Special presenter: Chris Gordos, DPT, Integrated Medical Group, Fleetwood PA, discussed running and proper running form. He and his physical therapy are sponsoring the Oley Valley Country Classic.
Treasury Report – Shaun Luther – the balance is at 133% of target. Not a lot of transactions this month. Filed the 2022 taxes a few weeks ago, electronically. For checks from Pretzel City Sports, when using PCS for registration, Ron sends checks to the race director, and then the race directors give the checks to Shaun. Shaun wants to know if race directors are ok with Ron sending the checks directly to him – yes, this is fine.
Races:
Charlie Horse Half Marathon (Sunday, May 28, 2023) Shaun – need volunteers on Saturday for course marking, then Sunday for the race. Separately, the Horse Shoe trail should be cleared in one section, needs heavier work clearing brush, probably on May 20.
Run for the Ages 10K Trail Run (Sunday, June 25, 2023) – Blair Hogg – registration is slow. The order has been placed for socks – this year’s swag. Volunteers needed on June 24 from 4 – 6 to mark the trail, and then for the race on Sunday. The WNR before the race will be a course run of the race.
Grings Mill 5K and 10K (Sunday, August 6, 2023) – Jason Karpinski – registration picking up slowly; marketing will be picking up, volunteers needed.
Oley Valley Country Classic (Saturday, November 4, 2023) – Barry Goodhart- working on the details
Committee Reports
Social Committee:
May 14, rescheduled bike ride due to rain cancelation, went well.
Saturday, Oct 21, 2023, 5 – 7 p.m., at Skateaway for the roller skating event that Tiffany Pantoja is planning.
Saturday, Sept 16, 2023, Wine and Cheese Party, Lisa Domeshek, is organizing with Brittany, will be at ‘The Barn at Cacoosing’ in Sinking Spring. Similar food/wine set up to previous years.
Community Service
Long run, May 21, 9:30, at Mt Penn. Course being planned. Swamp accompanying with a bike ride.
Trail Maintenance –Shaun Luther, Horse Shoe trail on May 20. At the ski slope at Blue Marsh, Mike Whalen removed 3 trees.
Old business
Mike Whalen displayed the newly purchased arch for the starting line prior to the meeting.
New business
The old start/finish line trellis apparatus needs to be disposed of now that there is a new start/finish line. It is currently being stored in Charlie Crowell’s barn. It has some usable step ladders. Shaun is proposing that Charlie’s son be offered the ladders for a minimal amount. This was approved by the membership present.
On May 20th, Girls on the Run, Lisa Domeshek is having a Pacer table from 7:30 to 12:00 noon. Would like company, if possible.
Michelle Henry had a printed sheet with the race details and QR code for all Pacer races. She printed 500 to see how they go. Will update as necessary.
For June, the Pagoda Pacers Long Run Committee has decided to host a group run in northern Berks / southern Schuylkill counties), which will feature some fun on the Appalachian Trail and Hawk Mountain.
The exact route, along with other details, will be published on the Facebook Event for this run. Once that event is created, you’ll be able to find it HERE.
Join Berks County Parks staff, Fleet Feet West Reading, and members of the Pagoda Pacers as we delve into tips and tricks to start your trail running adventures! Demo shoes provided by Altra.
This is geared towards those who may have started their running journey, road runners, or hikers turned trail runners. Gear, trail info and trail etiquette will be discussed before heading out on the beautiful trails of Antietam Lake Park. Run/walk at your own pace- all are welcome!
Meeting is at the Bingaman House, address listed is for the main parking lot at Antietam. Walk up the hill to the house to meet the group.
FREE, but registration is required. To register: email lgauker@countyofberks.com or call 610-374-2944 ext 2611.
Our mid-week group runs have at least two different distance options (3-4 miles and 5-6 miles) with an appointed leader for each route. Each run will have its own Facebook “event,” and the routes will be posted a couple days before the run. After each run, those who can will stick around for food, drink, and good conversation, either at a nearby restaurant or a club member’s residence. Come for the run; stay (if you can) for the fellowship. (If you don’t have time to stick around, no worries–just come run with us!)
I lost all of December and the first half of January to leftover knocks/issues from my Nov 20th Philly Marathon, which was my first one ever.
