The Dirty German 50k - Redemption Run

May 18, 2014

Last year - The Dirty German 50k - 2013 - I arrived sick to the start line after very little sleep, rolled my ankle/fell around mile 8 and went off course following another runner up a wrong hill on the 2nd lap. My goals this year were to right those three wrongs.

2014 was off to a lame start for me - after difficult training conditions through the winter, March saw a weak finish at the HAT Run 50k and April delivered my first DNF when I packed it in after only 64 miles of the C&O Canal 100. I run these races for fun and that's it. I love to run and I train enough that I can beat cutoff times and finish. Not finishing last month felt like absolute crap. Last year The Dirty German served as a tune up for The Laurel Highlands Ultra and this year too, but to say I came to this event in need of some reaffirmation is very much an understatement.

Lasagna for supper and early to bed, meant I felt great rolling out at 3:45am for breakfast. I drove to Philly this year, last year I rode along in the passenger seat falling in and out of sleep in a cold sweat most of the way. Pinned on my number and feeling great for the start, Goal #1 was in the bag.

I ran into Tim Nash while we were picking up our race packets, we exchanged pre-race "how ya' doings?" and we were on our way. Oddly I saw Tim a short time later hustling down the sidewalk still wearing the blue jeans I saw him in earlier and carrying his race packet. I jokingly asked him if he was running in those jeans, only to learn that he was freaking out because he couldn't find where his buddy had moved the car. I assured him he had plenty of time till the start as he ran off searching. The same thing happened to me last year when Janice had to move the car. Thankfully my anxiety was brief as she had just moved across the street and I found her quickly. Tim said he had already been down and back in both directions with no luck. [parking at this event is a little challenging as it's along the street and not in the park, but I didn't see any cars parked too far from the start/finish - I've seen worse parking setups]



Just before the start I caught up with Rick Martin from Hummlestown, this was his first 50k and he was a bundle of excitement/anxiety to get the show on the road. Saw Tim again too and this time he was dressed to run and his heart rate was back to normal, he had obviously found the car. Off we went across the damp park lawn, crossed the Pennypack Creek by bridge and made a quick U-turn onto the trail and into the woods. Rick had said he wished he had thought to pack a drop bag in case he wanted dry socks after the first lap. I told him, I remembered a big puddle from last year, but other than that I couldn't remember water on the trail. We were quickly greeted by mud and water, much of it difficult/impossible to avoid and now I felt pretty stupid about giving out bad info.

Off to an easy start with Rick Martin (#307) leading the way.



For the entire first mile, I ran just a couple hundred feet behind Rick and Tim, keeping them in sight, but at the same time hoping I'd slow down not wanting to try to match their much faster pace. At 1.5 miles, my worries of keeping up with them were put aside as I caught a toe on something and found myself bouncing onto my ass after banging both of my knees on rocks. My left knee especially hurt and I came away with both bleeding. So Goal #2 of not falling was now off the list. [Note: I did not hit my head - Janice claims that I'm so uncoordinated that every time I fall I hit my head - when I got to my feet this time I actually mumbled out loud, "cool, I didn't hit my head"]

Notice the color coordinated red trim on my shorts.



The fall didn't take me out of the race, if anything it gave me the opportunity to collect myself and settle into a sustainable pace. I consider this an easy course so I planned to run the easy sections aggressively and "manage" through the tougher sections. We had plenty of rain the days leading up to the event and the trail was quite muddy and a stream that last year was barely ankle deep was up to your shorts if you didn't use the stepping stones. [Note: I typically just plow right through water avoiding stepping stones for fear of slipping and falling - on lap #2 I saw a woman do just that - she was tip toeing the stepping stones and soon found herself sitting on the stream bed, soaked.] That ice cold water felt great on my aching knees and it also did a nice job of washing the blood out of my white calf sleeves. I came to the intersection where I missed the turn last year and recognized it immediately, thinking to myself "remember this on the second lap" - I did, and Goal #3 of not getting lost was achieved. (For those counting, yes I achieved 2 of my 3 goals)

 

The aid stations at this event are great and it's definitely because of the people/volunteers. It seems they're all runners so they know your needs and they know how to talk to you. My hat's off to The Pagoda Pacers![you'll find the aid stations at the Blues Cruise 50k in October manned by those same great folks]

Chomping down a gel coming into to an aid station.





Pre-race anxiety gone - Tim Nash on cruise control.



