Earl Blewett's Bandara Fat Ass Report

Cactus Rose 100 Training Run

report by Earl Blewett ( 9/4/06)

This was a FatAss race to test Joe's course for the Cactus Rose 100. He plans to start it in November, 2007.

It was a 25 mile loop using trails from the hilly part of the Bandera 100 km course. his is in Hill Country State Natural Area, SW of Bandera, TX. I had originally hoped to run 75 miles as training for the Mother Road but my running has been inadequate since I was sick in June and early July. One 10 miler.

We started at 5:00 am (3 people started at 3:00 am) and covered the worst part of the course in the first 10 miles. I ran with Gabe, the president of Hill Country Trail Runners and Mike Dobies from Michigan until about mile 16 when I had to make a stop in the bushes. I had a good gps unit with the course on it and that helped me many times during the race. Garmin Vista cx. We finished the first look in six and a half hours, better than the seven hours that was the estimate. On the second loop Jennifer and I hiked the first 5 miles. There are a couple of major climbs, exposed in >95 F. She got a bit dehydrated and went back to the lodge at 5 miles. She'd hoped to do 10 miles. At the 35 mile mark it was 97 F in the shade. It felt cool in the shade. I had to walk a lot. For the first time every I had to take shade breaks. I'd crouch under a cedar for 2 mintues to cool down. Fortunately after 35 miles there was some cloud cover and I could run again. The last 15 miles went by fairly quickly especially after dark.

The course wasn't marked, just turns. I ran by (walked by) turns three times and added to my miles run. I finished in 16:47, a personal worst at the 50 mile distance by 5 - 6 hours. Most of the people dropped, only those of us that came from a distance carried on. I think 5 finished the 50 miles and one guy was on the course on his last loop of the 100 miler.

My feet are pretty blistered, 3 on each foot. The course is very rocky and I was wearing road shoes. My quads are killing me but are less painful now. My knees were fine and the PF wasn't a problem. I hope this run helps for the Mother Road.