I started the training block weighing 174 pounds, which I was not particularly happy with. I didn’t subscribe to a specific training plan, but I was training for a sub 1:45 finish. I ran the Reading Hospital Road Run last October in 1:59:12. I used a loose plan of only adding about 10% mileage per week: Tuesday speed day; Thursday recovery pace; Friday steady; and Sunday long run. I was basically mimicking the marathon plan I used with some minor adjustments. I scaled up my long runs and maxed out at 12- and 14-milers the last month of the block. I started at 20 miles a week, and peaked at 31 miles for 2 out of the last 3 weeks. I also lifted legs one day a week (Wednesdays).
Before carb loading, I was weighing 156 (18 lbs lost) from a consistent 500 calorie a day deficit. When I say consistent, I mean from Jan 14th to May 4th, I tracked every single calorie that went into my body and from experience, was eating back calories based on calorie expenditure from lifting (200-300 cal per session) and running (100 cal per mile ran). In that span, I had 2 cheat days, zero alcohol, and consistently slept 7-8 hours a night by going to bed at 9:30 to wake up around 5:15 a.m. Personally I function best off of strict routines.
I carb-loaded according to the free calculator by Featherstone Nutrition again. 600g a day for 2 days leading up to the race. I know that there are conflicting thoughts on carb-loading for a half, but knowing I was generally training on minimal fuel, I felt that a full load was going to be a difference-maker for me.
Saturday morning, I woke up with a sore knee, which mentally threw me off big time. I tried to calm myself down, but I was extremely worried this was going to derail a race that I had put so much effort into. I jogged 2-3 times throughout the day for about 100 feet to test it out, but I was not fully confident that I was going to be 100% for the race.
Pre-race
Pittsburgh’s race organization was 10/10. I will recommend this race weekend to ANYBODY who asks me, and I likely will proactively encourage others to do it.
After my race in Philly, which included 30 minutes in a security line, 30 minutes for porta-potty and gear check, all before I even started my warm up, I was shocked by how nicely Pittsburgh’s pre-race panned out.
I stayed at the Wyndham Downtown, which was literally right outside the gear check and post-race festivities at Point State Park. I left my room at 6 a.m. for the 7 a.m. start, hoping that it wasn’t going to be a debacle like Philly. The combo of zero security delays and a smooth gear check meant I was actually sitting around chatting with other runners for 20 minutes before I started to warm up. I felt way less stressed and anxious.
race
Race strategy coming in was to run the first 2-3 miles right at goal pace (8 minutes/mile), which would allow me to find my groove, and then slowly increase my pace to the finish. This did not happen.
Miles 1-3: The start (which was exactly on time at 7 a.m.) was so cool in this race. Fireworks were set off about a minute after the gun start. Then there were 2 or 3 other sets of fireworks set off for the other corrals. I loved that the other corrals were getting the same type of welcome to the course as the first corral. This section was basically all flat or downhill, and I clocked miles right at a 7:30 pace, with a surprisingly comfy feeling and my heartrate under control. I felt like I was just buying myself some extra seconds for the end of the race and the final climb.
Miles 3-9: I got my body locked in at the 7:20-7:30 pace as I found my groove and fueled with a gel at mile 4.5 and mile 9. Crowd support was really good throughout the majority of this race. During this stretch I really enjoyed the “Thick Thighs Save Lives” unofficial aid station. I do not know what they were passing out, but I assumed it wasn’t going to be something that would digest easily. (I’m still curious now that I think about it….) With the pace I was maintaining throughout this stretch, I reset my eyes on my stretch/dream goal of sub-1:40.
Miles 10 and 11: This is where I felt the race really begin for me. I clocked my 2 slowest miles (7:32 apiece) in this stretch. My core was not feeling great, and my legs were feeling pretty tired. Mentally I knew it was time to buckle down, but I also knew to try to conserve a little bit of physical and mental energy for Mile 12. Someone whom I consistently follow and use as a source of inspiration is David Goggins. One of the big things he talks about is the 40% rule. Basically, when your mind wants to quit, your body is only at 40% spent. Your body is capable of so much if you don’t let your mind overpower it.
