Had a great run in San Antonio at McAllister Park on Saturday in the Prickly Pear 50K trail race. I set a new 50K PR of 6:39, which is probably still a little soft for me. My splits were 1:58, 2:09, and 2:30. It got hot, and I started cramping in the last 3 miles, even though I took 7 or 8 Hammer Endurolytes each hour in the last three hours. After the first 20 miles, I felt like I could have kept going another 30 at about the same pace if it had been cooler out.

My strategy was to run on just Hammer gels, Endurolytes, and waters. I took 2 gels the first loop, 4 on the second, and 3 on the third loop. They didn't have any gels or salt pills out on the race course, so I'm glad I brought my own. Skipped the HEB Quench, cookies, and soda, because I was trying to run strong, and I can't do that very well on corn syrup.

The San Antonio Roadrunners and Bill Gardner put on a great race in McAllister Park - great markings, mile markers on the 10 mile loop, no chance of getting lost in the maze of trails that is McAllister. Great volunteers at all the aid stations too, including Edgar Martinez's ACS Determination aid station at mile 7, who humored me on the last loop by letting me be a demanding, whiny ultra runner who wanted a chair and a glass of coke :)

Cheri and I ran the Prickly Pear 50K in San Antonio last year, and I decided to come back this year and do the 50K again. Unfortunately, it's always the same day as another one of my favorite races, the Waco TNT 50K. That's a hillier race that's a little bit further away.

I waited until Cheri and I's new friend Sara finished the race. We met her two weeks ago at the Surfside Beach Crazy Hard 50K.

Next race is the Race to the Altar Trail Marathon! Co-race directing and running the marathon, it should be a real blast!