The best laid schemes o' mice an' men

The 18th century Scottish poet, Robert Burns penned it best…"The best laid schemes o' mice an' men / Gang aft agley." Let me translate to Texan: “Thangs aint’ goin like I planned’em!”

I had been promising my daughters that there would be a daddy/daughters camping weekend. So here was the deal…go down to Huntsville Texas State Park on the February 4-6 weekend…coincidentally, that is also the weekend that the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile Ultramarathon is to take place…yep….in the Huntsville State Park. We would go down on Friday…camp…get up and watch the runners take off…go work at an Aid Station in the morning…and in the afternoon….go fishing…hiking…biking…whatever they wanted to do. We would eat supper and then go hang out watching the 50 milers come in and help out where need be. Macy, my 8 year old, thought this would be cool…and Hope, my 4 year old, just wanted to go fishing.

On top of that…this year’s field brought in some crazy fast people…you know, Krupicka, Meltzer, Jurek, and Koerner…I was excited to be in the same county as these four guys.

Previously in the week…things already started going askew…and I am not talking about the weather…we’ll get to that in a moment. I had a consult with a surgeon. Yeah I know…I don’t like how that sounds either!!!

The first week in January I felt a lower pull in my lower abdomen…nothing serious….I must have overdone some core exercises…no worries. So the first weekend in January, I go and run the Bandera 50K…and at mile 5…my lower abdomen started to hurt…and for the next 26 miles it only got worse…not only a pull feeling….put real life pain. I backed off for a week…and a couple of weeks later ran a ½ marathon training run at Northshore Trail…ok…this is getting worse….and I had my suspicions…REAL PAIN Here!

It was confirmed by the surgeon…a bilateral hernia…one on each side. DANG IT! I am getting a second opinion at the request of the first surgeon due what he called an “active lifestyle.” His standard method of repair he thinks may not be the best method for an endurance athlete. The second consult is this week. He thinks either way, I will recover quick…he murmured something about “being in really good shape…and being crazy.” I am not joking when he told me I may actually be crazy....he was being serious….like I may not be all there. Whatever…sane as I have always been.

Ok…I didn’t plan this little bump in the road…but then in North Texas….we had some cold weather…and some sleet…freezing rain…it kinda started getting cold Monday evening….but by Tuesday morning….there was a 2 inch sheet of ice on everything…so that means you might as well shut down all of Dallas Texas for 2 reasons: a.) North Texas is not prepared to clear roads in such weather…and b.) North Texans can’t drive in such weather. I know….some of you northern folk are scoffing…and mocking me right now…don’t care…I LIVE IN THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS!...and for a good reason…and cold weather is not it. It stayed that way for 4 days…no school…grocery stores started looking like a Nuclear holocaust had occurred….temps staying in the teens…throw another 6 inches of snow on top of that Thursday night to add insult to injury….and my plans for leaving to go to Huntsville got scrapped. If I was by myself, I would have probably gone…but I was taking my little girls with me….and if I had a brain lapse and thought about leaving them at home…my wife reminded my that she had been cooped up with 3 kids for 4 days and that if I did go leaving them there…I better make sure of either one of two things: I better never go to sleep ever again….or I better make sure my will has been updated. I personally think that she did cross that line of sanity/insanity and realized that Stephen King’s ,”The Shining” may actually be reenacted in the Elliott Household.

I have to admit…I was disappointed…upset…angry…I wanted to be in Huntsville. A running bud texted me and reminded me that I needed to be flexible…I grinned…it was a shot across the bow in reference of my last blog post.

The race happened…I kept up via internet…text messages…phone calls…what a epic weekend…the course record was broken by Ian Sharman…he ran the 100 miles in 12 hours 44 minutes and Liza Howard won the women's division with nearly 15 1/2 hours …yeah I know…that’s fast…wicked fast!!! One last note…my bud Brenda C….finished in second place for the 100 mile women….completing the last item to check off the list to qualify for Badwater 135…and the Surgeon thought I was crazy.

So here I am…things are not as planned…but we press on…that’s what endurance guys do…they press on.

Liza...yep...she's from Texas too!!! (pic by Lynn Ballard)

The 4 Horseman of the Apocalypse. (pic by Lynn Ballard)