Mile 12-Finish: “Birmingham. Birmingham. Birmingham.” These are the words I said to myself over and over and over throughout the training block. Mile 12 has the largest climb of the entire race by far. You climb up the Birmingham Bridge, into a tiny little downhill, only to climb another .25 miles to the mostly downhill finish. It’s roughly 100 feet of gain over .9 miles. I heard about this hill after I signed up. Other race reports I read mentioned this dreaded, long climb and the timing in the race in which it hits. During training I would end all my long runs with a similar hill where I run. During my leg days, I would do a finisher AMRAP set of squats focused on this hill.
I was not going to let this hill hurt me. It was my main enemy. It did not win.
I found a surge of calm energy as I was climbing. I passed a lot of people on this climb. The competitive side of me was loving this, and I used this to hit a 7:36 mile. (I don’t consider this my slowest mile because of the Gradient Adjusted Pace). I took a few deep breaths at the summit and buckled down for a hard charge to the finish. Mile 13 was my fastest mile of the race at 6:53. The stomach cramp I had earlier resurfaced, but not until after the climb was done (luckily). I was digging deep and estimated I had only about 8 minutes left to the finish line. I knew I was coming in sub-1:40, and I think mentally I was boosted by that as well. I crossed the finish line at 1:37:49.
Post-Race
After the race, I felt a combined and overwhelming rush of elation, satisfaction, happiness, and relief. I took probably 5 minutes to just soak it all in, and it was one of the best moments of my entire life (after getting married and seeing my daughter for the first time). I was fighting back happy tears and a few (ok fine, more than a few) slipped out.
I put everything I had into this training block and this race–from the training, to the diet, to the focus on sleep and recovery, to the race-day effort. After my first marathon, I knew I had so much to give, and I committed to chase that and see just how much I could give. I am very hard on myself and generally a very intense person (if you didn’t already pick up on that). For me personally, this race really feels like a turning point in my running career. The “what if” and “so much more to give” feels even more open-ended now. I am driven more than anything by breaking through my own “perceived potential.” 10 months ago, I did a 6-mile run with max effort in just over an hour. If you had asked me then if it was possible for me to EVER run a half marathon at a 7:30 pace, I would’ve laughed.
Register for the Charlie Horse Trail Half Marathon today
Join us Memorial Day Weekend for the 26th running of the Charlie Horse Trail Half-Marathon to benefit Berks Co. Special Olympics. The majority of this race will be run on the Horse-Shoe Trail in Brecknock Twp, PA. It is well supported with 3 strategically placed aid stations.
Packet pickup will begin at 7:30 AM Sunday morning. Day of registration will also start at 7:30 AM Sunday Morning. The Half-Marathon start will be at 9:00 AM in front of Sleepy Hollow Athletic Club.
And don’t forget the Dirty Pony 5K. This race gives friends and family a chance to experience part of the Charlie Horse course while you are doing the Half Marathon. The Dirty Pony will start at 9:15 AM near registration.
Besides running, what other hobbies, interests, or passions do you have?
Besides running, some other hobbies and interests I enjoy include reading (anything from rom-com books to text-books and research articles- I love learning), cooking/baking, drinking coffee, anything on a lake (fishing, boating, kayaking, or paddle boarding), and spending time with my family (my husband and 2-year-old daughter).
What is a bucket list race for you?
Some bucket list races for me include running more marathons (including the Boston Marathon one day) and maybe tossing in an ultra or two, if I’m crazy enough.
How has your relationship with running evolved over the years?
My relationship with running has evolved tremendously throughout the years, starting in middle school as a little “sprinter” to now embracing the longer distances and training for my first full marathon. As I’ve aged, my running has creeped into longer distances, and I’m embracing the journey. If someone would have told me ten years ago that I would be running a full marathon in a couple of days, I would have laughed in their face. Throughout high school, I ran mainly the 400m and below. It wasn’t until my junior/senior year of track that I started to dabble in the 800m and dip my toe into cross country. I started out absolutely loathing cross country; after my first 5k, I looked at my coach and said, “I never want to run that again in my life!” He laughed at me.
