Nueces Race report

Driving from San Antonio to Camp Eagle it was hard not to notice the hills in "Hill Country". I knew before heading to Texas that I was going to be on bigger hills than anything we have in Michigan. What I wasn't prepared for was the rocky footing there. Camp Eagle is on a 1400 acre reserve miles from any city. The area was absolutely beautiful! We arrived Friday night with the race starting Saturday morning at 6am. I had the opportunity to mingle a little and chat with Paul Terranova, cool dude. We started the race in the dark and at a quick pace considering the terrain. At around the 3 mile mark I tripped and fell on my hands and elbows, I blamed it on the dark. The sun came up after about an hour and I thought I'd be fine with the footing in the sun. I was running with Jason Bryant, Cody Moat, David Brown, and at about 10 miles Brian Rusiecki caught up with us, I fell again shortly after. Paul went off by himself from the gun and was moving at a good pace. Brain dropped back a little and Jason, Cody, Brian and I came through the first lap in 2:05, the course record was 6:28. A quick refuel and we were off  on the second loop. I fell...again, and it was starting to take a toll on my right knee and hip. The four of us stayed fairly close on this lap as well still running strong. I felt like I could keep moving pretty strong but wanted to take it a little easier on the big hills this lap. My final fall I didn't catch myself at all landing on my right knee and hip and doing a full summer salt on the rocks, ouch. I came through the second lap in 4:19 with Brian, Jason and Cody had 3 minutes on us. My knee and hip were hurting but I was still on a great pace. I started the third loop and got to a smaller climb and my hip just wouldn't let me climb. It was a tough decision but I decided to pack it in. That is my first ever DNF and it was bitter sweet. I had a great experience and ran great for a 50k. I feel I was/am in great shape but wasn't prepared for how technical the course was. My Garmin had about 3000 ft of gain and loss in the 34 miles I covered. I feel like I could have easily set a PR (6:24) on a less technical course. I'm happy I had the opportunity to race with some great guys and roll over my fitness for the Indiana Trail 100 in about six weeks. During the race I wore my Montrail Mountain Masocist which worked very well on the rocks. I also wore my UltrAspire Cell and Twitch combination. I was very comfortable and I think the Cell is the perfect amount of storage for a long race. Thanks UltrAspire. I ran this morning and will again this afternoon, eager to redeem myself. See ya on the trails!