 miles but nothing bad. I saw another runner walking at 1 miles out from finish. I passed him and yelled to him that we are almost done and no walking. He heard me and started running. So both of us started running and we hit a big bump. I just had to stop and walk a bit. He came passed me and yelled back to me that we are almost done and no walking.  I started to run and both of us ran towards the finish... well he ahead of me slightly.

It was a welcome sight to see the finish line. Time : 5 hrs and 40 mins... way ahead of my goal time and 8th female. Yes. I am happy.... one of my better training run for last 3 weeks.

30 days Squat Challenge

 

30 days squat challenge : 3410 squats - 7 rest days !

Our friend Margie came up with this brilliant idea of challenging our poor butts. We are officially at day 7 today ! and Yes.. the butt is feeling it.. and Yes I am enjoying it.  

The hubby doing his squats... only guy in this challenge

Squat is my running favorite work out just only because I have experienced the benefits of doing it.

 My IT band flared up after my first marathon in 2010. It was really bad. I could not go down the stairs and could hardly run a mile. 

Being a rookie to injury then, I took advices from various people and from google. I tried Active Release Technique ( ART) and was still very much injured after a few treatments. Then I heard my peeps raved about Arrosti and decided to try it. 8 treatments and hundreds spent and I was no better. 

I finally decided to see a PT and the prescribed therapy : squat. I was doing all forms of squat - squat, with stability ball, squat with exercise bands, squat on bosu ball. And it worked. I was out running after 2 weeks of squats. If I had knew that it was so easy, I would not have spent hundreds and suffered for 62 weeks. 

Last year, I developed this persistent pain on my heels which felt almost almost like plantar fasciitis.  So I started a series of exercise to strengthen my feet - go barefooted, picked up marbles with my toes etc etc. Nothing seemed to work. I finally saw a PT and he told me to do one legged squat. Bingo... the pain disappeared after I started the one legged squat routine.  

I swear by squat as the best exercise to complement running. It is not difficult to name 10 benefits of squats: 

1. Maintain mobility

2. Almost entire body work out - no other work out works more muscle than squats

3. Improve balance

4. Gain flexibility

5. Boost performance -  run faster

6. Maintain postures and movements similar to running

7. Develop core strength- stronger abs

8.  Increase endurance with stronger legs

9. Burn more fats

and the most important reason, as what my friend Jaxie puts it

10. We want it  to spring back when it gets smacked :)

__________________

An update on our training : Week 3 of serious training. Body is tired and legs are heavy...so I guess we are doing the training right.  And the good new is that we have pretty much stopped the habit of talking each other into NOT running :)

Hell's Hills 50K

The Hubby and I after race.. we looked fresh, dun we:)

"I do not feel Hell's Hill ready".. the hubby told me on Thursday. Nor was I. It was hard to be ready for the "race" when we did not taper at all. The intent was NOT to taper but to use it as our long training run for our race in September. We started our serious training 2 weeks ago and were both feeling the effect of the training. Our bodies were tried and legs were dead. Yeah. blame it on the long 3 months break.. it was hard trying to coming back. We could not finish our long run last week due to fatigue and so were kinda looking forward to this race as our long run. It is definitely easy to have 100 people doing a long run together: with us :)

The plan for this "race" was to run at easy-medium pace with the goal of NO faster than 7 hours. We learned our lesson in Nueces. We raced a little bit in that race and were too hurt to train for a week. As coach Gary always says.. "do not race if its not your race". So the plan was slow and easy.

Race day at 6am was not appealing at all ! We spent the night at Days Inn at Bastrop. The new sleeping arrangement did not go well with me and I was awake most of the night. I was about to fall asleep when the alarm clock rang at 4.45am.  The hubby did no better than me. 

But here we were, whether we like it or not, at the starting line. The 6am start means darkness and head lamp. The first few miles were done in the dark which was blessing in disguise. It forced us to start really slow and gave us time to wake the tired body. It was a while since I last ran in the dark with head lamp. It took quite while to get used to it. The first few miles were bumpy. It started out with flats which slowly lead to hills. We kinda run/walk the the first 3 miles. The darkness and hills made us go slow cautiously. The ground was very soft due to the rain earlier in the week and there were a few spots which were really muddy and wet and the shoes just sunk and stuck in the mud.  One of the runners in front of us fell in one of the bad patches. No major damage and everyone around had a good laugh including the runner himself. 