After graduation, I decided to continue my running career at the collegiate level and ran cross-country/track-and-field competitively at Division 1 for five years at East Tennessee State University. Throughout those five years I ran everything from the 800m-5,000m on the track and 5k/6k for cross country. I broke numerous school records, qualified for regionals and nationals in cross country, and medaled numerous times in track during championship races. After running competitively for so long, I got to a point where I was over it, and I took about a 2-year break to just run sporadically (if at all). Within the last year I started to get back to a point of running regularly and really falling back in love with the sport. I am currently training for my first marathon and look forward to what other opportunities running brings. 🙂
Want to introduce yourself to the club in the next newsletter? We’d love to feature YOU in an upcoming Pacer Profile. Click HERE to find out how!
the author (center) with Michelle Henry and Curtis Musser
Picture it…May 2022. It’s springtime, and we are out running and enjoying the beautiful weather, rejoicing in the sunshine and longer days. Honeysuckle fills the air. Birds singing. Flowers blooming. Everything is green and alive again. Someone posts in one of the running groups that Hyner View Trail Challenge registration just opened. Who’s going to sign up before it sells out?
Well my knee has been giving me some trouble, but the shot is working well, and I have almost a whole year to get it back to 100%, so….why not? I mean, before it sells out, right? And everyone else is doing it, so it should be fun! SOLD!
Registered for the 50K. I was so impressed that I had 2 qualifying 50Ks. (What? Am I actually a legit ultra runner? When did this happen?) Several times in the registration process it reminds you that there are NO transfers, NO refunds, NO waivers. It’s straight up Yoda Jedi master “Do or do not. There is no try”. Ok, I get it..
~clicks submit~
Woohoo! I’m in for the 50K!
Then, somewhere in the back of my head, I have this vague recollection of this being a tough race. Kinda remember Jason Karpinski running this one and mentioning it’s a lot of climbing. THEN I actually looked into what I just signed up for. Oh sh*t. Ok it’s cool. I have plenty of time to train. Lots of friends to run hills and long runs with. I figured I could do Blues Cruise again, and just keep that momentum going through the winter, right? Right!
Well, sort of. I trained for Blues Cruise, but did it half-heartedly, because I missed a goal I had set for myself the previous year and just felt defeated (and that is a story for another time). As Blues Cruise neared, my knee was again giving me trouble. Got another shot a few weeks before the race and started PT 2 days before. Ran the race in the cold, rain, and mud; continued PT for 6 weeks. Knee seemed ok. I kept doing the exercises at home and even started some hip mobility/strengthening exercises.
Now the weather is changing, and I need motivation to keep running in the cold (which I hate), so I sign up for the Naked Nick and Naked Bavarian races, plus the Shiver series, and I plan to do all kinds of great-sounding things like “leg destroyers,” Blue Marsh trails, elliptical workouts on colder days, weekly hill repeats on Walnut street, etc.
Barely did any of this because a) baby it’s cold outside, and b) my knee hurts every time I run, especially on road. I have time, so I’ll just take a break for a week or two and rest and regroup.
Let me tell you, breaks are comfy in the winter. They also add a random 10ish pounds pretty quick in my age group. Great. Now my clothes don’t fit right. Motivation is fading fast, and I have a 25k race coming up.
Naked Nick, you’re up! Ok, tape the knee, and get to the start line. Take it easy, and try for under 4 hours. Done! Knee held up. Hurt at the start, but it seemed to get better as the race went on. Maybe I just need to get off my butt?
Feeling motivated again. Kind of. Sort of. Got out a few times, but definitely not feeling it. Maybe I’m burned out? Maybe it’s just a dark, gray winter? Maybe if my knee didn’t hurt every morning? I spent January and February barely getting out there, then realized I only had 12 weeks to Hyner.
Ok. I needed a plan, so I found a 12-week 50k training plan. I’m normally quite disciplined when I have a plan to follow, but not this time. Knee did not feel too grand at Ugly Mudder. And I have a 20-mile race coming up.
~Naked Bavarian has entered the chat~
Ok. I was going to stay home and skip this one. Last minute, I decided to go and figured, if I have to stop, I”ll just stop. I’m gonna go get this looked at after this race. Well, once again, to my surprise, my knee felt better as the race went on. And even felt completely fine the days to follow.
I’m so confused. A friend gave me an indoor bike trainer a few weeks ago, and I rode it here and there, so maybe that helped? I’m still gonna go get this looked at.
