So last Sunday, I ran what might be my last race before the 2016 Foot Levelers Blue Ridge Marathon. In its second year, the Naked Bavarian is a race put on by the good people at UberEnduranceSports, who always put on a great event. This is my fourth UES event (after the Rumpsringa 13.1 in 2014, and the Oktoberfest 13.1 the last two years), and I have the cuckoo clocks to show for it.
The best thing to come out of the black forest since their delicious ham.
The "naked" part of the race title simply means that there is no t-shirt (although my shorts were pretty short, you guys). The goal from the point of view of UES was that they wanted to put on a low-cost, no-frills race in light of rising race registration fees that are creeping into trail running. Around 500 of us were on board with that.
The race was comprised of three events: 20 miles, 26.2 miles, and 40 miles. There was a staggered start: 40-milers starting at 8:00 am, marathoners starting at 8:30 am, and 20-milers starting at 9:00 am. Since the race was a little over an hour from Philly, we got to sleep until an almost normal person's time in our own bed the night before a race, which is always fantastic.
On our drive there, to psychologically prepare for the race, I did what any serious endurance competitor would do: I queued up "No Scrubs." Then, after a good three-mile warm-up, it was time to race. Race anyone.
"Against God himself, if you're good enough."
This was another race in the midst of a 100+ mile week (my 9th in a row), so the jury was out on how my legs would feel. Fortunately, once I got going, things started to click pretty early. My legs felt relatively springy, given the mileage I had been putting in.
I got off to a nice lead early, and then within the first 20 minutes or so, started running into full marathoners who started at 8:30. From that point on, I was seldom completely alone on the course, which was nice. The first aid station was at around 3.5 miles, but since I almost never consume anything on my long runs (it has to be over three hours and/or over 90 degrees), I decided that I would avoid using the aid stations if I could (which I did successfully). The course was a lollipop course consisting of 10K out, then a seven mile loop, then re-tracing the first 10K in the opposite direction. The full marathoners had an additional 10K loop tacked on that the 20 and 40 milers didn't have to run. The split was at the second aid station, and since I already got lost in one trail race this year, I made damned sure that I went the right way. There were a few steep uphills, followed by some steep downhills, so I was getting to put my BRM hill training to good use. I ran with my phone and used the GPS function of the Strava app, so I was able to track all of my splits and the elevation. All of the hills I encountered were smaller than what I run up and down every week in Roxborough and Manayunk, except for one really long and steep hill in the middle of the race.
It's the giant middle finger of the elevation profile.
The mile with that hill in it was a 7:26, and this was my slowest of the race. There were also a lot of nice, relatively flat sections in the middle, and I was able to run quite a few of the middle miles in the 5:40's, which is not bad for trails. As with all of the UES races, this one was really well marked, and the rest of the face was delightfully uneventful (except that I passed a runner who was dressed like the Pope). The only hiccup that I encountered was when I thought I had passed the last aid station and thus thought I only had 3.5 miles left to run. I kicked it in for a few minutes, only to encounter a hill that I remember being between the aid stations. I thought this meant that I still had another aid station to go and then would have another 3.5 miles. I backed off the pace accordingly, but then, fortunately, a few minutes later, I passed a couple of 40 milers who said I only had a mile to go. It turns out I was right the first time and had already passed the final aid station. This was a giant relief, and I was able to pick it up through the remainder of the trail section, and then the short road section leading into the park. I was expecting there to be the normal finish line applause and the guy with a camera and the race director with a clip board taking down my time (since this was not a chip timed race), but encountered none of this. Since last year's winner finished in 2:45 and the clock currently said 2:11:something, they weren't expecting any finishers for a while. The finish line is one of those banners that is raised with a hand crank, and it was only about five feet off the ground at the time, so I had to duck to get under it. After a few seconds of confusion, the race director realized I had finished, and fortunately another guy at the finish line was paying attention to the clock, and they were able to take down my time. I also texted Jeannine to let her know I had finished, since she wasn't expecting me yet either and was still in the car with the dog. I ended up first overall in a course record 2:11:11. The finish line photography was also not set up yet.
Dramatization.
The Strava app said I had run exactly 21 miles, but races being a little longer than advertised is not uncommon in trail races. I later heard from other runners that the 20 mile course was 21 miles, but the marathon course was exactly 26.2. Anyway, as is the case at all UES events, I was directed to the picnic tables where food was being prepared. I had knockwurst on a bun with sauerkraut and a potato pancake with apple sauce. Everything was just off-the-rails delicious. I got to speak to the 2nd place finisher, Evan, who said he was getting back into running after through-hiking the Appalachian Trail last Summer (South-to-North), and we were then joined by Tim, the 3rd place finisher. After speaking to them, I grabbed a bowl full of mini candy bars and Fig Newtons, and Jeannine, Dr. Peter Venkman, and I hopped into the car and headed back to Philly. Once we got back, I got a three mile jog in on the trails just to stretch my legs out. It was a hot mess at first, but after the first half mile or so, my legs started to feel better, and I felt much better afterward, no matter what that jerk Pat Woodford says.
Anyway, I'm now in the heaviest part of my training cycle and will probably hit around 110 miles this week and for the next few weeks after that before resting up for BRM. There is a local 4-mile race that's six days before BRM, so I might jump into that, depending on how my legs feel. One way or another, I'll have at least one more entry prior to the big day. I believe that's all I got for now.
Have fun,
Jeff
