Fleet Feet Dirt Cheap Stage Race, 11/12/11 to 11/13/1113th

11/12/11: 3.4 miles, 30:42, 8:59 pace, 38F, sunny, windy, no pain.

The Dirt Cheap Stage Race, 2011 edition. Another excellent Yellow Jacket Racing event! Here are the highlights that I can remember ...

Christine and I made it down to the Beach parking lot of Mendon Ponds Park around 7:55AM just in time for her "No-Bo" workout. She ran the Summerfest 5K course. She did well with a few walks. She faced a stiff headwind on the way back. Later she said that she didn't know she had so many muscles that could ache. I am very proud of her. I can feel the difference in her legs.

The weather was a bit chilly so I wore my tights, long sleeve T and my Brooks Racing Team tank. Of course I wore my lucky orange Fleet Feet hat. I ran/walked the 1.25 miles out to the site of Fleet Feet Dirt Cheap Stage Race (DCSR) #1 on Pond Rd. There I hung out with fellow Brooks Racing Team members before the race started at 9AM.



DCSR #1 was a time trail race with runners going off at 5 second intervals. My bib number was 27 so I went off pretty early. The course was mostly uphill for the first 1/2 mile or so but I settled into a rhythm.

Up and down went the tough course ... but as I went over a rise I followed the runner in front of me and missed a hard right turn (marked by at least 10 flags). I heard some yells behind me but just followed the runner in front of me for a bit and other runners followed me. Hey, I was on a wide trail ... then I saw flags in front of me and thought I was just coming up on a marked trail. But then I saw runners coming up that trail in the opposite direction. Then I put 2 and 2 together and figured out that I had missed a turn. I turned around and tried to tell the runners who were following me. I saw the turn (and the 10 flags) I missed and went back on course. Judging from the Garmin map I think I went about 1/4 mile off course and lost about 2 to 3 minutes. Oh well! I continued on and finished.

Even with the detour, I did OK. I finished 68th out of 146, results here. I was 12th out of 24 in my M50-59 age group, results here. I had run this stage three times now and missed that turn twice ... this time I turned back and ran the course as it should be ran. Boots uploaded a video of runners walking up one of the steep hills, I am at the end of the 30 second video, link here.

Christine and I hung out at Stewart Lodge where I chowed down on 2 pancakes, scrambled eggs and a banana. Then we headed out the site of DCSR #2, the Devil's Bathtub, so we could get a good parking spot. There we hung out some more until the race started at 1PM. The weather warmed up nicely before the race.

11/12/11: 4.63 miles, 42:13, 9:07 pace, 50F, sunny, not as windy, no pain.



The pre-race instructions by Ellen included "It's up to you to follow the trail, don't follow the runner in front of you or you will get LOST". It was kind of funny! DCSR #2 was a mass start with 176 runners. It was a bit crowded at first but soon opened up as I settled into a trail groove. One of the steep downhills was very slippery due to the fallen leaves. The path soon entered a muddy creek bed right next to the twisty trail. I chose the mud most of the time, it seemed easier and safer than the roots on the twisty trail. The familiar trail went on as we came upon new challenges (roots, mud, leaves, etc).

 The infamous climb up the Devil's Bathtub stairs was enjoyed by all, lol!

I enjoyed the post race feat of hot dogs, cucumbers, carrots, cookies and an apple as we all talked about the day. I did OK. I finished 47th out of 176, link here. I finished 6th out of 29 in my M50-59 age group, link here.

Christine and I had an excellent dinner of spare ribs, baked potato and salad. Good food to stick to my ribs before tomorrow's DCSR #3. Afterwards, we got up to date with DVR'd episodes of Pan Am before hitting the hay. We are enjoying this 60s period drama with the women in dresses, heels and gloves ... it may only last a season though.

Sunday, 11/13/11: 10.43 miles, 1:45:51, 10:09 pace, 56F, cloudy, windy, some stops, a bit of pain.



Christine and I headed back down to Mendon Ponds Park for DCSR #3. We arrived around 8:40AM. The weather was warmer than yesterday morning. I wore compression shorts, a short sleeve T and my Brooks Racing Team tank. I pounded off yesterday's mud off my trail shoes, picked up my race bib and tag.

 Me, Mark, John & Heather

The pre-race instructions by Ellen were even funnier than yesterday with 4 different "... or you will get LOST!" Here is a link to Ellen's instructions here.

The start was a bit tricky with lots of leaves and rocks but I soon settled into a fast trail groove as we ran along the beach for a bit.

I was soon ahead of Heather, Mark and Bill. I knew I was going out a bit hot but I felt good. I ran with Heather for about a mile when she caught me around mile 3ish.The course took us over a lot of the same trails that I ran for DCSR #1 and #2. This time I made that sharp right uphill turn that I had trouble with in DCSR #1. I had a couple of Gu packets stashed in the back of my shorts but with my gloves on I couldn't get them out when I approached a water stop at mile 5. Luckily they had some Powerbar Gel on the table. I gulped one and some water while Bill and about 10 other runners passed me. I had a bit of trouble getting back into the groove but put mind over matter and continued. I felt a cramp in my right thigh at times but I just ignored it and it just came and went. I had water at mile 7. I ran in the same muddy creek bed as DCSR #2 at one point while the trail was right next to it all twisty and full of roots ... and found a LOT of mud as my right foot went down in the mud to about mid calf ... nice! I ran with Holly who is moving to Cali for a bit at mile 8, Mark passed me after she talked with him for a bit. I had asked Christine to meet me up at Devil's Bathtub. She was there with a jug of water and encouragement at mile 9.

Heading into the Devil's Bathtub at mile 9

I had been slowly catching up to Bill and soon passed him shortly afterward. I gave him encouragement as I passed. The finish line was soon in sight. Christine just made it back to Stewart Lodge before I steamed up the final hill to finish in 1:45:51, a 7:03 minute PR from last year. Sweet!!

Gritting my teeth and digging for the finish!

I took a couple drinks of water after the finish and then realized that I really had to refuel right now! I chowed down on a full plate of pasta, salad, cookies, cucumbers, carrots along with apple cider and felt much better. The swag was a 2011 DCSR hooded sweatshirt in navy blue. As Ellen said, "We earned it!".

My muddy legs ... my right leg is not really a different color, just a trick of the lighting

I wiped off the mud and changed my muddy trail shoes, socks and sweaty top for my road shoes, fresh socks and new swag. I talked with fellow runners as we cooled down from a most excellent DCSR. I noticed some trail wounds on other runners ... scratches, scrapes and a sprained ankle but nothing serious.

Here are more pics of finishers charging up the last hill to the finish.

I know that some people would think that my running and this blog is all about competition between myself and others but it is about fun too. Yes, I run hard and I try to run competitively but I thoroughly enjoyed running this weekend.

So ... I did pretty well. I finished 56th out of 164, link here. I was 9th out of 31 in my M50-59 age group, link here. For those keeping score, I was 45th out of 126 in the series, link here.

Christine and I made it home shortly after noon and collasped. She took a nap, she was still hurting from yesterday's 5K "No-Bo" run. I uploaded my Garmin, followed all the various comments about the DCSR on Facebook and continued writing this post on Blogger. When Christine woke up, she uploaded her pics and video to her Kodakgallery site and fixed a tasty supper of homemade beef and vegetable soup, mmm! We tried to watch TV but just couldn't concentrate. I couldn't stay awake so we went to bed at 9PM.

What a sweet weekend of trail running ... long live the Dirt Cheap Stage Race! Thanks to everyone at Fleet Feet, Yellow Jacket Racing and all the volunteers for a fanastic event!