The pain did return a few days later. 6 weeks out from Hyner, and I’m thinking I’m gonna have to drop to the 25k. Maybe. Let’s see what the doc says.
Annnnnnd maybe not. Now my ortho is not in my new insurance’s network. Nearest in-network is in Plymouth Meeting. Seriously? I’m really feeling like the universe is telling me not to run this race. But like my mother always said: I don’t listen.
Rode my bike a few times and tried to get out and get some miles in here and there, but I would not say I was gaining any sort of momentum to really train. And at this point, I had kind of given up completely. 25k is ok. I’m still gonna get the best/worst parts of the trail, and I have plenty of time to finish. I also have Michelle to hike along with, so it’s gonna be a good day.
So here we are on a beautiful 80° Friday in late April heading to North Central PA. I’m nowhere near ready. I’m gonna make the best of it and have fun. At packet pick up, I have to officially drop down from the 50k to the 25k, but they give you all your 50k things first, and I gotta tell ya, that 50k bib looked a lot cooler than the one I traded it in for. I also have a 50k shirt that I won’t wear because I didn’t do that distance. The FOMO is setting in.
The energy here is amazing. I’m disappointed, but starting to get excited. You can’t help it. It’s in the air. They just said there’s free New Trail beer and pizza, and I get a glimpse of the View from the landing strip. Seems so far away. Hope I sleep well tonight. Michelle and I make a pact: finish, don’t die, don’t cry.
And it’s here. Race day. 67° overcast with the sun peeking out. The breeze makes it a little chilly. Threat of severe storms later in the day. Maybe we’ll be done before they hit? Ha-ha. Who am I kidding? Grabbed some photos with some of the other runners from our area. Hit the potty.
It’s now 8 a.m., and the 50k starts after announcements and a lovely rendition of the national anthem. We watch them go out and over the bridge and then turn to our final prep. Hydration pack, energy chews, gum, headphones, phone, debate the jacket, some more photos, pre-race jitters, pet the dogs, and at 9 a.m. — we’re off!
Running over the bridge, we can see the view and some very tiny 50k runners running up the trail. As I turn off to enter the trail, I already get a “zinger” in my knee. Just gotta walk it off a little bit. Good thing I can’t run here anyway. It’s so congested that we are just walking along the trail single file going up, up, up. After a while, we sort of level out and can run a little bit, and I remember thinking, “I thought we were going straight up. This isn’t so bad.” Then the trail turns, and we start to go down. Now I’m really confused. Where’s the view?
So we continue on our descent, and then the trail turns again, and now we start to head back up and it’s getting rockier and a bit more technical as we go. Then we start to hear cheering and the ringing of the bell. Now I originally thought the ringing of the bell was to celebrate reaching the View. I later found out that in the 2021 race, Carl Undercofler, a member of the Pa Trail Dawgs, went into cardiac arrest just before the stone wall and died. Last year they installed a bell at the site to keep his memory alive. I rang the bell as I went up, and I was so excited I had made it up the longest climb.
Jason Karpinski and Penelope (his dog) were there taking pictures of Michelle and me as we reached the top. I honestly didn’t think it was that bad. I ran up to get a picture from the top, then went back down around the wall to follow the trail to the first aid station. This is fun.
I’m a little hungry. I was surprised my only options were water, gatorade, gels, or bananas. No bacon? No gummy bears? No pb&j? Clearly I was spoiled by Blues Cruise aid stations. Oh well. Potty break, lose the jacket, one more photo and off I go.
Feeling pretty energized at this point; the downhill trail was crowded, but runnable, so I took advantage. Knee is not getting better, but not worse either. The trails up here are much rockier than I’m used to, so as I descend I have to slow up to keep my footing. I was running along at one point and my foot caught on a root or branch or something and jerked my leg almost out from under me and ripped my sneaker. Guess which leg it was? Sheesh! Walked it off for a little bit then got back to it.
Eventually, I reached the creek, and the trail crossed it a few times, and I somehow managed to keep my feet dry. The terrain was getting very rocky at this point. This was harder for me than the climbs. I had lost Michelle at the aid station, but I had caught up to her by this point. She finally grabbed a stick to use as a pole. It was a little big and after trying a few others, she settled on one and offered the bigger one to me. I hesitated, but then took it just to see how it went. I’m not a fan of carrying something in my hand. It actually came in handy, and I eventually found a second one to use as well.
