Naked Bavarian 20M Race Report

Driving down to Pennsylvania in the beginning of March might not seem like much of a vacation, but it was just what I needed to refresh my mind and body for the coming season ahead.

The Naked Bavarian 20M and 40M races are the first in a serious of races put on by Uber Endurance Sports. The other races are aptly titled, the Naked Prussion marathon and 50M, the Dirty German 50k and 50M and the 1/2 Saur 1/2 Kraut half and full marathon. They also have a few others but these ones stick out to me based on feel, post race food and amount of German ethos expressed.

I have raced the Naked Prussian before. Twice actually. The first time is one I’ll never forget. I actually love the story and result on my UltraSignUp because it will forever keep me humble. The long and short of it is I had “decided” I was from now on an ultrarunner and was trying to force myself into that mold. It always ends well when I do that. I hadn’t raced an ultra for a few months after moving to a new city and felt like I should because that’s what real ultrarunners do. Well…I tanked and could barely walk at mile 40. I did not understand that taking a DNF with dignity was appropriate so I begged the wonderful RD Stephan to give me a finish for the marathon distance. It is my worst race result to date and I will forever be grateful for that experience. Not only was a kicked mightily from my pedestal but I also have the blemish on my ranking which is a huge blessing. I want to always remember what happens when I try to put myself in a box or talk in absolutes. I get fucked.

The second time I ran Naked Prussian, I won and set the course record. Redemption felt good but I still look more fondly on that first experience. God damn I love seeing growth, especially remembering how worthless I felt after that blow-up.

This year was completely different. A sub-ultra distance and being my first race since Bandera meant there was some rust-busting and re-learning to do. Of course I like to succeed and place competitively but I more focused on the feeling I wanted rather than a pace or time. I figured between 2:30 and 3H depending on the course conditions and how my body was feeling. The day before I ran 13 miles and planned for an hour or so the day after so strategically not tapering was in my training plan.

I was lucky enough to stay with my teammate Riley’s family for the weekend and got in a delicious pre-race dinner of homemade chickpea curry, vanilla ice cream and chocolate cupcakes. I actually left their house on Sunday with a list of recipes to make upon returning home. Some of which I am proud to say I have made. I love eating all kinds of food but still find I favor certain meals or foods at different times of the year or get into a rut of sorts. Sometimes all it takes is being out of my routine to inspire me to begin more adventurous eating. My pre-race breakfast was a few bananas and some grapes. I usually stick with something easily digestible and carbohydrate based. I wasn’t super worried about getting in a huge spread before this run. I planned to practice race nutrition on the course so I knew more fuel was coming. I did not need fuel to perform as I did at the race but I have begun practicing everything much sooner in training than I ever have. I want to limit surprises at Western if I can.

My race began a half hour after my teammate Caleb Bowen’s so after seeing him off, Riley and I spent some time dancing around and drinking warm liquids to maintain some semblance of body temperature. With about 15 minutes to go I began a warm up jog which felt good but didn’t take the ice off my fingertips. The way I just described that makes it seem like it was cold. Honestly I wasn’t really and the day was a balmy 30-40 degrees. Coming from NY that was WARM! However my fingertips have poor circulation so no matter how tasty warm I am, the numbness lingers in my hands longer than any other place.

All of a sudden I was standing at the start line, a bit of pre-race energy causing my limbs to further shake and the starting horn went off. I got out with the leaders and watched the eventual men’s winner scramble off down the hill. He eventually went on to crush the field by over 20 minutes finishing in 2:13. I was feeling strong, but not that pace strong. The first race in a cycle is always interesting. I’ve had it go a number of different ways and all indicate nothing concrete for future races. I take them for what they are, a great competitive environment to test myself and see people. More fun than a workout alone. In the past, some of my first season races have gone so well I thought I was headed for an amazingly fast season…only to overtrain later and either get sick or injured. Other times it’s gone horribly but I was able to maximize the lesson and workout gains from it to make the next race better. Usually it’s somewhere in between and this race was no exception.

My goal for the race was to be uncomfortable the whole time. I did not want to find too much “ultra-flow” because the race was 20 miles. I figured if I could talk too much I was either not engaged with the effort and had zoned out or I was not running hard enough. Both of those things are practicable and learned through racing. It’s difficult for me to be engaged for such a long time but still a relatively shorter ultra-effort.

The first five miles of the course were fun and fast. I was attempting to settle into an uncomfortable but sustainable pace and remember what it felt like to race. Because this race is low key and in the backwoods of Pennsylvania, it was pretty low pressure to perform but I did not want that to give me an excuse not to give the effort I wanted. The trails looked so beautiful though I couldn’t help but unfocus my effort just to be grateful for the opportunity to run on some dry trail in early March. I knew I most likely wouldn’t see anything that nice in New York until at least April.

After about five miles I felt like I remembered how to race and the competitive juice began to redistribute through my body. I was near a few guys, self proclaimed “roadies” and we traded places every few miles. I didn’t take any aid from the aid stations but used my handheld throughout. I have been trying a new product line called Gnarly in my workouts this season and it has served me well so far. Their products are all fluid based so in longer efforts I will cycle in my usual gels to get enough energy. I highly recommend the cherry cola flavor, the hydration mix and for recovery, the protein powder and the collagen supplement. All are now regular occurrences in my daily life.

The race got hard at about mile 12 and I had the thought of considering the first 12 “the workout” and the next 8 the cool down…but I knew deep down that was a cop-out and I was feeling good in my body and mind to do what I planned to do, race. My mind isn’t rock solid all the time and I barter internally to an almost comedic level some days. Instead of slowing down I started taking it mile by mile. I imagined what my teammate Riley was doing on their long run and every mile was closer to hearing how that went. Suddenly I really wanted an in depth account of their run and needed to finish quickly to hear it. Whatever brain space y’all need, take what the day gives you. My mentality began to pick up at about mile 16 and I found a good effort in that I would soon seem my teammate Caleb who would be making his second loop for the 40 mile race. I also got a note of encouragement from the two roadies who had passed me then saying they were impressed with my pacing and I was on the way to a new CR. Compliments go a long way people, so compliment someone today when you’re done reading this.

I saw Caleb on the last descent before a climb out of the forrest to the road. He was about a mile ahead of the second place guy and looked as good as someone climbing a steep hill could look. I hit the last hill and saw the yellow gate I remembered from a few years before cursing the man standing at the top. Because he was there I would not let myself hike up the hill…I had to RUN. I also knew that I was essentially done after the climb and only a half mile road section separated me from Riley’s amazing long run race report.

I ran out of real estate to catch the guy in front of me but the guy behind me also had the same issue when trying to catch me…so I’d say it was a wash. I crossed the line in 2:36 and have no idea if that is good comparatively to other years because there are no course records listed and I don’t care that much to go through the finishes of the past 10 years of races. All I know is that it was a blast and the post race food had some soup that tasted like stuffing.

The next day I was able to run with Riley around their neighborhood to complete a nice training weekend. I was super sore on Monday after driving all day Sunday so I took the day off.

Thanks to the Trails Collective for all their support. Great job to Caleb who set a new course record of 5:01 at the 40 mile race. Thank you to Stephan and Uber Endurance Sports for a great event.

Oh and I was also randomly on the cover of Ultrarunning Magazine…so that’s the photo for this post as I cannot get my photos from the race to attach.