Mt. Penn MudFest - Run15k


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Reading, Pennsylvania
United States
Pagoda Pacer
45F / 7C
Precipitation
 		Total Time = 1h 30m 40s
Overall Rank = 161/688
Age Group = M40-49
Age Group Rank = 0/
Pre-race routine:

Went to bed thinking - wow, I guess the rain missed us... Woke up at about 7:30 to rain pounding on the windows and roof - oh boy! Wife says: "are they still going to have it???" IT'S THE MUDFEST, HON! WHAT DO YOU THINK? but she was already back asleep...

2 breakfast sandwiches from Wawa and a big coffee, banana, gatorade, gel right before race time. Started to get really psyched when I had to put my wipers on high and saw the flags out straight by the highway.

Event warmup:

Couple strides, chatted with my fellow fools, tried to stay as dry as I could. Watched all the other fools. Wondered why anyone would go for a long warmup run in the pouring f---ing rain and the muck when they had 9+ miles of it ahead of them.
Run
  • 1h 30m 40s
  • 9.3 miles
  • 09m 45s  min/mile
Comments:

Went out just a little too hard for me I think. Felt good and fast for about the first half, then kind of came unglued more than I would have liked. Knew it was a rough course when I looked at at my watch at 54:00 or so thinking "probably getting close to 7 miles" and the guy at the street crossing goes "6 miles, only 3 to go!" Mother #%#%$%#$!!! So then I made it a point to slam an alternative beverage at Mile 7. Much better (until it started sloshing around on the downhill).

Have to say I really did have nothing left when I came out of the woods, so I did give it my all that day. Only a better strategy and more extreme training would have helped me do better.


What would you do differently?:

The good news is I ran faster than 527 other people on this course. If I did it again, I would push harder on the uphill the last couple miles. Do more hills and more hard mileage in training definitely. If you can run on some of the later hills it's a great place to pass people.
Post race
Warm down:

Peeled off my wet dirty clothes. Would have burned them, but no fires were happening that day. Got some grub and headed for home.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Lack of hardcore trail fitness for the whole 15k. Building the level of fitness to compete at the level I want to just takes time. Of course, the fact that some of the hills went straight up may have slowed everyone a little too.

Event comments:

Absolutely the most fun I've had at a race; would do it again in a heartbeat. Any race that starts by shooting a stuffed pig in the air and has alternative beverages is great by me! This was my first Pretzel City race; I will be back for many more.




Last updated: 2009-01-23 12:00 AM
Running
01:30:40 | 9.3 miles | 09m 45s  min/mile
Age Group: 0/
Overall: 161/688
Performance: Average
Started out a little too fast, but thought was I wouldn't be able to pass in the woods. In hindsight, this was a mistake, as most of the course was double-wide. Could have saved my legs a little bit, no--make that a lotta-bit, for the later hills. HR Z4 and Z5 mostly, average was 165. The graph from my Garmin is hilarious; pace for first 3.6 miles is pretty flat, then looks like an EKG for a dying heart attack patient who was getting shocked every few minutes. My race pace is for this distance on the road is around 7:30/mile; I finished this one in 9:40-something.
Course: Mud, hills, 3 or 4 knee-deep stream crossings, trees to go over, trees to crawl under - just absolutely sick! First 3 or 4 miles were runnable pretty much the whole way, then some big mother hills. By the end it the slop level was unreal; it really was awesome!
Keeping cool Drinking
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall: Average
Mental exertion [1-5] 3
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? Yes
Lots of volunteers? Yes
Plenty of drinks? Yes
Post race activities: Good
Race evaluation [1-5] 5