Berg en Dal 60k

Abide

Barefooters
May 13, 2010
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When I originally signed up for this race I was under the assumption that I would have roughly 2 months to build up a small base of running as the last longish run I had done was in April. The sign up date was 11/10/2014, November 10th... well unfortunately my date convention is still in American standards and the race really was October 11th. The good thing is I figured this out before November 10th, the bad thing was only one month to train and a limited schedule, which ended up being one longish run, 4 18k commutes to work and a trail duathlon.

The race starts in a small town called Berg en Dal right near Nijmegen. Its a small race put on by an amazingly nice couple who also organize some other ultras in the surrounding area. This area is a quite peculiar for the Netherlands as it contains hills, which is exactly what I was looking for. Just before the race I sent Johan a message to ask if he had run in the area, he hadn't but told me that the RD's plotted out the course to be as hilly as possible. After running the course it seems like they pretty much accomplished this goal. At some points it felt like I had climbed one hill four times from different directions. I was pleasantly surprised how challenging, beautiful and fun the course was. I went into the race with minimal expectations, yet the whole race expereience from marking to aid stations was fantastic. I will definitely be running some more of their races again. Here are some pictures.

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Found a wayward apple tree off the side of the trail, natures aid station.

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Cows hogging the trail

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Unfortunately the pictures don't do it justice. And the hills are bigger I promise.

Anyway even though I think I placed DFL the race was a big win for me. I enjoyed myself the entire time and was able to test out and learn some things, which was exactly what I was hoping to get out of the race.

I purposefully took it really slow, I walked almost every uphill and ran all the downhills. I think this strategy works well for me. I am a bigger dude and carrying around some extra weight and the walk uphills and run when it's easy mantra fits well.

Gear wise I ran with a Salomon hydration pack and my Altra lone peaks. The pack was great and I went through roughly 4 liters of water. This is still on the light side but closer to where I need to be. The lone peaks were great until the last 10k, for some reason the tongue on my left foot started irritating the hell out of my foot. I am not sure why but something I need to figure out. As I have alluded to before I have given up my barefoot/minimal aspirations for ultras, it was simply becoming another obstacle to have to deal with and was taking some of the fun out of the events. The Altras take away this obstacle and allow me to enjoy the trails more while providing plenty of room for my feet

I didn't have any stomach issues. Food wise I took with a couple of bags of gummy candies, but realized now they are too hard to chew. Maybe I'll give gels another try. Jelly and butter sandwiches are far superior to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and go great with a cup of coffee. I also need to figure out a way to consume more calories more regularly.

It rained a bit during the race and I forgot to bring my rain jacket again... Although I am not sure I would have worn it due to the warmer temps. I am beginning to enjoy running in the rain and I didn't have any chafing, thanks body glide!

Last of all this gave me a little confidence that my "maybe twice a week" run schedule might be a success. The schedule is two long runs a month with one marathon distance or longer and then 1 run throughout the week. After the race I was tired after the race but could easily walk around. There was minor soreness the next day and I felt ready to get back to the grind the day after. Usually I don't have the motivation to run for a week after these kind of events.

Next up a trail marathon in Belgium!
 
Nice job, Abide! To be able to complete that with minimal prep time is commendable.
The course looks beautiful - though the name of "Mountain and Valley" may be a little bit of a misnomer!
 
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Hey Abide, I have your report on the home page. I like that you found time to pick apples from a tree and navigate cattle. Just goes to show, although you weren't barefoot this time, we barefooters have a real sense of non-urgency with these things.
 
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