avondale training journal, starting Dec. 2018 (comments welcome)

avondale · 2026-04-25T19:02:46-0400

Thanks @The Expert @Erika10021 @WillRunForPizza !!!

avondale · 2026-04-25T20:08:47-0400

On the Dam Trail 30k Trail Race, Apr. 25, 2026

Well, fortunately there was no implosion and the race went pretty well!

This race is the On the Dam Trail 30k Trail Race around the Quemahoning Reservoir in southwestern Pennsylvania: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=133026 The main attraction is a 50k, a 50k four-person relay, and there is a new 10k for this year. I had picked this race because of the date and location and because it was relatively flat - more on that later.

I stayed overnight in nearby Somerset, PA so that I could get a bit more sleep instead of driving up the morning of the race in the dark. Went to bed about 10pm and got up at 4:45am. Breakfast in my room, got all my gear ready, packed up, and checked out a little after 6am.

I got to the race start area, which was a campground called Camp Harmony at about 6:30am. I like to be early for races. I was, in fact, the first runner there - not counting the people that stayed overnight at the campground. Got my bib, etc., and talked to the race director, whom I'd emailed with previously. There were real bathrooms in the campground bathroom/shower pavilion, which was nice!

The weather was the concern. As I wrote in my previous entries, I was really worried about the T+D being too high and causing me to get wiped out way too early (like happened on my training run there on April 4). The morning of the race, the weather forecast was for 90 - 100% chance of rain from 8am through sunset, with as much as 0.75 inches of rain throughout the day. But temperatures no higher than 63 F. I'll take it! (Like I had any choice.)

As it turns out, it didn't start raining before the race. I got a hilly walking warm-up, packed up my food in my short pockets, my vest pockets, and got all my liquids in order. The 30k and both 50ks started at 8am, and the 10k didn't start until 9am. We started at 8:01am. I started way at the back because I knew I would be one of the slowest. (I say "way at the back", but there were fewer than 100 runners.) At the start, the temperature was 55 F and the T+D 103, for 0.5% effect.

There is a 1.4-mi connector trail between the campground and the Quemahoning Trail (Que Trail for short) that loops around the reservoir. What the race website doesn't mention, but I found out when I visited on April 4, is that the connector trail is up and then down quite a large hill (some 300 ft in about 0.7 mi). Because of this my first mile was 13:58 (mostly uphill; GAP 12:03), but then the second mile was 12:01 (lots of downhill; GAP 12:33).

The Que Trail is quite pretty. It's got more rolling ups and downs, although there are exceptions. It's also just about all single track. It started raining when I was at about 2.5 miles, but just very lightly. Mile 3 was 14:03 (GAP 13:21).

The next miles were pretty uneventful, and they were all along where I had run previously. Miles 4, 5, and 6 were 12:28, 13:24, 13:41 (GAPs 12:53, 13:01, 13:04).

During mile seven, the rain really picked up to be quite steady, and it stayed that way for most of the rest of the time I was running. During this mile, I got to a pretty high point in the area, so there was a lot of uphill, and also it had a region of very rocky terrain that I had to walk so that I didn't kill myself. I did pass a woman in this section and didn't see her again. Mile 7 was 15:18 (GAP 14:20).

Then there was a nice downhill, so mile 8 was 13:33 (GAP 14:22). Then back uphill for mile 9 at 15:35 (GAP 13:29). This was right around where I had to stop in my long run on April 4, so the rest of the loop I hadn't been on. Mile 10 was rolling and at that point, I really had to pee, so that had an effect on my effort level - time 14:33 (GAP 14:47).

Right at the very beginning of mile 11, I got to the aid station with a port-a-potty, so that was the first order of business. Then I refilled one of my 500-mL water flasks and topped off my main 1.5-L reservoir on my back. Actually, the aid station volunteers did that for me, which was very nice, because I probably would have been all thumbs. For some reason, two of the ladies at the aid station were dressed in colonial costumes (photo next post). I did time my stop: 4 minutes almost exactly. The break did rejuvenate me, because I had a good pace for the rest of the mile: even with the 4-min stop, my time for mile 11 was 16:15 (GAP 15:31).