Janice met me at or near each of the aid stations to swap handhelds(by now she's a pro at crewing and getting me through races - at this event she was so laid back about it she bordered on nonchalant). I carried a Nathan Quick Draw Plus with GU Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Drink and GU Roctane Energy Gels in the pouch. I had salt tablets and GU Electrolyte Capsules in my pockets. I ate a peanut butter & jelly sandwich once and drank a bunch of Coca-Cola and Mountain Dew at the aid stations. I think I maintained my nutrition pretty well, sticking to my hourly gel/electrolyte capsule dose and salt tablets on the off half hour. A huge meal Saturday night and a good breakfast helped to avoid glycogen debt which I'm pretty sure ended my day early at the C&O Canal 100.  At about 27 miles, I was going pretty good when I felt that tell tale pre-cramp twinge in my right inner thigh so I backed off a bit and ate salt. When you feel the twinge you're usually too late to battle it with salt, but it seemed to subside and I was even able to pick my pace back up (just in time for the nagging little hills just before the finish).



Perry the social runner! :-)





I've said before that I'm a loner when running and that running with others actually messes with my head, but this day was different. There was a young guy who I learned his name was Ethan who passed me so many times we lost count. With Janice's help I was going through aid stations faster than him so he'd spend much of the next section catching back up to me only to do it again at the next aid station and that continued all day. In fact with about 2 miles to go, I sensed a runner behind me on a tight single track section and I soon heard, "I'm baa-ack" and yep Ethan again had caught back up. (When our day-long game of leap frog was over I ended up finishing about 30 seconds behind him). For a good distance I was running with a small bunch (4 or 5) runners (including Ethan) and the chatter amongst these nut jobs was actually fun. Joking and cutting up and I actually enjoyed running with them. They weren't going on about their freakin' PR's or having some innocuous mundane conversation that belongs on the phone or at a Starbucks and not on a trail. They seemed comfortable with spending extra time at the final aid station and I lost contact with them there(except of course for ever-present Ethan). So take note, Perry the anti-social runner made a huge break through and enjoyed the company of strangers while running.

Coming in for the finish (the head above the clock is ever-present Ethan)



Coming into the finish, there was a pretty big crowd there yelling and cheering. I couldn't pick out Janice anywhere and I was concerned she hadn't been able to find parking because of all the people in the park. Over the accordion player's polka(who I'm really bummed I didn't get my photo with) I heard Janice's voice. I also heard another familiar voice and I was pleasantly surprised to spot Janice and her sister Debbie <pretty darned cool> who lives very nearby the park cheering me on as I arrived at the finish chute. I couldn't have been happier with this finish, yes it's an easy course, but most importantly I kept myself on the edge and managed it for the distance. I didn't blow up and I didn't phone it in. I finished something like 25 minutes faster than last year, being the quickest I've run that distance and that helped to deliver some much needed reaffirmation that I might actually be a runner.

This course is perfect for the first timer or for someone who's looking for a fast training run. Elevation gain is minimal and it's 100% runnable. There's single track, double-track and water crossings. There may be a bit more pavement than you'd expect in a trail run, but sometimes you need it to simply to piece together otherwise disconnected trails. This year it was quite wet and muddy. I wore Salomon Speedcross 3's that I'm breaking in and was afraid they'd be overkill, but with the sloppy conditions they were perfect. The Dirty German offers three distances, 25k(1 lap), 50k(2 laps) and 50 miles (3 laps+). This year the race director Stephan Weiss decided on a 30 minute staggered start with the 50 milers going off first, then 50k and 25k last. While that may have caused headaches for race workers and timing, the decision got a thumbs up from me as it ensured less crowded trails. (I must say I was impressed to be caught by the 25k leaders near the end of my first lap - they were absolutely flying) Penny Pack Park is funny that's it's situated within an urban environment and it comes with everything an urban park/trail would have - fishermen, horseback riders, girls hanging out drinking a Miller Lite 30 pack in the middle of the day, the smell of wafting marijuana smoke, randomly discarded clothing and this year there was even a skull and a portion of spine of some sort of animal as a trail-trip-hazard. You're running through beautiful forest, but at times hearing horns blowing and sirens responding. The position of the park does make it easy to get to and easy for those who may come with you to find their way to aid stations if they so desire. The finish line food was tasty(I had yummy German Potato Salad and Brat Wurst w/sour kraut) and the finisher swag included a beer glass, bar towel and choice of a running cap or backpack(I got a hat last year so this year I went home with a backpack - sweet!). The only negative on the day: last year I wore a Garmin 310XT and this year I used the Suunto Ambit2 S and I was disappointed to see both GPS watches measured the 50k course as short(30.14 miles), in fact without getting lost, this year was a half mile shorter than last.