Day break was a welcome sight. The head lamp was getting irritating. By then, we were at almost mile 3ish and I was still feeling lousy. It was hard to get going. The will was there but the body was not responding. The thought of running for another 28 miles was blah.  I looked over at the hubby and he had the same painful look in his face. Good... there was one other out there suffering and not me alone:)

We continued to run together at an easy- medium pace. The plan was to brisk walk the hills and run the runnable portions. We caught up with 2 runners training for leadvilles 100 after mile 3. They were going at a very steady easy pace. We decided to run with them. The 4th and 5th miles were bumpy rides. Not exactly big hills but irritating bumps. 

The aid station at about Mile 5 was very much welcome. We did not stay long at the aid station. Refilled our water, grabbed a few banana and continued to the chase with the 2 runners. We stayed with them about 2 miles after the aid station and decided to pass them as they were running a tact too easy.So it was me and the hubby in the trails.. trying to motivate each other. The thoughts of dropping to 25K popped out. Yeah.. we were feeling so bad that both of us wanted to drop to 25K. We talked about it and finally decided to chase the 50K instead. The 2 loops course just made it easier to entertain the thoughts of dropping to 25K. 

We were ok once we decided that it would be a 50K run. There was a renewed energy and more motivation as needed for another 18 miles. Miles 5 to Mile 10 was the best stretch of the course. Not exactly bumpy. It had a lot of switch backs but were all runnable. We picked up pace significantly during this stretch. 

It was a relieved to reach the second and last aid station on the course. We knew that we were about 4.7miles out from the start/finish line. The last stretch of the course was a mix of flats, switch backs and bumps. No actual big climbs like Nueces but the switch backs and bumps were a drain on efforts.

We made it to the start/finish line in 3 hrs 24 mins. Not too bad considering how crappy we were during the first half of the course. 

The second loop was started with renewed energy. We probably did the first 5 miles faster than the first loop. The sun came out after mile 20 and it started to get a bit hot. But no complains here. Hell's hills is known not for the hills but the heat. We were lucky that the weather was great in the morning. We did not get the sun till mile 20 ! A welcome change from last year. 

 

Mile 20 to 25 was done at an easy-medium pace- not to push too hard and also not to walk. So we were running easy-medium pace. I had to drown in a pack of gu to keep the energy though. By then, my feet was started to hurt. I could feel the top of my feet swelling and it was starting to hurt. I continued to keep running and try to push the pain out of my head. We ran through a few streams and I intentionally soaked my feet in the stream and let the cold water run through the shoes into the feet. The cold water made the swelling more manageable. 

We hardly see any soul in the second loop. We passed a few runners early of loop 2 and hardly see anyone in the course after that. It was very much the hubby and I together in the trails. We talked and sang and kept each other motivated. The hubby said that it felt as if we were running away from the "walkers" ( think walking dead !) Totally isolated... totally just us. 

It was not until mile 24 that we saw other runners. I was so happy to see them that I shouted to the hubby " I see humans !". Yeah.. finally some souls.  We could see 4 runners ahead of us running to the last aid station. We caught up with them at the aid station ( mile 25ish). 

We left the aid station and passed a few runners... then it was us alone again. I was running in front when I heard the hubby shouted " hey Rabb".. I turned back and saw our friend Scott Rabb chasing the 50 milers. He was an elite runner and was into his home stretch for the finish. Rabb smiled and waved at his and he was gone in a second. ( For the record, he came in second for the 50 milers)

It was the hubby and I again pushing the home stretch. My feet was hurting and I was trying hard to focus. I took another pack of gu and continued the home stretch. We looked at our watch and knew that we could probably hit our goal of 7 hours if we pushed a little bit. We try to pick up pace but not too much. 

It was a relief slight to see the camp site. We knew that we were about half mile to finish. I looked at my watch. We were 8 minutes from 7 hours. I knew we had this. The hubby and I decided not to sprint  but to take an easy slow jog to finish.

We cross the finished line together 6 hrs 58 mins on my watch. 

Another training run done and another medal ! And it was awesome to spend 7 hours "us" time with the hubby in the trails :)

Who says you cannot run with bad lungs !

My friend Kristen called me on Saturday morning in a frantic state. She was doing a 5K race when her lungs seized up ( asthma!) and she had to slow down and walk/run to finish her race. Yes asthma attack is very frustrating during a race. I have done many of my races with sub optimal lungs capacity and these experiences are certainly no fun.

I had asthma when I was young but it went away when I was 12. However, it came back to haunt me when I moved to San Antonio three years ago. The attacks gets really bad during spring/summer. Apparently, my lungs do not like something in the air in San Antonio. I have lived in many places without problems. This is the only place that is triggering my asthma. I am very allergic to San Antonio. Period. 

The first two years in San Antonio was more than frustrating. I did not know how to manage this monster and it ended up almost ruining me. 

