Blues Cruise 50K 2013 Race Report: A story of survival

 In a word: the experience was HUMBLING.

In another...it SUCKED.

With a single loop ultra, relatively flat (on paper), and only an hour and fifteen minutes from home, signing up for the 2013 edition of the Blues Cruise 50K Ultramarathon seemed like a no brainer.  It was held on a warmer than average Fall Sunday, 10/6/13, starting around 8:35AM.

Named as such because of its location: Blue Marsh Lake west of Reading PA and interestingly enough, this area is maintained and managed by the US Army Corps of Engineers.  Despite the current US Gov't shutdown, the show still went on.  Along with many other runners, volunteers, and family, I was pleased to hear this news in the days leading up to the race.  Kudos to the Race Director for keeping on top of that crucial business!

Please Note: the vast majority of photo credits in this post go to: 

Jenn Seale

Brad Bansner

Jim Blandford

I didn't know much about this race before the start other than it was mostly singletrack, and was supposed to be a pretty good "beginner ultra".  For some reason I thought that was equivalent to saying it was "easy", an idea that left my mind early in the race.

Being fairly close to home and a pretty late start, I decided to head out from home around 6:30AM instead of trying to find housing near the race.  When I arrived at the foggy lake side, there were already considerable lines for packet pickup and the 5 porta-potties available near the start.  I had around 45 minutes until the race began, plus the lines moved along nicely so no worries.

Looking at some times from previous years it seemed the course was pretty quick, so my strategy was to maintain somewhere between a 9:00/mile and 10:00/mile pace, and see how that went.  As always, I was using my Garmin Fenix along with Magellan HR Strap to record data for quick feedback during the run, as well as analysis later on.

The race started at a quick pace as expected, and didn't get into true singletrack until nearly a mile into the course...nicely designed.

Albeit a bit rocky, I was able to allow gravity to take care of business on all the downhills, and taking it easy on flats and uphills, maintaining a solid 9:30-10:00 mile for first few miles.  After the first 10K it really leveled out and it was comfy ticking off the miles around a 9:00/mi pace through mile 10.

Having some fun early on in the race

Even though my legs felt a bit sluggish, I pretty much ignored it believing it was simply gonna take some time to loosen up.  Little did I know that the fatigue was from overtraining the prior week:

Sunday: 23 easy
Monday: Easy 6 + 10x10sec hill sprints
Tuesday: Specific Endurance Intervals: 3 easy, 6 x 800m @5k pace w/ 2min active recov., then 3 easy
Wednesday: Easy 7
Thursday: Easy 5
Friday: rest
Saturday: rest

I'd never done that type of mileage the week before a long race and now I know why.

With my physical and subsequent mental state waning, my memory is pretty poor from the final half(ish) of the race so other than the general statement about it "sucking", here's what I can recall.

• The "Love and Marriage" theme from Married with Children was stuck in my head for about 10-12 miles on the back half of the course; the tempo seemed to work well with my "death shuffle", and the thought of sitting on a couch like Al Bundy sounded oh so good during those long lonely stretches in Penn's Woods.
• Coke tastes good after running for 4 hours in the humidity!
• Some badass dude named Scott who's run a few 100 milers seemed in great shape and was good conversation for a mile or two around mile 16
• I was loving the eye candy at the Octoberfest aid station!
• Definitely got Chicked and Geezered* multiple times around mile 22
• Thinking..."I don't remember this many hills on the elevation profile"
• My freaking watch lost satellites from mile 20.55 to 22ish
• On a decent hill climb around mile 23, I had two options: Cry, or Sit.  I luckily found a stump to rest on, somewhat saving my masculinity.

*same as getting Chicked, but rather than a female, it's some wise old dude running a much smarter race than you

Bombing a downhill around mile 12

Don't confuse that with a smile...pretty sure I'm just holding back the tears.

MMMMM...Aid station goodness

We shared the trails all day with bikers, horses, hikers and other runners

The final 4.5 miles after the last aid station were all a mental game, constantly checking down at my watch, seeing the miles tick down.  I don't know if it was the coke or the endorphins, but I actually remember feeling pretty energetic during this last stretch!

The leader coming through the finish in amazing time!  (3:45:10)

Finish area scene

DONE! (5:43:38)

Some final thoughts:

- I sweat like crazy, especially when it got sunny and into the 80's in the afternoon

- AMAZING aid stations!  They'd take care of each runner like we were royalty!
- I seem to remember lots of bridge crossings
- I didn't fall!  Or stub my toes!
- The course was much more hilly than I expected
- I didn't have any GI issues
- There were no mile markers (not a big deal for me, but maybe others without watches)
- As promised, the course was 95% singletrack, which was simply beautiful!
- Good quality swag: T-Shirt, Hoodie, and Hat
- Great food after the finish: potato pancakes, grilled cheese, soda, chocolate chip banana bread, etc...
- I seem to like bullet points today
- All in all an extremely well run race that I would highly recommend!

The Octoberfest Ladies cheered me up a bit after a rough day!

Personal Nutrition Notes:

• Coffee, Banana and Chobani Greek Yogurt for breakfast
• GU Roctane Blueberry Pomegranate Gel 15 minutes before, then every 30 minutes, or Power Bar Gel Bites at 60 minute intervals
• Pretzels, Twizzlers, and Grapes at aid stations
• Coke at final two aid stations
• 4-5 Salt Stick caps periodically from mile 20 on
• 3-4 full refills of water in bottles, at least 1 cup of water at each AS
• Whatever crap I could stuff in my face after the finish

Gear list:

• Garmin Fenix
• Magellan HR Strap
• Road ID bracelet
• Brooks Hat (white)
• Tech race shirt
• GoLite Shorts
• Nike Socks
• Brooks Pure Grit
• Two-pocket SPIbelt
• 2 Ultimate Direction Handheld Water Bottles
• Bandaids on nipples
• Body Glide on inner thighs
• Small sandwich baggie with toilet paper

See you on the trails later.  I'll be resting up for a few days before getting back to training for the JFK 50 Miler next month.


As always, here's the link to the activity on Strava.