A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

A blog about my life, fitness and fun! (...and maybe a few cat pictures...)

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Naked Bavarian 20 Miler Race Recap

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Hola, running peeps! Today, I'm going to recap the Naked Bavarian 20 Miler.

I've been enjoying running trail this winter. Sometimes I meet up with a friend or my dad on the weekend and sometimes I run a race. This weekend was the second weekend in a row that I raced. And when I say "raced" I just mean that I ran for fun, not that I actually raced it.

The Naked Bavarian is run on the trails around Blue Marsh Lake in Leesport, PA. It's only about an hour and ten minutes from my house. I rolled up at 7:51. The 40 milers started at 8:00 on the dot. After I got my race bib and went to the bathroom, I warmed up in my car. 

It was very windy and I was having a hard time deciding on what to wear. I knew it would be warmer in the woods when the wind wasn't hitting us, but how much warmer? I ultimately decided on my Boston windbreaker rather than my very thick running jacket. It was a good choice because it did get a lot warmer as the day went on. In fact, I could have worn shorts!



The 20 milers started at 8:30 on the dot. We ran on the road for about a quarter mile and then it was into the woods. The course was a lollipop... 6.5 miles out, a loop, and then 6.5 miles back.

The terrain was not technical at all. There were very few wet/muddy parts. There were a handful of very steep hills, but for the most part it was either flat or rolling. Most of the time we were in the woods, but once in awhile, we'd come across a beautiful field to run through!


I was actually quite tired by mile four of this race and panicked a little bit. How was I going to complete 20 miles if I was tired already? I told myself to relax, take my time, and just enjoy all the Survivor and Big Brother podcasts I had to listen to.

I'm proud of myself for not taking any walk breaks except for a couple very steep hills.  Here I am at mile ten at the top of a hill... beat!




This is going to sound crazy, but I didn't look at my Garmin at all until mile 19.86! Can you believe that!? I just didn't want to know how much farther I had to go or how fast/slow I was running. Mentally, that's what I was feeling that day.


There were four aid stations and they were STOCKED with anything you could imagine... grilled cheese, pbj, fig newtons, oranges, candy, water, gatorade, soda... They were even frying up bacon at one of them!

The course was a little long- 20.86. That made me glad I didn't look at my Garmin until close to the end. I would have hated it to have been counting down and then get to 20 miles and still have farther to go! By the time I looked at my Garmin, I knew where I was on the course and that I had less than a mile to go.

I finished strong! Not an all out sprint or anything because I didn't want to injure myself.





The post race food was awesome. I got a bratwurst and a grilled cheese to eat on the way home. I was super hungry and honestly could've had double.

On the way home I wondered why my legs were so tired. I often do 12-13 mile trail runs on the weekends no problem, and today, I was tired by mile four. What gives? Then I added it up and realized in the past 8 days I ran 60 miles! That's way too much! And my half marathon last weekend was brutal with all that mud. I think I was just tired.

Less running this week and next, for sure!
Have you ever run a trail race?
Tell me about the best aid stations!

24 comments:

  1. Congrats! That actually looks and sounds like it was a nice course to run! I always where my Garmin to races but hardly ever look at it. I think I like it more for the data afterwards!

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    1. It is fun to look at the data! I love seeing how many steps I have each day. You would really enjoy these trails.

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  2. Oh wow I know that hill must be super steep because normally when I take pictures of any hill or bridge I'm like "wow it doesn't look like much in the pic." If it looks steep in the pic it must have been super steep in real life!

    IMO the best aid stations have cold drinks. I feel like most of the time down here towards the end of races the drinks are warm because it's hot out and they don't have ice or anything, which is fine. I am generally happy with anything but when you do get a rare cold cup that's NICE!

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    1. Exactly! I have the same problem- hills never look steep in pictures. This was very, very steep!

      Oh yes cold drinks are nice, especially for you Floridians, right?

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  3. Congratulations!! What an amazing time!

    That mug looks really cool, did you use it ? Did it feel less windy at the park?

    parts of those pictures look like the park you ran in California.


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    1. I did use it! I filled it with water and drank from it for the rest of the day. It was A LOT less windy in the woods. It got windy when we ran through the fields. The fields do look like Cali, but those fields were on top of a freaking mountain... Ah man that was the best race ever!!!!! (The cali one)

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  4. Great race! Even though you were tired, it sounds like you were still strong. That's great! The best aid station in my trail marathon had snow cones. It pretty much kept me alive because I was dying in the heat. It saved me!! Pickle juice and bacon is always welcome to me too. I'm thankful there are such energetic people at aid stations. It makes all the difference in having a good race or a bad experience.

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    1. Pickle juice!? I would have never thought of that but boy would that give you the salt you needed! I agree, happy, energetic people at aid stations are so helpful.

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  5. I like the sound of those aid stations. I don't know if I could eat anything beyond energy chews during a race, but I did see bacon during the BolderBoulder.

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    1. I was getting hungry by the end of the race. If I was running farther than 20 I would have eaten pbj, fig newtons, or grilled cheese. During my 50 miler, I ate pizza! You have to eat SOMETHING with lots of calories or else you'd be eating chews pretty much the whole time trying to get in enough calories.

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  6. Congratulations on your race and mug! You gotta recover because that is a LOT of miles! Especially on a trail, it's a long time on your feet. Glad you had fun with it and are enjoying the trail runs, but everyone looks so cold in your pic except that one shirtless man. I think every race has a shirtless man.

    Ultra aid stations are the best with food. Glorified junk food! Not Gu and gatorade like road races, yuck.

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    1. That is funny I didn't even notice the shirtless man until you pointed it out on Facebook! We were very cold in the beginning but I promise it got warm when we were in the woods. I could have worn shorts.

      Ultras do have great aid stations and post race food. It was SO AWESOME having a bratwurst and grilled cheese!

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  7. Congratulations on your race. I ran it too! Think I saw you in your Boston jacket. I enjoyed reading your post. You are a great story teller!

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and reading! I wear that jacket all the time because it is light yet warm. Now it is at the point that it smells like sweat even after it is washed... lol.

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