The first year was not as bad as the second year as I was running indoor a lot on the dreadmill. However, my lungs got tight whenever I run outdoors. I did the San Antonio half marathon in 2010 with 5 puffs of inhaler. It was an awful experience. My lungs felt like it was exploding throughout the run. But I still did a sub 2 hours half which was not too bad. 

The second year was really bad. I was training for my first marathon and was running outdoor a lot. My lungs got really bad and I struggled a lot in my running. I was at the doctor's office almost every other week. I am a complicated case. My rescue inhaler does not work when I have an attack.  The doctors had to prescribe prednisone to make me better. I was happy with the first few doses of prednisone as they appeared to make me better and stronger. However, I started to get more frequent attacks and the doctors had to prescribe higher and higher dosage of prednisone. I began to feel really sick with each dose of prednisone. They made me wide awake at night. I started to loose control of myself. I got depressed and cried and got angry easily. My colleagues learnt to stay away from me when I am on a dosage as I snapped at people.. involuntarily of course. The medication was controlling me ! I have 2 steroids injections and at least 6 dosage of prednisone in 2011. I could hardly function without the prednisone. 

I was still running a lot as I was training for the marathon. The prednisone made me feel really awful but they also make me last longer and run faster in my runs. It was like double edged sword. I am not sure whether I was running faster because they clear my lungs or because they are steroids

I did my first marathon in Nov 2011 and completed it within goal time. But I have always wonder whether that was the results of prednisone, ie steroids. May be I should say that I was "fueled by prednisone" :)

2012 was a turning point for me. I was still being fed prednisone for the first half year of 2012. I started to do research on prednisone. The more I read the more I got worried. The evil of prednisone scares me  Finally, in August 2012, I decided that to be predisone free. I figured that I could die of an asthma attack or predisone overdose. I rather die of an asthma attack. 

Of course, I did not die of asthma. I learned to manage my conditions. I did a lot of research on asthma and had tried every single method of stopping/preventing an asthma attack available on google. I have tried turmeric tea, apple cider vinegar and coffee. I went on supplement spree and bought a whole pantry shelf of supplements including magnesium, B12 and quercetin. Yes. I went crazy searching for a nature way to control my asthma. 

I found that chopping onions and drinking coffee helped to relieve my symptoms and I have been sticking to them. We never run out of chopped onions in our house.

I also learned to run with my condition. Running at lower heart rate make me last longer when my lungs are bad. Yes. I am still running on days when I have my attacks. I grasp for air and wheeze as I run. My doctors would probably freaked out if they had known. But I am so used to running in such conditions that it does not bother me anymore. And I think I have more significant improvement. I used to run 9.40-10min pace on bad days. I could easily manage a 9.30 pace these days. I did the Nueces 50K with probably 80% lung capacity. I managed and I conquered. 

But yes. I do get frustrated. Very frustrated. And there are days where I throw tantrums when I get frustrated. The hubby learned to managed me as well. He will have a pep talk with me every Tuesday before we go to track " Remember, it is all about efforts. Do not get frustrated if you are slow.If you continue to train in sch conditions, you will be really fast if we find a cure for your lungs".  That poor boy probably has enough of my tantrums.

My lungs are still not at its best. I have 2 bottles of prednisone sitting at home. They were prescribed last two months when I see my doc. However, I have yet to open them and I am trying not to. I told my hubby that I will only take them only if I am in a life threatening situation. 

I had to do a lung function test before doing the skin test last month and the nurse almost freaked out when the results showed me at 80% lung capacity. They had to do an immediate nebulizer treatment before conducting the skin test. 

The allergy tests  showed me as allergic to dust mite, palms trees and cockroaches. The allergist does not think that these are triggers for my asthma and we are still monitoring and trying to figure out the triggers. However, the hubby and I took no chance and we did all precautions at home to minimize dust mites. We bought sprays for dust mite and "sterilized" the whole apartment.

I am currently seeing an acupuncturist as well. I figured that I have nothing to lose since I am rock bottom. She can only get me better. The last 2 treatments with her have been awesome. I felt much better and could almost breathe as normal person last few days. I am very much encouraged to continue with the acupuncture treatments.  

Well...Who say you cannot run with bad lungs ! I have ran many races in my condition. As long as you learned to manage.... you can !

The A race for 2013

Hurray ! I think we have found the race for 2013 for us. The hubby and I talked to our coach earlier this week and I think this is becoming a reality.

But No... we are not saying which race, where or what distance at this moment till we are sure that this is what we want. We are now just starting our training for this race. It is  hard to get back to training routine and we are struggling quite a bit. Hopefully, we can get over this initial obstacle soon. Yeah.. it hard to wake up early on a weekend to run. We have been sleeping-in most weekends last 3 months when we took a break from serious running.

