The stars shine bright, deep in the heart of Texas; they certainly did this morning as we waited for the start of the Rocky Raccoon 50k, and later the sun shone brightly too, and it got HOT

Karen and I left home around 4:30a.m., she offered to drive and join me for the day, and I graciously accepted . We got to the park just before 6a.m. and indeed the stars were shining brightly. I checked in, got my race number, finished last minute preparations – Vaseline, fix the feet, socks, shoes, partially filled the camelback, and loaded and left the drop bag at the start/finish area. This is two 25k loops.

The trail was sandier than in the past which was somewhat difficult on the legs, but eating more at the aid stations seemed to work reasonably well too, as did the extra walking time leaving them. The long 5 miles between the 2^nd aid station and the one at camp site 174 tried to take its usual mental toll with the thought of not really wanting to go out again for the 2^nd loop. This time I could fairly easily rationalize my way through "after all no one said this was easy, if it was they’d be a lot more people doing this stuff". So with dogged determination or is it stupid stubbornness, those thoughts were banished from the brain, and having a half way time of around 3 hours (3:01); I was even thinking I could do negative splits and get in under 6 hours.

But, immediately after the turn around I took time out and changed shoes and socks as I was feeling hot spots. That took 10 minutes, but the feel of dry socks and shoes was so, so good. I saw many faces I knew as I went out again, including K (a virgin 25k’er) who first recognized me, and then tripped and fell at my feet! I helped her up and then carried onward and back into the woods, where I realized I had more than hot spots - about a mile further it was time to get out the blister repair kit for the 4th toe on the left foot - 8 more minutes lost. My thought of getting in under 6 hours was now gone, and became even more apparent as the sun continued to shine and the temperatures continued to rise.

K wasn’t the only person to trip and fall at my feet that day. On the jeep road a friendly "good job" seemed to cause a young guy who I didn’t know to also fall at my feet. I also "blew" past a couple of people, saying "it's getting hot out here, got to finish soon", one of whom who turned out to be John from Waco.

A quick in and out of the 2^nd aid station on the second loop, just enough time for a few jokes, re-fill the camelback and grab some food. I continued the walk out of the aid station regime. Later I took my second shot of dried sweet ginger to calm the stomach and that seemed to work well. Then I felt another blister, this one hurt more when I walked than when I ran! It was on the 4th toe on the right foot ; it only took 6 minutes to fix. Later I’d get some cramps in my left hamstring and then my right calf – I hadn’t taken any endurolytes, and I should have known better given the warm conditions.

I had enough energy at the end to run the last half mile past Karen and to the finish line - a total time of 6:41. Despite the blisters a reasonably good first 50k training run for the season given the heat:

• The heel cups worked and my heels held up fine.
• I used blister powder on top of Vaseline or Bodyglide.
• Need to remember to Vaseline toes, as well as all the other parts.
• I can fix blisters.
• The "eat more and have a good walk out of the aid stations" worked well.
• The camelback worked well, with no adverse affects on the shoulders.
• The crystallized sweet ginger worked.
• Changing shoes and socks feels good –a good mental boost too.
• Still need to take endurolytes.
• I know how to take the air out of the camel back bladder whilst on the move.
• Volunteers are wonderful people .