A little more than two weeks ago Kelly and I packed the truck and headed out to beautiful West Virginia for the Capon Valley 50k for a day of rain, mud, and hills. Capon was also five weeks post surgery so with a lack of good training I wasn't sure how I would bounce back.
Once we arrived and picked up our bibs we walked back to where we had parked to finish getting ready for the rest of our day. The race started on time and after a mile or so of grass and pavement we hit the trails. It rained for the first couple hours of the race but even if it had been a sunny start our feet would have still been wet due to the fifteen water crossings (this is an estimated guess). The course was everything I was hoping for in fact it was almost like a miniature VT100. It had the right amount of climbing, flats, and downhills. I even had the chance to meet another runner who was training for his first 100, and even better his first VT100.
The course quickly turned rather muddy but I still really enjoyed it, although it would be a great course to run on a drier day. Finally after many ups, downs, mud, and yes more water crossings we finished the race in pretty good shape. We grabbed some post race food, chatted about the race and then made the drive back to Maryland. All in all a really fun experience.
Next in line was my second chance to get my much needed 50 miler in the books. We would head to Philadelphia for the Dirty German Endurance Festival. Kelly ran the 25k and reminded me that she isn't the one training for a 100 miler. Although she's right I'm more than confident that I will have the best trained pacer on the VT100 course, and to prove it she finished 18th overall female!
The 50mile course consisted of a short 3.5 mile loop and then 3 15.5 mile loops. The terrain was a mix of single and double track that had minimal climbing but did roll and then a stretch of pavement that covered 3.5 miles. I wasn't too pressed on running for a time rather hoping that I could focus on a solid nutrition/hydration schedule. For the most part I did a pretty good job and subsequently ran a sub 10 hour race.
I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't run the Dirty German 50 Miler again, not because it wasn't ran great or because I didn't care for the course, but because I am finding that I prefer to head away from cities to run. I'm finding that the more time I spend running trails the more I find myself more at home and excited in the smaller mountains and hills that are a short car drive away. And although you'll find me getting my weekday mileage in on the pavement my thoughts are in planning which trail I'll run on my free weekends.
These two races were much different both in distance and in atmosphere. Without a doubt, despite not having the best weather, I enjoyed Capon over DG. Perhaps it's because I enjoy the walk breaks I get on the climbs or the the quietness and solitude you can find on more rural races. I again found a way to use these races as tools, for both my training and life.
The countdown for Vermont is on and I can't wait...it's going to be a special day.
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