Ever since finding out my training dates for the ANG I’ve known that I would be living in Texas for about 6 months from October 2022-March 2023. My original plan was to find a marathon to train for in early spring (ideally late Feb/early March). The three months after BMT felt like they would be perfect to work on speed development and towards cracking a sub-3 hour marathon result.
Despite having finished 5 ultramarathons and a handful of other training runs beyond 26.2 miles, I have yet to run an official marathon. It’s weird to think I haven’t raced a marathon yet, but if I’m being honest the race frightens me a bit. In my opinion it’s the longest race in which you can legitimately run both long and hard. The hurt that pro marathon runners describe is difficult for me even to read (for an accurate idea check out Scott Fauble’s book Inside a Marathon) much less want to endure myself. I looked and looked for a marathon but couldn’t find one that fell within my criteria (sort of, come to find out later Ft. Worth held one the end of February). Resigned, I instead decided to sign up for a series of trail races and complete a marathon training block leading up to them.
The first race was Running the Rose, an 11 mile trail race in Tyler State Park. The next race was the Bridgeport Trail Run, a 22 mile race on the ATV trails of Bridgeport. The final race at the end of the marathon block was this one, the Cross Timbers Trail Run held along the shores of the Red River in Gordonville, Texas. My girlfriend Kaitlin was coming down to spend the weekend with me and serve as my crew extraordinaire. We got an airbnb literally right along the trail and the weather was looking perfect (if not a tad warm) for race day with lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s.
I gained valuable information from runners in my previous two races that the course often gets quite muddy this time of year and to look out for rainy weather the week leading up to the race. The race was on Saturday and it rained Thursday so I was prepared for a muddy course. The course consisted of a 12.5 mile out and back to the start/finish line with an added 2.6 mile out and back for a total of around 30 miles.
The training block leading up to the race left me feeling strong, fast, and injury-free. I was feeling confident toeing the line that morning. We took off at 7:30 and within a mile I was on my own at the lead of the pack. The trails were quite rocky, rooty, and punchy with lots of small undulating ups/downs to slow down any rhythm I tried to find. I often powerhiked any small punchy claims and used effort to dictate my transitions from running to powerhiking. My first 6 miles took about 64 minutes and I decided that my effort was right where I wanted it to be.
My two mottos for the race were ABC (always be cooling) and ABF (always be fueling). After listening to too many podcasts I knew that overheating is strongly tied to perceived effort and that a lot of research promotes keeping core temperatures down in race environments for optimal performance. With the temps getting up to the 60s and the skies sunny, I resolved to pour water on my hands/face at every aid station and to keep my upper body wet for cooling. Kaitlin had ice ready at the start/finish line which ended up being around 24.5 miles.
ABF originates from the idea that, all things equal (and within reason), the more calories the merrier. Through many miles of trial, error, and more emergency bathroom stories than I care to admit, I’ve found that I have a pretty durable stomach (when fed the right foods) and that 350-400 calories an houris feasible. I tried eating “natural” or “healthy” foods early on in my running. I found out that foods like clif bars and pro bars have too much fiber for long outings in which my goal is to pull over to poop as little as possible. Instead, my body seems to prefer what I like to call the “United Airlines In-Flight Nutrition Plan” aka pretzels, strop waffles, and potato chips. I can typically stomach gels for shorter races as well and have recently been experimenting with SIS gels successfully.
To start the race I was carrying a handheld water bottle with 400 calories of Skratch’s super fuel drink (reminded me of the SIS gels). In my vest I had about 6-7 stropwaffles (900-1050 calories), 6 or so gu packets, and 4 SIS gels (360 calories) in my waist pack. I also carried a few single serving packets (about 600 calories) of various skratch powders that I planned to use to top off my water bottle with throughout the race. I experimented with having a few sips of coke at various aid stations throughout thee race after drinking it without issues at Run the Rut last year.
The course was marked with pink flags and around mile 6 I realized I hadn’t seen one for a few minutes and decided to turn around. About 2 minutes later I realized where I missed my turn and corrected to get back on the course. I’m not sure how much distance this mistake added but my guess is around 1/3 of a mile or so give or take 1/10.
By mile 10 the course opened up through a new subdivision along the trail and I started to notice the heat catching up to me. I made sure to cool at the aid station and confirm I was the first runner to come through (I was) and proceeded towards the turn around. I reached the turnaround at 2:11 and 12.5 miles by my watch. Before the race I had decided to start without music and just enjoy the trail until things were feeling tough or I noticed my thoughts trending towards negativity. The first 16 miles of the course were beautiful. The course zigged and zagged along the bayou and there were various overlooks with stunning views of the Red River. Most were 30-60 feet above the river and at one point on the course we dipped down to along the sand for a short stretch. By mile 17 I felt the negative thoughts creeping in as the temps were rising and decided to pop in my headphones. I told myself to chunk the race down into small bits and reminded myself to smile. I drank some coke at the aid station around mile 19 and as much pickle juice as I could stomach at the aid station around mile 22. From here, it was only 2.5 miles till I could see Kaitlin and regroup for the final 5.2 mile out and back.
I had been taking in calories well for the first 3.5 hours but I couldn’t stomach another stropwaffle (my 5th or maybe 6th? Of the day) for the life of me and ended up running with a fraction of one in my hand for nearly an hour. I reached the start/finish at 24.5 miles and 4;18 by my watch. Kaitlin went nascar pit crew mode on me and triaged my needs. Ice, pickle juice, and some SIS gels (if solids wont work I figured liquids might) were what I asked for. I figured if I could get some liquid clories/electrolytes I could stave off bonking and finish the final 5.2 or so miles in just about an hour for around a 5:20 finish. She stuffed my sunsleeves and shirt with ice and sent me on my way. In and out within 2 minutes, damn was she good! My Nathan belt proved useful for keeping the ice in the small of my back and the sleeves made me feel so cold I almost shivered. I pushed through the final 5 miles with one more aid station stop for pickle juice/water on my body and managed to sneak in and finish in 5:22.
It ended up being a new course record by about 5 minutes and damn did it feel good! Despite it being a newer and less competive race, the previous record holder finished Western States 100 in sub 24 hours which is an impressive feat and a goal I hope to someday achieve! It was the first time I had to dig since Run the Rut in September of last year (2022) and felt like an awesome way to start off my first ultra of the year.