I can only say that we are very excited by the decision and happy that our coach thinks that this race is possible :)

Stay tune... for more

Nueces 50 KM

 

 

 

Wow... the last entry to this Blog was in Nov 2012 ! This really tells how much we have been running. We took a long break from serious running and races after the hubby's Cactus 50 Miler in Nov last year. We were still running but just not as much. The longest run I ever did in last 4 months was 16 miles and this was the week before Nueces 50km :)

And consequently... both of us went to Nueces with minimal or rather in sufficient training. We were mentally prepared to suffer on the course. (finger biting....nervous nervous). We figured that we really need a BAD race to motivate us to go back into serious running. 

Nueces is almost legendary.. at least to me. Almost every one I know claims it to be one of the prettiest course... and of course also one of the toughest course here with comparison to Cactus Rose and Bandera.  I have not done Neuces, Cactus Rose or Bandera.. and was almost curious to know how bad was bad and how tough and treacherous the hills are. ( nervous !). 

The plan was to finish between 7 to 8 hours. The goal was to use this race as a supported training run and hence we were not to race hard.

The week into Nueces was probably not the best for me. I had to go for vaccines for my visa. This means 1 MMR shot, I flu shot, 2 TB test and 4 tubes of blood for some tests. In additional, my allergy doctor wanted me to do a methacholin test for my asthma. This is a test to clinically induced asthma on patients to confirm that patient has asthma. I took the test and technically had an asthma attack in the clinic lab... which was a big boo because my lungs did not recover from the attack for the race. My body was in a big mess from all the shots and tests. I figured I could survive it as a training run :)

We arrived at Camp Eagle on Friday evening. We had a dorm just next to the start/ finish line which was a big thumb up which means minimal travel on race day.There were 12 of us in the dorm from the running group. We went for a walk around the camp after dropping our stuff. WOW ! this place is awesome  !

Pic taken by my friend Mike

We woke up at 5.30 ish on race day. Breakfast, shower, dressed .... all ready for the race at 7am. The hubby and I were probably the last person to arrive at the start line.. which was right below our dorm. It was cold and we were trying to keep warm in the dorm :)

Probably not a good idea to be the last person to arrive. The course started with a single up hill dirt track... and most people were walking up the hill. We had a hard time trying to pass people. The hubby managed to catch up with our friend Alex. I was still behind trying to catch up and pass. I had a hard time trying to focus. It was cold and breathing was hard and my body was tired. The thought of not be able to finish creep into my brain. It kept talking to me and I had a hard time fighting back the thoughts of DNF

Took me a while to catch up with them. But I was still not able to focus. But it was definitely easier to fight back by trying to keep pace with them. The first few miles were up hill dirt track and some runnable stretch of switch back... and of course many rocks in between. The three of us kept together. It was fun to have Alex around for a change... ;)

It was a relieve to see the first aid station at THE WALL. By then, I was feeling better and managed to focus better. It helped a lot that we kept to an easy conversational pace. The stretch after THE WALL was pretty much runnable sprinkled with rocks and hills. The next aid station Fiesta was about 4 miles away. The Fiesta aid station was managed by the ARB running group and it was definitely nice to see familiar faces. 

We managed to catch up with our friend Michele who was running the 25 K after the Fiesta aid station. So our group of 3 becomes a group of 4. And yeah.. Michele was a nice addition to the group. It was kinda fun to run together. 

The treacherous stretch started after the Fiesta aid station.  We reached the legendary fence line... and I looked up.... Bad decision to look up. The hill was almost vertical ! So we hiked and puff and puff up the hills. Certainly treacherous... because the hills never ends..it went up and up. and slight flat and then up and up again. ! Geezeeeee ! 

We caught up with another friend Herb on the hills and we ran together for a while. After the uphill was a stretch of steep down hill... which a great relieve and then up hill again :(

We puff and huff to the THE WALL aid station. By then, we knew that we are almost there for the first loop. THE WALL is 1.5 miles away from the start/finish. The course changed for the better,.. easy and runnable !

The four of us - Hubby, Alex and Michele and I..on the home stretch of the first loop

And we finally reach the start/finish line... time on my watch 3 hr 20 mins. One loop done and one more to go. 

Michele and Alex dropped off for the 25 km finish. The hubby and I went out for the second loop. I was not feeling too good for the second loop. The hubby, on the other hand, was feeling awesome.  He stayed with me for a while and then he told me that we could make it in less than 7 hours if we keep the same pace. Nice thoughts !