>Next up, The Laurel Highlands Ultra next month and then I'll take a break before running The Susquehanna Super Hike in September and the Oil Creek 100 in October.<

Team Refuel Hits The Trail - Blues Cruise 50k Race Report

October 7, 2012

Nothing seemed to be going right leading up to this race. I felt as though my training was lacking, I caught a cold 2 days before the race and the weather took a turn for the worse. I didn’t get enough sleep the night before the race and for some reason I couldn’t finish my breakfast on race day. Earlier in the year I had two disappointing ultra finishes and I was hoping for a little redemption here and that idea looked in jeopardy before I even put on my shoes. (So that’s the negative part of this post.)

 

The Blues Cruise 50k is put on by The Pagoda Pacers at Blue Marsh Lake near Reading, PA. Considering the high for the day was to be 52° with rain, the Jeep was packed with various combinations of clothing. The race advertised 7 well stocked aid stations, but I came prepared with hand-helds and a hydration vest. At the last minute the race directors also emailed that they would not provide gels at the aid stations due to racers pickiness for specific gels in the past. It made sense to me, but I think they still could have provided gels by some generous sponsor. (That’s just my opinion & it didn’t really matter to me, I typically carry my own gels) Running caps for those registered & a cool jacket for finishers!  Janice had an area map and planned to make it to most of the aid stations so I was all set for support. I planned to start carrying a bottle and then depending on conditions I would switch to a hydration vest later.

Pagoda Pacers Volunteers Were Everywhere

 

It was a damp 50° before the start and all the talk in the Porto-john lines was about what to wear. The chilly air felt perfect for running; but that feeling could go south in a hurry if the forecasted rains came. I wore my Team REFUEL t-shirt with a sleeveless lycra layer underneath with arm warmers and shorts. (Luckily the rains never came and my combination of layers worked out perfectly)

The race started down a short park road before hitting the trail. In the first half mile I felt awful. My body temperature felt like 120° and my lungs felt like cement. Maybe this little cold I had was worse than I thought. I looked down at my watch and my current mile time just over 7 minutes and I thought well I can fix that, just slow the heck down. That became my mantra on the day, “slow the heck down”. My goal was to finish in under 6 hours and I was determined to run the smartest race I’ve ever run to achieve that. Averaging faster than an 11:30 mile wasn’t necessary and I knew I’d blow up if I tried to maintain that for 50k. With all that said, every time I checked my watch, I was still going too fast. It felt great, but I knew I would implode eventually. It’s very easy for me to get caught up in the excitement of a race and run outside my ability and ruin my day. I kept telling myself to just let it happen, ignore the other runners, stop forcing the pace, think more about refueling and the next aid station and the things I needed to do to keep going. Even in the early miles, I was forcing myself to power walk the short steep hills, even if I could run them. If I felt like my walk would be as fast as my run, I walked it. I ran only the hills that I could actually run. I was certain to conserve energy for the finish. I would go back to real running on the flats and down hills making up for the slow climbs.  

Well Stocked Aid Station

 

Everything about the aid stations was perfect. The aid stations were no more than 5 miles apart, so there were 7 for a 50k which may be more than you’d expect, but it pays off for that runner who may be experiencing a bad patch and needs something quickly. I was carrying Gatorade and they had that. I like Coca-cola for energy and they had it. They seemed to have everything a runner could need (except gels). They also had incredible volunteers who would take your bottle as they were asking what it was you needed and it was refilled and back in your hand in seconds. Near the end of the race, my bottle had become an extension of my left hand and this nice guy at an aid station tried to take it from my hand and I guess I wasn’t paying attention. I heard someone say, “you’re gonna havta’ let go” and then I heard (directed at me) “let go!” ~with a laugh. I figured it out eventually and let go and my bottle was refilled and back in my hand in no time. I survived the day on Gatorade, PowerBar Gels (Berry Blast) and Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes tablets, all of which Janice had a supply of in the Jeep. I really only used the aid stations for guzzling Coca-Cola and Mountain Dew. With the temperatures being so cool and the aid stations being so nicely spaced apart, I never did change to the hydration vest. (That’s a big deal to me, that hydration vest is like a security blanket on longer runs.)

