Those Dirty Germans

Back in March when I signed up for a race on May 7th, I pictured beautiful blue skies and a temperature at least above 55 degrees. That was the forecast for Ithaca, the place I left. I drove SOUTH to Philadelphia, PA to run the Dirty German 50M as a training race to practice with the crew I will be bringing with me to Western States. I also had other motivations to stay with my second family. I was Mother’s Day weekend and also the 27th birthday of my teammate Riley. Upon signing up I figured it would be a nice fun getaway to celebrate two of my favorite people while also getting in some good training.

Tldr: I got in good training but not without a fight and definitely not in the way I expected.

As I was driving down on Friday I was met with steadily increasing rain and wind. There weren’t even sections of the drive that had light rain. In good spirits, I told myself the trails would be wet but it’s a public park so they most likely are well maintained, drain enough to run and the elevation is non-existent so still runnable even if rainy. The forecast said 50-53 degrees with the worst rain between 9-11AM. Ok, no big thing every race I’ve run has been rainy so I am used to it. It’s actually better to be running rather than standing around in it.

Walking up to the start line, it was windy but the rain wasn’t too bad yet. The rain felt like the kind I experienced in the PNW. Not bad and you don’t need an umbrella with a good raincoat. The gun went off and thankfully because we were first, the early trails were runnable. I was feeling good and clicking off miles in the mid-7s. Around mile 7 I saw my crew and decided to drop my gloves and hat because I was getting warmer and figured the rain would let up soon.

It didn’t. It started raining harder. The wind picked up. The temperature started to dip. I was running with a guy (who ended up finishing with a pacer) and all of a sudden he goes “I think these rivers and this mud is getting colder…do you feel that?” Tuning back into my body I did notice that my feet were getting numb, my hands were having trouble opening up gels and my shell was slicked to my body. Oh geez here we go.

The 50M runners have a extra baby loop of 1.5 miles in each lap of the course (we would run each lap 3 times). That was probably the worst 1.5 miles section on the course. It was completely under water with tons of twists and turns making for kind of bad footing. It also ran through a mud soaked field on top just in case we wanted an extra exposed dose of 20mph winds.

I got back to the S/F area and didn’t stop because I knew I would do another lap at least. My mental game was really strong and I figured the rain would let up eventually. I felt fit enough to do 50 miles comfortably, my mind was in the game, yet my body had a different reaction and they were not in sync.

I moved forward, adjusting my goals from 7:30 miles to navigating the terrain and putting in effort. My body got colder and colder. My feet moved through the very cold mud and water; I lost feeling in them at about mile 20. My rain jacket was slicked to my body. I was completely soaked and saturated. I don’t think my gloves and hat would have helped my situation much. I saw my crew at mile 24 and told them that if the weather didn’t change, I would most likely drop after finishing the loop. Sure, I was shivering and didn’t really recognize the hypothermic symptoms, but to be honest, I wanted to keep going because if the rain let up I planned to keep going. If any of the elements, the wind, the rain or the temperature changed in my favor, I would certainly keep going. If I could get a little bit warmer, warm enough to eat, warm enough to feel my feet, this was a training race and I am training. I wanted to keep going.

My mind was still in it. Every time I thought it might be getting better, I told myself I would keep on another loop. The problem was, each time I thought to myself “hey it might be easing up” it actually got worse. The race started at 50 degrees. By the time I dropped it had sunk to 43. The rain started out like the PNW rain. By the time I dropped it was a downpour. The wind was relentless the whole time making the freezing rain feel much colder. My shivering just wouldn’t stop and I began wobbling down the trail needing to focus much more just to stay coherent. The numbness in my feet was a real bitch. I think that’s what made navigating the terrain even harder. I simply couldn’t feel them and it was a bit uncomfortable to be unaware what I was stepping into.

I finally made it to the S/F area after my second loop. I told them I was dropping and tried to find my crew. Through chattering teeth I got under cover but couldn’t see where Ann and Bill were. I knew Riley, who won the 50k, must be done at that point and figured they went with them to the car. I tried to remain calm but my temperature was dropping and I knew I needed to get warm. I actually tried to stand by the burners they were using to heat the post-race hot dogs but I felt like I was in the way. Looking for my crew I was spinning around and not really understanding why my body was moving that way but I couldn’t really help it either. Finally, I saw my Gorges Ithaca backpack and knew that must be Bill. I remember working up the energy to mouth the words “Bill” but it came out “b..b..b..b..Bill!” like piglet says “d..d..d..Dear” on Winnie the Pooh. It was kind of funny sounding so I smile as he wrapped a blanket around me.

I thanked him for standing out in this today to help me, but I made the decision to stop. “Well duh of course, this race isn’t worth it. It will not be like this at Western States.” I have to agree with him, but no one likes to stop a training day early if they can help it. We made it back to the car and eventually back to their beautiful warm house where I took the longest shower of my life, ate tons of Ann’s delicious food and spent the rest of the day bundled in the “heat seat” talking with Riley about their race, about the silliness of the day and how much I want to BAKE at Western States.

To everyone who finished 50 miles, I salute you! Congratulations to Riley for the outright win in the 50k! Thank you