There was a woman running the 30k that I had been leap-frogging a bit with. She ran quite a bit faster than me, but she seemed to be stopping at every aid station (there were 3 before this one, I think) and taking a lot of time at them. I saw her for the last time at this aid station - she never passed me again. There was a man that was ahead of me - he ran faster than me, but I walked the uphills faster than he did - he left ahead of me at this aid station, but he stopped at the next one, and I passed him and never saw him again. Go me, I guess? I never remember to get bib numbers so I can see how people finished relative to me.

The rest of the Que Trail until it got back to the connector trail was rolling. I was getting tired, for sure. Miles 12, 13, 14, and 15 were 13:27, 13:55, 13:49, and 15:27 (GAPs 13:23, 13:42, 13:32, 14:17). By mile 16 I was looking forward to the end and hitting the connector trail. Mile 16 was 13:58 (GAP 13:47). Things were getting VERY muddy by this time. During this section, my hamstrings were starting to feel like they might try to cramp at the slightest provocation, but fortunately that didn't happen.

It turns out the Que Trail loop was a bit longer than I had thought, and so I didn't hit the connector trail again until about 17.15 miles. Mile 17 was 13:45 (GAP 13:34). There was an aid station at the junction, and I could hear them for like a half-mile but couldn't see them, and it seemed like the trail just kept looping around and around!

The good news about being back to the connector trail was that I was almost done! The bad news is that I had to hike up that huge hill. This is where I checked my watch GPS and found that it was about 300 ft elevation gain in about 0.7 miles, with some of it hitting at least a 15% grade. Most of this was a dirt road, so it was also pretty muddy, so I was sinking in as I walked. Mile 18 was 16:59 (GAP 14:35).

I hit the top of the hill on the connector trail, and then it was all (very muddy) downhill the rest of the way! My GPS said the total was 18.66 miles, and I did the last 0.66 miles in 12:13 (GAP 12:50). At the end of the race, the temperature was 57 F and T+D 112, for 1% effect.

The time I got by my watch was 4:24:09. The corrected elevation gain was 2906 ft!!! This was slower than I was hoping for but the race was not advertised as having so much elevation gain (more below) - this comes out at 155 ft/mi, but it's definitely harder than that sounds, since a lot of it was in that huge hill (both ways). And there was no implosion, so overall I'm happy with how it turned out. The average pace was 14:09, with a GAP average pace of 13:39.

I'm not sure if I managed to finish the race so well because the T+D stayed just low enough for me to tolerate, or if some of the other things I did helped me do better, so I want to record things so I can look back later.

I drank 4 sips from my water + Nuun reservoir every 0.5 mile, except when I had just drank water because I ate. This reservoir was topped off with Gatorade (I think) at the aid station at 11 miles...I think it was lemon-lime, which tastes AWFUL.

I ate every 30 minutes except that I spaced out the last two "meals" to 45 min. I had one serving of Teddy Grahams, two servings of dried pineapple, one serving of dried apricots, two Honey Stinger waffles, and one serving of M&Ms. (M&Ms are messy in the rain - the colors run everywhere.) I ate four servings of Salt Stick chewable tablets.

I did wear my "cooling t-shirt". It's supposed to work best when it's wet, so I hit that! It's hard to say how much this helped - it didn't hurt.

By the end, I was completely soaked, of course. Quite a mess on my legs. But, the campground had a bathroom/shower pavilion, so I was able to rinse off most of the dirt before bundling up for the drive home.

Before clean-up, I did get some food. They didn't have great food. Some pizza, but I was in-between fresh pizzas, so it was all cold. Chili, which I don't like. They had warmers with hot dogs and hamburgers, so I had a hot dog. Oddly, no bananas or granola bars or other carbs unless I totally missed them.

Fewer than 10 minutes after I finished, the first woman finishing the 50k came in, setting a new course record! She had an infant handed to her at the finish line - the chatter was that she'd given birth less than a year ago. Then a few minutes later....the first man came in! But to be fair on the record-setting: the race started in 2020, so there's been a lot of record-breaking.

Once I got cleaned up, I headed home - almost a 3-hour drive.

Overall, the race was very well-organized, especially since it's only been running for a few years. They could do better on the food. The website on ultrasignup said that the loop (the Que loop) had an elevation gain of about 1600 ft. That may be right (although I think it's low), but it doesn't include the connector trail, which is significant. Trail races often don't have good info available. I plan to email the race director my map and elevation profile for the 30k...maybe she'll use them next year.

I don't have official results yet. When I do, I'll post again, and add more photos, since I won't be able to put all my photos in this post.