The course was like that old wooden roller coaster we’ve all ridden. It had plenty of rolling small hills, with some nasty steep ones thrown in and one big climb that used to be a ski slope. This year the course was run in the clockwise direction which meant we climbed the ski slope from the back and descended the steep face. The treacherous downhill may have been tougher than the climb. My watch recorded 6700’ of elevation gain(unofficial). The trail is rustic and rocky in places and smooth dirt in others, or it was deteriorating old abandoned roads. Running through forest, farm land or along the lake bank itself made for quite an enjoyable 50k loop around the lake.

What a beautiful place! Blue Marsh Lake was created in 1979 by the Army Corps of Engineers when they dammed the Tulpehocken Creek to create the reservoir. With 6100 acres surrounding the 1150 acre lake, it's a perfect place to host a 50k trail race in a single loop. Of course through eminent domain, property was taken so now remains of homesteads and abandoned roads are evident throughout the park. There was a fox hunt the same day as the race so in the first 10 miles of the course we heard baying hounds on the chase. I saw a few dogs on the trail, but other runners said they saw the actual pack of fox hounds. At one aid station there were parked Amish Buggies and Amish girls in their traditional clothing chasing others, out enjoying the nice weather.  

 

As usual, Janice appeared everywhere, even some places where I didn't even see her. We crossed over some old dirt road early in the race and there was the Jeep with Janice waving to me as I passed. Crews weren't allowed at the first 2 aid stations, but I think she was at each, just not with the Jeep and she didn't go where she was told not to (now I'll probablty be DQ'd). Other runners and supporters came to associate Janice in the yellow Jeep with my position on the course. Two men knew there wives were keeping pace near me so if the yellow Jeep was near so were their wives. One guy said, "your maintaining a good pace, your driver's having trouble keeping up". I knew better.

When I reached the aid station after the ski slope, I saw Janice and I told her that the climb “wasn’t nothin’” which means a lot coming from me, I’m the worst hill runner I know. Maybe was it that my strategy of conserving energy was working. I had given her a paper with splits on it and she told me I was 10 minutes ahead of my goal and I now had about 10 miles to go. By my estimations, my pacing was working and with a 10 minute cushion, I even had time if something went wrong. Then I hit mile 26.2. I like to check my watch at the marathon point and when I did it I was faced with mountain bikers coming down an extremely steep hill while I climbed it. Two got by me safely and the third lost control and bailed hard. I saw bike parts skidding by me and when I took a weird step to avoid the carnage, my left thigh cramped.  Oddly having some dude body surfing downhill on his chest helped me to ignore my pain. I was able to walk through it quickly and considering the steepness, I was already walking. I lost minimal time because of the cramp. Was that it? Was that all that was going to go wrong? I hit the aid station at mile 27ish (the one I forgot that Janice had to remind me of), refilled my bottle one last time, climbed some short steep gnarly climbs in those last miles and got to the finish line in 5:50:31. I would have been happy with a 5:59:59 so I was elated to know I beat 6 hours by 10 minutes! I didn’t do stupid stuff and get myself into trouble. I raced within myself and just let it happen instead of forcing it or chasing it and it all worked out in the end.

Another fun day running while flying the Team Refuel colors. By the end of the day, I was answering to "hey Chocolate Milk Guy”. Countless runners asked me about refueling with low fat chocolate milk or they had stories to tell of how that’s their refuel drink of choice now. A woman asked me about my Team Refuel jacket and told me she was a finalist for this month to win sponsorship with Team Refuel. I wished her luck and encouraged her to get all of her family, friends and co-workers to vote for her every day. One runner had to point out his quart cartoon he was drinking from and told me it’s been his refuel drink for many years. Others stopped by the Jeep while I was changing and refueling with Rockin’ Refuel to talk refueling. I’ve been getting the choclate milk word out, one mile at a time.

 

Other stuff I used on race day:

Asics Running Shorts - so old they're no longer sold

Garmin Forerunner 205 Watch - trusty & simple - also no longer sold

Headsweats Running Cap - got it from the nice people at Gu Energy Labs

Injinji Socks - love 'em! Janice got 'em for me at the Philly Rock 'N' Roll Half Expo

Nathan Performance Quick Draw Plus Handheld Bottle - got it from the nice people at Nathan

Nike Pro Combat Compression Shorts - support for quads & exhausted stabilizer muscles

Salomon XR Mission Trail Shoes - simple shoe with great fit

Zensah Calf Sleeves - keep those calf muscles firing properly to the finish line

 

Zensah, Injinji & Salomom - Great Combination

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Posted By Blogger to Perry's Trails at 10/12/2012 07:39:00 AM