Sotol stands as a quiet sentinel of the desert, its long, slender leaves fanning out in a crown of green and silver. A hardy survivor of arid lands, it thrives beneath the relentless sun, its roots gripping the dry earth with tenacity. The leaves, rigid and sharp-edged, shimmer with a metallic sheen in the afternoon light, as if the plant itself were forged by the desert’s heat.

Running along the length of each leaf are rows of small, dagger-like thorns – delicate yet unforgiving. They trace the edges like the teeth of a saw, catching glimmers of light at their tips. This decoration is its defense, a silent warning to any who might venture too close. To brush against sotol carelessly is to feel the desert’s quiet bite, a reminder that even beauty here demands respect.

As the Sotol matures, its towering flower stalk reaches skyward, sometimes stretching ten feet high, crowned with clusters of pale blooms that sway in the desert wind. But below, the thorns remain, standing guard like loyal sentries, ensuring that the Sotol’s grace is not without its edge.

Oddly, Sotol isn’t a cactus, it’s a type of asparagus. The Texas type of asparagus that will take you out with its deadly thorns. I’ll run past 62 miles of them a week from now. There are many things to fear about running 62 miles. Death by a thousand cuts shouldn’t be one of them but at the Bandera 100K Ultra, the Sotol makes the rules. The Sotol is the master of the Hill Country State Natural Area. The trail is there to serve runners’ flesh to the Sotol.

I’ve tried to prepare as best I can for this challenge. Blowdown on my East Boulder Trail has added some challenge to my otherwise pedestrian trail. Its hills might mirror the Bandera trail and now I have downed trees to navigate. And I survived winds at the Boulder Res that nearly lifted me off my feet. Good prep for the Texas wind, which I expect to be a steady 10 mph. All good training prep. I completed my training today with 12 miles on the LoBo Trail. That gave me 100 miles for the week – the first time in 9 years I’ve pushed myself this hard. It feels good to know I’ve completed what I set out to do.

That statement might seem premature since I’ve yet to actually run the 100K, but with goals like this, the training is everything. A lot could go wrong next Saturday, but it won’t be from a lack of training miles, or a lack of studying nutrition, or a lack of training my body to fuel and hydrate over those hundreds of training miles. But there was one thing I’d yet to complete this morning. I still needed to pay homage to the trail spirits, and in Bandera, the God of those trail spirits is the slashing Sotol.

Turns out Sotol makes an excellent spirit in the form of distilled asparagus, 38% alcohol by volume. I had a shot tonight to mark the completion of my training and to shout out to the Sotol that guards the trails in Bandera that I’m ready. Having drunk its distilled spirits, I’ll be one with the Sotol next Saturday. I’ll be protected from its spears and destined for glory in the Texas Hill Country.