Michael: The Goods and the Not so Goods

Beautifully silent;
The dark hills sensuous curves
Are out of our reach.

Thursday, September, 21, 2017

For the Los Pinos 50k last Saturday I had a few new tricks up my sleeve, or to be more precise around my midriff. How’d they work out? For the most part, pretty flawlessly.

This was the first time I used the Naked band, ran in a cut off tank top and Skinz underwear, used Skratch Labs hydration mix, and swapped out my Nike Terra Kiger 2s for my Saucony Breakthru 2s road shoes at the 20 mile mark.

The Naked band worked just as advertised. I carried a 17 oz, Camelbak flask in the rear pocket without any bounce. The flask was also easy to remove and replace. In one of the side pockets I kept the Skratch Labs mix and in the other, Skratch Lab chews. I also started off using a Hydrak flask that has a shaped bottom and top that made it easy to store outside the pockets on one of the rear jacket lashes when I was through with it. It was a perfect set up and one I’ll use as long as the Naked band and/or I hold up.

Another good thing about the Naked band is it encourages keeping my waist at a svelte 31 otherwise, I’ll have to both size up and admit I’m getting fatter; neither of which would be positive signs of proper training.

I enjoyed all three of the Skratch lab hydration flavors and drank more than I ever have in a race. It was a relatively cool day for a September outing in the inland hills in Southern California only reaching into the low 80s after 10 a.m., but I still sweat a lot regardless, and I was very encouraged with the electrolyte mix from Skratch labs. Again, another product I’ll use in the future.

Four hours in and at the 20 mile mark I swapped shoes. That decision I thought would be a necessity after a few previous 50ks, but I may have gotten away with sticking it out with the Nikes. I did swap out their insoles for some Spenco thins and they did seem to make the shoes more comfortable. But I didn’t want to chance it and I don’t feel it cost me all that much in time to finish with a fresh pair of shoes that had a different drop and feel from the Nikes after 4 hours of grueling running and hiking. But I may try just to stick to one shoe next time out, though I will have a spare in a drop bag ready to go as a back up. The only problem with that is you then have to be willing to stick around after the race for the bags to be returned, but really what plans are you going to have for the rest of the day after running for over 6 hours? Best just to stick around and enjoy the free pizza and soda.

The improvised cut off tank top did make access to the Naked band easier, but I do think I’ll look for a properly finished and stylish tri short tank next time out. And the Skinz underwear was very comfortable and indistinguishable from compression shorts; at least initially. A few hours into the race the seams began to fray and it looked like my underwear was growing streaks of short thin gray hair. It didn’t bother me running but the fuzzy dice look was unexpected and not one I’ll promote in the future. Next time out it’ll be back to regular running or compression shorts.

But as far as equipment goes in general, I was very pleased with my decisions and will make just a few clothing tweaks next time out.