Then he suddenly realized that he had a chance for a 50K PR if he pushed the pace. I  told him to go and I would catch up. He left me and disappeared in the trail. I was alone all of a sudden. So I decided to make catching up with my hubby as my next goal. I forced myself to run all the runnable stretches and walked only the uphills. 

This new goal kept me motivated. At mile 20, I pull apart my first GU and drown it. I figured that I would take another one at mile 25 to sustain energy. The GU helped a lot... new energy.

The second loop was not that bad after all. It seemed much rockier but manageable. It went by really fast. I finally arrived at the Fiesta aid station and my friend Jazzy told me that hubby was 10 mins away. I told her that I am trying to catch up and she told me he was chasing a PR and told me not to hurt myself chasing him :)

I left the Fiesta station and entered the treacherous hills.  It was not so bad the second time. I was still passing people on the course which gave me an assurance that I was doing good. An Open Category participant caught up from behind and we talked for a while. He told me we have less than 5 miles to go. Wow.. just 5 more miles ! 

I counted mentally and knew that I have a chance to make it be before 7 hours if I keep pace. So I force myself to keep pace and go faster. 

Finally reached THE WALL.. the last aid station. I knew I have 1.5 miles to go and my watch shows 6 hr and 26 minutes. I knew I had this below 7 hrs.. Horray !!!

The last 1.5 miles was probably my best run for the second loop !

And I crossed at 6 hrs and 46 mins on my watch...and my medal :)

 

For the record, the hubby finished in 6 hrs and 29 mins.. a new PR ! 

Cactus Rose 50 Milers

Back again.. been a long while. I have been trying to get my running passion back. Somehow.. I seem to lose it along the way. It does not help that I have to abandon the White Rock Marathon in December because I have to go back to Singapore.

However, my fiance's 50 Miler this past weekend re-inspired me. I think I want to do a 50 miler sometime next year.

This is his first 50 milers... and we were both excited about it. I was a nervous wreck. I knew that he wanted this badly.

The day started at 3am when we woke up to make the long drive up to Bandera. The boy made me worried when he refused any breakfast. I bought some Lara Bars and Banana and he had it on the way there and it made me feel better.

We arrived at Bandera at 4.30am.  Gosh.. it was cold. Near 40F is no fun... I was freezing. This was an unsupported race so we had to place the drop bags and supplies at the aid stations. There were 4 aid stations and we placed 2 drop bags in 2 of them.

The plan was to see him start at 5am, drive back to San Antonio for my run and head out again with a burger. Yes... the boy asked for a burger which was surprising. I was to wait for him at the Lodge aid station with the burger between 11am to 12pm.

Everything went as plan. I saw the boy off at the start and headed back to San Antonio for my run. Came back from my run, shower and head out to McDonald to get burger... but darn I waited for 10 minutes and they do not serve burger till 11am. Next option: Sonic.

I looked at the time and knew that I may not be able to make it at 11am. I just had to fly my way there. Arrived at the park at 11am sharp and the ranger stopped me and told me " Mam, I need you to do 2 things. One, go to the office and get your vehicle registered. Two, you have to drive slower. 20mile per hour is strictly enforced here..".. yeah... this was how fast I was flying.

I arrived at the Lodge station  at 11.05am. I looked around and everyone I know tell me " scott came through and ask for you and his burger..." Darn... I miss the boy by 10 minutes. He came through at 10.55am.

I felt so bad. I went to the aid station with burger and coke to wait for him. So happy that he came in one hour later ( at Mile 30) I was so happy to see him. He took some coke and could hardly swallow any burger ( lol... I wa not expecting him to eat any.. knowing that he has this thing of not able to eat on the course)

Doing a Gangham at Mile 30....

At mile 35 .. still looking good

 He left the aid station and went to the next one to wait for him. So the day was spent going from aid station to aid station to wait for him. He was looking great at mile 35. I knew that we had this.

Mile 45.5... getting very tired

At mile 40,  I could see that he was losing energy. But I was not worry... he could still make it even if he had to walk the next 10 miles .At mile 45.5... he was exhausted. He sat at the aid station for a while. I gave him some ginger ale and grapes.. and chased him out of the aid station. Just need to get him out before he got too comfortable

Finish Line !!!!!!!

The last 4.5 miles was probably the slowest and the toughest. I knew he had a big hill ( lucky) to cross and expected him to take at least 2 hours. But he beat my expectation and came in earlier than that.

Gosh .. I was so happy. 12 hours and 25 minutes... way ahead of our expected. Both of us were expecting 13-14 hrs finished. So proud and so happy ! First 50 Milers done !!!