Rising before dawn
To witness the brilliant stars
In abject silence.
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Sundays are long trail run days and that means another opportunity to test some equipment and long run strategies.
On our 5 ½ hour outing today I used my Hoka ATR Challenger 2s with Spenco super thin inserts, knickers without undies, and tried to see if I could get by on just over a liter and a half of water and a 5 oz. flask of my homemade gel brew and a small package of Spanish Chips Ahoy cookies.
The Hokas I’ve been saving for ultra races and two long excursions I have planned for next year. But with a 50k fast approaching (December 3), I thought I’d better see how they felt over a 5+ hour effort. One of the knocks on the 2s is suppose to be reduced foot volume over the 1s due to the upgrades of a cushioned tongue and thicker insole. Yet even with my slightly thicker Spenco insole and using medium weight Smartwool socks, my feet were pretty comfortable after today’s long run. I actually prefer the tighter feel of the 2s over the 1s and the padding in the tongue makes a huge difference in comfort when locking down the laces. Now that they’ve passed the test, they can rest up for the big events.
The tights sans underwear test was more of a C+ endeavor. The reason I tried it was because I feel wearing underwear, tights, then liner-less shorts on top is a bit over-kill, particularly given my pension of waiting until the last second to go pee out on the trail. If I’m not quick enough or one layer isn’t cooperating…but enough about my personal problems.
The reason for the underwear is to prevent chafing. For whatever reason, all the tights I’ve tried pull down and my privates end up rubbing against my thigh. Today I used a bit of Vaseline to prevent chafing, which it did, but it didn’t prevent that annoying rubbing. Back to the underwear combo. The reason I use liner-less shorts over the tights is both for modesty on public transportation and to have a few additional pockets. The Pearl Izumi long run shorts with their mesh pockets on the side and large zipper pocket in the back is great for quick and easy storage access. They’re a keeper.
As far as how the hydration/nutrition experiment went, after 5 ½ plus hours on a temperate day I still had about 10 oz of water left and a few cookies. I was a little fatigued, but that’s to be expected. But no upset stomach or unexpected decline in energy. Not sure I’m dead set on the cookies as my go to solid of choice, but I want my stomach and brain to be on their toes and to not freak out if I’ve got to throw some sugar at them in whatever form might be handy.
All things considered, everything went pretty well and it was a great day to hop on this side of the volcano and scamper out in the enchanted forest that clings to it almost all the way up near to its peak.
No comments:
Post a Comment