It felt like we were hiking along forever, and I mentioned that I was getting hungry. Seemed like we should have hit an aid station by now. I have chews with me, but I didn’t want to waste them if the next aid station was close. I’d rather have food and was hoping this one had more than bananas.
Finally we start seeing flags and begin to hear music, and we are suddenly greeted by Bigfoot herself!! I was so happy to see ring bologna and cheese and chips and pickles and candy and surprised at how much energy I’m using on this course. Loaded up on snacks, refilled my gatorade, and grabbed my newly acquired walking sticks. And we are off.
Back into the wilderness. A light drizzle starts but doesn’t last long. Back down the mountain and back up again. There are so many rocks on these trails up here. I was terribly happy to have kept the sticks. I somehow got way ahead of Michelle and slowed till I could see her again. We were both getting tired and heavy feet can get tangled up in this terrain. She was fine. I gave her a Rick Flair “WOOO” to help keep her motivated. This startled some other runners who were on the outside of our inside joke. Now we are all motivated!
Little further up and we are at a picturesque clearing cleverly placed to give a moment of ooos and ahhhs before we get up around the corner to […insert dramatic music…] SOB Hill. This was steep and rocky, but short, and honestly, not nearly as horrible as I was expecting. Again, I was happy to have the sticks. At the top there’s another aid station and I was so happy to finally eat a pb&j!!
It had started to rain pretty good by now and the wind was picking up. It was getting noticeably cooler, and I wasn’t sure if I should put the jacket back on again or not. There’s only 5 miles to go, and I don’t really want wet sleeves on me to feel even colder. I’m gonna power through. The view from up here was beautiful even in the rain.
We are in awe of the house across the way on the other mountain. They inform us that it is a truck we see and that is where we are headed. What? WE have to go down and up the other side? Well let’s get moving. We are treated to a nice long flat trail that follows along the crest and wraps around to the other side. About a half mile or so into it I’m too cold and have to stop and put on my jacket. We get to the other side, pass the truck, and are now heading back into the woods.
Spring Trail. There were no springs. It wasn’t springy at all. Back to rocky terrain all the way down to the creek. I gotta tell you, I love running near water. There’s a calming that comes from the soothing sounds of a babbling brook. I was cold and tired, but I had to admit…it is so darn pretty out here!
We followed along the creek, and I’m thinking, “The finish gotta be nearby now.” Wait. Why are we going back up? Yay, sticks! We got up to Huff Run. It’s been raining for a while now, and we just have this downhill trek to go. Almost done! HA! We are now faced with a fantastically slick single track deathtrap. To our left we have a steep mountain side. On our right we have a nice steep drop off. In front of us lies a slick, mud-covered rocky downhill trail with little room for error. Behind us we can hear the quick pace of seasoned trail runners (i.e. they’re actually running). Several times I frantically looked for a safe place to move over so they could pass.
Down we go and suddenly we think we hear music and we come upon a house so there must be a road nearby. Or it’s a mirage. Hard to tell at this point. Finally, after one last steep muddy descent, we get to the road. We retired our sticks and now we know we are almost done.
This was a tough one. As we walked along, I’m thinking I’m ok now with dropping down to 25k. I would not have finished the 50k. Michelle had stated several times that this will never be more than a spectator course for her. We come down around the corner and back over the bridge and break out in an easy paced jog to the finish–7 hours and 40 minutes after we started.
Brand new hat! Beer me! I grab food and find a table to eat and start to reflect on what the heck I just did that day. I am convinced the foliage grew while we were gone. This was a tough one, but I wonder how I would have done if my knee were up to par, and I was actually trained? I mean it was tough, but it wasn’t THAT bad. And I really wanted to do the 50k. And the weather’s getting nice.
It’s springtime and we are out running and enjoying the beautiful weather and rejoicing in the sunshine and longer days. Honeysuckle fills the air. Birds singing. Flowers blooming. Everything is green and alive again. It’s almost May. And Hyner View registration will soon open up.
Pagoda Pacers News 