Gone Loco 55K: The Good Kind of Crazy

Photo cred: Nick Morgan Photography

Recovery from Bandera 100k on January 13th went really well. I eased back into running pretty quickly, but paid attention to how I was feeling after anything longer than 30 minutes and took my easy days really, really easy. But I was itchy to race again, eager to get after it having played it somewhat safe at Bandera. Here in the south, winter is my favorite season to run a bunch of races while the heat and humidity are generally not a concern.

I gave myself about 2 weeks of running to see how I felt before cruising Ultrasignup. The window of running another race between Bandera and Antarctica narrowed my choices down to 2-3 weekends, with early February being optimal. And it needed to be within driving range so that I didn't have to spend another night away. After being away 8 days in January between racing and work and the impending Antarctica trip, I was running out of favors to ask for help with Adam and the dogs.

Which is the long story of how I ended up running the Gone Loco 55k!

I got up at 3:30am on race morning, took care of the dogs, grabbed my coffee, and was on the road by 4am. Obviously there was very little traffic at that hour, but it rained 75% of my drive in the dark so I was glad I gave myself a comfortable buffer of time. The race started at 8am and I pulled into the lot at 6:45am. Plenty of time to grab my bib, use the restroom, and play Wordle. Priorities.

By dumb luck, the rain essentially stopped the moment I got there and I was thankful to not have to start with wet clothes. The course description said it was a rail trail and I could glean from some videos on their Facebook page from prior years that road shoes might work. I brought trail shoes too, but ultimately decided on the Hoka Rocket X2 and had no traction issues.

I stuffed all my pockets with gels, including the pocket of my handheld. One of my main missions for this race was to really try to load on calories, especially while running a medium hard effort. My goal was 1,000 calories and spoiler alert, goal achieved! The course consisted of 3 out and backs with an aid station at each end of the 5.7ish miles and a water stop in the middle. I was filling up my handheld at each stop after the halfway point, but definitely was okay to run without a vest.

I walked the 100 feet from my car to the start at 7:50 and after a few race instructions and the national anthem, we were off! 

The rail trail was nice and wide and there was plenty of space for the small field of runners. I took the first couple of miles to just settle in. The early alarm was doing me no favors in feeling perky. I let the field sort itself out and then settled into what felt like medium effort pace-wise. As per usual with me, I avoided looking at my watch in the beginning and tried to run by feel.

Photo cred: Nick Morgan Photography

With it being a small field, I knew it was in the cards to place pretty well assuming I had a good day. You never know who will show up or have a good day themselves, but that's part of the fun of racing. I struggled a bit in the beginning to decide how I was going to race. Nothing like being in the midst of a race while figuring out your race plan. Rehoboth was so rough and by comparison of feel (not distance) Bandera was relatively painless. So like Goldilocks, I wanted something in between. Have fun, race hard, touch the well a little bit, but stay calm when things feel hard. Because at some point over the 55k, it will feel hard!

Photo cred: Nick Morgan Photography

The one thing I did have planned was my race nutrition and the goal was alternating a 180 calorie Spring Energy and a 100 calorie GU every 45 minutes. This went really well and I don't know if it was the placebo effect or the sugar doing its job, but I felt immediately better after each one.

Photo cred: Nick Morgan Photography

At the first turn, I could see all the runners in the field ahead of me and I was maybe 20 people back with 5-6 women ahead of me. The first 2 women were hauling and already had a pretty large gap (they would later finish 2nd and 3rd overall in the entire field), but the others were within a reasonable range so I told myself to just keep running my race and see what happens.

There was only about 1,000’ of elevation gain for the whole 55k so it was a fast course. The gain/loss was gentle and while I definitely felt it more with each lap, it was actually pretty nice to mix it up.

On the way back to finishing my first of 3 laps, I actually had to pee which is highly unusual for me, especially in a shorter race (short being a relative term here!). I felt immediately better and things started clicking after that.

Photo cred: Nick Morgan Photography

There was a long way to go though so I tried to just stay comfortable and happy. I passed maybe 1-2 more women and by the time I got to the halfway point, could see that only 3 were ahead of me. 3rd was about 2 minutes up on me so I just kept her in my sight and let her be the pacemaker for quite some time. At the start of the incline on the way back, I was approaching her really quickly and decided to see if she wanted company. We chatted for a few minutes, but I started to gap her a bit and decided to just keep going. I'll admit the thought of her on my heels gave me a much needed push through the rest of the race!

One of the greatest things about this race were all the other racers. The first place woman had her hand out for a high five every time we went by each other and everyone in the field was cheering each other on. I was smiling so much I think my face hurt as much as my legs at the end. I know lots of people dislike out and backs, but I love them for this reason!

I still felt like I had lots of fight left in me when I was heading out for my final lap. I was kind of in shock I felt so strong with nearly a marathon on my legs. My jams were good, my stomach was happy, the weather was good (maybe a tad too humid, but 50s and overcast), and after a wild week of life, I was just happy to be doing my thing.

At the last turn around, I thanked the volunteers one final time, shot a cup of Mountain Dew, and told myself to just hold on for less than 10k.

Photo cred: Nick Morgan Photography

I stayed behind a guy for a couple miles with a pretty big gap in between us. But near the top of the final incline, I inched my way to him. Once I passed him, I heard him stay with me. I started pushing myself more and he was right there behind me. Honestly, I was pretty happy about it because it forced me to stay on the gas and I probably would have just jogged in knowing I had 3rd.

We rounded the final corners and though we were probably running maybe high 7s, it felt like we were flying. It made me feel like a kid. As we came into the finish chute area, he launched past me with about 5 seconds left. Beat me fair and square!

We fist bumped and hugged and thanked each other for the push. I think it's no secret that I love running and how it makes me feel. But man, is it something special when you can share that with others.

As I collapsed down in the grass, I soaked it all in, beaming from ear to ear. There are few things I love more than that mix of exhaustion, joy, and relief right after a hard effort. Hurts so good!

As a bonus, for the first time in my life, I negative split an ultra with a 2:34:08 first half and 2:30:39 second half.

3rd F, 9th OA, and 5:04:47 finish time.